D-Day!! (otherwise known as Discharge Day)

Grace Patti is being discharged from rehab today!!! The past month has been quite the roller coaster for her. We are amazed at how fast and clearly God answered our prayers. Earlier we kept suggesting that Patti would have a long, painful recovery ahead of her. She IS recovering faster and less painfully than any of us or her doctors could imagine. Last Sabbath (the 11th) Patti and Thatha celebrated their wedding anniversary, we celebrated Thatha's birthday last Tuesday (the 14th). I've included some fun family pictures over the past week. Look for one more post following this one!

All in the family-July 2009


Ernest & Ambi with Patti

The idea was to make crazy faces---apparently only Ranjini, Nelita, Nilmini, and Rathyna can follow directions...

Update 7/9/09

Greetings! Patti has daily been doing daily regimens of Physical and Occupational Therapy. She tells every therapist that walks in her room to let her go home immediately!! She has really been doing well sitting up and walking around. She is still a little shaky on her feet but that is expected, all things considered. The rehab facility at LLUMC-East Campus is quite nice. Patti has a little outdoor seating area, which is quite convenient when large groups of people are visiting Patti. She has again been blessed with wonderful nurses and therapists (although she would prefer to be able to do things on her own...). Her rehab team will have a meeting next Tuesday, July 14, 2009 to discuss her length of stay at rehab and issues regarding transition to home life.

Update - 7/6/09 -> DISCHARGED TO REHAB!

Grace Patti has reached a great milestone! At approx 6pm PST she was discharged from the hospital to the acute inpatient rehab program at Loma Linda University East Campus. Patti is very motivated and is planning on getting strong quickly. Her smile and sense of humor is definitely coming back as well. When she stated she only planned on staying 2 or 3 days and I mentioned maybe 2-3 weeks I received a scolding and a scowl! Hopefully Patti is right!

Update-7/5/09

Sorry for updating so late folks! Patti has been making huge leaps everyday. Within the past three days Patti has been sitting up for longer hours, walking minimally (with a walker) with limited assistance, and (my personal favorite) joking around quite a bit! We have all been overjoyed to again experience Patti's contagious smile and laugh! Hopefully we'll get a picture up soon (with Patti's consent) so Patti's supporters can see how far their prayers have gone! Patti has been eating normally--although she claims the hospital food makes her nauseous (Thatha however enjoys the hospital food!!). Her daughters have been providing a steady stream of good home cooking and plenty of fruit. We have daily been incredibly amazed by the progress that Patti has made. We thank you for your prayers and ask that you keep Patti's continued rehabilitation and transition from the hospital in your prayers. We will be reducing daily updates to approximately 3-4 times a week.

Update-7/2/09

Grace Patti is currently in intermediate care and doing well. She has been upgraded to pureed foods (think pureed cheese ravioli--bleh). She is talking and staying fairly alert during the day. She is still in a lot of pain and very weak. Her physical therapists have been working with her to teach her ways to sit up, stand up, and walk on her own (we hope she'll be able to do this soon). For all that have sent cards and wishes to Patti, we have done our best to take them to her in the hospital and read your thoughts to her. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement!

Update 7/1/09

Patti is doing very well off of the ventilator (breathing machine) for almost 24 hours now, she's needing very little oxygen, has sat in a chair twice, took 2 steps, and had a sip of water! She also complained that she couldn't sleep well because her neighbor in the next bed was too noisy (always a good sign of recovery when one starts to complain again!). She still has a chest tube into the left side of her lungs but hopefully that can be removed soon as well. She may be able to leave the Intensive Care Unit soon! Please continue to pray and thank God for Patti's continued healing.

Update-6/30/09

Good News!! Grace Patti was extubated today around noon. When Thatha and Nelita (her grandchild) went to see her at around 12:30 she was wearing an oxygen mask and breathing slowly and deeply (good thing!). Dr. Nguyen mentioned that he hopes she continues breathing in this manner and also said that the next few hours are critical. Throughout the day various family members sent text messages to each other saying that Patti was sitting up in a chair (she has not been able to do this since June 14th). By evening Patti was still extubated and breathing well with some oxygen. We are profoundly thankful as a family for the progress that we've seen in just one day. Many of you have lifted Patti in prayer and we are so happy to say that so many prayers have been answered. Patti still has a long recovery process and still needs continued support. We will do our best to keep you updated!