Visit with Marty Jan. 31, 2010

January 31, 2010:

When we arrived shortly after noon, Marty was sound asleep. She did open her eyes for us quite a bit, but we didn't witness any emotion behind them this time.

The boys showed her their Batman action figures and Wesley told her a few stories about his recent activities from preschool. She mumbled a few unintelligible words, but they seemed to be random rather than in response to us. Dad says she is spending most of her time in bed now, unable to hold up her head any longer. It's hard to believe she will be 60 next month.

After our visit with Mom, we headed over to Dad's house for some pizza and fun. He gave the boys their Christmas presents and read their new books to them. We enjoyed a great time with him.

Family update

Wow, it's been a long few weeks, with a toddler in a cast and passing multiple viruses around since school started. Owen had flu-like symptoms, Wes had strep-throat, and we all seem to be catching one thing after another. Then Owen had what we believe is an allergic reaction to penicillin and is still recovering from that. But we are all hanging in there, determined to see this through and assured that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I wanted to post these two adorable videos of the boys, with Owen running around in his cast, just 8 days after it was put on. This, too, shall pass.... and we will be stronger for having endured it.

Make sure to turn on your sound to hear the boys' voices. :)

Be on the lookout - we have some exciting plans for our 2010 Memory Walk letters. We just have to get Owen out of that cast before we can pursue our grand ideas!!! Hopefully we'll be able to make a trip to see Grandma Marty next week, assuming we are all feeling better. We've really missed our visits.

World Alzheimer's Day & Owen's cast

Aside from the obvious importance of World Alzheimer's Day to our family, September 21st was an extra memorable day for us. It was the day our 2 year old son, Owen, got his very first cast.

Here's what led up to the cast... Saturday, September 19th, we were getting ready to head to the children's storytime at our local library. Fall storytimes just started up again, so the boys were eager to see the Rock Star Ms. Michelle (as we refer to her) lead the FUN story session. We were even going to meet some friends there for added fun. About 10-15 minutes before we were going to leave, Jeff and I were finishing getting ourselves ready to go and the boys were playing on the crib mattress we keep on our bedroom floor. This is a regular game for the boys - they call the mattress their "boat" and also like to pile up pillows all around it for a little obstacle course. Good clean fun. Occasionally (ok, more often than I want to admit) there is a laundry basket and/or pile of clean clothes needing to be folded next to the little mattress. The boys love to roll around in the clean clothes, but usually I ask them not to. They were participating in all of the above activities in the 15 minutes before we were leaving for the library. I peeked in to make sure they were ok as I continued getting ready in the adjoined bathroom. Then I heard a low thump, and Owen wailed. I stepped into the room and saw the laundry basket was flipped upside down on top of the crib mattress and Wes was standing on top of it, waiting for his turn to leap into the pile of clothes on the floor. I helped him down and stepped toward Owen just as Jeff arrived to help. I asked Jeff to take him and put some ice on what looked like a bruise on his ankle, give him some tylenol, and see if he would feel better in a few minutes so we could go. That way I would be ready in time, too. When it was time to leave, Owen was still crying. We knew that wasn't a good sign for him. We tried to get him to stand up but he shrieked in pain. We put more ice on it and a band-aid (it wasn't bleeding, but sometimes a band-aid magically makes boo-boo's better, especially for Owen.) That didn't work either. We decided to try distraction so he could calm down. We decided to go to the later storytime so we could deal with Owen as needed. We took a ride in the truck with a dvd playing so he would stop crying. I needed some sinus medication from the pharmacy anyway, so we ran a quick errand and came back home to reevalute his condition. Since he had calmed down, we tried to get him to stand and walk a short distance between us. However, he would not put any weight on it at all. By this time, almost an hour had passed since the initial injury. It looked like he must have twisted or sprained his ankle for sure. I was wondering how in the heck we would be able to keep him off his feet for it to heal, as I was sure the doctor would recommend. We scheduled an appointment with our Pediatrician, where we were sure they would also perform an x-ray to diagnose his injury. Instead of lugging both boys, insisting Wes cooperate while we nurtured Owen, I suggested Jeff take Owen to the doctor while I took Wes on a special "date" to the library, just the two of us. Wes and I had a blast together, and after storytime I got a text message from Jeff asking me to call him. "Bridg, it's BROKEN," he told me. "WHAT??? OH MY GOD - you're kidding me...." was my response. The break was just above his ankle on his left leg. My heart sank. I told Jeff we'd meet him at the hospital, where Owen would get his temporary cast. I could hardly believe this was happening. I dragged Wes screaming out of the library (because he really wanted to check out some books but we didn't have time.) When we got to the hospital Owen was napping in Daddy's arms. They were about to repeat the x-rays to provide an additional view, showing if he would need any surgery. Thankfully, a simple cast would be enough - no surgery and the bone was not broken completely through - just a hairline fracture in a spiral pattern. When he had landed, the momentum twisted his foot too far, causing his bone to fracture. The nurses were so sweet and good with him. He has the cutest little hospital stuffed-bear now. They wrapped his leg in a temporary cast with an ace bandage and told us to keep him off of it. We were instructed to call the Pediatric Orthopedic Doctor on Monday morning to get an appointment for his cast. And follow up with his regular pediatrician in 3 days. The ER doctor gave us a prescription for tylenol with codeine in case the Motrin did not control Owen's pain. Go figure - my deduction is that toddlers who land themselves in casts like ours tend to have a high tolerance for pain (thus, less fear of getting hurt.)

Monday morning after the ER visit was World Alzheimer's Day. We took Owen to the Pediatric Orthopaedic doctor, where he was given a nice blue cast from his mid-thigh to his toes (complete with a bend at the knee and at the toes.) To celebrate his cast and honor Grandma Marty & Great Grandma Shedd, we ate lunch at the nearby California Pizza Kitchen. A percentage of our check went toward our Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. The boys and I said the Grandma Marty prayer-poem that night, too. What a journey!!!

World Alzheimer's Day 09.21.09

In honor of World Alzheimer's Day, our family will be enjoying pizza from California Pizza Kitchen, where 20% of our check will benefit the Alzheimer's Association.

We'll be dining at the Wellington Green mall location. We hope to see lots of familiar faces that day! Here is a link with the info from CPK:

http://www.alz.org/seflorida/in_my_community_17506.asp

Small gestures like this one make for a big difference for us all!

A Prayer Poem for Marty

Last night while I was multi-tasking through some housework, a little poem popped into my head - very spontaneously. I immediately ran for my journal and wrote it down.

The rhythm is reminiscent of "Now I lay me down to sleep...," a prayer Mom taught me when I was around Wesley's age. We would recite it every night before bed, on our knees at my bedside.

I began teaching last night's surprise-gift poem to the boys today with some simple signs, and they adore it. We will say it everyday now, and we will say it for Grandma Marty next visit (and every visit from now on.)

Prayer Poem for Marty

Bless you, Marty.
Bless your soul.
Bless you and
Your heart of gold.

We will love you
Night and day,
And for you
We love to pray.

Amen.

Recent visits with Marty & the butterfly blanket

The last two Wednesdays, August 26th and September 2nd, I took the boys to visit "Grandma Marty" at her assisted living facility in Port St. Lucie, FL. Owen and I picked up Wesley from VPK (pre-K) and snuck in a quick lunch each day before the hour-long trek to Grandma Marty's.
During both visits, Mom's appearance was good. Her hair was combed, her clothes were clean, and there were no strange odors in the home. Since we visited just after lunch, she was sound asleep both times. Although disappointing on one level, it did allow the boys the confidence to give her sweet arm & foot rubs. The boys did not have to attempt to elicit any type of response from her - they could simply acquaint themselves with giving her affection, which is a new endeavor for them. I was so proud of them for making that leap.

Marty's general health seemed well. She has experienced more seizures randomly, and the medication doesn't seem to affect how often she gets them. She is confined to a wheelchair now and occasionally has difficulty with swallowing. Like anyone else, there are good days and bad days. But she is relatively comfortable and in good hands. Her environment is loving, gentle, and upbeat.

Dad joined us yesterday, also. He mentioned she has been sleeping more, in general. The boys and I were glad to see him since it's been awhile.

This week, we decided to make Grandma Marty a no-sew fleece blanket for her lap. When I asked Wesley what kind of fabric we should use, he answered without hesitation, "Butterflies with blue." Since he was so confident, we went to the fabric store. Sure enough, the boy chose the prettiest purple fleece with butterflies embroidered on it and a blue fleece as the 2nd layer. After a few minor disasters in my first no-sew-fleece-blanket-making attempt, it turned out nicely. I got a sweet little photo of the boys placing it on Grandma Marty's lap proudly. I told each boy as they went to bed last night, "You did such a great job picking out the fabric for Grandma Marty's blanket. I know it is something she would really love and appreciate. I'll bet she is snuggling with it right now just like you are snuggling your blanket." A huge smile of pride and love bubbled onto each boy's face. How very special!!!

*****

The boys have always been a "hit" with the other residents. Wes seems to have a real gift for talking with Alzheimer's-affected people. The first few times he is asked a repeat-question, he will hesitate and look at me as if to ask, "Didn't she just ask me that two minutes ago?" Then you can watch him formulate what is going on, the bewilderment vanishes from his face, and he slips into answering every question as if it were the first time he ever heard it. What a remarkable ability for a four year old to possess. Owen tends to stay in-arms the first five to ten minutes, but then he gains his confidence and interacts with everyone, always cracking them up with his hilarious big-boy phrases and swinging toddler moods. I know it is a blessing for them to experience this environment a such a tender age. Why shelter them from life, or approaching-end-of-life, for that matter? What a journey for us all....

Mother's Day 2009

Mother's Day was an eventful weekend for us this year. The Thursday night before, I had driven back home to help Jeff prepare our newly remediated and renovated home for the boys' arrival. I spent the first two nights away from my sons! (We used this physical separation to wean Owen from nursing.)

The movers came on Friday and helped us empty the cargo container in our driveway full of our belongings into our home. It was a long and busy day, but felt so nice to be back in our own home. We did a lot of sorting and cleaning on Saturday morning, then it was time to pick up our boys from the Port Saint Lucie Turnpike Service Plaza from their grandparents.

It was a sweet reunion with lots of excitement. It was, however, sad to say goodbye to Jeff's parents who we had been staying with over the last few months during our mold ordeal. They really helped us out in so many ways and it was tough to part with them.


Next, we met my dad at Mom's assisted living facility in Port St. Lucie. Apparently, Hospice had been there examining her just before we arrived and she was exhausted. We really couldn't even get her to open her eyes. I have never really seen her so unresponsive. It was discouraging, but I also accept we will see more of this happening as time passes.

Mother's Day is a bittersweet time for me. I am a happy and fulfilled Mommy on one hand, and I miss my own Mom on the other. I am also blessed with a wonderful mother-in-law who helps me in so many ways. So grateful for Jeff's mom!