ON THE ROAD - TO RECOVERY

First, I'd like to say thank you to Joy's blog readers for their comments of concern for Joy. Those comments mean a lot to Joy. She doesn't have Internet access or she would be making her post today so I'll be giving the weekly update again this week.

I'm happy to report, no make that very happy, to report that Joy is doing much, much better this week. Wednesday, however, was a very stressful day for both Joy and Phil. More so for Phil than Joy probably. Early in the day they were told that Joy would be released and transferred to the rehab facility. Then the next nurse or doctor in the room would say, no, it would be Thursday. Then they would be told, no, it will be today. And on and on it went throughout the day. Then there was the indecision of whether she would be transferred by ambulance or whether Phil would drive her.

At about 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday they finally released Joy to Phil and his GPS to drive to the rehab facility. Talk about stress! This particular area is not GPS friendly. Names of streets have been changed, new streets have been added, etc. Add to that the fact that it is dark and they are driving in an unfamiliar area, let's just say it wasn't a good experience. They finally arrive at rehab about 8:00 p.m. if I remember correctly. Luckily her room was ready since they were expecting her so she was able to get settled in.

Let me mention that Phil is a great guy and that he is doing everything in his power to be sure Joy is well taken care of during this time. His caring and concern are amazing to me - he absolutely loves Joy immensely. He will challenge anything out of the ordinary in Joy's care. On Thursday there was a discrepancy between the hospital and rehab over the dosage amount for her medicine. After phone calls and lots of questioning, the issue was finally resolved. Phil's the kind of guy you would want as a caregiver to be sure you are getting the proper medicine and care. Having said that, I thought we might have to have Phil admitted to a hospital for stress overload that day!

Roger and I visited with Joy and Phil at rehab on Friday. She looks great, was up, dressed, and walking. That morning she had some breathing problems and had to have a little oxygen but was off the oxygen fairly quickly. It was great to see her without tubes and wires hooked to her and to hear her laughing. No one wants to be in rehab, but she is making the best of the situation and doing whatever is required of her. She's a tough, determined lady so I fully expect to see her out of rehab as soon as reasonably possible - Phil expects it to be a full two weeks.

So that is the update for this week. Hopefully soon Joy will be back to posting again and reading the blogs of her many friends and family members.

Have a great week.

Margie