Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Dinah is home again!

Here she is, ready to go!
Dr Bean cleared Dinah to go home Monday afternoon, and she actually got to leave the hospital after 6PM  She ended the day aching all over and needing help to get in and out of bed, but today (Tuesday) is a much better day and she is back to doing most things for herself without help.

Monday, April 23, 2012

No Infection

The infectious disease Dr visited this morning to say "no sign of infection" in the culture results so far. He OK'd removing the IV and going home whenever Dr Bean approves.
We think a tube was secured to Dinah's face by tape during surgery. When the tape was removed, some skin came with it. So this is how she looks this morning.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Out with the drain - Up and around

The PT people got Dinah up and walking around the ward this morning, then sitting in a chair for a while.
 The drain was removed from Dinah's incision around 1PM today; our first chance to see the results of yesterday's operation.  She is doing well, but is having some pain.  We still hope to head home tomorrow (Monday).  No access to email at the hospital so we are continuing to use this method of communicating.  I hope to get to McDonald's to download email for Dinah & myself later today (we are waiting for Dr Bean to visit).

Dinah says:
Let us hope that this is the FINAL cut in to this flesh. It looks like chicken skin!  The staff at this hospital have been very friendly and caring.  Food is okay.  Today we got the okay from Dr. Bean to put full weight on the bad leg -  but I'm so stiff/sore that I'll be slow to go.


Once again, Allen has been my knight in shining armor.  What a guy!!!!  Aren't I truly blessed?  Hugs to everyone........

Saturday, April 21, 2012

A change of plans

The infectious disease Dr stopped by and told Dinah that the culture taken to check for infection will require 24 to 48 hours to get results and she will not be released to go home any earlier than Monday.

Surgery Complete


Dinah was taken into surgery about 11:15AM and returned to her room about 2:15PM.  Dr Bean said that the operation went well and that some lumpy cloty stuff (I don't remember the technical term) was removed. Samples were sent to the lab to look for infection.  A drain was installed but should be removed tomorrow (Sunday) and we expect she will go home tomorrow afternoon.
She had a liquid lunch and is doing well except for a black eye (unexplained) and some missing skin on her cheeks where something was taped to her face. Dinah says, "goodo".

Friday, April 20, 2012

A visit with Dr Bean

Dr Bean, Dinah's hip surgeon dropped by her room this afternoon, looked at her incision, and told us what to expect.
There is no swelling, and blood tests don't indicate infection, so there is probably nothing seriously wrong.  If her blood is thick enough to operate, at 11AM tomorrow (Saturday) he will remove a wedge of flesh centered around the area that is draining.  He may insert slow release antibiotics into the incision. If all goes well, Dinah could go home on Sunday.
If the problem goes deeper (into the muscle), he might need to insert a drain, and she would probably be kept longer. In the worst case where there is a large amount of infection going deep into the leg, it could be necessary to remove the implant and replace it completely, but that is extremely unlikely.
So, not much happening today, but we hope the show will get underway tomorrow morning.

Surgery Delayed

The Dr has decided that Dinah's blood is still too thin to safely operate, so the surgery has been delayed from 3PM today (Friday) until tomorrow, probably in the morning.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Sierra Medical Center

Dinah is settled into room 345 at the Sierra Medical Center in El Paso. AnaLisa is staying at our house with the pets, and I'm staying with Dinah at the Hospital - they even brought me a bed; during her previous hip replacement I slept in chairs.
They have taken a medical history and a lot of blood for testing. Dinah's surgery is scheduled for 3PM tomorrow (Friday).

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Back to the hospital

Dinah had her weekly checkup today with her hip surgeon, Dr Bean. He was not happy with the fact that her incision is still weeping and decided to operate a third time to open the incision with an infectious disease specialist present, and make sure that there is no infection.  She will be admitted to Sierra Hospital in El Paso tomorrow (Thursday) and be operated on late Friday.  They will keep her hospitalized until probably Monday morning.

Yesterday, our foster mother cat began sneezing and today is obviously not feeling well. We will not be able to care for her and her kittens over the next few days and so we have returned them to the shelter where the odds of their survival are not good.  We have learned from experience that once mother becomes sick, the kittens are in great danger.  Today is not one of our better days.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Bev Morissett visits Las Cruces


My sister Beverley flew home today after spending five very relaxed days visiting us, and touring the local area.  Lily and Noodle were delighted to see her and Lily especially attempted to lick her to death. Bev handled cooking duties due to Dinah's incapacitation and my incompetence.


When Dave Downs visited us back in February, I took his picture standing in the Rio Grande which was completely dry at the time. We tried to get a picture of Bev at the same spot, but she would have needed to take off her shoes and roll up her pants!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

A new set of foster cats


We have been babysitting  friend AnaLisa's cat Mimi and fostering Lady Gaga for some time but today AnaLisa adopted Lady Gaga and took both cats home, so Dinah visited the shelter and came home with a mother cat and three kittens!
Here are two of the kittens; I tried to get a picture of all three but mama cat immediately carried one of them away. So far they are living in the bathroom and we are keeping them away from our other pets. They spent a couple of days in the shelter which means they were probably exposed to germs. We have our fingers crossed that they will do well.

Monday, April 9, 2012

She's home!

Dinah was released from rehab today (Monday, 9 April) and came home for the first time in five weeks.
When a patient leaves the Rehabilitation Hospital, the staff lines up along the corridor and applauds as the patient rolls by, then they give a graduation certificate and, as the picture shows, Dinah also received a quilt.
Here she is getting into the car for the ride home.
And here she is in our living room, tea in one hand, tv remote in the other. We are all glad to have her home!

Saturday, April 7, 2012

The Flower Lady

When Dinah was first in rehab, I bought a single fake flower and added it to the bouquet of the real thing her sister had sent her.  She liked it, so I bought 3 more and the 4 flowers, attached to her various beds, followed her back to the Specialty Hospital in El Paso, Las Palmas Medical Center, and then back to rehab in Las Cruces.  She asked me to buy more so she could give them away to other patients, and I bought out the remainder of Dollar Tree's stock - eleven more flowers. They began to disappear fast as she handed them to other patients, and soon, many wheelchairs had a flower popping up from one handle.
More flowers! Dinah recruited hospital staff to scout out other Dollar Trees and BUY MORE FLOWERS!  By my count Dinah has, or has given away, a total of 71 fake flowers.  The nurses and attendants now alert her when a new patient arrives so that she can visit their room and present them with a flower.
Dinah is scheduled to come home on Monday, but will be returning to rehab three days a week for out patient therapy, and she plans to continue in the role of flower lady.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Another Lunch Date

Dinah had three guests for lunch today; Sewing/embroidery buddies AnaLisa & Stella, and me. AnaLisa and Stella are not being starved; guests are asked to wait until all patients are served before lining up for lunch.
Dinah continues to do well and now calls herself 'The Flower Lady' having taken on the project of giving out cloth flowers (like the two seen here on her wheel chair) to other patients.