Roberta has been at the Presbyterian Home care center in Roseville (MN) where she is able to walk short distances and experiment with various foods in small quantities. She has many daily physical and occupational therapy sessions and is regaining strength and mobility daily.

Dick returns to WA tonight; Karen arrives in MN 9/18. Roberta will be at the care center until the staff give her the green light to get home and start tap dancing.

Thanks for your positive thoughts throughout this process.

Roberta Update From Dick

Today Walt and I visited Roberta at noon, and she has been sitting up in th e chair next to her bed several times for 20 minutes or so. She's down to only Tylenol for pain, and should have her GI tube removed in a day or so.

She's feeling better, but still hasn't had any food. They hope she can hav e some liquids in a day or so. Her incision and drains are clear and no in fection -- that was one of the biggest risks.

The nursing staff is always there to help her, and the hospital in general really tries to take care of you. Much different than what I remember!

She doesn't really want a lot of phone calls, as the throat tube makes talking difficult and her throat is understandably sore.

D

Here is a photo Dick took earlier this summer. They are dining at The Old Log Cabin, near Scandia, MN.

Dear All: Here is a message from Dick, describing the events of August 28.
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On Monday morning, Roberta arrived for surgery at Regions hospital in St. Paul at 5:30 AM. Surgery began at 8:15 and was complete at about 4:00 PM. Her surgeon was very satisfied, and reported that everything went exactly a s planned.

Monday evening at about 5:30 Walt and sons Dick and Steve were able to visit her for a few minutes in the Surgical ICU. She was awake, breathing on her own, and looked good. Though groggy from the pain medications, she was aware and could talk.

Tuesday morning we visited just before lunch time. She was in a great deal of pain, but they were giving her some different medications and within about an hour she was doing much better.

Expectations are that she'll be in the hospital for a couple of weeks, and then be able to move to a convalescent home for the remainder of the recovery.

She does not have a phone in the SICU and can't take calls as of yet. Once she's on a ward (a few days) you could call the hospital directly to speak with her.

D

Hello Everyone-

Thanks for the links and good thoughts.

Here's a photo of Grandpa, Eva, and Grandma on July 10, taken in the back yard of Steve and Susan's house in Shoreview.

Yesterday before we left Minnesota we talked with the folks at Health Partners about setting up a case management system to meet the current and future needs of Mom and Dad.

This starts with a helping professional who interviews them by phone to see how they're feeling and what kinds of help they might need. Then the case manager makes the connections with services (e.g., appointments with a medical social worker, registered dietitian, non-traditional types of healing therapies described in Diane's link), and also makes sure Mom and Dad understand what doctors are telling them at each step along the way.

I'll be back with an update when I know more about this.

Karen