An INCREDIBLE Journey

September 2004, this is my mom's 73rd birthday celebration. Here she is with many of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren!

August 1st 2005 my mom came down with bacterial meningitis. It attacked her brain and affected her hearing severely. My mother-in-law Modena was trying to give her some magazines and she wouldn't answer her door or phone. So she called me all the way in Virginia. I had spoken with my mom the night before and knew she was feeling sick. So since her car was home I told Modena something must be wrong. Modena called my brother at work. He called my sister-in-law Clara and she found my mom unconscious in her room. She was rushed to the hospital. The first diagnosis was a brain-stem stroke. Later when the lab results came in it was determined to be meningitis neisseria: http://www.fw-ac-deptofhealth.com/PDF/Nursing/bacteria%20meningitis.pdf

She was in ICU for quite some time and then sent to a nursing home in Las Vegas. Bill and I sent Brian out for several weeks to stay with her daily to make sure she was being cared for. Brian and my brother Alan ended up coming back with her to our home in Virginia.

I really didn't realize how difficult her home care would be. I had just had Maggie 2 weeks prior to her arrival. I had to learn a lot and very quickly. It was so sad to see her so ill. The vast majority of the time she had no idea of who we were or who she was. She could hardly move and didn't want to eat or even drink. We struggled trying to transport, medicate and care for her. Eventually I had home health care workers come several days per week. They were very nice. We were so blessed with most of them. It was a huge help. They were all amazed at how I homeschooled, had a 7 kids and one of them a newborn. They also said she was so severe that there was NO way that I really could care for her. Well after about the 1st day I realized that!! It is not easy to place someone in a nursing home. First I had to become her guardian through the social security dept. Then I had to get her on a 6 week list and be evaluated by a social worker. We started that process a couple weeks after she arrived at our home.

My friend Millie and ladies from our Church in Virginia helped out by making some meals for us. Also our pastor had his daughter watch my mom twice so we could go to church as a family. Janeree' came by so I could run to the grocery store a couple of times. This was all way beyond my abilities! But I made it through. The strain was physical and very emotional. It was hard to see my mom so ill and to feel so helpless!
My mom's first visitor from out of state was her cousin Angie. Angie lives in Florida. Angie came down several times even after she was in the nursing home. On one of her visits her husband Tom also came. She even traveled all the way to Vegas to see her when she was well! She also sent many, many cards!


(pictured above) Here is my mom's favorite Uncle. Uncle Angelo was one of her very first visitors. He came down with my mom's cousin Angie. They are both from Pennsylvania. When she saw him she spoke and said, "You look just like my Uncle Angelo".

This is the room next to mine where my mom stayed. This is the first (Neanderthal) iron hospital bed that we got from freecycle. It was a monster to use. Eventually the home health care nurse helped me find out how to rent a good hospital bed.
Here she is in front of our house with the kids. The seat is from the 15 passenger van that we had to purchase to transport her to her doctor visits.

If memory serves me right early Nov. is when she had a seizure at our home and we had to call 911. She spent several weeks hospitalized. She was very dehydrated and also had a blood infection. The whole ordeal sped up her being put into a nursing home. I found one that I liked called Riverpointe. It was about 7 miles from our home so it wouldn't be difficult to visit her frequently.

The home health care workers had given me much advice about how to choose and keep your eye on a nursing home. Here she is at Riverpointe. For 100 days you stay in a nice room with a phone and cable TV. You also get therapy. This is considered short term care. She had a couple of wonderful roommates that came and left. Edith is the one I remember most. We would talk and talk. My mom had stopped speaking by this time. Edith said my mom would wave at her sometimes. I used to love to hear about how Edith met her husband right after WW2 and how they loved to dance. Edith had fallen and broken her hip. She had been caring for her husband at home, he had Alzheimer's disease and he had to go into a home when she was hurt. Her daughter lived in Florida and when she heard about her mom's fall she had a heart attack. She couldn't even visit! It was so sad.
These pictures are from Christmas 2005. Here is Elizabeth looking at the mints we brought for her.

Brian came to help this visit and he took some of the pictures for me. Maggie was only3 months old here!

We got my mom a jewelry box with a ballerina in it.

I really don't have many pictures in the in between times. The one above is Christmas 2005 and the one below is Mother's Day 2006. Prior to the picture below my mom had a wonderful recovery. She was so sick and couldn't sit, speak or even hardly move for several months. Then May 2nd 2006 Miraculously she started to recover. I had been giving her sublingual b-12 drops for 2 weeks prior to recovery (who knows?) She was still heavily medicated at this time. She was on Depakote, Coumadin and other meds. I did fight and got her off of all but her thyroid medicine that she even needed before the illness.

I thank God for her healing! She was on so many prayer lists throughout the US and even our friends that are missionaries overseas prayed for her recovery. We always prayed for her at our church each Sunday. Everyone there was so excited to hear the good news of her recovery.

She also is very grateful to God for all he has done for her.

So many kind acts of family and friends helped us to get through this time. My mom's niece is a very talented professional freelance Violinist and she made a CD of beautiful music especially for my mom to listen too she also wove her some beautiful scarves. And my friend Jan who lived in Alaska at the time of my mom's illness sent a DVD of herself talking to my mom and showing her part of Alaska and pictures of her own family.

The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. ~ Psalm 97: 5 At this point she still didn't remember who we were. She was happy to see us and enjoyed the kids in small increments. She still was confused but she was really gaining ground. This leaning chair is where she would sit sometimes but she had little muscle control and would hurt and not be able to be in it for very long.
Her sister Toni and brother-in-law Jim came from Illinois for a visit. You can see in the background all the pictures and her calendar that I had kept up for her. She doesn't remember this visit although she did know who they were. She was still confused as to where she was.
I think the calendar says it was mid August 2006.

Around May or June I fought and got my way to get her back in therapy. They said she had used up her 100 days and that was all there was too it! Well, I took the challenge and did some study. I marched back in and used the magic words, "She has had a new event and qualifies for more therapy." That opened the door for 100 more days of therapy for my mom. This time O boy did it do wonders.

I know that in July my brother Pete, his wife Clara, their son Peter and Clara's mom came for a visit. My mom barely remembers this visit. It was nice for them to spend some time with her.

Also around this time Jeremy, Brian and our dear friend Derrick started to visit my mom each Wednesday after they got off of work. This was a blessing to her, them and to me. She really enjoyed the time they spent with her and now Derrick is like her new grandson.

September 2006. Here is my mom at her 75th birthday party at the nursing home. My brother Alan came from Pennsylvania along with his daughter Melinda. They joined us in the celebration. As you can see by this time my mom is able to use a wheel chair!! That was a big step forward for her.


Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. ~ Psalm 95: 2

She was so happy to have everyone there!

After this she did come home with us several times. She was with us for Thanksgiving 2006 when Jeremy proposed to Janeree'!! She was also with us for Christmas of 2006

By the first part of 2007 she wanted to do more and more. Many things she was unable to do in the nursing home because of their safety restrictions. We did have her room set up pretty well. She had drinks, snacks, crossword puzzles, DVDs , CDs, cable, a phone, she played Bingo several times per week and had made MANY good friends with other patients, nurses, therapists and nurses helpers. I looked into assisted living facilities but the wait was long and the price very high. My brother Pete had been wanting her to come back to Las Vegas to live with them in her old room. She decided that is what she wanted. So she waited until after Jeremy and Janeree' got married on March 10th 2007 and on March 28th my brother Alan drove down from Pennsylvania and flew with her to Nevada.

The pictures below are of her last day at Riverpointe.

This is Rick, he is a maintenance man. He was considered her guardian angel. Each employee has one patient that they are a guardian angel to. Rick was my mom's. He would visit her and fix things that needed fixed. He is a really nice man.
This is the therapy room where so much happened for my mom!
Here she is with three of the physical therapists. They were absolutely wonderful with her and for her.
Here is Jennifer her speech therapist. They still stay in touch via email. Jennifer calls my mom her grandma. We prayed and prayed for Jennifer to get pregnant and now she is pregnant with twins!!
My mom and Sylvia. Sylvia remembered when my mom was very sick.

Lisa is another wonderful physical therapist. She also still keeps in touch with my mom!

Here is Dotty the nurse. She was there from day one. Many of the people never saw my mom when she was very, very ill but Dotty remembers and like so many of the workers they call her a Miracle!!

This is Jane. She became my mom's very best friend at Riverpoint. They met after my mom was quite a bit better. Jane is just wonderful. She would always play Bingo at my mom's table. Jane would always bring my mom the paper.
This is my mom's roommate Paulina with her son Sergio. Paulina was Russian and used to be a ballerina. She was very loud and cried a lot. But my mom said sometimes she would sing beautifully in Russian. Paulina died a few months after my mom moved to Nevada.
This is Melony. She is a very nice helper and spent a lot of time taking care of my mom. She is very gentle and compassionate.

Here is Bonnie. Bonnie is in her 20s and a fire victim. My heart just went out to her knowing how great her pain must be. Here is Lil, she had a stroke and was in a mechanical wheelchair. She would take that thing accross the street (kind of busy!) and go to 7-11!!

Here is Jane saying goodbye to my mom!
This is Joanne and her family. Joanne worked in the kitchen and she got to know my mom during the last few months of her stay. Joanne always looked out for my mom and got her the food she wanted like a night time yogurt!!
This is Julia, she was born with Spinal Bifida. She is in her 50s and doing amazingly well. She is married and her husband would visit her.

Here she is with my brother Alan ready to go to the airport. Her walker was in the back of his truck. She HATES to fly but she wanted her freedom again!





In September of 2007 less than 6 months after my mom came back to Las Vegas we followed.

This was her 76th birthday at my brother's house. She looks great and is doing so much. She cooks, cleans and takes care of herself. The only thing she doesn't do is drive but that was starting to scare her anyways.



Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name; The upright shall dwell in Your presence. ~ Psalm 140: 13


What an INCREDIBLE jouney we all went on. The climb was steep and we struggled but boy what we saw and how we grew!

Note: I did get everyone's permission at the nursing home to take their pictures. Privacy is a very important thing!!!