Viva Fiesta in San Antonio!

.............In celebration of our sister Sharon's birthday, today, I bring you Fiesta greetings from San Antonio!  Happy Birthday, Sharon!

Last Saturday we took Sally to the riverwalk in downtown San Antonio and went on a boat ride.  She was a little dubious about getting on the boat, but she enjoyed it.  I'm sharing a picture taken while we were waiting in line.  Notice Sally's diabetic "Mary Jane" shoes.  She thinks they're a little clunky, but they fit her well and they are good for her feet!  (We think they're cool!)

She's getting excited about heading home next week.  We're leaving on the 30th and arriving in Arab on the 1st of May.

Sally has made so much progress while in San Antonio that we are all thrilled.  But, she is ready to see her new great-grandson Jackson and all of her little "Munchkins" as she calls them.

Sally has one more physical therapy session with Kersten and Pam at St. Luke's Baptist here in Texas.  She said this morning that these ladies have worked wonders for her legs and her strengthening.  We are so grateful!

Good eye news today

Sally got a good report from Dr. Mein, the retina specialist yesterday!  He said that the result of the laser treatment shows improvement in the right eye, especially.  This is her good eye so there is the promise that the sight might continue to get better in this right eye.  The left eye (always her worst eye) has also shown improvement from the laser treatment.  The membrane in this eye that resembles a washboard is still there.  Dr. Mein confirmed with Sally that she really doesn't use that eye very much so his counsel is not to worry about surgery to fix the membrane.  That surgery would not likely result in any improved vision in that eye so "Why bother"?"  This sounded really good to Sally.

Dr. Mein printed out all of the pictures of her eyes and all of his procedural and progress notes so her care could easily be continued back in Alabama.  Overall, this was a good experience.

Sally just got off the phone with Dr. Hargraves' office (back in Arab) to get them to fax the proper authorization back to our local podiatrist to get her diabetic shoes ordered.  When she confirmed that this was done and her shoes are on order, she was pleased.

Sally is also proud to announce that she has successfully threaded a needle and repaired the hem on her Easter outfit!

April 2nd

Sally chided me for not telling you about her ordering of some diabetic shoes on Tuesday.  She's excited about getting some relief for her leg/foot discomfort.

Peggy has had a couple of additional Meniere's Syndrome bouts so Sally got up and started pitching in.  While I was out yesterday, she mopped the kitchen floor and the day before, she was putting up clean dishes and loading dirty dishes in the dishwasher.  It's thrilling to see her doing so much better.

We started on the Metanx (www.metanx.com) which is a combination of Folic Acid, Vitamin B6 and Vitamin B12.  It will take at least a week, but it promises to alleviate the foot symptoms of her diabetic neuropathy.  We'll let you know.

Happy April!

I'm posting from Starbucks in the medical center while Sally has her rehab therapy.  On the way over this morning, she said "You know, the only lingering problem that I have from my heart attack is the pain/discomfort in my leg!"  Isn't that good news?

The second eye laser treatment last week went well.  Less pain than the first time.  being aware of her travel plans, Dr. Mein wants to see her on April 6th to evaluate whether surgery is possible to correct the swollen "rippled" retinal surface.  

Sally's therapy is really helping her mobility.  They are now practicing on the stairs as well as continuing to build her overall strength.  

She saw the podiatrist yesterday who examined her feed and trimmed her nails.  He's prescribed a B vitamin which he says will help with the neurothapy.  Also, he believes there is a device that we can obtain that will make it much easier for her to get those pesky compression hose on.  We'll see if we can find this.

Sally's doctor appointments in Alabama have been changed and grouped together for the first two weeks of May so our current plans are to be back in Arab on May 1st.  She's ready to be back home.

Further Update on the eyes.

Sally had quite a few tests done yesterday. The fluorescein angiogram did show lots of "aneurisms" on her retina and confirmed the swelling of her retina, particularly in the right eye.

Dt. Mein did go ahead and begin the laser treatments for the damage spots caused probably by the diabetes.  He "lasered" over 500 spots in her left eye yesterday.  He said he'll do about a thousand in her right eye beginning Monday.  She'll require probably two treatments for each eye to heal the spots.  As we understand this, these laser treatments may not significantly improve her vision.  Rather, they are to hopefully slow future damage.  In addition after the laser treatments, surgery will likely be required to repair the retina swelling in the right eye.  The laser needs to be done first.

She also had a Vision Field test that shows deterioration in her right eye which ironically is her best eye.  This field loss is in the lower quarter of the eye and might have been caused by a drop in blood pressure during her heart surgery.  There's no way to know the cause, for sure.

This is a lot for Sally to process at once.

Sally was a little tired yesterday.  We spent the entire morning at the doctor's office, but her spirits are good.

Update from the doctor's office

We're at the eye doctor's office this morning for a fluorescein angiogram to see how Sally's diabetes has possibly damaged her eyes and what can be done about it.

Her legs are getting stronger.  The rehab therapy is working wonders.  She said this morning that she needs to work harder at doing her exercises in between her therapy sessions.  She still has some balance issues resulting in her feeling a little unsteady from time to time.  We got her a cane and that makes her feel a little safer.  She's not using it to support her weight, just to steady herself.

Sally's blood sugar is doing well!  Mostly it's under 100 so the diet and insulin regimen is doing its job.  She's sleeping well, arising a couple of times each night just for potty breaks.

Catching Up with Sally on Sunday

Sorry to be so behind on posting news.  Sally is doing well and feeling even better as the days go on.  On Saturday before last, she had her first appointment with our friend, the massage therapist.  He did lymphatic massage on both her legs and her feet.  During the massage, he was careful to cause as little pain as possible but it still hurt her as he worked.  Her legs did feel better after that first time, so we set up weekly appointments for her.  Yesterday, she had her second session and he said he could tell a big difference in her pain tolerance from the prior week.  Later Sally said that Joe must be a miracle worker for her legs didn't hurt at all through the night.

Sally talked with Dr. Hargraves' nurse about the compression hose and was told that she needs to wear them all day.  She's having some problems complying with this since wearing them cause her discomfort.  She has learned to put them on all by herself, though.

The weather here has been all over the place since Sally arrived 3 weeks ago.  She's seen lows in the 30s and highs up to 90.  But, no snow like the folks back in Arab had last week.

Clayton is really enjoying having his Aunt Sally here.  He's being a good helper:  walking with Aunt Sally, telling her when there are obstacles in her path, and holding her hand to steady her.

Sally's been attending a Beth Moore Bible Study "It's hard To be A Woman" and really enjoying it.

Karen set up a new e-mail address for Sally.  It's sallygrand@hotmail.com and we check it for her from time to time.