Pinky Live In Person

Dear friends of mine,
This is a first for me. Steve thought it was about time I started to tackle something new for myself even though my hands feel like steel belts are crimping down on the joints I shall persevere because it is so good for me. I am tackeling new things every day so i can come home to the best life I have created thanks to all of you that have filled me with such awe. There is not a day that goes by where I still get a least five cards. I find that amazing. I am not the best writter in the world so I will just ramble on. Today started out strange for the first time in months I actually slept. Holly had to wake me up to give me my five oclock pain pill, it is a pill I still need to help control the spasms I hate taking any pills but i still need them. Ican not stand how long this body of mine is taking to heal. The doctors say it takes two years for the spine to get back. Every one thinks I am making great progres, but for me it is way to slow. I still am waiting to figure why this happened to me. I know that in rehab I am an inspiration to so many people and when I see some of them who are so worse than me I am grateful. I fell and hit my head really badly and i am lucky i did not get brain damage. I am setting my goal to try to come home by christmas. I will require alot of help. I still need alot of hands on stretching and i will need help going to the pool alot. I am hoping I can enroll alot of you to take turns to help me out. I have been a tremendious alot of work for holly and steve. I want them to get back to their lives. They have been in school for 6 years and then taking care of his dad while he was recovering from a neck surgery for almost a year. I started making a coloring book to help raise ssome extra cash. Pretty soon you can see what i am up to. Steve is working hard to get it up and working. I am doing my pet pictures in water color because that is all i can handle with the strength i have in my hands. once you all see whats available i am asking for you to pay it forward by emailing it to ten of your pet loving friends and then ask them to pay it forward. I got the idea from a dream what else is new. My hands are constantly feeling like they are being in a vice that is squezing my joints i hate it i need to work alot on getting my strength back i can barely pick up my pills . oh well time and hard work will over come this also. i am saying good by for now my arms are starting to hurt. know i love you all and i am working like crazy to return.

Hello Pinky's followers,

I(Beth) am back in the ABQ, ready to give an update on the progress I see. As you all know Pinky had a couple of pretty rough weeks with her sprained ankle,but she has turned the corner for the better. Since I left she has been working hard on getting more stamina with her walking, when I left she needed a long board between her feet so that she wouldn't trip herself, and since her hands really didn't have much strength she needed a walker that could go under her elbows. She only could go about 150 feet then she would get light headed and winded. Now she doesn't need a board which is easier on Holly's knees, since she would be the one who was keeping it in place. She also has a low walker now since her hands are strong enough to hold her weight, they still get a little soar but she does it anyway. Pinky can go up and down the stairs at the rehab, she does this with a helper holding her but soon I am hoping she will do it alone. Also as you all know Pinky loves and needs to be in the pool, when I left she needed a life-vest, now she doesn't and she is working on walking in the pool without any walker, if she falls she knows she will not get hurt.
Pinky is getting antsy without working, so I think she is ready to do some animal portraits so get ready to send pictures out, you will be able to get them back in time for Christmas presents.
Hope you all are doing well in your lives,
Beth, (Pinky,s oldest daughter)

Pinky, You look GREAT!

Hi all,

Things have been going pretty good here at RR. I say pretty good because Pinky is making good progress, but unfortunately the TONE monster has returned. Tone has been visiting for a few weeks now and we're all sure that everyone knows a 3 week visit is pushing the limits of hospitality, so we all expect that Tone is on the way out. Tone, by the way, is increased muscle tone to the point where it's not helpful. For example, when you and I lift a leg or arm, we contend with gravity only for the most part. Pinky is overcoming not just gravity, but the resistance of the increased tone within the muscle. She must move this weight first and then do whatever she's doing. It's super frustrating for her because she knows that without it, things would come easier and because it's uncomfortable at best and at worst resembles a charliehorse throughout the body for extended periods. Not fun.
Ok, now the good stuff. She cranked out 300 steps on the stairstepper: beginning with 20 and then 50 and then 70. That's day one. The next day, she stepped up with a bit of help and cranked out the 300. Topping off day one's success, she climbed a flight of stairs. Mean hospital, weird corridor stairs. 12 steps to a landing and then 13 more to the top. She needed a little help for the last run up. Regardless, STAIRS! IvyRose has set up an electrical stimulation program that we do on our own. Ivy has allowed us permission and guidance to use the machine, so we set aside some extra time during our day at the Rehab and have been been seeing some improvements in her hands.
It's a tough road and demands grit. The Pink Lady has grit. She battles for every inch and calls upon some unseen source for patience and fortitude the likes I doubt many of us have. Some days an inch is lost to be fought for again. She has many inches now and many more to gain. We all give thanks to the many wonderful people in our lives and the many we continue to meet. The people here and there have been exemplar and for some bad luck, it's pretty damn good.

HELLO

IF YOUR LOOKIN' YOU CAN COMMENT!!!!
Mom feels people don't care anymore because we don't get comments anymore. Please comment.
Pinky needs her friends and support, this injury is long and hard and we need real long term support. So for crying out loud please write and comment.
Letters to 1125 Dartmouth NE
Albuquerque, NM 87106
thanks,
H.

Pinky Party!

Having a little fun.

Pinky has been having Sunday art parties at the house. Last week we had Wendy and Glenn (friends we made from the pool) and Gobind and Jim (the pool therapist "aquatic master" and her husband) over for Pinky fun. She taught them how to made roses out of sculpy and do lots of other groovie things. It's so nice to see Pinky being Pinky and doing Pinky things!!!

We had a wonderful surprise visit from mom's good friend Karen Herrick last week. Karen was on her way to Reno for a wedding and rearranged her flight so she could have a 6 hour layover in Albuquerque to play with mom. We didn't tell mom about about her coming and seeing moms face as Karen approached the front door was priceless. Thank you Karen for giving mom some company and making the visit possible.

Surprise visit!!!

AquaEagle

NoPunking???

TheQueen

Pinky's Angels

Pinky hanging out in 'Old Town' in the Rehab with Holly and her Physical Therapist, Rose. She had to step up onto a curb to get there. Not bad. The other picture is of Ivy Rose, Pinky's Occupational Therapist, visiting us at the pool. Don't let her youthful good looks fool you. She's sharp, well educated, and dedicated. They both bring great energy to Pinky's re-abling. To all of us in fact.

DooDa...GreatDay

Pinky standing around goofing off. You can tell how normal this is becoming by the general lack of enthusiasm from the background crowd. What's not so normal was Pinky walking to the car today to run some errands with us and then walking back into the house. No easy feat as our driveway has given way to tree roots and there's two not so easy ramps to navigate. She made it look pretty easy. And she transfered out of the truck by herself. She continues to amaze me with her strength and go get 'em attitude. Rock on Pink Pink! SK

PeaceOutBB

B...You'll be missed. I guess I'll have to start washing dishes again. Beth rocks out and gave both Holly and I a little time off from our schedule at RR. We will all miss her and will be awaiting her return. SK

hello everyone,
I am back in Albuquerque, it is raining here also so I wasn't able to escape it. I am writing to give my observation after 5 weeks of being away. wow, mom is really working hard as you all know but it is paying off. When I transfer her it is pretty easy, she can mostly lift all of her body weight, I am there for balance and guidance. when I was here last she would walk with her walker but with a lot of effort, she needed 3 people around her helping, now one person is needed just to spot her. Pinky is working on stamina, and still rebuilding muscles that have been weakened by lack of use.
This week I was able to accompany mom to pick up a 'Jazzy' this is a motorized wheel chair, so far she is loving more Independence, we put her in it and she doesn't have to wait for anyone to push her. The first day she got it she took it out on the street and met an artist who is a neighbor hopefully they can get together and play. This weekend we will use it more and let you all know how she did.
Pinky's daughter,
Beth

Fun Pics

3 blogs in a day?

Ok, so we're not very good at posting to the blog. But 3 post in a day? Well, it's actually kind of raining here today and that kept me from working in the yard preparing the Queen's grounds (I'm trying to get the ground leveled and ready for Pinky's kiddie pool: it is redneck rehab after all). And besides, I've really been wanting to get everybody up-to-date. Pinky is walking with the walker really well and things have been going really good. I'm hesitant to say it, but everyone has told us that the recovery is usually exponential in nature and I really feel we are approaching that spot on the curve where it begins to climb quickly. She's a damn hard worker.

We are going to try to maintain the blog a bit better. Perhaps in more of a photo essay kind of way rather than writing. It's faster and more interactive as you guys will have to make up your own version of the story that way. No guarantees of course, but we'll try. SK

Wow!

Pinky wanted us to post these 'statistics.' Mostly, she loves the letters and support and wanted you guys to know why it's hard for her to be around the phone.

Since Pinky came home in January:

164 hours of supervised therapy. (i.e., with the therapist at rehab)

540 hours of self-initiated therapy.

90 hours changing diapers, or adult briefs for the more sensitive readers.

360 hours intermittent catheterization.

30 hours taking showers at rehab (since sometime around March).

30 hours in the soaking tub (we've only had it for about a month).

60 hours driving to and fro'.

45 hours digi-stemming. If you don't know...don't worry about it.

1800 transfers of Pinky's butt to an eclectic mix of surfaces.

We generated about 5000# of garbage and recyclables.

And she's been asleep for about 1620 hours.

So, please keep the letters coming and the phone calls. They really give here a lot of energy and passion to keep working hard. A lot of people in Pinky's situation simply decide not to do the work that's necessary and never get to the point she's already at and certainly not to the heights we will reach. It takes an incredible amount of work and perseverance and wherewithal. After each knew challenge has been met, there's another waiting and people of less character and strength simply get worn out by it all. Understandably so. Though we have some of that in very briefs moments, she's a trooper and is always up to the challenge. Simply amazing! She wanted me to tell you guys, she loves and misses everyone very much and is working hard to get back to her life. SK

What's Pinky Been Doing?

A typical day in Pinky's world:

10:00 a.m.:
"Family." Pinky's up and usually calls out, 'family,' to let us know she's awake.

10:00 a.m -11:00 a.m:
Morning hygiene and phone calls back to Jersey and Gene.

11:00 a.m-12:00 a.m:
Stretching regiment and Bonnie Hunt on the T.V.

12:00 p.m-1:00 p.m.:
Usually Pinky has some snacks and we drive to rehab.

1:00 p.m-6:00 or 7:00 p.m.:
Depending on the day, Pinky is either working with her Physical Therapist and Occupational Therapist or working out at home. In between, we run whatever errands we have. Pinky has begun going into the grocery store to pick out her own food. It turns out she's a great driver of the big 'phat' electric carts with the baskets attached.
At some point during this time, we usually go swimming for an hour or so and have a shower at the rehab center. Most of the pool time is spent working out and fine tuning mechanical skills necessary in walking. We try to allow her some free time to visit and swim around. She's a hard worker though, and rarely takes us up on it. She does, however, really enjoy the pool and the independence it affords. If time allows and she's feeling good, we take advantage of some of the equipment the rehab center has and we work out on our own.

7:00 p.m -9:00 p.m.:
Like everyone else, we normally have dinner and try to veg out with the T.V.: usually, a network series rented from netflix or a movie and who knows what's for dinner.

9:00 p.m-10:30 p.m.:
It's bath time at R.R. Pinky usually gets into a soaking tub around 9 or 9:30 and hangs out for an hour or so at about 99-100 degrees. Of course, being R.R., we have T.V. available in the spa room, so she normally continues the movie while in the tub.

10:30 p.m-11:30 p.m.:
Once again, like most everyone else, we prepare for bed with many nightly rituals.

11:30 p.m.- 10:00 a.m.: Pinky's in Pinky land, usually dreaming of kicking it with Bonnie Hunt, or doing some light carpentry work building herself a house. Some nights she plays with Jack and Will in her dreams. Other nights she paints or drives her car around town. Tonight, who knows what Pink will be up to....

Variations:
Some days are different than others. But that's pretty much the routine.
The weekends are different, but she continues to work out albeit, perhaps a bit of a lighter work out. We try to have some fun on the weekends, inviting friends over for Pinky parties or going out to the movies or for snacks. Holly and I fear that we're not as much fun for her as all of you guys in Jersey, but we manage to laugh a lot and we have a pretty good time.
As for her pain management, she's been doing really well. The soaking tub and pool really seem to help with the spasms as long as the water is warm: at least 90 degrees to swim, with 92-94 being ideal and usually around 100 degrees for the soak. When she does have significant pain, the routine changes and revolves primarily around management and dismissal of the evil spasms and tone. Otherwise, we're kicking it and rocking out at R.R. SK

Pinky in New Mex

Pinky's kicking BUTT!

Hi all,
It's been a while since our last post as we've been busy keeping up with Pinky. There has been a lot of progress and many 'first' since the last entry. Her pain levels have been much more manageable and as a result, she has really started working hard. We usually average around 4-5 hours of working out per day both here at R.R. and Lovelace with her two therapist, Rose and IvyRose. I'm short on time as we are off to get Pinky in her soaking tub and get ready for bed. I just wanted to let you all know she is doing really well. We have begun Pinky games again as well as Sunday art days with our neighbors kids and friends, so that ought to tell you something. SK