Getwellbean

Kathleen had a really rough evening last night. She was seemingly suctioned all night long and had lots pf phlegm. This morning she threw up for the first time in weeks. Shortly thereafter, the reason for the problems was discovered. The family has 8 full boxes of the old 1.2 jevity which she threw up consistently until she went back to the 1.0 formula. Kaiser and Apria will not take the boxes (unopened) back even though the Davey's insisted that the food was the reason for Kathleen's emesis problem.

Unfortuately, just part of the proceeds for this wristband go to research, but its a start.

Disappointing news on the stem cell front. The United States is falling behind partially due to political problems. Also, the necessity to avoid angering political conservatives who are seeking ammunition to ban stem cell research is causing the scientific community to move slowly on human research trials.
"The late actor Christopher Reeve, paralyzed in a horse-riding accident, once said he sometimes wished he were a rodent, so that he could have a chance to try experimental therapies sooner." Kathleen must now how he feels.

More success in treating rats with spinal cord injury using human neural stem cells.

Note: You can leave messages to read to Kathleen by clicking on the pencil on the blogger. Mike, Samie, or Connie will read your comments to Kathleen.

Kathleen enjoyed a nice day with her daughters, family, and friends across the street at her friend Irene's house to celebrate her sister in law's (also known as Auntie Tutu) baby shower.

Eat your greens. They are good for your brain. Folate is especially important.

Another great day in the Davey house. Samie sobbed over her mother and asked why God doesn't answer her prayers. Mike hugged Samie and responded through tears that sometimes it takes a long time.

Kathleen bounced back from a tough evening and was relaxed and comfortable throughout the day

Kathleen again had a good day with active eyes and normal tone in her face. At night, however, she needed to be suctioned frequently and got very little sleep.

Kathleen had two really strong physical therapy sessions today. Her face was relaxed and she seemed more "like herself" according to several witnesses.

Kathleen seemed a little sluggish and was perhaps fighting off a cold though she didn't have any other symptoms. She hasn't thrown up since the return to the old food and seems much more comfortable with her feeling.

Kathleen had a good day and enjoyed the company of some close family and friends at the regular Saturday evening bbq. So far, she has done well moving back to the original food and the family is keeping their fingers crossed.

To be notified when the newest news on Kathleen is posted see Tinyurl.com. Note that you can post responses or feedback to daily journal entrys by clicking on the envelope.

Happy birthday Luke. Bean always loved your smile and wishes she could be at your run on Sunday.

Kathleen had a good day and enjoyed the company of some close family and friends at the regular Saturday evening bbq. So far, she has done well moving back to the original food and the family is keeping their fingers crossed.

To be notified when the newest news on Kathleen is posted see Tinyurl.com. Note that you can post responses or feedback to daily journal entrys by clicking on the envelope.

Happy birthday Luke. Bean always loved your smile and wishes she could be at your run on Sunday.

Due to a discussion between Mike and the doctor earlier this week, Kathleen's feeding was switched back to her original formula (the one which didn't cause her to thow up) and the food arrived today.

Mike was kicked out of his bed by the girls tonight after being informed it was "going to be a girl's night with their mommy." The girls excitedly said prayers with her, recited poems to her and even tickled her before they drifted off to sleep.

Other than a mild vomitting episode in the morning Kathleen had a really good day. Mike went to his 3rd back to school night (this time for the girls) and came back late to tell Bean about it. The world just doesn't seem to make sense when Samie writes in her "Book of Me" that her greatest wish isnt any normal 8 year old school girls, but "for her mommy to get better."

Kathleen had a good therapy session and seemed better today. The only problem seemed to be the kitten, Abe's, new propensity for climbing up Kathleen's wheelchair to use it as a scratching post.

Kathleen went to the hospital in the morning and had an ultrasound. The nuclear medicine techs were very kind to Kathleen. The procedure was inconclusive but it was suggested that her clot remains. On the bright side, Kathleen's swelling has declined and she enjoyed an evening spent watching a movie with her daughters who greedily ate popcorn next to her.

Mike argued with the nurses and the doctor about Kathleen's recent emesis episodes. The doctor and the nurse argued that it came from oversupplementation of her diet, which began in June, while the Davey's argued that it is related to the change in her diet from jevity 1.0 to 1.2 (which also corresponds to the day with when she began to throw up).

When Mike got home a 5:30 Kathleen's left arm was enormous and other parts of her left side were swollen. Mike called the advice nurse who told him to call an ambulance and get her to the hospital immediately. Arriving at Kaiser 15 minutes later Kathleen and Mike waited for over two hours to be seen. In the end, after nearly 3 hours, Mike was told that there was no reason he needed to come at all, and that she likely had a blood clot but the ultrasound man had gone home at 5pm. Mike, who had been under the impression that a building named Emergency might actually contain equipment for an emergency thought the situation so typical of Kaiser that rather than being mad, he actually laughed at the doctor when she told him that he needed to bring Kathleen back first thing in the morning. Thrive. It was almost a surreal experience and just another weird evening in the personal purgatory that Kathleen and I share (on different ends of the spectrum).

To be honest, the doctors and nurses were kind but seem to be incapable of rising above the uncaring and incompetent nature of our HMO system. It will be interesting to see what Michael Moore does with his new documentary on HMOs (note that Kathleen's former webmaster wrote him 18 months ago and explained Kathleen's situation to him and asked him why he hadn't done something on HMOs). Kaiser has reportedly instructed its employees not to speak with Michael Moore.

On a somewhat brighter side, Kathleen's cousin has gone through her first two rounds of chemo and is maintaining a positive attitude and getting lots of reading done.

Kathleen had a relaxing day hanging out in the kitchen while one of the caregivers made a meal for the family. Her arm, however, has continued to swell and concerned the Davey's.

Kathleen has been in a pattern recently that is both encouraging and discouraging.
•She has continued to throw up fairly regularly which has alarmed the Davey family. Throwing up for her can lead to pneumonia and serious complications. This increased emesis has coincided with the change of Kathleen's diet almost to the day. She went from Jevity 1.0 to 1.2 at the dietician's order. The new compound is tougher on the stomach and more concentrated calories. Immediately Kathleen gained significant weight and began to vomit. The Davey's have cut back her food intake to maintain her weight and have made repeated requests to resume her old feeding schedule which has been denied by both the doctor and the dietician.
•Kathleen has shown significantly more eye movement and responsiveness to both movement and sound.
•Kathleen's left arm has swelled significantly and there have been significant problems getting her blothinnessess level correct. Clearly, the blood clot is still an issue.
•Kathleen's rigidity has increased recently leading to the conclusion that another medicine might need to be employed to manage her increased spasticity. Family and caregivers have been consistent, however, about putting on her casts and exercising her to maintain her range of motion.

Kathleen had a tough night on Wednesday coughing much of the night,but rested well on Thursday morning. Her eye movement is still increased and much more reactive to movement.

Kathleen had an interesting day. She began the morning by throwing up and demonstrating severe tone. As the day progressed however, she made cooing sounds she hasn't since before the accident and moved her eyes significantly. In the evening she seemed exhausted from the day's events and slept soundly with an incredibly low heart rate.

Kathleen had two uneventful days. Mike was crushed by a response from the president of Neurohealing who said that though he believed and hoped that NH001 could help Kathleen, his company had been given a strict protocol to adhere to for its Phase II clinical trial. That trial could include only those with traumatic brain injury rather than anoxic injury. As always, the bulk of the research goes toward traumatic injury with little if anything supporting those with anoxic injury. Thus, the Davey's venture to encourage such research by the creation of the Global Ischemia Foundation to promote such study is even more important.

Kathleen's mom has initiated a number of long distance reiki healing sessions by people across the globe. Letters are coming in from as far away as Australia.

Kathleen had two good but uneventful days.

Kathleen has for several weeks now been making greater eye movements. Whether or not this suggests improvement is not know, but of course hoped. :)

Kathleen had a rough night again. She threw up in the late evening and struggled to cough up her secretions. During the day however, Kathleen had good visits from massage therapist, occupational therapists, and her chiropractor. She seemed to do well throughout the day and seemed relaxed in the early evening,