May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's day to all the mommies out there, especially Christy!!  Mom Gail made it safely to Colorado and is enjoying her QT with Christy very much.  There has been a lot of resting and recuperating going on the last couple days.  

Christy resumed her normal rehab routine on Friday and slept most of the day yesterday.  After a nice long rest all day Saturday, Christy was recharged for some SHOPPING!!!!!  Saturday afternoon they spent their time at the Mall trying on clothes and shopping!  Christy bought two new pairs of Jeans- one from Abercrombie & Fitch!!  She's missed a lot of shopping days, but is now back in the saddle!  Christy tried on stuff at Macy's and got some yummy smelling lotions and bath products from Bath and Body works!!  We ladies especially know how some RETAIL THERAPY can heal, right??  

Chirsty was getting washed up while we were talking to Mom Gail on the phone to get the new info.  She'll be calling us back for more mother's day details, so stay tuned!

Thursday May 7, 2009

Howzit everyone. This post is going to be very brief. Christy went through a normal day of rehab where she spent time in OT, PT and did some pool work as you can see by the picture. Everything was going well until Christy had a little accident.

You guys all saw the new bed that Christy and Don were given in a previous post. Well, Christy was sitting on the edge of that new bed later in the day. I spoke with both Donald and Christy about the incident, so I am pretty sure it is an accurate portrayal of the even.

Anyway, Christy was sitting on the edge of the bed. Donald was talking on his cell phone with the insurance company about coverage and other reimbursement type things that they are eligible for. Christy said that she was feeling a little nauseous which has been common since her vision is still not that clear. According to Christy, she usually leans a little forward when she is feeling nauseous and lessens the effect. Neither Donald or Christy was sure how it happened, but Christy lost her balance sitting on the edge of the bed. She apparently leaned to far forward and kept going. Christy fell off the bed basically doing a headfirst dive directly in to the wall.

Christy was immediately scared and Donald heard Christy and came running over. Donald called for the nurses and they rushed in to assist. Christy suffered a pretty good size gash over her left eye that required 12 stitches (don't quote me on this one, even Donald estimated). They ran a CT scan right away to make sure that Christy did not suffer any damage that was not visible and everything came up fine.

When speaking with Christy during the afternoon, she said that she felt OK, was not nauseous and was resting fine. According to Donald and Christy, she was not suffering from any concussion type symptoms. The docs are going to keep an eye on it to make sure that she has not suffered a concussion and we will keep you posted about it.

Christy was scared, but was a real trooper about it. She is going to be just fine and Donald is already making plans on how he is going to minimize scarring for Christy. Christy is going to experience some bumps and bruises throughout rehab, hopefully none of them is going to be this severe. Keep pushing Christy and I can't wait to see you next week. We love you so much!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Today was another great day in the books! 

Occupational Therapy was the usual session in the morning- getting dressed.  

Christy's second session was Physical Therapy.  Christy walked all the way to the gym/cafeteria on the second floor.  When they got there, Jody from PT told them that

 today's session would be in the wellness center.  The wellness center is the gym downstairs in the basement.  Don has a 

"membership" as well as some of the staff members.  He does his running on the treadmill here.  Once they got downstairs, Jody had Christy get on the Elliptical machine for about 3-5 

minutes at level 1!!  She did great.  Don sounded pleased with this choice of exercises because it was perfect for Christy's right Hip

 which needs more stretch and mobilization. Christy has a hard time extending the right leg backward from the hip.  The Elliptical seemed to give Chris full extension of both her legs and her hips.  After the Elliptical, Jody and Christy got on the yoga mat and did a lot of different types of stretching.  She also had her laying in a

 bunch of different positions. 

Here is a great picture of Chris sitting fabulously in an Indian style sitting position!  Christy really enjoyed her session in the wellness center, she kept saying  how much she was enjoying being down there on those machines.  It's like a mini-24hour fitness!  

After an exciting Physical therapy session, Christy had speech and more OT, but they focused on the same things that Chris has been working on that we've been talking about. 

Another real exciting thing that happened today is that Craig found a Queen size bed to replace Christy's other hospital bed so Don and Chrsity can cuddle while they enjoy a good night's sleep together.  Getting back to normal life is good!! 

Kaeo and I will be taking Mom Gail to the airport tonight!  She's going up to visit Chrsity and Don till next week!! 

If you're interested in getting an iheartchristy pink wristband like the one Christy's wearing...

 please contact Christy Jacobson  by email at:  JLSCJ5@aol.com  they are $2.00 each and very cute!!!

BTW, One of Christy’s friends from Hawaiian, Brenda Inouye, who started a fundraiser for her by selling World’s Finest Candies is stuck with about 5 more cases of the almonds and was just wondering if anyone who would be able to help sell or buy?  They sold 21 cases for Christy but now having a little hard time getting rid of the rest. They are $2.50 a box and there is 50 boxes in a case.

 If someone can help with that please contact:

 Brenda Inouye

email:  Brenda.Inouye@hawaiianair.com

 

CINCO de MAYO

Happy CiNCO de Mayo to everyone! Cinco de Mayo (May 5th in Spanish)is the day the Mexicans won the war against the FRENCH who were undefeated for a super long  time.  It is commonly mistaken for Mexican independence day which is actually in September.  I had to look it up today because I was curious.  It's actually not that big of a deal in Mexico, but us Americans will have any excuse to go out to meet our friends for Mexican food and beers/ margaritas!  I hope everyone had a good one!

This first picture of Christy is of her waiting for Physical therapy to start today!  She looks so good with her new glasses and hair by Donald.  He's really getting good at styling her hair!  Good Job Don!

 

 Jody from PT was working with Christy again today!  I love her shoes! So fun! Sorry, side note! She is trying to do an exercise that isolates her hip. 

 Jody said that Christy's right side is a little weaker, so she tends to 

drag that side a little.  So in these pictures, Jody is trying to do exercises that isolate and work the right hip only to strengthen it.

Christy is strong, though.  Just guess what she did today!!  SHE WALKED TO EVERY SINGLE CLASS TODAY WITH THE WALKER!! Holy Moly!!!  We were so impressed when we heard that from Don.  And everyone at Craig is noticing too! Christy and Don have been there every day for the last two plus months, so they've gotten to know the people at Craig. They see how well Christy is doing and they complement her!! Chris walks down the hall and the nurses, other patients, docs, therapist... everyone is full of nice things to say!!  They love seeing Christy walking all over the place out of her wheelchair!  Christy 's endurance is really working its way up!  Christy wasn't as tired today as she was yesterday, and she was working it!!  Isn't that so incredible!!  She especially noticed the renewed energy in her legs!! 

During her second session of Occupational Therapy the OT started to put foam pads

 around her brush, toothbrush and lipstick.  They had done this with her fork during a previous session to help her grip the base better. Christy noticed immediately that she had a much better handle on things with the foam pads, so it was very helpful.  As you can see, Christy is brushing her own hair really well!! Go Christy!! You look awesome!! xoxo until tomorrow!

Monday, May 4, 2009

Christy's day started out well.... just like other mornings, Occupational therapy came to work with Chris on dressing herself.  She is getting more independent all the time. 

After OT she had PT for one hour. Donald encouraged Christy to use the walker to walk to PT instead of using her wheelchair today!!  They walked from Christy's room all the way down the hall to the gym/cafeteria!!  They bumped into their Physical Therapist, Jody,  as they were walking down the hall.  She was on her way to Christy's room to get them, so she joined them 

on their walk to the gym.  Jody and several other therapist, nurses and even patients commented on how well Christy was doing!!  They were so surprised to see her strolling down the hallway.  Don thought of stopping at the table near the nurses station on the way to the gym to give Chrsity a rest.  He thought she may even need to ride the rest of the way and thought 

about going back to her room to get her wheelchair.  Jody suggested to keep Christy going and even try to pick up the pace.  Once in the gym, Jody suggested that they try and put her on the 

treadmill to see if Christy could 

speed up her walking.   Christy did about 5 minutes on the treadmill at seed 1. She did great!

After walking on the treadmill, PT did allot of stretching exercises on the mat.  Since her seizure, Christy has been really tired.  She slept the entire day yesterday, only getting up to eat. 

PT must have really tired her out because she was exhausted during her next session which was speech therapy.  Christy could not even make it all the way through her speech therapy session. They also skipped the second session of OT.  After a long nap

 Chris was able to make it to her last speech session and her therapeutic recreation session.  

Therapeutic recreation is fun for Christy.  She's been doing a

n ongoing ceramic project that is a spitting image of NEMO!  Christy really enjoys arts and crafts time!

Christy really enjoyed her Monday massage at the end of the day.  After a hard day's therapy, it probably feels so good to get pampered.  

We are still working on Christy's progress with eating.  Her chewing continues to be a challenge for her.  Gaining perfect control of her tongue has been an ongoing battle as well as keeping enough calories on board so she doesn't loose any weight.  Donald still helps her to eat so it's a little more efficient.  It still takes about an hour to an hour and a half to eat one meal.  That adds up to around four and a half hours eating a day.  Craig therapy also wants her to get enough rest in between sessions so she can get the most out of them.  It's a full day everyday at Craig for both Christy and Donald.  Don remains a pillar of strength for Christy, as he is her support day and night.  Let's all send prayers and positive thoughts towards Don and Christy as they travel through these last few weeks at Craig.  

Mom Gail will be visiting again for the long weekend.  She leaves on Thursday and will spend mother's day with Christy and Don, Alan, and Luis.  She plans to return on Tuesday.  It is always so comforting to be around family when you're far from Home.

 We love you Chrsity & Don!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Hi everyone!  Today was a wonderful day in Colorado for Chris, Don, Alan, and Luis. Dosen't Christ look so BEAUTIFUL!

Alan and Luis picked up Christy and Don and took them back to the house for a lovely breakfast!  Luis pulled out his Chef skills and made the traditional Haole breakfast biscuits and gravy!!!  It was the first time Don actually ate biscuits and gravy, but he really enjoyed it and commented how delicious Luis made it.

 After breakfast, they all just hung out till about three 

O'clock and Luis suggested that they should take Chris out to get

 waxed.  They went to a salon called Antuan's.  Chrsity ended up getting waxed, plus enjoying a hair cut and 

color!!  There are a bunch of pictures here of Christy enjoying her services!!!  It must feel like heaven to get your hair done after not being able to go to the salon for so long!!   The lady in the red shirt with Chrsity and Don is the stylist who did Christy's hair!!

By the way, if you look closely on the hand that is holding Christy's soda, you'll see her "iheartchristy" pink bracelet.  

They are still available:   

Christy Huddy silicone wristbands for sale.
Pink, with embossed maroon writing.
$2.00 each ( all proceeds go to BOH iheartchristy fund ).
Contact Info:  CHRISTY JACOBSEN     EMAIL:  JLSCJ5@aol.com

After hair and waxing, they enjoyed a dinner at Haciendas!  Christy at an empanada-- Kaeo's favorite! 

When they got back to the hospital, Christy took her 9pm medications and went to bed.  About a half hour later, Christy threw up her medication again!  We're not sure why this keeps happening, but it's getting old.  Christy got her anti-nausea medication and was able to go to sleep.  The nurse called the doctor to see if he should give Christy all of her meds again.  When you take meds, and throw them up a half hour later, we're not sure how much of the medications were already absorbed.  The question is do you have half or all again.  It's not strait forward. Christy's KEPPRA - the seizure medication was in those meds. They don't want another seizure... so they gave her the medications again through the PEG.

Friday may 1, 2009

Just a heads up, but yesterday's post was adjusted with a little more accuracy.  There was some slight miscommunication, bu the "meat" of the story did not change.  Christy had a seizure, but has recovered and actually did very well today.  Christy started with speech therapy this morning which was combined with breakfast because Melea wanted to see Christy eating.  Both Melea and Donald agreed that Christy was dong an excellent job with eating this morning and controlling the muscles surrounding her mouth.  Christy showed considerable improvement from just a few days earlier.  kind of weird considering that she had the seizure in between, but awesome improvement nonetheless.

Christy then went in to 

PT where they spent very little time stretching this morning.  Just enough to

 get her loose for all of the walking they were going to put her through.  They spe

nt time trying to

 get a cane/walker that would be suitable for Christy at this point.  They started with a four-pronged can that Christy had trouble keeping flat.  If you cannot keep the four prongs flat to the ground, yo

u are going to have trouble using it.  They next tried the traditional cane, but Christy still had some trouble with it.  She finally felt best with the walker that you see in the picture.  So, they decided on that one and even put her name on it.

Following PT, she went in to another session  of OT where they worked on her vision and recognition of colors/shapes.  As you can see in the picture, they had her working on matching the certain shapes with the colors  o

n the board.  It is not a puzzle, but it conditions Christy and helps her recognition of the different colors.  She knows the colors and the shapes, but they are working on her vision in this one.  She also worked on the number card in which she had to call out each number that she could see.  Donald said she did very well on this despite the fact that she did not have her new glasses yet.

Donald picked up her new glasses today while Christy took a nap before heading into a second session of PT.  The new glasses helped Christy as she stated that on a scale of 1 to 10 in improving her vision, Christy gave it a five.  The exercises tied in to the new glasses should help her increase that 5 to a 10 with some work.

During her final session of the day, she spent some time in the standing frame and doing some bench press.  As you can see in the picture, her range of motion has gotten a lot 

better since the steroid shot 

she received recently.  According to Donald, she has increased her range of motion a ton.

In addition to all of the rehab, Christy also showed incredible gains in independent movements that her and Donald had been working on.  Christy was able to shower and brush her hair 90% on her own today.  Donald gave her very little help and Christy did great.  She is also brushing her own her again which was a challenge for her up until recently.  Christy also walked without assistance pretty much all over the apartment today.  Christy and Donald are just trying to work on the muscle memory side.  Christy has decided that she realy wants to be doing everything on her own and has been working very hard to do so.

Mind over matter and Christy definitely has a strong mind.  Keep it up Christy and I am sure I speak for everyone when I say that we cannot wait to have you back home in a little over three weeks.