Updates on Laurie's Recovery

This morning Mom was released from the rehabilitation center and sent home! She is progressing extremely quickly in her recovery. Her therapists said she passed all the tests they gave her, so she gets to complete her recovery home. She'll keep doing physical therapy at home and with office visits. Her recovery is by no means over. Where they placed the pacemaker is still healing, she is still much weaker than normal, and she still has eight broken ribs from the CPR. How thankful we are for the live-saving CPR that broke those ribs! Her throat is also still healing, and it gets sore if she talks too much.  But even with all that, we are elated that she's home!  

This morning I got a text from Mom. I have missed those. She shared the following update: I was able to listen to conference in between therapy sessions yesterday and look forward to listening to more today. It's amazing to me that my legs feel like they are plowing through thick mud after 15 minutes of therapy, but I'm noticing the difference. It even affects my breathing ability for good. Hooray! Mom has always loved music, so it is no surprise that she's adopted a theme song that she asked us to share with all of you.  In case the video has issues, you can find it here .  One more update -- some very wonderful friends and neighbors decorated Mom and Dad's front porch this week. It looks amazing. There have been so many kind acts of service from things like getting mail and mowing and trimming the lawn, and of course all of the meals, prayers, texts, notes, and calls. We have been and continue to be so thankful for all of the love and support Mom and Dad have re...

 On Thursday morning Mom was moved to an acute rehabilitation facility at McKay-Dee Hospital in Odgen. She is getting a full schedule of therapies -- physical, occupational, and respiratory. For physical therapy she works on walking, going up and down small stairs, and doing a rowing machine. For occupational therapy she works on fine motor skills like brushing her teeth, putting on shoes and using utensils. Respiratory therapy is her least favorite, as she has to use the "torture device". They ask her to suck in and hold as hard and long as she can, and then blow out as hard and long as she can. This is very hard for her and makes her cough every time, but is helping her lungs recover.  We are all very happy that Mom is now much closer to home. That makes things a lot easier on Dad as well. She likes the facility and her army of therapists. Her positive attitude makes a big difference.  

Mom continues to make excellent progress. She's on an almost normal diet and has been working a lot with the physical therapists. Her throat is still sore and talking for extended periods is hard. She's able to walk without her walker. She and Dad even took a walk together. As Greg put it, Mom's getting pretty swole.   She's been temporarily moved from the ICU to the rehabilitation facility, still at Intermountain Health Center in Murray. At least her room has a nice view.    We were hoping she would be move up to another rehabilitation facility in Odgen today, but Mom is outpacing the bureaucracy. The plan is that she'll move up to Odgen tomorrow.

Please note these are paper flowers as I don't think real flowers are allowed in the ICU  Mom continues to make amazing progress. All of her many many tubes, wires, and devices are now gone, allowing mom to be like Pinocchio and exclaim: "I've got no strings to hold me down!" And off she goes. She had a salmon dinner last night complete with a beignet for dessert and an omelet with bacon for breakfast (all far better than peptide 1.5). She even decided to take a stroll around the ICU as shown in the below video. As Mom continues to get stronger, her biggest challenge right now are her lungs and throat. During CPR the doctors think she aspirated blood and stomach contents and probably hurt her lungs from the compressions. Her throat is still weak from the breathing tube and she gets very tired from talking. The more she talks the more she coughs and it is hard for her to clear her lungs. Doctors say it will clear over time but that she should take it easy. They also wa...

Once you get Mom moving it turns out she doesn't slow down. Today she's been on a walk around the ICU, eaten some crackers, and generally been up and working. The plan is to move her from the ICU in Murray straight to an in-patient rehabilitation facility in Odgen as soon as this afternoon. In Cassidy's words, she is progressing so fast that she's beating the bureaucracy, so she may have to be temporarily moved to either the general hospital population in Murray or a rehab facility in Murray while they wait for the paperwork to catch up.  While Mom is progressing very quickly, she still needs a lot of rest, so we would request that those of you who would like to visit wait to do so until Mom is a little further along. We have been sharing comments made here on the blog with Mom, which she loves. For now that's the best way (other than prayers) to send her your love and concern.   We also want to express our gratitude for all of the prayers and fasting on Mom's b...