Hospital Updates, and AGGIE FOOTBALL 2014

Monday
Dean had a visit today with his Internal Disease doctor, numbers are all down, he's right on track!  There was some concern in the beginning since his numbers started so high that the ID Doctor thought it would take longer than estimated (6 weeks).  If his numbers continue to come down like this, may get off the IV dripps (BIG maybe, just a hint of maybe) mid to late next week (1st week of September).

Dale came over to help Dean get his macbook and Linda's iPad ready to do face time so if Linda and Durwood just wanna chat face to face, the can!  Thanks Dale for helping out!

We "had dinner" together (google hangouts, told you technology is awesome).  Jake is having issues acting up when we try to video and he completely looses any self control and does all kinds of misbehaving.  We are trying a "behavior chart" and he needs to keep it on "green".  It is starting to work, let's hope we can contain this bad and ignoring behavior.

Tuesday
We learned that his blood test numbers are still looking good.  We got unofficial news that when the IVs stop, he can go home.  However, it may be up to his wound doctor (at Memorial Herman - GREAT doctor really!)  He may suggest him stay a little longer to check him out since it will be difficult to get him back to Memorial Herman once we go home.  And, once we do go home, we may be able to rent one of the sand beds he's been using.  They are noisy, but they are effective.

Jake and I went to the hospital and had dinner.  A miracle!  Dean had Chicken fried steak that was actually pretty good!  Jake spent most of the time playing with his cars and play dough.  Good kid.

Wednesday
The unofficial news about coming home in a week is starting to be more official.  This is good news, but he will still need several weeks of down time for all the skin to heal properly.  He will continue to require the wound vac at home, not sure how long.

Durwood is doing well, he may come home as early as Sept 9th, but this causes issues as there are some logistics with their current home that may need to change.

Jake and I stayed home this evening.  Jake watered the grass for us, and the truck, and the chair I was sitting in, and himself.  We had a nice dinner of Chicken N' Biscuits while we "hung out" with daddy on the computer.  Homework and ABCMouse.com, then off to bath/bed routine.  He did really great tonight.

Thursday
Started off good, Dean had a few visitors today, Brian came to see him at lunch, and Doug & Stacy stopped by after seeing Durwood at TIRR.  Jake and I brought up some "Football Food" - Cheeseburger bites and Boneless buffalo wings from Wing Stop - original hot, plane with honey mustard, mild, and Hawaiian.  They are so good at Wing Stop!

The big news of the day of course is that the Fighting Texas Aggies BTHO South Carolina - 52 to 28!!! Apparently NOBODY in the sports world picked the Aggies to win.  Now they know what all of us have know for years!  Never underestimate the Aggies!!!  I don't know what Coach Sumlin feeds his quarterbacks, but I hope he has plenty!  WHOOP!

Also, I just want to say that it pleased me to no end to see Ricky Seals-Jones do so well in the game, AND that he was wearing #9!  He's from my hometown Sealy, Texas, and I knew his Uncle (his namesake) Ricky Seals.  Seals was a star football player (and wore #9) and a track star who qualified for the State Track Meet as a sophomore in the 100m.  Unfortunately just after the Regional qualifying track meet, he was in a fatal car wreck.  It was a really terrible and sad day.  I'm just proud his legacy is continuing with his nephew AND it's just an added bonus he's an Aggie!  Gig 'em Ricky!

(from Sports Yahoo.com)

AND, the ASTROS won 2 to 4 agains the Rangers!  YES!  Let's Go Stros!
However, I'm pretty sad that the Texans lost to 40 to 13.  I sure hope we can pull off a better season than last year, and definitely better than the pre-season.

Friday
So, with moving to the new room, the staffing issues have returned.  And, I'm sure it's going to be really HORRIBLE this weekend since it's a holiday weekend.  He has not had the same Nurse/CNA two days in a row for the whole week.  We did find out that if they don't have enough staff for a shift, they get staff "from the agency" or other Kindred's in the Houston Area, as they did last night.  These staff members are not as skilled or apparently don't know the basics of human communication.  Not sure what's going on there.

I got off work early so I did some grocery shopping and got Jake early and headed out to the hospital. We enjoyed dinner - some bbq sandwiches,  and some extra time together. We just relaxed and watched some tv.  We are so ready for him to come home!!! Hopefully next week!  

HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY WEEKEND! !!

Jake had SNAKE for Breakfast this week!!! :) 

 I love pinterest!

Watering the grass and washing the truck.

Learning after Dinner - ABCMouse.com

The Weekend ... Again

Friday went well as you saw in the last post.  Jake and I got to come up and spend the evening with him.  My mother left for a while so she could be with her hubby, and do his laundry! :)  She has been such a great help to us!  Thanks again Mommy/Queeine/Kat!  We enjoyed a dinner of left over night.  Pork roast from a friend of Dean's Aunt Kat, thank you Kitty!! This was some good pork!  I had some Quinoa and chicken, trying other sources of protein.  Dean likes it, I LOVE IT!  Jake thinks its ok.

Saturday it was getting really warn in his room.  Last weekend it was the whole floor and the staff said it was because it was so hot outside.  Good thing we got that fan for him, kept him cooler.  It was a lazy day, we enjoyed lunch together and then Jake looked sleepy, so he curled up on my lap and fell asleep.  I did manage to get up and put him in the chair next to his daddy and they both slept for two full hours!  The wake up was not good, total meltdown!  I offered him some chips and he settled down.  He later said "when I woke up I was hungry but didn't want to tell you and that's why I cried."  I said, "Well, silly, if you tell me, I can help you!" :)   He said "next time I will."  Next time, he says that a lot! 

After the nap and a snack, Jake and I went to see Durwood at TIRR and had a nice video chat with him and Dean while the speech therapist was there. That is until my phone battery died.  :(  Durwood was doing well this weekend, not sure if he is looking forward to the rigorous rehab schedule he will have at TIRR.  At least 3 hours of rehab followed by over an hour of speech therapy a day!  I tried to tell him the more he does, the faster he will get better and be able to go home!  Linda is worried about the drive, parking, and the schedule as well.  It costs to park at TIRR, where it doesn't at Kindred and it didn't at ICON in Humble.

I brought up what we like to call "AWESOME SAUCE" for dinner!  Its "Hormel Roast Beef in Gravy" and "Bob Evans original mashed potatoes".  Three minutes of each in the microwave and you have a hearty awesome sauce meal.  Of course served with cracker barrel cheese!  We also enjoyed some salad and veggies and fruit.  Good meal, a family favorite quick meal.  Those Bob Evans potatoes are really good!  If I'm not making the mashed potatoes myself, I use those instead of instant flakes. Those flakes are Yuck! 

Saturday night I got a call at 11:30 pm from Kindred, I absolutely FLEW out of bed, picked up the phone and tried to not sound panicked.  The lady said "Is this Dayna Au Au aud audrich?"  I said calmly "Yes" but was totally a duck on water!  She started talking slower, I swear!  "I'm calling....for Dean Audirsch......He uh, oh, well, um yeah.  He was moved to another room since the AC in his room broke."  My heart was pounding in my throat!  But, took a breath and said, okay, thanks!  So, he was moved to a new room because his AC went out.  No wonder it was so hot!  Whew!  Turns out Dean wanted to call me, and asked the nurse to help him.  Instead of using the phone in his room (or his cell phone) she said "ok, be right back" (nurse talk for not coming back until your call light is on) and she called me from the nurse's desk.  Dean did get confused when she left and didn't come back, and apologized to me the next morning, not that it was needed, but he wanted to tell me so I wouldn't freak out, which of course I did.

Sunday, his new room is so much better!  He's just a few doors down so he has the same view of the parking garage of Prairie View A&M Hospital (just a wall), but at least it is cool and comfortable.  Ya know, if they would just have LISTENED TO US in the first place that the AC was broken!!!

So, Jake and I ate breakfast and then went to Walmart for lunch/dinner stuff.  When I came out and was packing the cooler, a big ole migraine hit!  DOH!  We went to the hospital and found out Dean didn't sleep too well - moving rooms and getting a new staff.  We are hoping we don't have to "start over" with new staff.  That is really difficult on Dean.

Linda, Dean's mom came by to help with Jake while we did some things then visited with Dean a short bit so she could get over to TIRR to see Durwood.  It's only about a 2 minute drive, could walk it but it's too DANG HOT outside!

Later that afternoon, I took Jake to Target to look at the toys and get some migraine medicine.  BC Powder now comes in Cherry flavor!  NICE!  He picked out two or three toys before settling on one - a spiderman motorcycle with action figure.  He was trying to choose between a talking hulk action figure, hulk "mashers" where the parts come apart and you can swap them with other similar toys (think captain america with a hulk arm), and Bumble Bee - transformer.  We had Bumble Bee in his hands and he said, mommy!  Mommy!  MOMMMMMMYYYYY!  I think I want the spider man toy.  So, we got that one!  Turned out to be a great decision, he LOVES IT!

And, WOW, it was FREAKISHLY HOT outside!  Heard later it got over 100 degrees on Sunday.  It was actually hard to breath out there!  Glad we stayed indoors!

After we got back from Target, Jake played with new toy and hot wheels then watched a few episodes of Umi Zoomi while laying with his Daddy (good Daddy Son time!) and I got to take a nap while the meds kicked in.  They did finally after a few hours, then I fixed dinner, Jake LOVES Chef Boyardee ravioli, but then again what kid (or adult for that matter) doesn't? Then, we headed home a little earlier than normal.

Jake had no nap on Sunday, and he feel asleep in the car on the way home.  We got home at 7pm and he barely woke up enough to get out of the car and into bed!  I just took off his shoes, let him sleep in his clothes, and he slept until 7am the next morning.  Takes a lot to play with Lego's, Yoda and a light saber, hot wheels, and watch Umi Zoomi, and play with spider man's motorcycle!

Let's hope the next couple of weeks go by fast!

Napping selfie.  I actually took this to see if he was sleeping or not. :)

Dean and Jake slept, so I did my toes!  :)  I love hot pink toes!

 

Jake making himself at home at the hospital, Lego's, Daddy's phone (cute the rope is his favorite game) and Yoda teaching him the was of the force! :)

So, Dean's new room is further down the hall from where he was.  One end of the building faces Rice University, and there's a nice waiting room with a TV and a microwave and water/ice machine.  We go there to look at the cars and watch people exercise in this awful heat!

The Other End, that's a different story.  It's apparently their floor's "storage".  Here's proof.  Look at all this stuff!  Oh, and there were about 10 floor fans here, not sure why the nursing staff "did't know where they kept the fans" last weekend when the AC started going out.

Four Weeks in

Wow, it's been 4 weeks!  The time seems to be going fast and slow at the same time!  I'm very grateful for my Mother spending so much time helping Dean while I'm at work.  She is doing so much for us!  And, she is really loving seeing Jake so much.

Updates!!!
Dean is doing well, we finally have established that Dean needs good care, not nurses/techs that "don't care".  He has had pretty consistent help this last week, which we believe all his discussions with the doctors and the supervisors has finally paid off.  The food is still HORRIBLE, but he has found a few things he likes and found out he can do "write ins" when they have the bad food, stuff like chef salad and hamburgers and hot dogs can be written in anytime.  it also helps that My mother has been bringing stuff with her for him and I've made a few frozen breakfast items so he can have some home cooking.

Thursday, Dean's doctor (from Memorial Herman) came to Kindred to check things out, and we found out that one spot is healing very nicely, but part of the other spot is not healing, but at least half of it is.  He has suggested a Wound Vac, to be put on Monday.  He wanted to wait until after Dean's follow up with his surgeon on Friday.

Friday, he had a follow up with his surgeon.  He agreed with the wound doctor so wound vac it is. The good news is that the spot in question isn't very big so they are hopeful. And instead of waiting til Monday they put the vac on Friday afternoon.  Just means faster healing.

Durwood is doing well as well, he has moved out of the ICU and they are planning on moving him to TIRR in the medical center. From Linda:

Tues night-8/19/14 Durwood was moved out of ICU at ICON Hosp. and into a regular room. Baby steps each day. He is trying a little more each day to speak albeit still a raspy whisper. Do not know how long he will remain at this stage before he is transferred to a rehab hosp. We are trying to get him into TIRR-Houston. This is where we believe he will get the best rehab IF we qualify for him to be there.

This is good news as TIRR is not too far from Kindred, and I can take Jake to see him and we can Google Hangout with Dean. 

They did move Durwood to TIRR Friday night. Getting him settled, evaluated, and ready for recovery!

Technology ROCKS!
Sometimes technology is completely AWESOME!  Google Hang outs are allowing us to have dinner together like we did Thursday Night.  We had leftover night at our house, I had some very YUMMY chicken tacos made by a co-worker friend of mine (THANKS LISA!  OMG SO YUMMY!), and Jake had Pizza.  We also had a snack pack that had apples, cheese cubes, and grapes.  Jake put the cheese cubes on his pizza.  And, ate it all!  Dean approved as he loves cheese too!  And, hangouts allows Dean to see his Dad while they are both in the hospital.

Jake made Daddy some no bake Muffins!  He was really proud of these!

He did everything, smashed the bananas, mixed the oatmeal, strawberry jelly, nuts in, then spooned it into the muffin tin all by himself.  I did the peanut butter since its so sticky, but he topped it with the strawberries.

Very proud Mommy and Son!

Doc McStuffins no bake oatmeal banana strawberry muffins

Found a really GREAT Diet Coke

Bubbles, always fun with bubbles!

Cheese Cube Pepperoni Pizza :)

 

SUPER JAKE!  CAPTAIN AMERICA STYLE!!!

All he needs now is a shield!

Days go by fast

So, it's been a few days since my last update.  Nothing really new to report, his doctors have come by and most are saying the same thing, eat/drink more protein (he is drinking it!) and that his infection levels are going down.  According to blood test, some of his numbers are pretty much back to normal, others are getting better but still "low".  Not 100% sure what "the numbers" mean, but the doctors are encouraged.  Healing is coming along, one area still going slow, but there has not been any "alarm" from the doctors.  Please pray for healing!

Dean is also doing better now he has access to his computer, and since the Kindred wifi is SLOW and not always up and completely OPEN, we got him a wifi hot spot, so now he's able to be online more consistently.  This has really helped the days go by faster.

So, now he has made it past his first week in Kindred, and is 3 weeks into his antibiotics, we are expecting another 3 weeks of antibiotics, but blood test will tell.  We are not sure if once we are finished with antibiotics if he will be able to come or not, but we are kind of expecting him to be released home shortly after.  Time will tell.

The weekend went by fast, I was in Tomball with my friends at a weekend scrapbook retreat while my mother looked after Jake and they hung out with Dean most of the time.  He is getting better care from the hospital staff now, and we hope it stays that way.  It's been up and down, just when we think things are going well, something else goes wrong (with the care not his healing/recovery).  He had to bring some issues up with the floor supervisor as well as the administration of the hospital, so we are hoping now he will get the care he needs.

If you want to send Dean a card, note/letter, etc, please send it to our home address.  If you would like that address, please message me privately somehow (text, email, FB message).

FYI, Durwood is doing well.  He has moved "upstairs" at ICON (out of ICU) and they are looking at getting him into a brain injury rehab hospital, either Kindred Rehab in Humble, TIRR downtown, TIRR in the Woodlands, or Health South in Humble.  I believe they are going to pick TIRR in the Woodlands, but we are waiting to see.

Jake has asked for Cinnamon Toast a lot recently.  This morning, he asked if we had any sprinkles.  I said yes, we do, then he asked "Can I have Sprinkle Cinnamon Toast?"  Well of course I said YES!

Queenie and Jake having fun playing on Queenie's iPhone

Queenie took Jake shopping, asked him to put on sun glasses so she can take a picture.

THIS is what he did for her.  FBI agent in the making? ...

... Maybe not.

Weekend update again

Well, Thursday and Friday were weird as I was not able to go to the hospital.  But we did get to do a video Hang out both nights. Jake always loves playing on the video on the phones anyway. :)

Thursday, Jake and I went to see Durwood and we did our hangout there so Dean could see his dad and vice versa.  It was nice to see him. Boy, Durwood was really glad to see Jake!  Once he saw Jake and I coming, he held out his hand and Jake ran over there to hold his hand and would NOT let go!  We got a chair for Jake to stand on and he held his hand while we moved the chair and he got on.  So very sweet.  He is doing better and better everyday, even if it's just a little bit.  He is having more awake days than sleeping days now.  This is encouraging.

Progress Report!!!

Friday, Dean saw his surgeon for a follow up to see how things are progressing.  He had 2 areas operated on, one is healing quite well, the other has not yet, but we didn't here anything out of the ordinary, so not bad  news.  He has a follow up next week, please pray for progress!!!

Saturday morning I went to spend time with Dean while Jake stayed with Nonnie. It was a busy morning, but nice to spend some time with him.  Knowing the food is terrible, I brought in breakfast, but didn't bring lunch.  I had planned on going to a deli 2 hospitals over to grab some lunch.  So, I go at 12 and walk all the way to the deli.  it's closed on the weekends.  THEN, I went to another deli, also 2 hospitals down from Kindred but the other way, and IT TOO was closed on the weekends!  Does anybody in the med center get hungry for decent food on the weekends?  HELLO!!!  I ended up having to leave with Dean not having lunch and come back that afternoon with Chick-Fil-A! 

After this eventful morning, I went to an AWESOME wedding shower for Dean's niece Linda Jean.  I did almost miss it since I took a different way home and it was jam packed with traffic!  The Kirby and US59 area is under construction, so avoid it at all cost!  Back to the Shower....

Jazzercise!!!  It was a great work out, and I had to have Jake there and he had a blast dancing with me!  Until I told him he couldn't hit me anymore with his "dirty horsy" then he got mad at me.  Nonnie saved the day taking him to the toy room in the back.  After an awesome workout, we brought Daddy some dinner and were able to try to watch Umi Zoomi with him, but the internet didn't work to well that night.

I was there, but not at this picture.  I had to leave early unfortunately.  

The workout was GREAT and FUN!  LJ's future MIL is an instructor at the Jazzercise 

place in Atascocita.  Great fun!

Jazzercise makes a boy tired!  He crashed after about one minute in the car after the shower.

Saturday evening fun with a frisbee and a dog.  Not much better than that!

Sunday, Jake and I went to the hospital that morning.  We had planned on trying to go to the zoo but the A/C in the hospital was not working well and his bed makes him warm so he got overheated. We managed to finally track down a fan but it didn't work too well.  So after lunch Jake and I got him a big new fan from target.  It took longer than expected because Jake had to go down all the aisles to look at the toys.  He loves cars and trucks, especially emergency vehicles (ambulances and fire trucks - they make cool sounds!).  He also loves the characters Hulk, Captain America, Ninja Turtles (that's new!) and all those cool Star Wars toys!  He picked up a light saber and said "Hey!  We have one of these!"  My boy...

 

<== Jake playing with the Ambulance!

==> After shopping, he apparently was tired and took a nap in this tiny chair.  

So sweet!  He actually slept for two and a half hours!

I came to the hospital well prepared on Sunday.  I brought in Breakfast, Lunch, AND dinner!  However, they finally had a decent dinner, Turkey club sandwich.  Ironic that I brought in a turkey sandwich for lunch, but he enjoyed both that day.  And, of course some of my home made chicken pot, chicken pot, chicken pot PIE!

Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot PIE!

 

Jake playing with his bubble leaf blower on Sunday evening.  It was such a nice evening and he had been watching TV and playing on the phone all day.  Had a good time playing with Buddy!

Handsome Dog, Buddy!!!

So, all this being said, Dean is having a hard time taking visitors, since the schedules are a little hard to work around.  He has a bulletin board in his room, so if you want to send a card, please do, and I'll pin it up for you.  If you need my address, contact me, I'll get it to you.

Jake and Nonnie already made him some get well signs!  Can always use more!

Four More Weeks

Dean is getting adjusted to life at Kindred.  He did get to visit with one of his doctors and they said his 6 weeks on the IV drip started the day of his first surgery so that means he is already 2 weeks in his 6 weeks of IV drips!  What that means is that he may possibly finish up any recovery necessary after the 4 weeks of antibiotics at home!  This is great news!

What's even better is that Kindred has free WiFi, so he's not only able to connect, he's able to use his computer as well, so he has a little more freedom and independence with something to do.  This is Awesome!  Of course it will be only in short spurts as the nurses/staff will be coming in to do their stuff every 2 hours (or even more often) but at least he can get to his computer.  And, as it turns out, it's not very strong WiFi, so some times it just doesn't work.

What's not so awesome?  The food.  Apparently the food is absolutely terrible!  He's only had a few meals there, but he told me on his 2nd day he had lunch of "some pork thing" so you know it was horrible!  This coming from a guy who eats SPAM right out of the CAN!  So, if you are wanting to help, meals.  That we can heat up in a microwave are best!  Sandwiches are good too, or even cold cuts and crackers and cheese.  Dean LOVES Cracker Barrel extra sharp.  Just saying...

My mother headed home on Thursday morning, after spending all day the day before at Kindred helping Dean get settled and more acquainted with the staff.  She was such a huge help to us while in Methodist and getting him settled in Kindred.  Thank you Mommy for all you did for us in these last 2 weeks!

Dean is going to see his surgeon for a follow up visit and to see how his recovery is going.  We hope to hear good things, and will let you know what we find out.

Wednesday night, Dean's mom came over to have dinner that a friend of mine from work gave us (she's from India and made the best Turkey Rice and Spicy Potatoes - spicy, yes, very spicy!).  She had not seen Jake in a while and was missing him so she came to play.  They got dressed up in a mask and doctor stuff and "operated" on his horse's hurt leg.  The surgery was successful.  Take a look!

 

 

Moving Day

Monday, 8/4/2014

After almost 2 weeks at Methodist Hospital, Dean was finally able to move to the long term acute care facility Kindred in the medical center. I did go to work on Monday as they told us his move would be that afternoon at 5 pm, or later that evening at 8 p.m. due to shift changes being between that time.  The ambulance drivers came by a little bit before 8.  Mind you that Kindred is only about a block or less away, but they still needed to use an ambulance.  Lots of work for a 1 minute drive.

As I'm walking down to the ambulance with Dean, my mom calls me that she can't find her car.  We have parked so often in so many different levels and garages its getting hard to remember where we did park.  I had to start taking pictures with my phone so I know where I'm parked each time!  So, I tell Dean I'm going to go help, and go out another door I can't get back from and the parking lot attendant finds her car just as the doors close behind me.  So, now i'm stuck walking to Kindred by myself.  The walking is not the issue, it's seriously just next door to the OPC which is connected via a bridge to Schurlock (sp??) tower, then Smith Tower, so I can walk most of the way in the safety of inside the hospital.  The walk is quite short, so I'm not too nervous about it, and I get there fast, but Dean did manage to get to the room before I did.

We waited until 8 so the staff at Kindred could get his bed and room ready, and we finally get there just about 8:30 or so only to find out that the bed was not ready and his room was barely ready. Thank goodness the Ambulance drivers stayed around until they got the air bed set up since he can't spend even 1 night on a regular hospital bed.  I actually overheard the supervisor nurse tell the bed/equipment guy that he had to get the bed ready while the guy was complaining that is was the end of his shift.  It's always tough to actually DO your job until the job is done, ya know???  ARGH!  Anyway, we didn't get settled until about 10:30 p.m. but we didn't leave until after 11.

So if you read the last blog post you heard about the incident that my mom Jake and I experienced while walking back from Herman park. Let's just say Mother and I will getting some pepper spray. There are crazy people at the Medical Center!!  If you do come to visit, please try not to come alone if it's after hours.  Seriously, its dangerous.  ALL the security guards and cops are telling us to start carrying pepper spray.

So, Tuesday morning, I took half a day off to go to Kindred to help him again get used to way things are run in Kindred, having arguments with the Nursing staff about when he takes his pills, because it's in the computer to take them at the wrong time.  Well, the computer is WRONG which is what we have been saying for 2 weeks while in Methodist, but have they listened or updated it?  NO!  He still has a few kinks like that to smooth out, but it will get there in time.  Most of the doctors and supervisors give us phone numbers to call if we need help getting things sorted, so we feel confident that once we get to know the nurses/staff, everything will be fine.

We are hoping for a more regular schedule from now on to the end of his stay at Kindred.  I may not be updating as much, just filling in here and there.  Please feel free to ask me for updates, and if you want to visit, please let me know!  There are no visiting hours at Kindred, it's open all the time, but again, try not to come alone after hours.  I'll fill you in on where to park if you contact me about visiting.

TTFN!

See!  I parked at SMITH TOWER on the 3rd floor on Monday! :)

Mother and Jake on Sunday Morning.  HOW awesome is this picture?

Monday - My Mom with Dean's doctor!  Nice Tie!

Jake going to School on Tuesday Morning.  

He INSISTED that his Giraffe be buckled in with him!

Weekend - full of activity!

Well, it was the weekend.  It was busy, but not busy.  Lots and lots going on, but not necessarily with Dean!  He had a good weekend, Talked to many doctors, and enjoyed good food.  My Mother stayed with my Dad in the evenings while he was staying in town for the Hunter's Show in NRG Center, so she got to be with him all weekend.

Saturday.
Jake, Mother, and I were at the hospital all day.  We woke up early to get there to spend the day with Dean.  Jake is such a good boy.  He really is doing well.  We got a chance to visit with all Dean's doctors today.  They all seem to be happy with his recovery from surgery and we had not heard if anything grew from the samples they took, so we are hoping the antibiotics are doing their thing.  I think we have 5 weeks left now.

We were able to enjoy some DELICIOUS spaghetti and meat sauce for lunch!  My project manager's wife cooked up some meat sauce for us, it was so good, ALL 4 of us had seconds, including Jake!  Then, after lunch Mother, Jake and I went to Herman park on the train (Hoot and Toot again!).  On the way out, the Piano Man was there and Jake had to stop and watch and listen.  Then, he played some songs to see if Jake knew them.  He started with our favorite, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and of course Jake sang while he played  The guy LOVED it!  Then Itsy Bitsy Spider and Mary had a little lamb.  The Piano man looked at me and said, "You read to him, a lot! Don't you!"  I smiled and said yes, we do!  And sing and dance and encourage music!  Then, Jake asked him to play one of his favorites, "We will rock you!"  :)  the guy laughed and said I don't know that one.

At the park, it was a rare day of absolutely gorgeous weather in August!  It was warm not HOT and everybody was enjoying the park that day.  Jake played on all the equipment he could get on, really had a great time!  Then, it was time to head back to the Hospital.  We decided to walk back since it was such a nice day, and we headed toward the intersection of Cambridge and Fannin through Herman park.  This is were it got interesting.  A man started walking towards us, I told mother to hold Jake's hand and as the man passed he grabbed my mother's leg and she elbowed him HARD and we kept walking.  I told her don't make an issue, lets just keep walking.  We just kept moving and we were discussing how nice it was to see all the families enjoying themselves.  Then, when we got to the street crossing, that man was RIGHT BEHIND US!  Staring at my mom!  We scooted across the street and he followed.  Mind you this was at 3 pm in the middle of the day!  We thought fast and ducked into Herman hospital right there on the corner.  He didn't follow us in, but he stopped outside, lit a cigarette and waited.  And, of course there was no security or cops anywhere!  So, fortunately I know my way around Memorial Herman, so we went out the back door, walked through some parking lots and made our way back to Fannin when we saw more people walking.  Mother looked to see if he was still back where we went in and he was but we were a block and a half away.  He didn't follow.  That was really scary!  But, my mother did manage to talk to a cop about it later and he said we did the best thing we could.  Get out of there and away in a most public way possible. He also suggested we don't go back there. It was enough to scare us to not go back to the park anyway (unfortunately) and not even drive by that intersection.

After all this, and after we calmed down a bunch, Jake laid down on the chair and took a nap.  an Hour Later, he woke up SCREAMING and pitched a major fit.  I had to take him out to the "Healing Garden", where he continued to cry for another 30 minutes or more.  But, that evening he said he was so upset because he was scared.  I think he didn't know where he was and it freaked him out a little.  As he put it, "I was all crazy in my head"!

Sunday.
We all went to the Hospital to spend the day with Dean.  He is really doing well, and his spirits are up more that we know where we are going and what we are doing for the next few weeks.  We heard more from doctors and got the go ahead from everybody (doctors, nurses, and insurance) to move to Kindred on Monday.

While I was helping Dean do some things, Mother took Jake to the lobby where the "Piano Man" was playing.  They had some singers there and the Piano Man asked Jake to get up there and sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  Of course he did, loud enough for everybody to hear, then, when everybody was clapping, he took a bow.  No, not kidding! Little showman he is!  :)  Then they played Itsy Bitsy Spider and he actually was walking around the "audience" doing all the right moves and then again bowed when he was finished.  I seriously could NOT be more proud!  :)

I again enjoyed the spaghetti from Saturday, it's really good, and then helped Dean with lunch, and we decided to go to the ZOO!  Another interesting story.  We know the medical center entrance is open on the weekends, but since we had that nasty scare the day before, we decided to go ahead and drive and park in the free parking lot so we don't have to walk.  MISTAKE!  The parking lot was full and we drove around for about 30 minutes looking for a spot, then ended up coming BACK to the medical center to park and walk anyway.  It was warmer than the day before, but we got to go to the Swap Shop because Jake had a rattle snake rattle AND a horny toad skull from the ranch.  He got 650 points his first visit!!!  Can you believe that?  We will be collecting more things for him to bring soon!  He even got extra points for knowing they were found on the ranch! :)  We then road the carousel, saw the Apes, Giraffes, Rhinos, and a few other animals, we went to the gift shop and my mother got Jake a Giraffe.  He decided to name him PeeWee, but calls him his "Horsey Giraffe" and wears him on his head.

After our short visit to the zoo, Jake sat on the chair again in the hospital and took a long nap.  Alfredo, my sister Dawn and her hubby David came for a visit, Jake woke up just enough to show them his giraffe, but sat on Alfredo's lap and quickly fell asleep again.  :)  Dawn and David stayed for a little bit, then I went to Goode Company BBQ and Mother, Daddy, Dean, Jake and I ate GOODE BBQ!  Yummy!

Monday is the big move.  I'll be updating when I know more!

 

Saturday's lunch of Yummy Spaghetti!!!

Saturday - Herman Park - Jake enjoying the swings at the park.

Saturday - Herman Park - Jake on the Tire Swing with Kevin (random friend he made at the park)

Dean wanted a snack, I didn't know what they had.  I took a picture and sent it to my mom so he could pick.  He got cookies.  :) 

A Sunday afternoon at the Zoo!

On the carousel

Waiving to Queenie!

 

Going into the African Forest - where the Apes are.  The Chips were not too close to the windows today, were in the shade in the back of the enclosure.

Healing begins

Again, the next few days will be pretty much the same again. He should be in Methodist for another 4 or 5 days.  After that it looks like he will be going to Kindred in the medical center.  His doctors who have been treating him do rounds there so it is the best fit for proper healing.

Thursday
He didn't sleep well on the new bed. He put it this way. It's really comfortable but sounds like he's sleeping on a running washing machine! To me it sounds like a salon hair dryer!  My mom was with him all day and he got to talk to his doctors and case worker about what's next.  Jake and I had dinner with him that evening as Mother went to stay with my dad who's in town for the hunter's show in NRG Center.

Friday

I went to work but Dean's staff was HORRIBLE! !! I had to leave work to help out.  When I got it was confirmed.  His nurse would take FOREVER to come to the room, if at all! Even when another nurse came in to check bandages the nurse didn't come after 30 min! I had to help her! But turned out good because we had all the doctors come by one at a time. They said he is doing very well and healing better than expected.  

So Dean will be moving to Kindred most likely on Monday.  His bandages are doing well and the cultures have not grown any of the infections he had yet (as of 8/1 4pm). But a fungus did so his antibacterial cocktail will change.

On Thursday, mom went to the food court and bought me a Diet Coke.  she had NO idea it was supposed to be for her!  She didn't even look!  :)  And, Jake eating dinner (Pizza and chips again - Mom of the year right here!!!) But, he ate, which is the good thing.  He also stole Dean's Banana when he got to the room.