Update

Last weekend, Martha and Dave went to Indianapolis to attend a Colts game. I asked her about it today, and she said it was "amazing." They even got onto the field during the game, but didn't stay long because they couldn't see anything. Toward the end of the game, Dave said Martha disappeared. She was in the back of the suite with her head covered, not wanting to watch the last few minutes of the game. It was a good game but didn't go in favor of the Colts.

Her hair is long enough now that she can go without her hat. But today she gave us a scare. Every two hours, she gets up and walks one lap around the living room and kitchen. It's really made a difference in her mobility. She was standing just behind the loveseat, tidying up the end table, when she lost her balance and toppled over. Fortunately, other than her pride, nothing was injured. She may have some soreness tomorrow, but she's fine.

Great Thanksgiving!

Martha had a great Thanksgiving. She walked from the living room to the dining room and sat at the table with many of us. She even had a sip of wine which it turns out she no longer likes. After dinner the Wii came out, along with Just Dance 1 and 2. Martha laughed so hard at the dancers that I'm pretty sure her ribs hurt yesterday. I'm fairly sure I speak for friends and family when I say we're all very thankful for the progress Martha had made so far.

Getting braver

Today while we were watching football at the Deshong's, Dave mentioned that earlier in the week Martha managed to walk from the far side of the family room over to the dining room and back to get a couple of pieces of chocolate. So now we know what she'll do with the proper motivation.

Also, her hair is growing back quickly. Right now it's at the itchy stage.

All by herself

I'd heard about it, but yesterday I saw it with my own eyes. Martha got off the couch and walked with her quad cane, all by herself. Only then did I realize that her wheelchair was not in the customary place near the fireplace. Dave has her walking as much as possible and now it's her first choice as well. She was heading for the bathroom yesterday but Dave said she's also gotten up and just walked around the house.

She had quite the appetite yesterday as well. She had meatloaf, potato soup and a slice of quiche for lunch.

And thanks go out to Michael Kane, Jim Fogler and Dennis for visiting on Saturday. Martha really enjoyed seeing you and sharing her hot chocolate. Martha always enjoys company, and that hasn't changed at all.

Update

Martha got out of the hospital last Wednesday. I didn't get a chance to see her until today. She's back to wearing hats for a while -- the stitches come out tomorrow. I can't post pictures here, but you might be able to see them at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=242509&id=659706999&l=6a1596b333

Progress report

Martha’s doing much better today. Yesterday she was uncomfortable and nauseous but today she’s sitting up and eating. She’ll probably be in the hospital for another day or two while they get the blood-thinner medication levels worked out.
From Chloe: "Mom had the drainage tubes removed and is back to her old self. I've heard she's even flirting with the male nurses! For breakfast she had pancakes and bacon.. and for dinner she's having a Reuben! Dad also turned the TV on for her. :) All is well!"

Surgery update

Thanks everyone for the good thoughts. Martha came through the surgery fine. Everything took longer than expected and she has to lay flat for 24 hrs so no air pockets form, but in spite of all that, she may go home tomorrow. We thought she might be there for as much as 5-6 days. She's in the same room at Strong that she was in January. She spoke her first word the day she left that room. Boy! Is the staff going to be surprised at her progress since then.

Update

Lots of family visited Martha today. She's going into the hospital on Wednesday to have the chunk of skull that was removed in January put back in place. It means they're to shave her head again. She'll be in the hospital for 4-5 days while they get her back on blood thinners after the surgery. Please think good thoughts on Wednesday.

Observations

Last Sunday I stopped by to see Martha. She was just getting ready to watch TV but the remote wasn't working for her. Fairly annoyed, she handed it to me to see if I could make it work (pretty funny because I normally hand the remote to Linda to sort out). Anyway, I got the remote to pull up a menu on the TV, and then started clicking through to find football. Martha knew when I hit the list of NFL channels!

I don't know how or how many, but I think she recognizes some words. Chloe says she's noticed the same thing. I asked Martha and she said yes. I think the disconnect is in her ability to process and/or communicate what she saw/read.

Mo and Bob also stopped by and brought Martha a lottery ticket. Interestingly enough, she knew she was supposed to scratch off the gray stuff. That's hard to do one-handed, so she handed it to me to finish. She won $8. Bob wanted to look at the ticket (yeah, right) but she was not going to give it up. And we were treated to a couple of rounds of "I won, I won, I won."

P.S. She liked the chili I made. I'm guessing, but I imagine she liked the ice cream Bob and Mo brought as well. ;-) Coming up this Sunday -- scalloped potatoes.

Sense of humor 2

It's football season, so guess what was on TV at the Deshong's yesterday? Martha was watching the Indy game when Linda and I stopped over. We brought presents from our trip to Charleston. I think Martha liked her Charleston Riverdogs shirt and baseball because I saw her looking at the shirt even while the game was on. Normally she's very focused when there's a game on.

Chloe decided she was going to make chili for the first time and pulled a recipe off the internet. While Chloe was in the kitchen, Linda asked Martha if she missed cooking and being in the kitchen. Martha glanced toward the kitchen, more than once, rolled her eyes and said "yes." We knew exactly what she meant and everyone had a good laugh. We all decided we didn't really like the recipe but she ate a bowl of chili as well as some of the kettle corn we brought from the Clothesline Festival. Earlier she had some of the swiss cheese pie Chloe made, so her sense of taste is coming back.

As we were getting ready to leave, since she'd had some of the chili Chloe made, I said I'd bring the chili next week. Martha glanced toward the kitchen, grinned, and said "thank you."

Short visit -- big news

Linda and I visited Martha and Chloe today and brought dessert. We sat in the breakfast area and had bread pudding with caramel sauce -- not as good as our family makes, but passable. ;-) Martha ate most of hers, so her taste is indeed changing. First she was stuck on waffles and now it's potatoes.

I commented that we'd posted about attending the Park Ave festival a couple of weeks ago. When I mentioned the crab cake, Martha's face lit up and she licked her lips. Her short-term memory isn't always too good, but in this case it was totally fine.

Big news is that Martha's surgery has finally been scheduled: Oct. 13. Don't ask why the delay. A couple of weeks ago Dave said he thought Martha would be in the hospital for 4 to 5 days while the doctors get the blood thinner details worked out. If that changes, we'll let you know.

I asked Martha about football season. She won't be cooking this year or sending out her weekly commentary. but she says OK to having us visit on Sunday afternoon.

As we were getting ready to leave, Martha wheeled herself to the family room. I was amazed at how easily she moves between the wheelchair and the couch. She also had no problem finding baseball on TV. Once baseball is on, that's what Martha tunes into, so we said our goodbyes and headed home.

Enjoyed the Park Ave Festival

Martha went to the Park Avenue Festival with Bronte, Linda and me this morning. I'm pretty sure she enjoyed herself. Any time she wanted to stop at a booth, all she had to do was put her foot down and that certainly would stop the wheelchair. For some time now we've thought she had lost her sense of smell, but she had absolutely no problem today locating the booth with crabcakes. She had part of a crabcake and saved room for some Abbott's ice cream as well. It's good to see her outside and enjoying herself.

Slowly but surely ...

I spent some time with Martha Sunday afternoon. We sat on the deck out back. Martha's more verbal than she has been, and I understand her taste in food has expanded to include baked potatoes and crackers. While we were on the deck, I stood up for a while and Martha got her point across that I should sit down and pull my chair closer to her. She also wheeled herself over to a small table that had a plate with grapes and crackers, picked up the plate and offered it to me. I've heard she's taken a liking to baseball. She and Dave attended a Red Wings game recently and Dave said she grinned the whole time. She'll find it on TV if it's on, but she's watching the Yankees! Sisterly affection only goes so far ...

Lunch and laughs with a few D&C friends

Karen Magnuson and I had a wonderful lunch visit with Martha today! Her face just lit up as we walked in with a special delivery ... and that would be Pizza from Guida's. In Martha fashion, believe it or not, she wasn't too thrilled with our food selection. We just blamed Bronte who was leaving for her college orientation trip. Martha was actually craving waffles with gobs of syrup. Chloe reminded us of her taste buds liking sweet foods and drinks. Speaking of drinks, Martha was sipping on a sweet tea on the rocks, and when I asked if it had vodka in it, I received a quick NO, but was told she snuck a gulp from somebody's beer last week. Custom Brew Crafters here we come. We did guilt her into having a slice of Pizza with us though. : ) Martha was in great spirits, and followed each one of our conversations pretty closely. Her speech and choice of words are becoming much clearer and we also noticed her right arm and hand much more relaxed. I guess the therapy at the Jewish Center is really paying off! Priceless: We asked Martha if she was gearing up for this coming NFL season and Sunday Funday Football and as clear as a bell Martha replied, PARTY!
Love ya, mean it... Karen and Jim-

Sense of humor still intact

Saturday I attended Bronte's graduation with the family and stayed for dinner afterwards. Martha was sitting in the kitchen with us, and I noticed she was fiddling with her right hand. I thought maybe it was bothering her. She pulled her jacket sleeve down over her hand and then looked at it in surprise and said very loud "Oh no!" as if her hand disappeared. Of course, that got everyone's attention, which made Martha laugh. When we realized what she'd done, we all laughed too, which made her laugh all the more. So she's playing the "made you look" game, and that's good.

Doctor's Visit Results

Mom had her appointment with her neurologist this morning. Again we were told how lucky we are and that even with the CT scans done recently Mom is doing amazing for how much damage was done.

As soon as the hematologist and cardiologist sign off on the surgery they will be putting her skull plate back in. They said as far as neuro-surgeries go this is fairly simple. At this point we're looking at late July for a surgery date. Sadface, I know.

At rehab tomorrow Fonte Surgical will be there to fit Mom for a new wheelchair - one not so low to the ground. They think it will help the muscles regain some of its function. Her physical therapist is also going to try using a walker with a platform on the right side with the hope that it will be more stable for Mom. This means she has to be able to do weight bearing on her right side. I haven't seen it done, but Bronte says Mom enjoyed it and they'll definitely be trying it again.

That's all for now folks!

Sunday morning entertainment at its best!

Drew and I dropped in on Auntie Martha to entertain her for a bit this morning. Drew can do that when he enters a room -- it immediately becomes a "Drewsaster" as crayons and remotes began flyin' all over the DeShong's living room. She was in great spirits from the moment we walked in and has really made some good progress with her time at the Jewish center. We shared stories, looked at pictures on my iphone, and had lots of laughs. She was moving her left hand so much you would of thought she was Italian. Martha actually lit up when she found out we brought her a chocolate covered, creme filled donut from DD. Her favorite!!! Btw: If you don't know, Kieran is now yuck! It seems like Martha can't be bothered with her these days. The cats rule! Martha also reccomends going to see the new Shrek movie -- she said, it's really cool. As we left, told her ... we love and miss you and in Martha fashion, she said, mean it!!!

Bronte said, if you're ever in the neighborhood, please don't hesitate to stop on bye!

Progress with speech

Linda and I visited with Martha for a bit this afternoon. She's looking good and the therapy at the Jewish Home is paying off. Martha has made what I think is great progress with speech and the key seems to be including a gesture. If you make a thumbs up, she says good. If you make a thumbs down, she says bad. She understands she has to raise her voice to call Chloe, Bronte or Dave from another room. So as we get more gestures figured out, her speech improves. I know she also does well if you start a phrase she recognizes. Today we had her in giggles when we said "Love you," she'd say "mean it!" She's also added waffles to the list of food she likes. Progress, slow but sure.

Date Night!

Tonight is date night for Mom and Dad...they'll be seeing a movie. Not sure what movie yet but it should be fun for both of them!

Mom had a blast this past weekend and loved seeing everyone! We'll have to do that again!

At the moment I'm trying to ask Mom what she would like for dinner. I got the answer "Salad." But we ALL know that won't be happening! When I told that to Mom she laughed, "maaahhaaaa" and nodded that she would not be eating veggies. We'll try out the hotdogs provided by Uncle Randy instead.

Mom is loving the warm weather! She no longer wears the long sleeved sweaters - instead she's been sitting out on the porch and back deck with Dad enjoying the birds. Currently she's inside sitting in her wheelchair watching CSI: Las Vegas..which has become a daily habit. Only thing different today is that she hasn't taken her morning nap. We have a hunch on why, but will see how the next few mornings go.

Till next time! :)

The Jewish Home

Hi Everyone! Sorry for the lack of blogging, but things have settled in nicely here. We're no longer seeing groundbreaking changes but have continued to see improvement across the board.

Mom is going to the Jewish home every Tuesday and Thursday for three 45 minute sessions of therapy. Generally we start out in Speech therapy with Margaret. In our last session Margaret had a deck of cards with different foods on them. Mom was given a choice of two cards and had to choose which she would rather eat. She also had to say a phrase with it... for example she was shown the cards of fish and pizza. She chose pizza and was asked to say, "I like pizza."

After that she visits Liz for her occupational therapy. Liz can be grueling but has been working with Mom on transferring out of her wheelchair on her own. She also works extensively with Mom's hand and shoulder trying to get back some movement. She and the physical therapist would like to be able to open Mom's hand so that she can eventually put weight on it and perhaps use a walker - among other things.

Her physical therapist, Vicki, works with mom last and has been putting her in a harness attached to a treadmill. The harness allows mom to be fall-proof and try walking without holding onto anything. With Vicki helping to move Mom's foot she can get up to a speed of 1.3mph. Vicki has this remote controlled sensor thingy that she would like to try putting on Mom's right foot. Electronic pulses would help stimulate the muscles in Mom's foot and ankle and have it automatically start moving her foot up and down. We haven't tried it yet, and if it helps she can only use it while at the rehab center.. but ultimately it could help her brain learn how to move her foot up and down to allow for normal walking.

---

When not at rehab Mom makes us watch all sorts of trashy TV. Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration.. I just can't handle the marathons of America's Next Top Model or Housewives of NJ.

She's been talking to us a lot more and has been getting out small phrases. The other day when Dad came home Mom said, "Hooommmeee!" and then a few minutes later I heard, "Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit!" Honestly - I don't have a clue where she gets that language from. I think something funny was said on TV and she was copying it.

We expect to have some visitors this Sunday, if you would like to drop by in the afternoon.. Feel free!

A Wonderful Saturday Visit

Drew and I decided to pop on over for a quick visit and I'm so glad we did. Martha was watching some John Travolta flick (don't remember her being a BIG JT fan), and was in great spirits on this wonderful Saturday afternoon. A lot of interaction between Andrew and his Auntie Martha as he once again started to take over the DeShong house - the Sunday Funday crew know exactly what I'm talking about! He just loves playing with Gary (the cat) and raiding Martha's cabinets. Martha enjoyed the madness as usual! Bronte and Chloe were sporting their new haircuts... very nice! It's always nice to see the DeShong gang. If you're in the neighborhood just stop on by, I know Martha would love to see YOU, too!

A movie and pizza

Last Wednesday, Linda, Bronte, Kate, and Kate's mom took Martha to the movies. They saw "The Blind Side." I met them for pizza after the movie. Martha seemed to enjoy herself. She even wheeled herself to the cash register to pay the bill when we finished. Hopefully trips like this will help motivate Martha to work hard at her rehabilitation, now that she's home. She's being a bit of a pain about it otherwise. It was also a break for Chloe and Dave. We'll try to do something on a regular basis, as schedules allow.

Martha At Home Update

Hello everyone. This is Micki (or Monique). I am Martha's older sister (well I quess I am ANOTHER one of Martha's older sisters because most of you probably know Mel). I'm the sister that lives away from home in Indiana.

Anyway, I came home to visit Martha this past weekend. I haven't seen her since she was in the hospital just a few days after her stroke. My son, Danny, and I came up during the blizzard. Martha has made remarkable strides since this all first began. Regretfully I wasn't able to see all that she is able to do. My visit was too short and she was in "one of her moods" the one day I got to spend with her. She didn't want to take her meds, she didn't want to eat, she didn't want to do much of anything. Knowing Martha as we all do, Dave, Bronte and especially Chloe, have their work cut out for them. Fortunately, Chloe has her mother's stubborness and determination. And Martha has never been one to shrug anything off because it meant hard work. Hopefully she won't get discouraged with herself. But if she does, she definitely has a very strong support system surrounding her. At times it's hard to know exactly what all she is grasping. Before I left her Sunday afternoon, I looked at her straight in the eyes and told her she had a lot of work to do, but I wanted my sister back. She seemed to understand that. And when I went to give her a hug goodbye and told her that I would be driving back to Indiana the next day, she just hung her head. So I knew she understood me then.

I would like to express a special thanks to her friend, Kate, who stopped by Sunday afternoon. With Kate's encouragement, Martha's mood brightened up and she got cleaned up and took her meds. And Kate planned a "girl's day out" for herself, Chloe and Martha. Today, after Martha's doctor's appt, they planned to go see a movie. (Chloe - please let us know how that went).

I know this is not necessary, but I would like to ask her friends to continue to stop by and give Martha as much encouragement as possible.

Friends and Family

Lets get some not so good news out of the way first. Pain or sensitivity in Martha's right arm has increased to the point that it is interfering with her therapies. Last Wednesday I took Martha to see a specialist at St Marys. The hope was he could add something to her meds that would help. The problem is that giving her a pain killer in the morning before her therapies would make her drowsy. This would not be good especially for speech. Hopefully there was some kind of procedure that they could do to block the pain only in her arm. These exist but the side effects of these may not be good for her to regain the control she needs to use the arm. The tone in her arm is so great that efforts to extend the arm and stretch the tendons and work the joints is very painful. The doctor opted to add a half dose of something in the morning. This would alleviate the pain and still allow her to function otherwise. The first days results were not too hopeful as she was indeed too sleepy to pay attention. I ended up putting her to bed. She did better in the afternoon. She may get used to the new med and do better later. The jury is still out.
Sunday was a good, good day for Martha. I brought her home for the now usual Sunday feast. During the course of the day 15 or 16 people visited . Some to eat and some just to say hello to Martha. Our old friends Gil and Noreen from the "Y" group showed up to see and wish Martha well. Gil sat down by Martha and immediately started briefing her on his latest cooking adventure. In no time at all he had her laughing. Gil has that affect on Martha (and others ). The St Cyrs were in town and dropped in to say hi and show her their new grandson, Jacob. Martha couldn't have been more delighted. Mike Spano and Julie arrived with a whole baking pan of Italian sausages and a mixed berry dessert. Kate brought another dessert. (there goes my diet again) Margaret, my friend from work and family filled out the day.
I include a lot of info in this blog about all the therapies Martha goes through at the hospital but when I see her here at home surrounded by friends and family, smiling and talking I think this may be the best therapy of all. To see her face light up when a friend, new or old, comes into the room makes my day. It's a long road back but with a support group like this she is gonna make it. Thank you all. Dave

Need your input

We're trying to figure out what Martha's favorite food was as a child. If you remember hearing her talk about a favorite food, please send me an email at mlr_00@yahoo.com. Thanks.

My 2 cents

I was in yesterday and when I took out a pen to help her pick out her menu choices I was surprised when she took the pen from me. I gave her some paper and she started to write some letters. Fabulous!!! Melody stopped tonight and found that Martha now has a cast on her right arm. Not sure why but will leave some markers tomorrow night so people can sign it.

An inspiring Thursday visit!

What pleasant surprise to visit Martha today.

The last time I saw her, about three weeks ago, she was dazed and mostly unresponsive. I doubt that she recognized me.

This time she was sitting in a chair, smiling and looking around her hospital room. She knew me, with a little prompting from Jim Fogler, and we spent about 20 minutes chatting about the Super Bowl and all the snow that we are NOT getting in Rochester.

Her therapist came to take her to the afternoon session. We accompanied her as she rolled her wheelchair to the elevators. An amazing accomplishment.

Martha DeShong is a strong woman and an inspiration.

Tom Flynn-

Maureen's day with Martha (sun 2/7)

Had to work Saturday, got home at 6:30 am but didn't go to bed. Felt like visiting Martha so went to Tops to get some flowers cause I told Martha I would. Got at St. Mary's at lunch time at saw Martha in the lunch room. I noticed right away that the right side of Martha's face wasn't hanging down. I met Rita, her nurse for the afternoon. I also met Buffy and Maureen later. Martha didn't eat much of her ground pork, squash and small potatoes. When she drank her tea, she made a face like it was the worst stuff out there but kept going back to it. I asked her if she liked it, she shook her head for "no" but was nodding her head for "yes". We talked and Martha answered with effort on some words. A lot of time, I didn't understand her answer but that's ok. I told her she looked marvelous and she repeated the word beautifully and with emotion. We then took a stroll with the wheel chair which she had done with Dave. Saw the physical therapy room and then signed out to go to a different floor. Saw the chapel and I looked at all the names on the plaques, looking for "Martha". Saw three Margarets, one was Margaret A. Reynolds but no Martha. Martha shrugged and rolled her eyes. Went back to the lunch room and Martha wanted to go back to her room. Got a call from Randy saying that he was going to come over and would Martha want a Wendy's Frosty. Martha said ummmm. Rita came in and hooked Martha up to a vitamin enriched bag of blond color liquid. Randy came in which two nutty buddies because a Wendy's wasn't to be found. Rita said that it would be ok but without the crushed nuts on top. Martha made a mess of it but looked at nutty buddy before eating it, turning it, left and right.
Martha looked tired after that so Randy and I met Buffy and Maureen who helped Martha into bed. Martha wanted to be washed so that's when Randy and I left. I kissed Martha and told her that we need her to be walking before she goes home in a few weeks. She nodded her head and kissed me.
It was great being with Martha, seeing the progress that she has made since last Sunday.
Keep the prays of thanks coming and positive thoughts.

Great day

great post Jim!!! I agree Martha is making great progress. Martha did great with her first meal. She filled up after only a few bits because up to that point everything has been liquid. At one point there was a piece of rice on the right side of her lip and she felt it there and picked it off. That is great because in the past even a cold hand on the right side of her face was not felt! Martha had a shower today and was tentative about getting wet prompting one therapist to check her response to cold and warm water by having her stick her hand into a cup of each. No real response to the warm water. She did respond to the cold water by saying cold ooooohhh. The thought now is that the water hitting her body rather than the temperature of the water may have caused a sensory overload . Being a part of the therapy sessions today was very interesting. I'm learning so much about how she is thinking and learning. The speech therapist said don't just nod your head in agreement if you don't understand Martha. The only way she will correct herself is if she knows it doesn't make sense. She is beginning to realize that things don't make sense and attempts to come up with the words and sentences. All great progress considering the doctors at Strong originally didn't think she would ever talk again. You go Martha!!!

update from Mel

Having heard such good things about earlier visits, when I was at St Mary's tonight I put in a good word for Martha to fix pulled pork at some point when she gets home. Martha's pulled pork is my favorite and the standard to which all others are compared. I reminded her that she didn't fix it at all this football season, not even for my birthday, so I was really looking forward to her being able to make it at some point in the future.

It's truly amazing the progress we've seen in just a few days. Thanks to everyone for the prayers and positive thoughts.

Thursday: Another BIG Milestone Day!

Brian Ambor and I visited Martha today, and boy did we have an eventful visit. When we arrived both David and Linda were still there in the room and the nurse was serving Martha lunch. As Dave mentions in the post below, progress has been made in her swallowing ability, so this was a big step for her, not to mention, her first lunch! Not impressed with the St Mary’s chicken and greens (and Martha knows her greens), she was only able to get down a little bit of her lunch. She did inhale the pudding though and fed herself pretty good. When asked what flavor pudding she was eating, Martha replied with a word very close to vanilla. The nurse then asked if she knew who was in the room and replied clear as a bell, FAMILY. Since most of her lunch was still on her plate, they still needed to feed her through her feeding tube. When the nurse finally came back to feed her, in Martha fashion, she just rolled her eyes and head back.

After David and Linda left, we decided to stick around a bit to keep her company. From previous posts, as you read, Martha has really made progress with her words but is still struggling to put words into sentences. And let me tell you, she is trying real hard to string her words together. After a good effort, a few four letter words slip out – she actually has those words down pretty good!!! She did surprise us a few times in typical Martha fashion … she said, VEY after I said, OY a few times. And here’s the BEST one of them ALL … Brian was explaining to her that we had a good month, significantly over the 2nd revised plan number, but I quickly reminded him that were still off the last year number and without missing a beat, Martha jumped in and said, YA SUCK LESS and then shrugged her shoulders! This came out of her mouth clear as a friggin’ bell. She had Brian and I in tears laughing.

After a few conversations later, I noticed her looking over at Brian very intrigued. I then realized, she was watching him checking email on his iphone. The light bulb went OFF, so I immediately took out mine and with her left hand she reached over and grabbed it, pushed in the button and fired it up. She knew exactly what to do. I then helped her get to my photo app and she began flipping through my photo’s with the phone in her left hand, and with her left thumb. I didn't even have to help her do this. Of course, the first 10-15 pics were of my 18 month year old son Andrew. We truly believe she remembered him, as she smiled after I said his name a bunch of times and shared with her how he used to play with her kitty cat Gary and messed up her Tupperware at times. After we went through my photo’s and Brian’s doggie pics – we tried some games. Brian launched his TIC TAC TOE app and after a few tries, we were playing TIC TAC TOE with Martha – like riding a bike, she knew how to play. She smiled each time she beat me -- I know ALL too well how much Martha hates to lose. : ) We then played these Toddler Teaser games, where she was actually recognizing shapes by pressing on them. It was truly amazing to see all this progress on this visit. I also thought while we had our iphone’s out, we’d play her a few tunes. So I played her the Pink Glove Dance song by Jay Sean and she immediately sang, down, down, down in sync with the song… and said Bronte’s name right after. I asked her if Bronte liked the song and she nodded yes, or it appeared that way. Brian then played, twist and shout and she seemed to like that song, too with her smile. All good stuff!

I’m writing in a lot excitement, since I’ve witnessed tremendous strides today from where she sat just a week ago.

BTW: If you live locally, Dave and the rest of the family welcome your visit. The more folks that stop bye and say hello, the better, as she continues to connect the dots.

Keep your prayers and happy thoughts coming!

Travel plans changed

Dave has moved his trip to Asheville up a week, so he'll be home if Martha is indeed discharged on Feb 24. He's also working with the therapists and social worker at St Mary's to see what the next steps for Martha should be (as opposed to what insurance dictates). Stay tuned for the next exciting installment ...

Today's Martha milestones

Hello everyone,

Martha's learning how to maneuver a wheel chair. She's dressed and wearing sneakers now and uses her left foot to move backwards and forwards. She can stand up long enough to have a wheelchair placed behind her and she's learning to scootch to the edge of the bed. All important for mobility. The physical therapist worked with her today in front of a mirror so she could watch her right side move. And the other day the speech therapist asked her where she lived and she said "The United States of America," clear as day. And her trache tube is gone. Good thing too because she's figured out how to take off the mitt on her left hand. The other day she looked it over very thoroughly, used her teeth to unwind the velcro around her wrist and handed the mitt to Dave. She clearly said my name on Sunday and is working hard to say Dave's name.

Thanks everyone for the prayers and positive thoughts. It's all good.

Wednesday, 1/27 Update

I visited Martha after work. There's a parking garage on the Main St side of St Mary's, which connects to the hospital via an elevated walkway. Parking is free. When you walk into St Mary's, head for the security office. They'll give you a pass. You don't need to sign in.

Martha has classes between 9 and 2 daily, with a break for lunch. Not sure yet if that extends into the weekend. As you can imagine, the work really tires her out. But they've already had her singing the alphabet song, Happy Birthday, and something with numbers.

So far, in addition to "yes," Martha's been heard to clearly say: "No, Listen!" "Fabulous!" "Love you" "So ..." (as if launching into a story) "Miracle" and "Sh$!" I knew there'd be a four-letter word in there somewhere.

We got two of Martha's musical birthday cards out tonight. She's appreciating them more now that she's more aware of what's going on. She's able to mouth the words and bop along to "I Will Survive." It's quite a sight. Isn't it amazing what's stored in our brains? Disco!

If visiting @ St. Mary's

Martha is on the 5th floor, in room 35. It's a single. We don't know her daily schedule yet, and visitors must work around it. Also, parking at St Mary's is free. Last, you don't need to sign in, but you do need to check in at the desk, as I understand it. I'm planning to visit after work and will post when I have more details.

Keep the prayers and good thoughts coming, and never say never.

First day in new digs

Martha moved to Saint Mary's today, Her rehab team wasted no time. They worked with her for about 3 hours. They had her doing her abc's and numbers. Dave says they are amazing. I will be stopping up tomorrow and will have more information as we get to know our way around.

Update for Monday, 1/25

From Mel: Martha's moving to Unity St Mary's tomorrow morning, as far as we know. This is going to be a big change. She'll be able to wear clothes, sneakers, etc. There are no limits on visiting hours, but we'll have to work around her various rehab sessions. As soon as we get an idea of what her day looks like, her room number, etc., we'll post here.

The Unity St Mary's campus is at 89 Genesee Street, near Main St W/Chili Ave. We'll also scope out the parking and let you know about the details.

Dave says some of Martha's caregivers will be trained so we can continue whatever she's working on. This is going to be interesting. Right now she doesn't seem real pleased that I'm acting in the role of big sister again.

Martha has made tremendous progress over the past week. Many thanks for all of the prayers and positive thoughts.

Holy moly!

Big news from Dave: Martha's moving to St Mary's tomorrow and this morning she spoke the word "yes"!!!

[I don't know if one is connected to the other. ;-)]

Keep the prayers and good thoughts coming!

Sunday, 1/24, update

Today was Mom's birthday so Mo made sure Mom got a chance to visit Martha. Randy and Kelly visited as well. When Mo told Martha she was leaving and moved to kiss her on the cheek, Martha raised her left arm and hugged Mo. I think that's a first. I tried the Scrabble letters with Martha and they're more than she can handle for now. I've been trying to get her to stick out her tongue because that's connected to the ability to swallow. Today I put vanilla lip gloss on her and that seems to help. When I tell her to stick out her tongue, she may do it or she may give me what we call the "scary face." We'll be practicing "stick out your tongue" more this week. Last week's practice with making a fist and giving a thumb's up seems to have paid off.

Now for the BIG news: yesterday Dave received a package from Indianapolis. Inside: a Colts jersey with DeShong #1 on the back, signed by Indianapolis coach Jim Caldwell. Unbelieveable! Dave and Bronte brought it to the hospital this afternoon and watched the Colts stomp on the Jets. And now the Colts are going to the Super Bowl. Woo hoo!

another great day

From Mel: Linda and I visited Martha earlier today. She was using her left hand to move the fingers on her right hand. The other day she covered up her right hand with the sheet. She knows her right hand is there. As we were getting ready to leave, I put her mitt back on her hand. She turned her head to the right, facing Linda, and put the mitt up to the side of her mouth as if to tell Linda a secret she didn't want me to hear. She did it about three times. She got a lot of positive reinforcement from our laughter.

From Linda: When the Dr came in this evening he found Martha with one knee up and a magazine resting on it. She was leafing through it with her left hand, turning the pages one at a time, and rubbing them together to make sure she didn't miss one. She has been trying to talk. Sometimes they plug the trache with a solid piece called a speaking plug to see how well she can breathe on her own. She is doing wonderful. She is trying to speak, although the nurse says it doesn't make sense yet. That will take time. However those of you who know and love her know that patience is not a strong point. She gets frustrated. Tomorrow we are going to try scrabble pieces to see if she can put some words together. When the Dr found out how well she was doing he was really surprised and happy. Already she has exceeded his expectations.... GO Martha!!!!

Go Martha

Today the Drs put in a smaller trachea tube in. This way they can block it for periods of time to see if she can breath on her own. Well, the first time they blocked it Martha tried talk. Her voice is weak and so not understandable. However, great to know that she is trying!!!

wonderful day

Martha has been getting medicine similar to Ritalin used for ADD patients. This medicine has helped Martha to focus and it is working. We have been trying to help her get her good left hand to do some simple tasks. Thumbs up, peace, and high five to name a few. Today when I came in she immediately gave me a thumbs up!!! WOW, fabulous. She was really doing well today. She even wiggled her toes on her left foot. Her right leg is moving about as well. Although, it is subconsciously.

Sun Dave will be getting the TV turned on so Martha can see Peyton play. Well I guess that is all today.

Wednesday

Visited Martha today with a few of her friends from the D&C. She was wide awake and pretty alert for most of the time we were there. When we first arrived, I wasn’t too sure if she even recognized Linda or I but when I told her we would have been here earlier but the Executive Committee Meeting ran a bit long today, she looked over at us and rolled her eyes and head back-- at that point, we knew she was with us! She just loved looooooooooong EC meetings. NOT.

Throughout our visit, she was stretching her left arm quite a bit and while we were speaking to her, I had my hand on top of her mesh glove/pad and she was squeezing my finger quite a bit. It seems both her left arm and hand seem to be very strong. I also noticed that she was moving her head a bit more. We also received a nice smile from Martha after Flynn shared a funny joke before we left.

As an earlier post mentioned, they’re only letting two in the room at a time on the 5th floor. They seem to be really enforcing this rule, since she’s in a room with a few other patients.

Keep your prayers and positive thoughts coming!

quiet day

Today was the first time in 2 days I had seen Martha. She is awake much more. I think the reality is sinking in. I spend some of the time telling her that there were many people pulling for her. I had my computer so I showed her this site. Also showed her her facebook page. Then I told her that we wouldn't be giving up on her but, she was going to have to work as well. She didn't get to be a VP by being a wimp and so I know she can do it. Melody was with her tonight and practising different hand moves. thumbs up, 2 fingers, stuff like that. As she is awake more then she will find herself starting to work on getting her body to cooperate with her. A long road. But, one step at a time and little by little things will start to improve. Key is to keep her positive!!!

Sunday, 1/17 update

From Mel: This morning Martha was as awake and aware as I've seen her. It's quite a change from seeing her at the end of the day, after work, when she's tired or sleeping.

While I was there, she had several visitors: Mom, Mo, Bob, Alea and Julie. The nursing staff have been very good about allowing three visitors at a time instead of limiting us to two.

Martha's left hand and arm are functioning well enough that she can rub her eyes and scratch her left ear. If you try to stop her from adjusting the cover over the trache tube, there's definite resistance and she makes a face at you. A couple of times I've seen her move her mouth as if she's trying to talk. After we all left, I spoke with Dave and he said she can wink as well.

Thanks to everyone for the positive energy and good thoughts. We appreciate it.

Gift from Peyton

Just got back from visiting Martha. Just after I arrived, Michael Kane and his wife came by with the most amazing gift for Martha. It's an official NFL football. Written on it is: "Martha, We are all pulling for you" and it is signed by Peyton Manning. How cool is that?

Thanks Michael

Back to 5th floor

Hello all,

Martha has been moved back to the Neurology step down area on the 5th floor. She's in Room 5-3600, bed 1.

This means the rules have changed:

• visiting hours are now 11 AM to 8 PM
• two visitors at a time

Stay tuned for the next exciting installment of Where's Waldo, uh, Martha.

a great day

Martha was really awake and responsive this morning. She even opened her mouth to attempt to talk. Chloe was telling her that she was moving back home. I believe what she was trying to say was "oh hell no" . But, she really doesn't have a say at this point. Chloe will move home in about a month. I"m sure she will feel much better being here. The key to when the move to will take place is when Martha is out of ICU and her condition stays stable. Then Dave will feel better about leaving her for a couple of days to move Chloe back home. Her mood is up and she is awake much more often. However, there is still a great deal of swelling on her brain and the big problem is blood clots in both of her legs. The worry right now is that a clot could break loose and cause a problem in her lungs or heart. They are trying to slowly dissolve the clots at this time. So she is not out of the woods yet.

She was continuing to celebrate her birth week and seems to be enjoying the wonderful cards she has been sent. Thank you everyone!!!

Happy Birthday Martha!

Karen Magnuson and I visited Martha today and dropped of a birthday card from all of us at the D&C. I have to tell you, keep your prayers coming, it’s been a good day for her. She was very alert and responsive while we were there. We sang happy birthday with Linda and Mo as the chorus. She was looking at us singing, moving her head and shrugging her shoulders (Martha translation: ya’ll better keep your day jobs!) Then Karen mentioned something about the newsroom trending to hit budget in period 1, and she looked over and gave her a smile (or a smirk), we do believe it was a smirk (Martha translation: Chezus!). I talked a little about my hockey injury and she could care less. She actually rolled her eyes over towards the wall as I was speaking. (Martha translation: Are you kidding me Foges, does it really matter? Your team stunk up the ice pretty badly – just sayin’!) She’s right, we lost 9-3 anyway!

Her nurse came in a bit later to wash her up and told us, what we already experienced, she was having a great day. She was awake and alert for most of the morning. She’s moving her left arm pretty good, and her legs were moving a bit more than usual, since her sheets were all bunched up. We were actually noticing her legs moving too. She has a padded mit on her left hand, so she can’t hit her head to hard with her hand or pull any of her tubes out. She also mentioned that the physical therapist would be up in the afternoon to continue to work that right arm. All and all, progress is being made.

Idea: In honor of Martha’s birthday today, I thought it would be nice if everyone posted a funny story about Martha! Here’s a good one from Rochester -- Martha loves to dress up on Halloween (this is a BIG deal for her) and since I was born on mischief night, I also love Halloween. So when I arrived at the paper two years ago, I was surprised to see the VP of Finance dressed as the Budget Fairy – this outfit was precious -- Fairy wings (the whole 9 yards) Martha never does anything halfway. The one thing very unique about this costume was the string of money she used as a tail. When I asked about her $$$ tail, she referred to as “money coming out of her ass”. Had to share~

Update for Wednesday, 1/13

Martha had a good day today. While Linda was visiting, she asked Martha how she was feeling. Martha shrugged her shoulders. I think that's a good sign, for two reasons. First, Martha understood it was a question. Second, she knew a question was supposed to be answered, so she shrugged her shoulders. That might not convey totally what she meant, but it was an answer. I'm happy about that.

Dave had a pretty good day too, clearing up a couple of issues that have been wearing him down.

Upward and onward!

Update for Monday, 1/11

Martha is back in the Trauma/Burn ICU on the third floor. It's not a bad thing. This afternoon her blood pressure was low and her heart rate was increasing, leading doctors to think that maybe the in-line clot catcher was clogged. They plan to start her on anti-coagulants, which they haven't been able to do before for fear of increased bleeding.

[At least a couple of us think that just maybe she likes the TV and larger room in that ICU. Just a thought.]

If you're planning to visit her, she's back in 3-2800 -- this time in Room 15. Once again, you need to talk to the video intercom to let them know you're there. It also means that visiting hours are back to 8:30 AM to 7 PM, and more than two visitors at a time is possible, as long as they're well-behaved. :-^

Update for Sunday, 1/10

First, from Dave:
Martha has been moved back to the Neurology area on the 5th floor. She's in Room 5-3600. This means that visiting hours have changed. They are now 11 AM to 8 PM. They may also be more strict about the number of visitors Martha can have at one time, but we're not sure yet.
Also, this morning Dr Jahromi said that Martha may be moved to a rehabilitation facility in a week or so. Progress!

Next, from Mel:
Martha's in what's called a "step down" unit on the 5th floor. It's a step down from Trauma/Burn ICU where the nurse to patient ratio was 1:2. The 5th floor area is 1:4. The area is quite small compared to the ICU area which is why they'll probably restrict visitors to two at a time. The fact that one nurse cares for four patients rather than two means that we won't see the nurses as often as on the 3rd floor.

Finally, from Mo:
Robert had a great idea when I talked him earlier today: Make Sundays Food Sundays. Every Sunday, until Dave says enough tuna casserole already!, take a homemade dish to the house with any instructions taped on it if needed. Note to self: they have enough lasagna. I'm making meatballs and sauce so scratch that off your list too.

resting quietly

The last 2 days have been uneventful. That is good news for sure. Martha is mostly sleeping. With all the procedures that have been done sleep is good. The swelling of her face has started to go down. The color has come back to her face. She has an incision that goes from the middle of her forehead up her head and then around to her ear.

She is breathing on her own most of the day now. They have been putting her on the ventilator at night to allow her to rest.

Keep the cards coming we have started to put them up in her room.

Martha has a helmet she needs to wear and we are going to make it look like an Indianapolis colts helmet. It is little things like decorating the room or her helmet that keep us amused.

Chloe will be home this weekend.

Brontë DeShong said on facebook: Mom looks good! I cleaned her face, and I made sure her breathing tube was still near the tube on her neck. She'd healing, and this is good.

That is it for today!!!

Wednesday, 1/6 update

Hello everyone,

This is Martha's younger brother, Bob. I have an idea that I could use your help with: I would like to get as many friends and family photos as I can gathered electronically so I can put them in a digital frame to display. I am sure Martha would love to see our shining faces that she knows well and loves!

The pictures can be new from the holidays or older ones that I am sure she would get a kick out of. My Google account should be able to handle all of the attachments...or better yet...if you do have A LOT...burn them to CD or flash drive and send me the CD so I can transfer them to the SD or flash drive that the frame might take. I haven't bought the frame yet so I don't know what it will take.

Of course, I can I get all the Peyton Manning pictures I can off of the Internet. Plus we might have a few from the Rochester Press Radio dinner lurking around...

My email address is xreynoldsx@gmail.com and I look forward to questions and comments if you have any. Thanks everyone for being here!

1/5 Update

A long-time friend of Martha's, Becky, visited her today. Martha stayed with Becky when she was first moving back to Rochester, so you may have heard Martha mention her name. They've been friends since grade school.

I read Linda's note and realized that maybe not everyone has the address for the hospital:
Strong Memorial Hospital
601 Elmwood Avenue
Rochester, NY 14642

As Linda said, Martha is in Room 328-1, and her birthday is Jan. 14. <-- Note that I didn't mention the year. I'd really be in trouble. ;-)

We heard today that Chloe expects to leave Asheville in 4 to 5 weeks. It will be good to see her happy face more often.

When he isn't at the hospital or driving back and forth, Dave's wrestling with paperwork.

And this from Bronte: A little bit harder today to see Mom. The blood on her neck, and the way that the tube shakes when she breathes kinda sets me on edge a little bit. But it was good to see Mom's old time friend, Becky.

Thanks, everyone, for the positive thinking. We appreciate it.

Busy day

Today Martha had the tracheostomy and a food line to her stomach. That was all very tiring. They paralyze you to do the Tracheostomy so when I first saw her she was not able to move. As the drugs wore off she became more responsive to conversation.

GREAT news she was squeezing my hand with her RIGHT hand. Great progress!! All she needs is some time now for healing from all the procedures she has had done.

Cards can be put up in the room. So anyone wanting to send a get well card she is at the Strong Memorial address room 328-1. I think she has finally settled down to this room for awhile. Her birthday is Jan 14th so Birthday cards can also be sent. We can put up pictures and so Payton Manning took a place of honour at the foot of her bed. She smiled when I told her he was there.

1/4/2010 update

Today and tomorrow are maintenance days for Martha. This morning doctors discovered a small hole between two chambers of her heart. Nothing alarming -- it happens in about 20% of the general population. The doctors plan to patch the hole tomorrow. They're also going to perform a tracheostomy and install a food line to her stomach. This will allow them to remove the respirator tube in her throat and the food line in her nose and should make her more comfortable overall. Then late today doctors thought a small clot might be forming around the pick line so they moved the line to avoid any problems. They're not taking any chances on clots forming.

When I was there this evening, Bronte was talking to Martha and holding her hand. Martha discovered Bronte was wearing long sleeves and moved her left hand up and down Bronte's arm, exploring her hand and the shirt sleeve.

I noticed there's a card in Martha's room that someone has sent flowers. Unfortunately, flowers aren't allowed in ICU, so the card is there as a reminder.

One more bit of news: Chloe is moving back to New York and soon will be looking for a job. If you know of anyone who can use her experience as a customer service supervisor, feel free to email the details to her at chloe.deshong@gmail.com

That's it for me for today. Thanks to everyone for the prayers, positive energy, good thoughts, etc. Please keep them coming. And if you know of anyone who might be interested in following her recovery via this blog, feel free to pass along the address: www.marthadeshong.blogspot.com.

Fabulous Day

Martha appears to be out of the woods and back to where she was earlier in the week. A friend of hers that lives in Washington DC came up to see her. When the nurse woke her up for her scheduled check Tanya was there by her bed when she opened her eyes. Martha was surprised and perked right up. She is back to nodding and shaking her head and shrugging her shoulders to questions. She also is back to following simple commands like squeeze my hand.

Such good news.

Dave feels that there is less of a need to have someone with her all the time. But, hopes that anyone who wants to visit can come up. Unfortunately the evening is kind of short because they send everyone out of the room between 7 and 8:30. Tomorrow there will be a talk with the Dr about a Tracheostomy so that the respirator is no longer a tube in her throat and also about putting a feeding tube directly into her stomach to get the tube out of her nose.

resting comfortably

Martha's difficulty breathing yesterday was because of some clot's possibly forming in her legs going into her lungs.

There has been concern all along about the swelling of her brain. This morning when her pupil's where no longer reacting evenly the Drs knew that the pressure in her head was becoming an issue and something had to be done before more damage to the brain occurred, it was time to operate. She has all her hair shaved off and they have taken a section of her skull out to relieve the pressure. The section will remain out for 3 to 6 months.

Martha's responses to simple commands (like squeeze my finger) have already improved. It was good to see her resting comfortably. Tomorrow they will be putting filters in the arteries from the legs to keep clots from being able to get to the lungs. She will likely be in the burn/trauma ICU for a while.

We are still sorting out the rules. Every area has different rules. friends and family can visit from 9am to 9pm except from 7 to 8:30 when they have shift change. Visitors are 2 at a time. There is a waiting room just outside of the ICU were you will need to check in using a video intercom. Martha has now moved up to #1. She is in room 1. Family is allowed 24 hours a day except from 7 to 8:30 am and pm.

out of surgery

Out of surgery things went as well as could be expected at this point. Dave and Melody will be able to see her in about 20 min.

Prayer needed

Martha has taken a turn for the worst. The swelling in her brain worsen over the night and now they are doing surgery to relieve the pressure. They are going to take out a section of her skull to allow for the welling. The surgery will take about 3 hours or so.

Reasons for the stroke

I'm at work today. I know some people wonder what caused Martha to have the stroke. She had no control over the events that lead her to the stroke. Below is some information on several possible causes. The area of the stroke is the left temporal area effecting both the right arm and leg. The leg is more responsive than the arm. This area of the brain effects also speech and swallowing and cognition.

Martha has a condition called Fibromuscular Dyplasia in her carodid arteries. This is one possible cause for the stroke.

What is Fibromuscular Dysplasia (FMD)?
The word “dysplasia” simply means abnormal cellular development or growth. In people with FMD, the dysplasia involves the walls of one or more arteries in the body. Areas of narrowing, called stenosis, may occur as a result of abnormal cell development. If enough narrowing causes a decrease in blood flow through the artery, symptoms may result. Many people with FMD do not have any symptoms or signs on physical examination and are diagnosed by accident during a radiology scan for another problem.

The other possible cause is the possibility of a clot forming in the heart when it was in arrhythmia. After the heart was beating normally the clot moved out of the heart and into the brain.

Probably will never know what really happened. Right now there is still some bleeding and swelling of the brain. This area of bleeding has not gotten worse so that is good. It remains stable. Now we wait for improvement and reduction of swelling.

Her next challenge is the possible respiratory infection.

Another Move Back to ICU

This morning Martha was alert and awake. By later in the day she began to breath with more difficulty and faster. With nighttime coming the neurologist called in the pulmonary team. A few tests were done. Lungs look clear. Blood was well oxygenated and it didn't appear that another clot had come into the lungs. But, she was struggling so they prepped her to go to the 8th floor pulmonary ICU. Even with nothing appearing to be wrong continuing to breath with this much difficulty will tire her body out. The Dr's wanted to be ready in case they needed to put her on a respirator.


For people that are going to come to see her ICU rules apply. Visitation is 24 hours a day. She is on the 8th floor in suite 1600.Hours of visitation or number of visitors. Right now she is sleeping more than awake. But, she still has a feeding tube and they will untie her left hand when there is someone to make sure she doesn't pull anything out. Having someone there during the day allows Dave to go home and rest a bit.

visiting hours

In the new area there is a limit of 2 people at a time and normal visiting hours of 11 to 8 are enforced. With that in mind we would like to try and keep a list of who is coming when so we don't end up with too many people here. You can post here when you want to come up or at my facebook or email account. Once you contact me I can give you my phone number. This is just so eveyone who want to see Martha can get a chance and family won"t need to be there if someone else is there. Thanks