Back from Hospital; Thankful

Mama is home. It was another stroke. The CAT scan showed more damage.

Thankfully, neither her speech nor her mobility was affected by the stroke. We return to the doctor tomorrow to learn more about the test results. She is much weaker, and I can tell her mental processes are affected a bit more than from the 2004 larger stroke.

One CAN improve from a stroke for up to a year or more, so we will step up what we are already doing to keep her feeling needed and a vital part of the family.

(These pictures are of the three applique quilt block projects I worked on while staying with my mom in the hospital.)

We took a lap robe that fit perfectly on the end of the hospital bed.  It was a homey, happy, colorful taste of home that gave her something on which to focus her attention.  Actually, we have a small collection of these lap quilts from previous,  much longer hospital stays so that we can change the little lap quilt every few days and give her something different to enjoy visually... and something different to talk about with the nurses. 

I also use the matching pillow shams on some pillows we take from home. She does not have to fight the pillowcase slipping off of the plastic hospital issue pillow.

Once home, everything we took from house shoes to pillows gets washed in HOT water with vinegar.  Pillows get washed in HOT water and bleach. Even the cloth bags in which we carried her things are getting a disinfecting wash.

I had several completely-sleepless nights in the hospital (and several more mostly-sleepless nights) to think about other things I plan to sew (quilt, applique or just construct on the sewing machine) to have ready to go to the hospital next time. Since the mid 1990's, we've kept Mama's bag packed for a quick trip to the hospital, but it is time to re-think the contents of that bag and prepare better.

I've thought about:
1. A colorful hanging toiletry bag for her toothbrush, toothpaste, brush, shampoo, handcream, etc., to hang on the bathroom door.  I don't really  want to put her stuff in those drawers that I am sure never get scrubbed  out with disinfectant.

2. A pretty matching bag or tote for cleaning stuff...spray bottle of disinfectant and antibacterial wet wipes and some cleaning rags. 

Since 1997, I've done my own daily disinfecting of my mother's hospital room, including floor, and to date, she has not caught a secondary infection in the hospital, as many do (pneumonia, staph, etc).  I keep the door handles inside and outside the doors wiped down several times a day. 

3. A matching colorful quilted bag for gowns, housecoats, bed jackets, underthings, house shoes, etc.  When that comes back home, it will all go straight to the laundry room to be sterilized.

4. Cheerful hospital gowns that will be pretty, quilt-y, IV and heart- monitor- friendly, etc.  I'll be sharing this design process with you for your ideas and suggestions.

Lazy Girl Designs has a free hospital gown pattern you can download and make.  There is a great story behind the development of that pattern for a quilting friend. 

I've got something different in mind, but I did want to share the marvelous pattern already in existence and copyrighted by Lazy Girl Designs.

5. Two or three pretty dirty clothes bags, one to send home each day, one to fill each day.

6. Applique or pieced lap robe-sized quilts for the end of the hospital bed and matching pillowcases or shams ...made by her daughter instead of the commercial options made out of country.

7. A colorful bed rail caddy to keep that TV control/Nurse Call thing from running away or falling on the floor. She could put her glasses and tissues in a small caddy. It is hard to reach over a bed safety rail to  access these things on the bedside table. Mama has a hospital bed here at home, since her 2004 stroke, so I will have real hospital bed rails to practice on...something that will not get in the way of quickly lowering or raising the rails.

8. An eye-catching small modesty lap robe to cover arthritic knees when one travels by wheelchair for cat scans and x-rays, etc. The standard lap robe would be too large and cumbersome for this task. Think of the many wall hanging patterns that would be perfect for this!

These will eventually be developed ideas or patterns that I will be sharing on my blog...as time permits. I'd love your input or ideas or thoughts! 

Sharing our ideas... or Friendship Quilting is what inspires me about our shared  passion.

We know there will be other hospital stays in my mother's and my uncle's future, so I plan to have stuff made and packed and ready to grab when needed. 

Mama is enjoying being a part of this plan to sew pretties for her next hospital stay, and she does not see it as a morbid activity.  I think she is feeling pampered by the process of sewing pretties for her.

For my grandmother's declining years and the inevitable trips to the hospital, my mother and uncle kept a bag packed, ready to grab on the way out the door. It proved to be a wise time-saver. Probably a previous generation had a similar arrangement. We do learn many of our family traditions by watching the immediate older generation, don't we?

Back to some more porcelain before getting some sleep. We're waiting for a nasty storm front to hit in the next few hours, and we are under a tornado watch. Tornado warnings are creeping closer in counties surrounding us.

Gordon is watching the storm front approach via computer and television and weather radio, and he even parked the van in the barn to protect it from a hail storm. Tornado watch in effect for next five hours.

The dogs are restless, so we may be in for some nasty weather here on the farm.  Wind has picked up considerably.

Others in the path of this storm front across the country have met with property damage, injury and even loss of life. Prayers for them.

I'd better post this before Gordon unplugs the computers. Just about everything else is already unplugged.

It makes me proud the way he works to protect our things and keep us safe by watching approaching weather. He and Unc were our "knights in shining armor" on the days Mama was in the hospital (and I was staying with her 24/7).  Dollie and Mary kept the business running while we were in hospital mode.

My eternal thanks, folks, for your prayers and emails and messages of concern and encouragement. Those prayers make all the difference! I do want to respond to each of your comments and messages... just be patient with me, please.

Comments

[June]

I'm catching up on my blog reading and am so sorry I missed these posts about your mother. I will keep all of you in my thoughts and prayers. You are doing a wonderful job carrying for your mother and all the things on your list for her are very helpful.

[Judy]

I hope you made it through the awful storms with little to no damage.

I think your hospital ideas are so practical. Recently, my daughter was hospitalized for a month. She was on bedrest before the birth of our twins. One little trick we learned with those hospital pillows was to put one pillowcase on the normal way and then top it with another pillowcase by putting the opening of the first pillowcase in first. This helped with all of that slipping.

I want to tell you how interesting your posts are to me. I was born in Kosciusko and spent my summers there nearly every year while growing up. Your stories bring back so many memories of the history of our state. I so enjoy reading your blog!

The applique pictures are so nice. You do a really fine job with your needle.

Glad to hear Mama is better.

[Anina]

I'm so glad you mom's back home. I wish you strength in caring for her.
Hang on tight during that storm!