How in the world do you screw up a Grilled Cheeze Sandwich???

This entry was started at the first of last week, but not finished until tonight....2/5

Well..............as Mom's main caretaker during the week............somehow, I have found a way to loose one of her contacts, almost get kicked out of the Farwell Clinic, and nearly burn the house down........and it's only Day #2!!!!!



My life as a traveling musician has allowed me the be able to be home with Mom Sunday night through Thursday morning. So first, to my siblings, thank you for putting your faith in me to take on this responsiblity. And second, to all mother's out there, HOW DO YOU DO IT???



Let me just give you the break down of our days:



For alarm clock, tell Dad to wake us up when he leaves for work. Kick Dad out when he flips on the light at 6:15am. Sit Mom up and give first round of meds. Pick contact out of Mom's right eye that we searched 2 hours on hands and knees for the previous night. Make coffee. Help Mom shower without getting drenched. Heat up breakfast that has now turned cold. Brush teeth. Get Mom into Hair and Makeup. Watch Mom try to tie her shoes for 3 mins and then finally give in and help. Race outside to get into vehicle to make it to doctors appointment. Answer cell phone. Race back into house now that appointment has been moved to afternoon. Put in load of laundry. Do PowerPoint program that Dad put together for home speech activities. Restart laundry, but add detergent this time. Run to gym while Mom is resting. Finally wash hair after 4 days. Heat up leftover stew for lunch and pop cheese sandwich into toaster oven to avoid making it the correct way on the stove. Answer doorbell. Blow dry hair. Put out kitchen fire started by toaster oven. Open all windows and doors to ventilate house before smoke alarms come on. Give Mom a klenex when she starts coughing. Stop self from throwing charred bread into ally dumpster as recalling the time Clay set the night in flames after dumping ashes on Christmas wrapping paper. Take Mom to doctor appointment and try not to pee pants while in waiting room. Laugh until we cry. Make it home in time to make dinner for Dad.........

Okay I could go on and on, but you get the point. Everything in life that comes so natural is no longer so natural!

We have had a little bump in the road this week, as far as ironing out the details of rehab. We have an amazing facility available to us right here and Farwell, but have had some trouble working with the insurance company. As far as our insurance company is concerned, Hereford (55 miles away) is where we should be taking Mom five days a week for therapy...this proves how personable and sensitive insurance companies tend to be when they ,"are just trying to do what is best for their client". As of tonight, another answered prayer has come our way, and mom will finally be able to start therapy IN FARWELL in the morning. God continues to use so many kind and good-hearted people to bless us during this difficult time!

She is truly improving daily, she is walking about the house without her walker, as long as one of us is near to keep a hand on her. Christi and I have been working on the "occupational" part of therapy with what she trained us so well over the years to do....GO SHOPPING:>)....although her endurance is not too good at this point, she has "played along" and got out of the house to run errands with us a couple of times.

Mom's attitude is amazing. As a matter of fact the other day she overheard Christi talking on the phone to someone explaining the situation. When she got off Mom asked, "Who was that?" and then in her broken language she basically said, tell anyone who want to see me like this that they better hurry.....I WILL NOT be like this for long! Your continued thoughts, prayers, notes of encouragement, visits and delicious food have given her the extra "umph" to keep fighting. We are confident that after a week or two of therapy and many more prayers, Mom will be much better. Again, we cannot thank you enough for all you have done and continue to do for our special lady. Please hang with us and keep those mighty prayers coming/multiplying, as they are surely felt and working!


Love & Lipgloss! Charla

Home again! Home again!

Jiggity-jog!

Well, after six weeks, two major holidays, a Texas Tech bowl game that she would have loved to have gone to and one day later, Mom is FINALLY home! After a short graduation ceremony (goofy hat and all) she busted out of BSA shortly before noon yesterday! Where did she talk Dad into taking her first you might asked yourself? To eat Chinese food, of course! Dad has done a wonderful job of getting everything prepared for her at home, and we are all geared up to help this transition go as smooth as possible! She is happy! We are all so happy and thankful to have her back home! We are also praying that she continues to improve and that she will be back to her old self in no time. Being at home will certainly help her odds!

We cannot thank you enough for your ongoing love, prayers and support through the past several weeks, and please don't write us off your prayer list just yet! We know that Mom was able to hit this milestone...because of you all! If you are around Farwell, please feel free to stop in for a visit. We obviously aren't quite sure what the next few days, weeks, or even months will hold, but today we are stopping for a brief moment to be thankful for all He has blessed us with. Praise God from whom all blessings flow! We will keep you posted!

~ Christi

The Countdown Is On!

Today Mom.......

• walked up and down a flight of stairs BY HERSELF (what a show-off, huh?).
• learned how manuver herself from the floor to a chair BY HERSELF (just in case).
• how to step in and out of a bath tub.
• walked out to the parking lot with Dad and the therapist to practice stepping off curbs and getting in and out of Dad's pick-up.

Tomorrow Mom will........

• continue therapy. Only three more days!!!:>)
• have a celebration where all of her therapist are taking her to lunch at the restaurant of her choice!

We will keep you posted! ~Christi

Homeward Bound

Well, as much as we have all grown to love the tapioca pudding at the BSA cafeteria, we are hoping that this coming Friday our bad habit will become a thing of the past! Unless something major changes in the next four and a half days, we are planning for Mom to come home to Farwell! When I told Mom that it was going to be hard to quit this whole tapioca addiction cold turkey she said that Dad and I could visit the hospital WITHOUT HER! :>) I was in Amarillo this weekend, and I could hardly believe my eyes. Mom has made great progress in the past two weeks....FOR SURE! She is more alert, more steady, and I could understand her much better! (She told me that this is because I am a good lip reader...but I know it is because she is getting better everyday!) We are all convinced that if she makes as much progress in the next month as she has made in the past five weeks, our picture will look much different with lots more sunshine! She continues to tell us, "Just hide and watch....hide and watch...I will be back to 100%!" All I know is if anyone can do it, it will be my mother!

This past Tuesday there was a big team meeting that included Mom, Dad, Clay & Aunt Heidi, as well as all of her therapist and the case manager. This was a brainstorming meeting to begin to make arrangements for what happens next. Although everyone was very complimentary of Mom and her positive attitude and hard work, it became more evident to all of us that the next leg of this journey is going to primarily fall on Mom keeping up this momentum, and Dad finding a way to juggle this new way of life. The next six months are crucial for us to facilitate Mom's ongoing therapy and progress. The part of her brain that has been affected controls visual & auditory functions, voluntary body movements, her face, lips & tongue, as well as sequencing & when her body is supposed to sleep or be awake. This explained a lot! It also helps us realize the importance of maintaining her daily routines as she works to get stronger while her brain continues to reroute the circuit board!

Right now we are hoping that Mom will be able to receive three days of therapy in Farwell, which will include all three types; physical, occupational & speech. This is a huge blessing that we have such a fantastic facility available in our small community. The kids are all planning to be at home at different times throughout the coming weeks to make this adjustment as easy as possible on Mom & Dad both. I will post again as we continue to make a plan. In the mean time please keep the prayers coming/multiplying.....we know they are definitely working! We can't thank you enough! ~Christi

Silver Linings

Well, Christi, ever compelled, beat me to the punch.  I was going to post last night but, true to my nature, I got lazy.  Anyhoo I hadn't seen Mom since the morning of the 28th.  Folks, I keep hearing about and talking about the baby-steps Mom's been taking but baby steps add up and she's taken thousands of them in the last twelve days and those thousands add up to one giant step.  Her improvement is nothing short of astounding.  I had to leave the room and cry for a few seconds after I walked in and saw her yesterday afternoon.  She was wheeling herself out of the rehab gym.  When she saw me she started yelling "HEY...HEY...HEY...HEY!" and reaching for me.  Had she not been strapped in she would have jumped right out of her wheelchair.  If that scene doesn't move you, you're dead.

I had interrupted her third therapy session of the day and they were in the process of tranferring her from her wheelchair to her shiny new custom walker.  It looks like a standard walker in every respect except it has an armrest on the left side to support her (dwindling...a good thing) weight.  Off to the races.  Her energy level is almost back to pre-stroke levels though she might argue that point.

Where she hasn't made great progress but has made a big change is in her speech.  When I left it was slurred and labored where now it's quick and she is obviously trying to get more ideas out than she was able to those few days back.  She's become harder to understand though and when she realizes she's not saying something right she instantly begins spelling it out.  This would be great if she didn't run it all together and her words are so choppy that its hard to get when she's saying a word and when she's spelling it.

She sounds a bit like the guy in "Office Space" who keeps losing his stapler to Lumbhurg.  Haven't seen the movie?  Do yourself a favor.  It's a classic.

Now for the silver lining that this post was supposed to be about when I satarted writing it.

This whole ordeal has been a blessing if only because it has reconnected our family with so many friends and relatives that we may have lost touch with through the years.  We've had to lean on family here in the area that I personally haven't seen in a long time other than perhaps at one of my shows where I was busy and couldn't sit down and have a decent conversation.  Folks my parents were dear friends with before any of us kids were even an idea who are scattered to far-flung places.  This has brought so many of you back into our lives and that is truely, truely a blessing.

Thank you all who have come and visited, sent flowers and cards or have posted words of encouragement here.  Your thoughts, prayers and efforts are completely felt and appreciated.  If there is anything I or any of us can do for you please don't hesitate to email me at clayton@rydermedia.net.  We feel so fortunate to have such a wide network of friends and family who we can count on in times like these and we hope that we can return all the favors extended to us, just hopefully under more pleasant circumstances.

If you'd like to send something Mom's way:

Gwen Corn

BSA - Room 629

1600 Wallace

Amarillo, TX  79106

<---P.S. This picture is of a much skinnier, much hairyer, eight-years-the-younger me...

Clay

Steady Progress

I am sorry that it has taken us so long to update. We are all still so grateful for your ongoing prayers, notes of encouragement, and countless visits. This week has been hard on us all. Us, being Dad and the four kids, as we had to say our goodbyes on Sunday and head in our different direction to get our own ducks in a row. Thankfully, we have been so fortunate to have so many family members closer to Amarillo, who have faithfully checked up on her...(Thanks to Oma, Aunt Heidi, Aunt Loy & Uncle Joe, Aunt Tammy, Phyllis, and the Darnell Boys....and if I am forgetting you I am sorry) not to mention SO MANY friends and prayer warriors that have stopped by to see her. Everytime that any of us talk to her, she smiles and tells us who all has been to visit, and we know that you are brightning her day, for sure! Thank you!



Although I have not seen her with my own eyes since last Sunday, all reports are coming back with positive tones! We were so concerned about her having to "fend" for herself without us there to "overcompensate for the deficet" but anyone who knows my mom, knows that she has faired just fine. She has continued to do PT, OT and SP several times a day, building her strength and confidence. They also have made a conscious effort to keep her out of bed all day. I know that this is a case of tough love, and I know that this is making her stronger and stronger. Over the past couple of weeks, her speech was a little harder to understand. (The teacher in us both even resorted to spelling everything) The therapist assured us that this was because she was making sentences, and trying to tell stories rather than just two and three word phrases. As of tonight, Aunt Heidi and Phyllis both seemed to be able to understand her a little better.


Unless something major changes, we are fairly sure that Mom will remain in BSA Rehab for about another four weeks. (four down, four to go!:>) However, we are encouraged as we work together to brainstorm what our options are next as far as continued therapy. We definitely want to keep this positive momentum going! I have had several people recommend different types of therapy and different options. Since we are new to all of this, if you know of anywhere or know of anything that can help Mom to succeed, we would love to hear from you!



We know that all of the progress can be attributed to many factors; Mom's hard work and positive attitude, the expertise of so many doctors, nurses and therapist, and more than anything your commitment to continue to pray for our special gal in her time of need. Please keep them coming/multiplying. God is listening, and God is restoring her body. We can't thank you enough! ~Christi