A Quick one...

I don't have much time to write a super long post, but as we speak, Dad and I are getting organized and packing up to go pick up Mom at the hospital! God is good!! We are so excited. They told us to be there between 10-11am but we have already received a phone call from Mom asking where we were. :) She wanted us there at dawn to get her out of there! I think she is worried that they might change their minds!

Once we get Mom settled in her amazingly clean house, I will write a better update. But I wanted, as we go to bring her home, to thank you all again from the bottom of our hearts, for all of your prayers and support. It has kept us afloat and moving forward, and when our spirits were tired and low you all gave us the lift we needed. I truly believe we would not be bringing her home today without the power of prayer and all the love that you have given our Mom! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I will write more later.

-Sara

The Maid Cometh!

It is Saturday morning and Dad got back from LA last night.  Mom had another fantastic day yesterday and I walked in to her PT class to see her doing wheelchair pushups like a champ!  She is motivated!  It wears her out, but everyday she gets a little stronger.  The holes in her short term memory are filling in little by  little, and she just feels so loved and blessed.  I think we are going to bring home a very grateful Mom who will start enjoying her life on a whole different level!

Right now we have 2 very sweet local Ramona ladies that have gone to town on cleaning the house.  Ramona gets very dusty so we started them in their bedroom and they are currently cleaning in a dust  bowl.  It will be so nice to have everything clean and ready to go when she gets here!

It's still looking like Monday is go day!  Please keep those prayers coming!  She really is ready to come home and we want her home with us ASAP!!

P.S.  On a side note.....we have finally brought Dad into the modern times.  South Bay TV & Video is now on Yelp!  If you have ever had him do anything for you TV wise, please go to his page and leave a review!  Every star will help him and we would like to try and get him some more local San Diego business as well so that he can stay closer to home!  The link is below!

http://www.yelp.com/biz/south-bay-tv-and-video-ramona

One more step to the ranch...

Today was a busy day for Mom. They had her going at 9am until 2pm with physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy (which for her is essentially memory specific since her speech is fine). I took DJ to school in the morning and and then went to the hospital to meet with her social worker to get all the release details. She gave me a list of stuff they would give us, along with some things we would need to buy ourselves. She seems to think Monday is going to be the day. At noon I went back and picked DJ up and the 2 of us went back to the hospital to have lunch with Mom. She gets so excited to see her grandkids, and I think it was good for DJ to see his Grammy too. At a 1:30 they took her for one last session and DJ and I went back to Ramona to trade places with Dana. So I spent the afternoon/evening with Alex while Dana got to hang out with Mom until after she had dinner. It was a good day.

While Dana was there one of Mom's therapists came in and said they were thinking about pushing the release date to Wednesday the 21st. Their thought was they could get her to a point where she didn't need any assistance at all with an extra 2 days. Needless to say, this upset Mom GREATLY! She started off being sad, then mad, then tears, and finally she told Dana that she needed to go talk to the therapist. Dana went in and explained that she lived down the road, I was going to be here for another 2 weeks, and that our Dad was in charge of his own schedule. She was not going to be alone and she would not truly know what she needed to learn to do at home until she was actually at home. She also mentioned that Mom's state of mind would be greatly diminished if they were to take this away from her now for 2 extra days. The therapist agreed and so Monday is back on the books. Amen! Dana teased Mom that she better make sure she doesn't slack off in therapy now!!

She will most likely have a home care nurse come a couple of days a week in the first few weeks to help with recovery and medical cares. Eventually she will have to go back to regular PT for her knee as well. But just getting her home will be such a weight off of everybody's shoulders and make her understand that she actually is making amazing progress. She is a little too hard on herself sometimes and we have to remind her that everyday she is getting better.

Although we are looking at the end of her hospital stay, we will still need to have lots of prayers in the upcoming weeks as hopefully life gets a little closer to normal! We are so grateful for all of your well wishes and love! It has truly lifted us up and kept us going. I look forward to the post where I can say she is home and post a picture of her back on her ranch!

Quick Post with good news!

Just got a call from the social worker at Pommerado Hospital. She wanted to make sure I, Dad or Dana would be available tomorrow to talk to her and go over everything we will need to do and know for Mom's release on Monday! They had not wanted to make it official because things can always change, but today she felt secure enough to make sure we would be in soon to go over the transfer! I am so excited! God is good and mama is coming home!!

Bring on the Merry Maids!

Well Dana pretty much said it all yesterday with her post. Our Mom is back! She still has a way to go with her strength and works hard everyday in physical therapy to get there. It looks very good that we will get to take her home on Monday, and we are BEYOND thrilled! This week marks a month she has been in the hospital and her ranch misses her!

Right now I am waiting for Merry Maids to show up and give us a quote to get this house nice and sparkly for her homecoming. Since I am here Dad finally got a chance to go up to LA until Friday to get some work done that he has been putting off for the last month, so I have the house to myself to organize and make perfect. She has requested In & Out for her welcome home dinner on Monday, so that is what she will have! (After that though, I am making her healthy things to help her heal....no arguments!!)

As sad as it was for her to remember Charlie's passing, it is an amazing sign that her memory is coming back. I hate that she had to relive it again, but I am SO grateful that it seems like her brain is functioning normally and all of those memory issues are shrinking every day that passes. As Dana said, we really thought we were going to lose her twice during this process so the leaps and strides she is making now is nothing short of a medical and prayer miracle! And I truly believe it is all possible because of the prayers and good thoughts from all of you! God is SO good!

Thanks again and I will post more later when I go visit Mom at the hospital! Keep the prayers coming for a Monday departure date so she can go home, home on the ranch!

Just another miraculous day in paradise...

First off, it was an amazing 85 degrees here today, which certainly sets a beautiful stage for a few fabulous events...

Mom's memory is almost fully restored. I had previously written that she had forgotten that Charlie (her dog) had passed away late last year. Well, in a good news/bad news situation, today she remembered that sad event. Dad and I had been skirting around the topic, but Mom knew something was amiss. I must have had a weird look on my face (I'm a terrible liar; no poker face, either) because she said, "You guys just need to stop this and tell me the truth!" She knew; the memories were there. We all had a good cry, remembered what a great dog Charlie was and told some funny stories about her. It actually went much better than I ever figured it would.

Mom is actively counting down the days until she can come home - we're all still hoping that the 19th will be her last day in "captivity". She has been working so diligently in physical therapy, and she's really come a long way. I am so thrilled with the turn-around she's made... for a while there, I thought we were going to lose her. Twice! Thank you Lord, for restoring my Mom in both body and soul...

With a grateful heart,

Dana

This says it all....

My Mom received a sweet card from their great friends Bob and Patty today. It contained a little poem that I thought really summed up what we feel from all of you and what we wish back to you as well.

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive & everlasting.

I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.


**We wish you enough from the bottom of our hearts!!

Love,
The Nolan/Flaherty/Jennings clan