Medical Update

Today we found out the Sheila has an appointment to be seen by Dr. Richard Alder on Wednesday, August 5. Dr. Alder is a general surgeon and is seeing her concerning the large abdominal protrusion which she has. Sheila is a little worried about it. Sheila’s nurse reassured us that if it is a hernia that they are easily fixed. We’ll just wait to see what Dr. Alder says. We’ll keep everyone posted.

Return and Relief

Sheila was ecstatic yesterday afternoon when Ashley came home after spending five days at Aunt Chelle’s house. To celebrate Ashley’s homecoming, Sondra joined us for dinner with Sheila. This lasted about a half an hour before Sheila started screaming and crying. We wheeled her back to her room and called for the aides. While we were waiting we noticed a large area of Sheila’s abdomen protruding above her naval. I asked the nurse to also check it. She did, and she was also concerned. I also mentioned to her that the screaming only happens after Sheila has been in her wheelchair for about 20 or so minutes. She said she would call the Center’s doctor. Later I got a phone call from the nurse who said she had talked with Dr. Canfield’s P.A. who ordered a laxative, some pain medication, and was going to set up a surgical consult.

It was nice to see someone actually note that Sheila was indeed in pain and not just screaming for attention. This is the first time during this whole ordeal that she has been given something besides Tylenol for her pain.

Today we attempted the dining room for dinner and made it about 15 minutes before we had to head back to her room. Luckily her aide, Cory, was able to get her back in bed pretty quickly and then she was able to relax and calm down. We really enjoyed the rest of our visit after that.

It is really hard to watch someone you love suffer like that from pain. I am so thankful that she is able to find relief while she is lying down.

Happy Pioneer Day!

Ashley is still missing in action. Not really. Grandpa Sagers called and said that they wanted her to stay until tomorrow so she could go to the fireworks with them tonight and then to the community breakfast in the morning. The breakfast has always been a big deal in Bothwell, Utah, my adopted hometown. So, hopefully Ashley is having lots of fun. Sheila still misses her badly. Thank goodness for cell phones so she can still hear her voice.

Today Mt. Ogden HRC had a BBQ out in the courtyard for all of the residents. Holly and I decided that we would go and take Sheila to it. They had hamburgers, barbeque chicken, baked beans, salad and vegetables. Unfortunately we didn’t get to stay out and enjoy the company. For the second night in a row Sheila started screaming after being in her wheelchair for about 15-20 minutes. Last night we took her back to her room after she ate only part of her dinner. We had to do the same tonight. This time we took our food with us and ate with her in her room. Because the CNAs have to feed all of the other residents first, they can’t come and get Sheila back in bed as quickly as she would like. It makes for a very long hour of listening to her scream and cry. Nothing seems to console her once she gets going.

We’re not really sure what is causing her to scream. We are going to ask the nurses to check to make sure there is nothing medically wrong that would cause her to be in pain, especially when she is sitting, which seems to be when it is happening.

Where's Ashley?

Sheila has been doing pretty well this week. Our visits have been really nice, particularly since her room is well air conditioned. It sure beats the heat anytime, especially after walking to the bus stop and then standing in the sun waiting for a bus that never seems to be on time. We went and had lunch with Sheila on Sunday after we got out of Church. For just a moment it was almost like it used to be. (We must say that the food is definitely better here at Mt. Ogden HRC.) Sheila really misses Ashley who left on Monday to spend some time with Aunt Chelle and Grandma and Grandpa Sagers. Ashley is supposed to be back on Friday.

Sheila didn’t make it to Relief Society today. She said that no one came to get her. She really got spoiled by the wonderful presidency at the “old” place. Sheila mentions all the time how much she misses the Relief Society Presidency from the Wasatch Care Center Branch. (You know who you are.) So, when Ashley gets back I’m sure she will make sure her mother gets to Relief Society to meet some of the other sisters in the Branch.

We're Liking the New Place

Wednesday is Relief Society day at the nursing home, so Ashley went to help introduce Sheila to the new Relief Society President. To get there by 10:00 Ashley had to leave the house at 9:00. Because the bus was running behind, Ashley only made it for the last part of the lesson.

Holly and I walked to the old place (WCC) to pick up some of Sheila’s missing clothes and then caught a ride to Mt. Ogden HRC with Sister Skeen who was going to see her brother.
We all made it just time to have lunch with Sheila. At $2 a meal it would cost us more to bring frozen dinners. And to top it off – they are very good meals. They even come with vegetables at this place.

After lunch my little sister, Michelle, stopped by to see if she could take us to any stores. We went to Sam’s Club where we purchased two folding chairs for Sheila’s room and a few other things that we needed. While we were there we ran into Jenna, a former CNA from Wasatch, who we became very good friends with. We gave her one of the business cards we made for Sheila so that she could follow the blog. Sheila really misses some of her favorite aids from the “old” place. We hope some of them will stop by for a visit.

Later in the evening, Sondra picked us up and took us to the nursing home while she ran some errands. We got the rest of Sheila’s things put away and all of the pictures hung on the wall. It’s amazing what a few pictures and some personal items can add to a room. In this room Sheila can have her Utah Jazz poster and calendar closer to her bed.

Sheila is making new friends at the center every day. She now has her favorite male CNA, Tyler. Poor Tyler, he is now a marked man, but he will be the only person that Sheila thinks can do everything perfectly.

Rub-a-dub-dub, Sheila's in the Tub

Sheila was in a great mood today and was very clear mentally. We rode the bus to the nursing home this afternoon. It takes about a half hour to get there, but after we get there it is totally worth it. We found out that she actually got a shower today. She hasn’t had a shower since she totally lost control of her legs in mid-February. When I talked to the CNAs they said that she would be showered on a regular basis. So, Sheila is very excited that she gets more than just a sponge bath.

Sheila's New Address

Hi Everyone!

As we have written, Sheila has changed nursing homes. She is now at Mt. Ogden Health & Rehabilitation Center, 375 East 5350 South, Washington, Terrace, UT 84405. (Right next to Ogden Regional Hospital.) She does not have a direct phone number at this time but can be reached at (801) 479-5700.

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Thanks for your interest in Sheila's health and wellness.

Church

Today we walked to WCC for Church at our branch. Then Sister Skeen (a god send!) took us up to Mount Ogden HRC to see mom. We spent about 6 1/2 hours with her, and during that time we fed her lunch, joined her for dinner, and put her to bed. She had a rough night, but we got through it. I am so thankful for Sister Skeen.

Angels among Us

Last night I didn’t sleep very well after I found out that the bus that runs between home and Mt. Ogden HRC doesn’t run on Sunday and the last run during the week leaves there at around 7:20 PM. During the past 8 months we had a routine where we would go and get Sheila into bed and say “goodnight” to her. So now that we won’t be able to do that and go to church with her made me feel like we had abandoned Sheila at a new and strange place.

Today, my little sister Michelle and her family came down to Ogden to help us get things over to Sheila’s new room. We moved her La-Z-Boy into her room and had to rearrange things a little to make everything fit. We will have to take some of the things that she had at the “old place” just because her new room is so much smaller. She does like her new bed as this one is bigger and has a special mattress to help prevent bed sores. (Maybe we can finally get the ones she has healed.)

While Ashley and I were checking out the new facility we noticed a familiar face walking down the hallway. It was Barbara Skeen the Relief Society President from the branch at WCC. We found out that her brother is at Mt. Ogden HRC and his room is two doors down from Sheila. She was shocked to hear that Sheila was there since she had just seen her on Wednesday for Relief Society at WCC. While we were talking with her she asked about the car and we told her that we couldn’t afford to fix it right away and explained that we didn’t know how we were going to get there to see Sheila. She said that she comes about 4 days a week and comes every Sunday right after Sacrament Meeting at WCC. She agreed to give us rides every Sunday. We told her it was a blessing we had run into her there. She really boosted our spirits and gave us hope that everything would be okay. Then she told us that she never comes to see her brother on Saturdays, but had come in today. Thank you Sister Skeen!

We Were "Dumped"

Yesterday we got a phone message from Wasatch Care Center telling us that they were sending Sheila to McKay-Dee Hospital Emergency Room for a medical evaluation to see if there was something that was causing her emotional changes.

We immediately rush to the nursing home to check on Sheila to find that she was in playing Bingo with the other residents. She had no idea that anything was going on. The nursing home director, Kim MacFarlane, asked to meet with us, along with Lori Hensley, the director of nursing. They said that they wanted Sheila to be checked out medically to rule out any medical reasons for her emotional changes. They said that if it did not come back as anything medical then we would have to look at possibly finding another facility that is better equipped to take care of her. They said they had gone to talk with Sheila’s doctor and he agreed that she needed to be seen at the ER and he would order more tests to rule out anything medical.

We told Sheila we would be going with her to the ER to make sure everything was alright. We all rode with her in the WCC van so she wouldn’t get scared. When we got to the triage desk they handed the nurse orders for a psych evaluation. They take us to a very sterile looking psych holding room. After the doctor comes into the room, and talks to us for a minute, he said that she was in the wrong room and needed to be in a medical evaluation room. In the meantime, the nursing home tells the ER staff that they needed their wheelchair and their other equipment back before they left.

Over the course of the night we met with: the ER doctor, a crisis worker, and a social worker. A CT-scan done last night showed a little change from the one done in October 2008. The crisis worker told us this was not a psychological case and was sending us back to Wasatch Care Center and for them to make a referral to Weber Human Services for counseling to help Sheila deal with the physical changes that she is experiencing.

The next thing we know is the nurse comes in and tells us that a social worker will be in to talk us about finding a new care center. I mention to the nurse that we were told Sheila was going back to WCC. She tells us that WCC would not take her back. Several hours later when we met with the social worker she told us that because of the time of day that we would be spending the night in the ER and the social worker in the morning would work at finding a new care center that can better help Sheila. I expressed to her that I felt like we were dropped off at the ER and left to find somewhere to take Sheila. All of the social workers told us that Sheila was indeed “dropped” at the ER so the nursing home didn’t have to deal with her.

During this whole time Sheila kept asking when we were going back home. It was so hard to tell her that we wouldn’t be going back “home”.

When we met with the social worker Friday morning, we expressed to her that we needed some place close by as we would have to take the bus to see her since our car’s transmission died over the 4th of July weekend. Several of the nursing homes that were contacted could not adequately take care of Sheila since a lift has to be used to get her in and out of bed. The social worker was finally able to find an opening at Mt. Ogden Health and Rehabilitation Center in Washington Terrace, UT.

When we finally got to Mt. Ogden HRC at around 5:00 PM, the administrator from WCC had already packed up Sheila’s things and brought them over to her new place. The room is smaller than what she had at WCC and she will not have her own phone so she won’t be able to call us when she is feeling lonely or just wants to talk.

We are also disappointed that the UTA bus does not run to the nursing home on Sundays so we won’t be able to attend church with her until we resolve the car issue. We really enjoyed attending church with Sheila while she was at WCC and it became a highlight of her week.

We will go home and get some sleep as we weren’t able to sleep in the ER.

Saturday we will go and set up Sheila’s new room so it feels a little more like home.

Post by Sheila

I love you and miss you. I really enjoyed having my brother and sisters and niece with me the other day. Thank you for coming to see me. I love you. Thanks for reading my blog!
-- Sheila

P.S. These are Sheila's words, typed by Holly.

The Jackson 3

This evening we invited Sheila’s sister, Sondra, and just a few of our close friends, the Jackson’s, over to Sheila’s for more cake and ice cream. LeAnn Jackson has been a friend of ours since before we had Ashley and Holly and our families kind have expanded at the same time. We send a big thank you to LeAnn, Katie and Lindsey for taking the time to come and see Sheila today. She really enjoyed seeing each of you and being able to catch up on what everyone is doing.

With all of the visitors, the holiday, and Holly’s birthday, Sheila has been a little more on the anxious side. The nursing staff has had to keep her relaxed with the Klonopin. She starts worrying that we are not going to come back or that we are late. Then, she starts to cry and scream and then the staff cannot understand what she is telling them. We asked if the Klonopin could be given on a regular basis, but they are concerned about her blood pressure becoming too low as it was today. The Klonopin does a good job of relaxing all the body. Another side-effect of the medication is that she tires very quickly and she is now going to bed even early than she had been.

The next time we have the Jackson’s over they’ll have to bring Vance so he can serve the ice cream and be the entertainment. Vance, you gave us a good laugh and you weren't even there. We missed you, Buddy!

Happy Birthday, Firecracker!

The 4th of July has always been a big deal at the Sagers House. But, when your baby’s born on that day, it really is a reason to celebrate! Today we celebrated Holly’s 15th birthday with Sheila at the nursing home. Sheila can't believe that her baby is getting to be such a young lady and growing up so fast.

Normally, at home we would have a picnic type dinner and then finish with birthday cake and the works. So, why should this year be any different? So we planned a traditional 4th of July dinner of KFC chicken, potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans, chips and of course, birthday cake with ice cream. With Sheila’s brother coming in to town for the weekend we decided to double the size of the party and invite Sheila’s sisters, Rochelle and Sondra, to come also. It has been several years since Sheila has been able to be with all her siblings at the same time, and she really enjoyed seeing Rochelle and Kelly who both had to travel to join us.

A great big thank you goes to Kelly and Amanda for traveling nearly 1,400 miles roundtrip, from Post Falls, Idaho, to see Sheila. You will never know how much your visit means to Sheila and the rest of us.

And Here's . . . Kelly

Today the girls joined us for our usual Fish Friday lunch with Sheila. While we were eating in Sheila’s room we got a very BIG surprise. Sheila’s brother, Kelly, and our niece, Amanda, who live in Post Falls, Idaho, walked in to the room. We had no idea that they were coming down to visit. Sheila was so very excited to see her brother.

Tonight we joined Sheila and the rest of the nursing home residence to watch the small fireworks display that the nursing home put on. Sheila really enjoyed them, but seemed to really enjoy having her family with her more.

The fourth of July has always been a big thing at our house so it is nice to be able to have some of the normal summer activities, even though they aren’t at home. Sheila is really looking forward to tomorrow.

Improvements, Kyle Korver & Mama Mia!

Today Ashley joined Sheila for Relief Society at the nursing home. Relief Society has become Sheila and Ashley’s special time together. Sheila really looks forward to it each Wednesday morning. This week Sheila was in a much better mood and willing to participate, including the singing.

We noticed that some of the atrophy of her right hand was lessening – she was even able to extend her fingers fully. We are so glad to see these little improvements – no matter how small they are.

As many people know, Sheila is a BIG fan of the Utah Jazz. You should have seen how excited she was when she found out that Carlos Boozer and Kyle Korver were coming back for this next season. By the way, Kyle is her favorite player. According to Sheila, “I love him – He’s gorgeous!” So Jazz, I hope your getting ready for a good season this fall.

Tonight we finished watching the movie “Mama Mia!” She loves this movie because it’s based on ABBA songs. ABBA has been one of her favorite groups forever.

Sheila is really looking forward to Holly’s birthday on the 4th. She can’t believe how grown up her baby is.