Summer Update

It goes without saying that it's been a long time since we've posted anything about Doreen and Carl. While the changes are not nearly as dramatic as they were a year ago, we continue to see improvement. Here are some tidbits to get you up to date.

What hasn’t changed:

1. Doreen is still living in the health care wing of Timbercrest, and Carl is living in an apartment in the Manor, although they regularly eat the noon and evening meals together in health care, and Carl spends most of his day in Doreen’s room. Carl eats breakfast in his dining room and then goes to Doreen’s wing. Mostly because he is an early riser and she likes to sleep in!

2. There has been no return of appetite or eating problems. (The photo below includes Darell and Liz Bowman (Clay's parents), Cameron, David Bowman (Clay's brother), Karen, Doreen and Carl.)

What is improving:

1. Doreen needs less and less help with eating. She still has a lot of challenges with steadiness of the hands, but she spills things much less often, and she can prepare much of her food without help.

2. She is using a walker more frequently and often goes to meals, to therapy, and to the bathroom using the walker instead of the wheelchair. Her left leg can be a challenge, though, and she needs to be reminded to slow down. A video of Doreen walking to therapy with Karen is posted below.

3. Alertness is no longer an issue most of the time. She does not seem to get as exhausted when she attends events, listens to stories told by family and friends, or watches television or movies.

4. She can read and follow the lines of the text, although it is tiring. She still feels like her eyes are not working quite right.

5. A few weeks ago, Judy attended church with Doreen and Carl, and Doreen was able to sing the hymns, follow the verses, and sing alto in tune! Let’s all sing Hallelujah!

6. Doreen and Carl are trying to resume some of their practice of sending cards to friends and family. It may be a little haphazard, but this desire shows a move away from an exclusive focus on themselves and Doreen’s recovery. They do care about you!

Difficult changes:

1. Being in a retirement community and living life as "eighty-somethings" has meant that there are many times of grief and loss. A friend who sat close to them in the dining room died several weeks ago. Last week their table companion in health care died. Recently Doreen’s roommate Jeanette died. An especially difficult death to accept was when Jim Garber died last week. He was a very good friend who was very supportive in the last year. He coordinated the transportation for Carl’s many trips to Ft. Wayne before Doreen moved to Timbercrest. We will all miss him.

2. For a while after Doreen’s roommate died, she was the only resident in her room. When she did get a new roommate, it was a person with a lot of needs that made it difficult for Doreen to sleep. So she moved across the hall with Ruth, a 94-year-old woman whom she likes very well. Both of them were offered a single room after they moved in together, but both decided to stay where they were. It's clear that they both enjoy each other’s company.

Please accept our apologies for the long gap in updates. Let us know if you have any questions. Thanks for your support! (Below is a video from the Myers-Bowman family's recent visit to Timbercrest.)

March 16 and 17 update

March 16 and 17, 2009

 

Report from Doreen, Carl, and Judy—

 

On March 16, granddaughters Amanda and Kelsey came to visit from New York and New Jersey, respectively. Dick and Judy traveled up from Lafayette to visit with them and with Doreen and Carl. Here are some tidbits from the visits, many “dictated” by Doreen and sometimes Carl (their notes are in quotations).

-         Doreen has named her wheelchair “Wheel-helmina.”

-         The therapy aides report that Doreen’s walking with a walker has been going well. She has been walking only in the therapy room, though. Doreen called Judy on March 18, however, to say that she will now be walking to meals with her walker (after the aides are trained to do this and with someone following with a wheelchair). This is good news! It will help to build up Doreen’s strength and coordination!

-         Doreen has now had cataracts removed in both eyes. The eye doctor told her not to wear her glasses for a while, because the prescription isn’t right any more, and it could confuse her brain to try to focus with them. That means that she can’t really read, and it gets difficult to see things. “We are hoping that when the lenses are changed, it will help with balance and dizziness.”

-         Judy, Doreen, Carl, and Dick worked together on the St. Patrick’s Day crossword puzzle being circulated at Timbercreast. We did well, but what is the pagan religion converted by St. Patrick? And what is the name of another (female) saint celebrated in March?

-         “We got encouraging news from the surgeon.”

-         They are working on getting the annual letter out—although it hasn’t been annual for a while, and Doreen says that she will need to get back on her computer for that.

-         “We continue to have great confidence in family supporting us so strongly.”

-         Doreen—“Your dad has been so supportive. He eats his breakfast upstairs [note—they are on the same level, but they talk about upstairs and downstairs] and then is so faithful in coming to get me and take me to my breakfast..”

-         Carl—“It is hard to select her clothes. She asks for her dark this or dark that. I try to be an encourager. It is a loving environment here.”

-         “We have enjoyed the visits of our very favorite granddaughters. [note—their only granddaughters] All of our granddaughters are good kids.

 

All of us have been saddened to learn of the death of Egon Borgmann, Doreen and Carl’s first exchange student from 1953-54. We were all comforted by the fact that he apparently died in his sleep with no pain or struggling. He had so many ailments that it could have been much more difficult.

 

Thank you again for your ongoing support and prayers.

Doreen: Direct!

Dictated by Doreen to Judy on February 15

Doreen: On February 12th I had one cataract removed. There is not a lot of difference in vision, but I think it might be helping the dizziness some. The next day I went back for a check-up and they noticed a little piece had broken off, so they did it again. The next eye will be done on Feb. 26.

I appreciate having some say in what my schedule is—what time to go to bed and what time to get up.

Carl’s addition: There seems to be a shortage of aides to respond when she needs something.

Doreen: That is everywhere—just like nurses.

Timbercrest had a Valentine’s Day party on Friday. Carl sang “Because” to me. [Note—that is the song he sang as Doreen came down the aisle in their wedding. Carl said he could sing only one verse this time, because he was getting too choked up.]

There are interesting people we have met at Timbercrest—all kinds. All kinds of interests and backgrounds. One aide has an 18-month-old and a 5-year-old. She isn’t married, but she has been with the father for 7 years.

Carl: the culture is that of a caring community.

Doreen: Daniel (our grandson) can come over to visit. He just dropped in ten days ago.

All the mail is appreciated.

I am anxious to get home and see what else I want to bring—furniture and clothes.

Judy’s note: Both Mom and Dad seem to be doing very well. Mom seemed very positive and very aware of what was happening. She had started a project that was very reminiscent of the past; she was writing different words to a familiar song. It was for Dad’s Valentine. As she put it, she was writing other words to the “very romantic song” Ten Little Indians. We didn’t finish rewriting her words (she had written them, but they were not very legible), but the song started with “1 year, 2 years, 3 and 4; 5 years, 10 years, 60 and more; You’ve been my Valentine and I’ve been yours…”

Life at Timbercrest

(Note: Doreen got moved into Timbercrest back in December and continues to make great progress. We'll post updates and pictures on the family gathering at Christmas, but here are some more recent reflections from Judy.)
by Judy

On January 19, Judy went to North Manchester to visit Carl and Doreen and to take Doreen to an appointment with Dr. Kachmann, her neurosurgeon. She hadn’t seen him for a long time, and Lori Zimmerman, Carl and Doreen’s new physician, thought it would be good to check with him and see if he could make sure that the continuing dizziness was not related to the shunt or any other treatable brain conditions.

[By the way, Lori Zimmerman is the daughter of Gary Zimmerman, who was the academic advisor and mentor for Judy, Karen, and Amanda when each of them was at Manchester. In fact, Lori was the baby on the blanket in the child psychology course that Judy took from Gary. Lori, her sister, and her parents also took part in Karen’s wedding, so it seems natural at the same time it seems strange. I wonder how that baby could be her parents’ physician!]

The appointment in Ft. Wayne went smoothly. Judy, Doreen, and Carl drove together and were able to use a wheelchair at the Neurology Clinic. Dr. Kachmann and his nurse Brian greeted us like old friends, and they were very pleased to see the progress Doreen has made. They pronounced the shunt as functional and seemed to feel that there was nothing unexpected in Doreen’s progress. We really did not learn much there, but we were glad to see that they were pleased and that things were functioning the way they should. And Doreen made a point to thank both Dr. Kachmann and Brian for saving her life. She also apologized if she insulted them with her joking before the last surgery they performed. She has heard (although she doesn’t remember doing it) that she asked if they were going to use a chain saw for the surgery. Of course, Dr. Kachmann and Brian both said that they appreciated the sense of humor.

A theme in Doreen’s thinking during that day and since then came from a message given by Joe Mason at chapel on January 18: “strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.” She has been singing Great is Thy Faithfulness in her head since then, and she feels it has worked. She feels that she has gotten promising feedback from several sources since then, and feels she is getting strength for the days.

After returning to Timbercrest, Judy shared some birthday presents, although Doreen’s birthday was actually on January 25th.

The next day, Doreen saw Lori Zimmerman again, and this time she was diagnosed with a sinus infection. It could that this infection has been a factor in the dizziness. She is now being treated for that, and we all are counting for the treatment to be “bright hope for tomorrow.”

A few days after that, Doreen went to Grossnickle Eye Clinic in Warsaw to see if they could give her any information about her problems with her eyesight. What she was told is that she has some cataracts that should be removed. Actually, she was told the same thing by her eye doctor in Illinois earlier. That doctor had told her that she would tell him when it was time to remove them. She is now agreeing that it is time. After the cataracts are removed in February, her prescription for her glasses will be checked. Then they will see if anything else needs to be done. So some more “bright hope for tomorrow.”

A couple of weeks ago, Doreen also had her hearing checked. Not surprisingly to anyone in the family, she has a hearing loss. Next month, the hearing specialist will start working on finding the right hearing aids—and will check Carl’s hearing more closely. Having assistive devices could make a huge difference for both of them! All of these things were put on hold after the emergency last spring, but now it is time to get on with them!

Last week was the final week for therapy for the time being, because Doreen had reached a plateau and was not showing continuing progress. Some of the lack of progress could be blamed on the dizziness and perhaps on a brief bout of the flu the week before last. But Doreen’s response is that she isn’t sure if it is a success or a failure that the therapy is stopping. Is it because she has a accomplished so much or because she is accomplishing too little? In any case, she is hoping for continuing restorative therapy to keep strengthening her hands, arms, and legs and to keep moving ahead.

For her birthday today, Doreen and Carl were able to attend church with the Manchester congregation, the first time they had do so without their daughters. Kurt Borgmann, pastor in Manchester and son of Carl and Doreen’s first exchange student in the 1950s, picked her up. After church, Daniel (Karen’s son who is attending Manchester) and the Borgmanns went out to eat with Carl and Doreen at a local restaurant. It is wonderful to be able to do these more “normal” and familiar activities, even if there are many reminders that things have changed. We are all very grateful that Doreen has celebrated another birthday and look forward to many more!

In case you don’t know, Doreen now has a phone in her room. Let us know if you would like to have her number.