Tuesday, May 31st

Wow, I am pooped! I had a full day of sessions. In occupational therapy, I had to stand up and fold a small basket of clothes. Right away the therapist told me that I was cheating by leaning against the table. I had to stand on my own while folding the clothes...well, that was interesting. I was wobbling and swaying all over the place, it felt like I was dancing, lol. It took me 7 min 40 secs to complete the task. Gues what James will be doing for a while :-)

Physical therapy was entertaining as well.I had to walk down the hallway using the rail (and a lot of assistance from the therapist). Next, I was hooked up to a pulley system in the ceiling. They placed a velcro vest around me and attached the wires to the pulley. They entered my weight, minus 20 lbs, and set it to catch me if I fall 6 inches. I had to walk, on my own, quite a distance - that was so scary. They kept telling me to lean to my left, but I just couldn't figure out how to. They placed a mirror in front of me & all I could do was laugh - I was leaning so far to the right, I looked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

On a good note though, I can pretty much open my right eye all the way now. I still have double vision, but at least it is progress.

James is still holding down the homefront & visiting me daily. Joshua & Matt droppeed by & my sister Stacey came down from Maryland. She is going to help James shop for some items that I will need once I come home. My other sister, Kim, is going to come down when I come home, she is going to help me with the transistion.

The Warren family stopped by for a visit - I cannot believe that they did that on Jodie's last day before he leaves. I am truly honored - what a great family! Please keep them all in you prayers while Jodie is overseas!

Tomorrow, my team of doctors, nurses & therapists will meet to discuss my projected timeframe for completing in-patient therapy. So hopefully by tomorrow night, I'll have an idea when I may go home.

Monday, May 30th.

Well, today is mine & James' 9th anniversary, not exactly my ideal way to spend it :-(
James came by & gave me a beautiful anniversary card & some watermelon :-)))))
I had a wonderful visit from Alan & Robbi Foster. I am truely honored to have such great family & friends!

I didn't sleep very well last night, but hopefully tonight will be different. I had one hour of physical therapy & it kicked my butt; didn't too well walking today with my wobbly legs. I was a little frustrated, but realized that I am just beginning. Full therapy starts back tomorrow, maybe that will get my rear in gear!

I am usually always a happy, cheerful person....but for some reason today, out of the blue,  I caught myself shedding a tear once or twice today. I just wanted to kick myself! Just wanted to share my thoughts.. I'm really ok & don't want anyone to worry about me = honestly!  I'm going to have good moments & bad moments, EVERYbody does. As long as the good moments far outweigh the bad ones, I'll  breeze right through this!

Sunday, May 29th

Today was a "free" day, I did not have any scheduled sessions. Even so, I am still exhausted at the end of the day. I was a little wobbly today, I guess some days will be better than others. I had some great visitors today, which kept me going. James spent the 1st half of the day with me, then Jamie & Jessica stopped by. Butch Pearson & Debbie Bell surprised me by handing me a framed photo of Mollie & me during our visit yesterday. It's sitting on my window sill where I can easily see it :-)
To top things off, my friend Debbie Tate stopped by = she gave me an incentive to recover quickly...before the end of July. Keep those prayers coming!!!

Saturday, May 28th

It's Shelly again...
Today started off much better & ended GREAT! I had Occupational Therapy at 7am, then breakfast. James stopped by and bought me new sweatpants & v-neck shirts, he can actually shop, lol. He also bought me a container of watermelon (which I think was SUPPOSED to last a day or two) and rolled me out to the garden to get fresh air. The watermelon was so good, I ate every bit of it...oink, oink. I was supposed to go to group therapy at 11am, but ran into a little trouble (to disgusting to mention here) and missed the session = oh well, there is plenty more were they came from!
Joshua and Matt stopped by for a few hours :-) Karla Gerner stopped by and brought me some homemade chocolate chip cookies & strawberry salad - yumm-o!!!  Susan Watson & Karla Hartle surprised me with more goodies - Susan packed a picnic bag full of wine glasses and 2 bottles of sparkling juice, and she gave me some chocolate from Trader Joes :-) Karla made an awesome Get Well Soon poster (I'll take a pic of it tomorrow) and a Skittles bouquet! James, Keith, and Michelle stopped by & brought Mollie!!!! I have missed her so much & it was great to be able to hold her! I wish that Zack could have come too, but right now Mollie is quite a handfull. I am so thankful to have the best family & friends anyone could ever ask for. I love you all!!!!

James got promoted!

Yup, this is Shelly.... I'm going to try again to post something. I just wanted to say how proud I am of James for being promoted to Lt! In the middle of everything going on with me, he managed to pull it together for the interview panel. He was debating whether or not if he should even go... I gave him a gentle shove :-)
James has been my rock, waiting on me hand & foot. It's good that he cannot stay the night with me since I moved to rehab. He needs thbose "sanity" hours! Consider kidnapping him in the evening, make him get out & have fun! I feel horrible that we cannot go celebrate his promotion now. Hopefully, one day in the near future, we will be able to celebrate.

Sheltering Arms Day 1

       May 27th was Shelly's first day of boot camp.  She did not have a great start to the day.  They came and got her at 8:30, told her to get dressed because she was late for breakfast.  Then she was pushed in the wheelchair to the front of the mirror so she could brush her teeth.  The nurse said she would be back in a minute, 45 minutes later a doctor found her.  She fell asleep in the wheelchair.  There were a lot of sessions of physical therapy and speech therapy.  She said she got a 100 percent on everything and they said she was very intelligent.  "LOL boy do I got them fooled"  Shelly can still only swallow a little bit.  It turns out that trying to learn how to walk again is not very fun.  They had her walk down the hallway holding the guardrail. "That was scary"  She can stand if she leans on something.  She was in sessions from 7 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon.
     
      "I get to sit at the special table at lunch"  Mr. Morris and Shelly both sit at the special table in the dining hall because they need supervision.  "It was a shocker the first time she ate there because everybody was at least 70 and I'm the baby.  Its really cool watching people graduate.  They talk about going home and the older men flirt with the nurses"  James came down and they went downstairs and got some blackberries and ate them in the garden.  Shelly has a roommate and she is quite the snore machine.  Although it started out bad, the day got better and she says that she will learn a lot, but has a long road ahead of her.   "I want to thank everybody for the flowers and the cards"  She tried to type all of this up yesterday but after 30 minutes of typing it didn't take so I am trying to recreate it. 


     Shelly is really excited because Molly will be visiting this afternoon.  She will have a lot to update after the visit from her favorite pug.
Update by Matt

All Moved In To Sheltering Arms

The gateway to boot camp

Shelly's Flowers



Shelly's Flowers w/ clocktower



Its going to be very tough for the next week but we all know that Shelly can do it.  She is going to have a set schedule of at least three hours of physical therapy a day.  All her meal times are also set. 

Moving Day

Shelly is moving today to physical therapy.  Its called Sheltered Arms and its one step closer to home.  She is a little worried because we have been told that it isn't a private room.  There is liberal visiting hours, but we probably won't be able to stay overnight.  Some good news is that one of the nurses told us that there is a patio that she can sit and visit with Molly.  Should be there for several weeks.  More updates as they become available.


Matt

Shelly Tries to Escape

  Shelly still has not spoken to her neurologist yet, but the results of her MRI were posted on the computer and looked stable.  She has been cleared for physical therapy.  The blood doctor came in last night and took blood and it will take two weeks to come back.  The physical therapist came in this morning.  They have been following her case for two days and can't wait for her to come over.  They have her schedule all planned out for her.  Five hours a day of grueling physical and occupational therapy.  She is ready to meet the challenge.  "As long as they got good drugs"  While she is in this room they are coming in a few minutes each day.  This morning they took her in the hallway.  She had an american flag belt on that they used to help stable her while she was walking.  She thought she was going to just walk to the door and when they opened it she says her heart about dropped.  Of course she did great.  She walked about twenty feet and was dog tired when she got back. 




First time in the hallway without being on a gurney





Ready to get back to bed until next time

Update by Matt, photography by James

Busy Morning

  Shelly has been visited by numerous nurses and doctors this morning.  Just when it looks like sleep is possible another one comes on in.  She had another MRI this morning and got back just in time for her breakfast.  In the middle of breakfast a fire alarm went off and asked all visitors and nonessential employees to exit the building.  Josh and I just pretended not to hear it.  We just got the all clear on the fire.  30 seconds later it is going off again.  Waiting for the results of the MRI to determine when Shelly can start her physical therapy.  Another day in the life ...  We will update when we hear any news.


update provided by Matt

Monday May 23rd

Last night was a rough night again. Coughing and lots of hiccups. Just as Shelly was falling asleep at 7am she was brought down for another CAT scan. She said the dye they injected for the scan burned really bad and made her scream. She was then brought back up to the room and received more shots. Shelly was feeling really rough this morning and was dizzy and sick.  As the day went on she started feeling better and is now feeling pretty good.  Shelly received flowers today from the Warren family and Peterson family. She had great company today that lifter her spirits. Her sons Jamie and Joshua, Mother-in-law Barbara and Niece Laura baby sit her while James ran a few errands today. Family friend Karla Gerner stopped by with a huge bag full of goodies. Shelly's doctor wanted her to wear a gauze patch with tape over her right eye to help with the double vision but hurts her face really bad. Her friend Susan stopped by to visit and brought her an eye patch that they both got from a beer festival last year and she said it works perfectly and has no pain with it on.

Shelly and Susan with there eye patches on! The patches say Aargh!

Good Day

Jamie combed the knots out of Shelly's head and he also brought her the next best thing closest to Mollie which is a stuffed animal pug!

Shelly with Jamie and Mollie Jr.

Mac N Cheese

Shelly with a full plate

She is tearing up her lunch.  She said that all of this eating is making her hungry. 

More Good News

  The doctor came in and said that Shelly can be put on a soft diet.  Hopefully solid foods will soon follow.  She looks and feels much better.  We are all very happy.  Wallenberg's Sydrome is what she has been going through as a result of the stroke.  It is a neurological condition caused by a stroke in the vertebal or posterior inferior cerebellar artery of the brain stem.  There is a long recovery timeline, but Shelly says she is going to cut that in half.  The doctor expects Shelly to make a near to full recovery within a year.  She is moving around a lot better which is awesome.

Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts.

Finally got some food !!!

Shelly was able to eat some popsicles.  Watch out skittles, your next.

Bye Bye ICU !!!

Excellent news today.  Shelly has moved from ICU back the fourth floor.  She tried to eat an ice chip and was able to swallow.  Then she stepped her game up and ate two popsicles.  "Yee-haw !!! I'm so excited" It is the first thing she has had to eat in three days.  It looks like no feeding tube.  We were able to bring her flowers back into the room.  She is happy about the view and the fact that she has a real bathroom. 

Saturday Updates

                                          Shelly with her new hairstyle

Shelly with all her gizmos overhead

Shelly is very happy because she got a bath and her hair washed.  Nurse Clara gave her the bath early this morning and also put some good smelling lotions on her. She also put pigtails in Shelly's hair.  Last night James got into trouble for walking without shoes from a scary nurse.  Today guess who Shelly's nurse is ... thats right, one and the same.  She is actually a very great nurse but has given me a hard time about being a Cowboys fan.  Shelly is still having trouble swallowing.  They are giving her a Monday deadline before they put in a feeding tube.  We are still very hopeful that she will be able to swallow before it gets to that.  Shelly says she will be eating skittles by Monday.

2nd day of Physical Therapy

  Aunt Shelly is getting ready to start her second day of physical therapy.  It is great to see her moving around a little bit.  She is looking a lot better.   Right now doctors are keeping an eye on her white blood cell count because of a risk for infection.  Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.  We read her your comments from the blog and facebook every day.  We will be posting more pictures shortly.  Life is not about how fast you run or how high you climb but how well you bounce.  We are all praying that she bounces back soon.  Jamie, Josh and I will continue to keep you posted through facebook and the blog.

Shelly sitting in a recliner now with her son Jamie

Shelly sitting with her pride and joys look at that smile!



Shelly with her sister Stacey and nephew Matt




Shelly with James and her sister Stacey




Shelly with her son Joshua



Friday Update

 

The two pics that Shelly wanted me to take and post. The first is a white board message in her room that I wrote a message on to the ICU team and of course the second is her special loving caring husband James.  I can not say enough about this man.  He truly is one of the finest men that I have known and he LOVES my sister and we love him for loving her and taking such good care of her.  You can not get any better than James Crowder -he is her healing power.
Right now she is sleeping a lot due to the increase of the stronger medication.  Still not able to swallow and she can not feel her left arm and leg and the right side of her face. She will continue to stay in the ICU until she is stable and then return to the PCC unit.
We thank everyone for all the love and support. I do read her all of your comments from her Face Book page and also the post to this blog.  She does enjoy hearing them. If you wish to send her a card - Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center 13710 St. Francis Boulevard Midlothian, VA  23114. At this time she can not have any flowers but when she returns to the PCC unit (hopefully soon) then she will.

Scary night

The stroke team was called in again tonight about an hour and a half ago and she was moved to the icu where she will be for a while so they can keep a closer watch on her.  The doctor told her that people usually have one or two complications with this type of stroke and that she has had everything on the list that could go wrong so all she can do now is get better bc she has had it all.  She is still asking for skittles but she cant have anymore until she can swallow again.

8:30pm Update

Today Shelly is experiencing additional swelling and bad headaches.  The neurologist will be coming back in tonight to discuss the results of her CTA scan that was done today.  It is becoming difficult for her to swallow and speak.  They are working on getting her stable before they can discuss with everyone the plans for her rehab.  James, Jamie, Josh, nephew Matt, and sisters Kim and Stacey continue to stay by her side.  Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.  We are reading to her everyones comments on here as well as facebook so she is aware of what everyone is saying.  Today we painted her toe nails bright pink and orange.  We also put her hair in a pigtail pom-pom. We have posted a picture of her toes, her with her pigtail, and picture of the bell tower at the hospital.  We showed Shelly and got permission to post all the pictures.

Surgery

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 Shelly arrived @ Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center to have a spinal fusion of C5-7. Surgery was successful but complecations quickly arose and Shelly had a medullar brain stem stroke @ 1:00 PM Wednesday, May 18th. James was with her and the stroke team was quickly called. The stroke appears to have affected her right side of her face, arm and leg.  Today it also affected her left arm and leg.  At this time she is not able to stand or walk without full assistance but she is able to eat.  Last night she tasted the rainbow and had a bag of skittles.  The staff @ St. Francis has been spectular!