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