The move is complete! Our new home is :
Hook Rehabilitation
Community Hospital East
1500 N. Ritter
Indianapolis, Indiana 46219
Room 1444
Jims Phone # 317-355-8444
Jim's nurse, Laura, from the Va hospital delivered Jim to Hook Rehab about 10:30 yesterday. The move went well but unfortunately, it went downhill a little, from there. There were some changes in his routine, as would be expected, and it was upsetting to him. He thought he might just leave, but, of course, that wasn't going to happen. After he calmed down, the rest of the day was quiet and I stayed the night. I left him this morning so he could start his therapy and he seemed OK. Change is hard.
WE hope this is his last stop before returning home in a few weeks. Please continue to pray for his recovery and cooperation with the Dr's.
What a journey this has been. We have been blessed with so many people who have helped and encouraged Jim.
The staff at the VA were nothing short of tremendous. Our hats are off to them and we will be forever grateful. They gave Jim a going away party with cake and ice cream and we took pictures. I will have my guys post them in the near future.
May God have all the glory for what He has done.
Blessings,
Sue
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
Progress and moving on!
Hi everyone,
Just a little update. Jim is having a great week. Wednesday the staff took him to the Indian Museum downtown. For those who don't know, Jim is an artist and loves to paint Indians.
They said he really enjoyed his time there and was showing them the different artist. He has begun to paint, again and has his easel and paints in his room.
Yesterday, he got the long awaited feeding tube out. The only outward sign left of his injury is his neck brace.
The VA staff have all been wonderful with Jim. They go above and beyond their duties and treat him as family. My family and I will never be able to thank them enough for their kindness and compassion. Laura, Tasha, Sandi, Dottie, Vicki Sherri, Mary, Carla, Craig, Dana, Leigh Ann, Jenny, Jackie, Audrey, Ramona and everyone else I may have missed, Thank you! Also, Dr. Buschbacher and Carlos. You have all been so helpful during the darkest of times. We consider them friends. But, it is time for Jim to move on. Wednesday, the 27th, he will enter Hook Rehab in Indy for, what we hope, will be his last stop before returning home. As I have mentioned before, Jim does not do change well. He is still focused on going home so I am a little nervous about his reaction to this change.
Again, I want to thank all of you who sent Jim a birthday card. They continue to pour in. (Pete and Pam, we did receive yours on Wednesday, thank you!) (Steve Korn, we look forward to your visit to Indy!) We read each on to Jim and taped them all to his window.
Please keep our son Jason and his wife Lynnette in your prayers. They are in Russia picking up their new baby girl! God's gift to us in the midst of all of this. Jim and I have been blessed with the most wonderful children anyone could ask for. Kelli, Jason, Andrew, Anna and Joe are loving, supportive and kind. Their spouses, Lynnette, April and Mike have been generous and supportive of the time and energy this has taken from their own families. I want to publicly thank each of them for their love.
That's all for now. God Bless. Have a great day!
Sue
Just a little update. Jim is having a great week. Wednesday the staff took him to the Indian Museum downtown. For those who don't know, Jim is an artist and loves to paint Indians.
They said he really enjoyed his time there and was showing them the different artist. He has begun to paint, again and has his easel and paints in his room.
Yesterday, he got the long awaited feeding tube out. The only outward sign left of his injury is his neck brace.
The VA staff have all been wonderful with Jim. They go above and beyond their duties and treat him as family. My family and I will never be able to thank them enough for their kindness and compassion. Laura, Tasha, Sandi, Dottie, Vicki Sherri, Mary, Carla, Craig, Dana, Leigh Ann, Jenny, Jackie, Audrey, Ramona and everyone else I may have missed, Thank you! Also, Dr. Buschbacher and Carlos. You have all been so helpful during the darkest of times. We consider them friends. But, it is time for Jim to move on. Wednesday, the 27th, he will enter Hook Rehab in Indy for, what we hope, will be his last stop before returning home. As I have mentioned before, Jim does not do change well. He is still focused on going home so I am a little nervous about his reaction to this change.
Again, I want to thank all of you who sent Jim a birthday card. They continue to pour in. (Pete and Pam, we did receive yours on Wednesday, thank you!) (Steve Korn, we look forward to your visit to Indy!) We read each on to Jim and taped them all to his window.
Please keep our son Jason and his wife Lynnette in your prayers. They are in Russia picking up their new baby girl! God's gift to us in the midst of all of this. Jim and I have been blessed with the most wonderful children anyone could ask for. Kelli, Jason, Andrew, Anna and Joe are loving, supportive and kind. Their spouses, Lynnette, April and Mike have been generous and supportive of the time and energy this has taken from their own families. I want to publicly thank each of them for their love.
That's all for now. God Bless. Have a great day!
Sue
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Family Time...
today as mentioned in a previous post was dad's birthday as well as father's day. we had a large group of us (kids and grandkids) at the hospital enjoying the time with dad. he was in good spirits and obviously enjoyed the time with us.
we were able to sit outside most of the afternoon and have food and cake while dad took it all in. there was a time that we were all sitting around and dad was expressing what he felt about each of us in his own words. it was cool to see that even when he didn't have the right words to use, he sure knew what he wanted to say. all of the non-verbal communication is there and we were tracking with him most of the time. there was one point in the time, however, that he turned a bit more serious. he made sure loud and clear that he wants to go home to fort wayne. we couldn't do anything but say that we know it is frustrating and that time will come.
dad's progress is slow but steady. please pray that his progress keeps ahead of the frustration for dad. the better he gets, the more frustrated he gets.
thanks for all of your encouraging words and prayers. we really appreciate and enjoy all of your comments.
check out the new pictures. we had a nice time, kelli was there the day before so unfortunately she wasn't in the picture with the kids.
we were able to sit outside most of the afternoon and have food and cake while dad took it all in. there was a time that we were all sitting around and dad was expressing what he felt about each of us in his own words. it was cool to see that even when he didn't have the right words to use, he sure knew what he wanted to say. all of the non-verbal communication is there and we were tracking with him most of the time. there was one point in the time, however, that he turned a bit more serious. he made sure loud and clear that he wants to go home to fort wayne. we couldn't do anything but say that we know it is frustrating and that time will come.
dad's progress is slow but steady. please pray that his progress keeps ahead of the frustration for dad. the better he gets, the more frustrated he gets.
thanks for all of your encouraging words and prayers. we really appreciate and enjoy all of your comments.
check out the new pictures. we had a nice time, kelli was there the day before so unfortunately she wasn't in the picture with the kids.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Happy Fathers Day
The week went by fast in some respect. Jim had his first outing. He was taken to a restaurant by staff. This was a big step and allowed them to see how he would react to the outside world and all its confusion. He did very well. Although it has caused a slight problem. He no longer cares to be inside the hospital. Depression and frustration encompass each visit I have with him. Going out has made him more aware of missing home and a normal life. Bottom line, he wants to go home.
To complicate this problem further, he had a visit from Hook Rehab, evaluating him for further rehab at their facility here in INdy. The plan is for him to leave the VA the end of the month and go on to there. He, in no way, wants this to happen. Home is his only target. Please pray with us during this change, especially for wisdom to make the right decisions.
Sunday is his birthday as well as Fathers Day. The kids will be coming to celebrate. On a funny note, Jim was very surprised to learn how old he will be! 66 was not what he was thinking.
I hope all of you fathers enjoy your day and count your blessings for the joy of having the gift of children. Praise God for our heavenly Father.
Sue
To complicate this problem further, he had a visit from Hook Rehab, evaluating him for further rehab at their facility here in INdy. The plan is for him to leave the VA the end of the month and go on to there. He, in no way, wants this to happen. Home is his only target. Please pray with us during this change, especially for wisdom to make the right decisions.
Sunday is his birthday as well as Fathers Day. The kids will be coming to celebrate. On a funny note, Jim was very surprised to learn how old he will be! 66 was not what he was thinking.
I hope all of you fathers enjoy your day and count your blessings for the joy of having the gift of children. Praise God for our heavenly Father.
Sue
Thursday, June 7, 2007
HOORAY!
THE MUCH HATED HALO CAME OFF THIS WEEK END! HOORAY! Jim and I came in from outside on Friday afternoon and the nurse happily announced the Dr was on his way to remove the vest and halo. Jim's neck has mostly healed and he was well enough to go to a neck brace.
It was a great time of celebration. The whole nursing staff gathered around as we watched the Dr disassemble the barbaric contraption. Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful for it, but until you see one up close you have no idea how awful they are. We held our breath(as did Jim) as he slowly unscrewed the bolts from his head and loosened the screws on vest. When the last screw popped, Jim looked at the Dr with the most grateful eyes and said, "Oh, thank you, thank you."
There is only one drawback. The Dr warned that the brace must stay in place a month because the healing is not complete, and ....may not be complete. If it doesn't completely hear, Jim will be facing a neck surgery. He said this is no small surgery. I am also a little concerned with the fact that the neck brack is held on with only velcro. Jim could easily remove it if he gets the notion.
But we will celebrate the moment and praise God.
Jim is one happy person. He is now sporting a hat and regular shirts and a new beard. He truly is looking like his old self.
It is a new turn in the road of recovery and I am so thankful.
I will keep you posted.
Sue
It was a great time of celebration. The whole nursing staff gathered around as we watched the Dr disassemble the barbaric contraption. Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful for it, but until you see one up close you have no idea how awful they are. We held our breath(as did Jim) as he slowly unscrewed the bolts from his head and loosened the screws on vest. When the last screw popped, Jim looked at the Dr with the most grateful eyes and said, "Oh, thank you, thank you."
There is only one drawback. The Dr warned that the brace must stay in place a month because the healing is not complete, and ....may not be complete. If it doesn't completely hear, Jim will be facing a neck surgery. He said this is no small surgery. I am also a little concerned with the fact that the neck brack is held on with only velcro. Jim could easily remove it if he gets the notion.
But we will celebrate the moment and praise God.
Jim is one happy person. He is now sporting a hat and regular shirts and a new beard. He truly is looking like his old self.
It is a new turn in the road of recovery and I am so thankful.
I will keep you posted.
Sue
Thank you all for your support on my time away. I had a restful time and was encouraged as I spent good friend time with Merrie and her family. It did rain or was cloudy the majority of the time I was there but it was a blessing for them, they needed the rain.
Jim did pretty good the first two days I was gone but unfortunately the rest of the week was hard on him. He is very focused on going home and is pretty sad and lonely. It's so hard to get him to understand that his need to stay and continue to improve outweighs his need to go home. The kids and I are struggling with this as we see his sadness. His birthday is June 17th and I had high hopes to take him out for a day but the Dr. doesn't feel this is a good idea. We will try to do what we can at the hospital but have to balance it with not over stimulating him.
If any of you feel led, would you consider sending him a birthday card or maybe a phone call that weekend. It's hard to make him believe he hasn't been forgotten.
On an up note, the Dr. said today, he continues to improve but feels he may benefit from another facility here in Indy to continue rehab. I should be very happy but I know this will make Jim unhappy. I keep telling myself that it is in Gods hands and he will guide us. But my heart wants to take him home. Please continue to pray for guidance and wisdom.
I want you all to know I read all your comments and they lift me up. May all praise and glory go to Him who has given us so much and many miracles.
Sue
Jim did pretty good the first two days I was gone but unfortunately the rest of the week was hard on him. He is very focused on going home and is pretty sad and lonely. It's so hard to get him to understand that his need to stay and continue to improve outweighs his need to go home. The kids and I are struggling with this as we see his sadness. His birthday is June 17th and I had high hopes to take him out for a day but the Dr. doesn't feel this is a good idea. We will try to do what we can at the hospital but have to balance it with not over stimulating him.
If any of you feel led, would you consider sending him a birthday card or maybe a phone call that weekend. It's hard to make him believe he hasn't been forgotten.
VA Hospital
1481 W 10th StreetIndianapolis IN 46202
Patient: Jim Maley Rm C-4146
Phone: 317-988-3590
On an up note, the Dr. said today, he continues to improve but feels he may benefit from another facility here in Indy to continue rehab. I should be very happy but I know this will make Jim unhappy. I keep telling myself that it is in Gods hands and he will guide us. But my heart wants to take him home. Please continue to pray for guidance and wisdom.
I want you all to know I read all your comments and they lift me up. May all praise and glory go to Him who has given us so much and many miracles.
Sue
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