December 23rd, 2018

At noon, Janet left Bend Transitional Care and went to her home at Juniper Springs for the first time in 53 days.  We had two excellent meals, which are the first two meals she has ever had at her new community.  She ate dinner with Wendy, Calan, Grace, and myself.  The food was excellent, like going to a nice restaurant.  Then menu is fairly extensive and the chef makes excellent deserts.  Her grandchildren gave her a comprehensive tour of the facility, including the theater room, spa, banquet room, exercise room, beauty salon, shuffleboard table, game room (we played some Chinese checkers), courtyard, and bistro.  Janet doesn't really remember the two days she spent at Juniper Springs 53 days ago.  She had not slept for several days prior to moving to Juniper Springs originally, and she had lost a lot of blood due to oral surgery.

Although she is still experiencing significant, but intermittent hip pain on her left side, she is doing well.  Her physical therapists did a great job in getting her rehabilitated.  She is not as strong at walking as she was two months ago.  She experiences more hip pain walking than she did prior to this whole episode.  However, her physical therapists encouraged her to propel herself in the wheelchair more than she ever has in 8 years of using a wheel chair.  So she is getting more independent in her wheelchair movement.

Janet has a lot of appointments and in home therapy set up to help her continue with her rehabilitation.  She will be going to a neurologist to try to get answers regarding her left foot pain and muscle spasticity.  She has an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon to try to figure out why she is experiencing ongoing hip pain.  She will be going to see her regular physician to discuss all that has happened over the past 2 months.  We will also be asking the doctor to ask insurance to approve a new wheelchair.  The physical therapist suggested that she get a "one-arm" drive wheel chair to better allow her to drive and steer the chair.  She also has an appointment with the orthodics clinic who made her foot brace.  The current brace she has was made about a month before the hospitalization.  It no longer fits properly due to increased foot drop, and her ankle has also swollen since going to the hospital.  Hopefully they can make some adjustments to get the brace fitting properly.  The brace is critical to prevent foot cramping and in helping her walk.

Feel free to call, write, or visit Janet now that she is home.  Her contact info is listed below.  It is nice to have her home before Christmas.  Janet has several people traveling to Central Oregon do visit her. She is looking forward to spending lots of time with family.

Phone:
541-526-0588

Address:
590 NW 23rd 
Unit 124
Redmond, OR 97756