Grandma Sue's recovery

26/03/2022

Good morning. Somehow I did not put this info out there so here it is. Moms services will be in Sioux Falls in June. On the 16th there will be a visitation from 5-7 @ Miller FH. On the 17th there will be a funeral mass at St Joseph's Cathedral @ 10 AM with the burial to follow.
We plan on having a luncheon maybe afterwards with some fellowship throughout the weekend. There are several hotels on the North side including a Ramada Inn that has an indoor swim park or sorts. Theres also some Air BnB's and VRBO's around that are reasonable. Please spread the word to those that are not on social media. If there are any questions please shoot me a text and I'll try my best to answer them.
Thank you all so much for all the kind words and prayers. They mean so much and we are all very grateful. I hope ro see yall in June

11/03/2022

https://www.riemannfamily.com/obituary/Sue-McCoy

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07/03/2022

As many of you already know, mom passed away last night about 930. Near the end, she went very quickly, peacefully and painlessly. Myself, Michele, and Jennifer were with her. She was ready to go and I can only imagine how happy she is to be with God and and the loved ones she missed all these years. We are the ones that must continue, and bear the weight of the grieving process.
Mom was such an incredible woman that had an unbelievable impact on so many lives. I think one of her greatest attributes is that she always put others before self. Just my opinion.
I cannot thank you all enough for kind words and prayers. Our family is very grateful.
There is no ceremony for right now, but we are in the process of planning something in the near future in her hometown of Sioux Falls ,SD. We will put out details when that happens.
Tell the people you should that you love them, dont pass up on a chance to do that. I cannot stress enough to obtain a Last Will and Testament. And please, obtain an Advanced Medical Directive. This was a huge gift our mom gave to us.

05/03/2022

Late post, sorry. I absolutely hate to do this on social media but it's a neccessary evil. I'm very sad to say that the aneurysm that mom suffered Tuesday morning was much more severe than we had initially thought. In short, there is no recovery from this. She has a very detailed and preplanned set of advanced medical directives that are to be followed, and we will. It is an extremely difficult position, but mom has gifted us once again by taking the most difficult of decisions out of our hands.
We have, as a family, initiated hospice care. The following days are going to be difficult and kind words, thoughts, prayers, and deeds are appreciated.
She has always been a supremely kind, giving, and strong woman. Please, if you can, stop and say a small prayer or word of thanks. I will update further as warranted. If any of you on this thread need to, please feel free to contact us directly at any time.

03/03/2022

Mom moved to a floor room this afternoon with no real status change. She has tested positive for covid but is asymptomatic, and has been. But that also means it's a seprate ward with more restrictive visitations. It was news to us as well. We'll have a meeting Fri afternoon with a Supportive Care team to discuss progress and further planning. Hopefully between now and then they'll be some positive changes. Thank you all for the kind words and prayers.

02/03/2022

Been awhile since anything was posted on here and sorry to say this one isn't good news.
Yesterday morning about 5am mom had what we thought was a fall out of bed. Went to her room and she was on floor, thrashing and yelling in pain. Transported to ER with no signs of trauma but not very aware. Aftershocks xrays and CT scans, a decent sized aneurysm was located on right side of brain. She has basically been sedated and waiting for an ICU bed since then. The ER here has an isolated room she is in presently. I'm currently waiting to talk to case manager and nuero team members.
As of this AM the nurse advised the bleeding/swelling was the same. Not better, not worse. It's still too early for any prognosis, even as far as surgery and/or further treatment
Presently idk that we need anything other than prayers if you so choose. There is limited visitation or least there will be once in ICU.
Sorry for the bad news over this page, but it's the quickest way to inform the most people. Marie, Charlene, and Michele were informed last night. If yall have any questions dont hesitate to ask and I will try to answer best I can.

04/04/2021

Moms new home. We made it! 🙂👍

04/04/2021

Last morning in Springfield MO today. Next stop Pass Christian!!

04/03/2021

So, after having gotten both my vaccination shots I was able get back to Springfield to see mom! Recovery is coming along slowly but surely and everyone here has put in alot of work. She can move along with a quad cane and gets in and out of bed, onto wheelchair, up and down to use cane. She is determined to keep getting better and stronger and is so thankful for all the prayers and well wishes. Its means alot to the entire family. She still.has a little bit of trouble with memory and word recall, but really, who doesn't? She is looking good and feeling better and stronger with each day. There is still alot of work to be done but itll get there for sure!

17/09/2020

Mom had the basel cell skin cancer removed from her right temple yesterday. They said they got it all, which is great!
It's a 3 inch incision and they told me that the dressing would be ok until Friday when our shower helper comes, but somehow in the morning she tore or scratched it loose.. It was bleeding and oozing... But I patched it up ok.. I'm learning so much being a caregiver!
Moms PT and OT professionals are pleased with her progress... She can move her right leg sometimes and is able (mostly) to get her socks, shoes, afo, and even shirt on and off.
She's very determined!
Our next big step is trying to find accessible housing. We will need a lot of help moving... I know everyone wants help, so I'll let you know how and when.
Peace, everyone. ☮💜

13/09/2020

Sorry I've not posted for so long. Been a very busy 6 weeks! We've been lucky enough to have PT and OT plus a shower professional each twice a week.
So blessed!
We were able to finally get Mom's AFO, and found a great shoe store with seriously awesome professionals who helped us find the right shoes, including extra inserts for the left shoe bc we had to buy giant size for the right. Awesome people at Plaza Shoes! Only $150!!!!
We were so relieved.
Mom continues to improve on several incremental levels... She's doing a lot of her head/arm exercises on her own... Trying to do her transfers by herself but needs supervision even though she doesn't think she does (kind of dangerous, which is why I don't really sleep)!
She loves all her magazines, and still tries to do crossword puzzles but it's hard with just the left hand.
She's working so hard... Sorry she doesn't always want to talk. I offer her the phone but she's usually pretty tired.
Peace everyone. ☮💜

02/08/2020

Charlene and I took Mom to the farmer's market today. Here she is in front of some of her flowers holding a few of the goodies we bought.

01/08/2020

Mom wants to express her deep gratitude for the outpouring of love, kindness, and gifts for her happy birthday and also basic life needs. She came home Tuesday and we've been adjusting to our new reality.
I guess on some level we were both just seeing "July 28, yay out of hospital" and knowing but yet not knowing how much work, adjustments, and challenges lay before us.
We've had several people from home health care visit for evaluations. I am so glad I attended almost all of her therapy sessions in the rehab hospital. I learned so much and am applying all that knowledge into our daily lives. I believe my sister Marie can learn and apply some of these things as well.
The ramp that John built for back door is way too steep, so John is coming over tomorrow to build another ramp from the front door. We live in a very old house with narrow doorways and I just didn't think the chair would fit through front door but it does.
Our other huge challenge right now is the bathroom. We are utilizing bedside toilet for now and that's ok. But again, bathroom is very narrow and her mobility is not at the level to get her in for bathing. Sponge baths and dry shampoo will do for now but she hasn't had a shower since Monday. HhC said they might be able to schedule something for next week.. I'm actually thinking about renting an accessible motel room just so she can have a shower.

Mom and I both want to express our deep gratitude for our beautiful daughter/sister (respectively)Charlene. She's been here all week to help with transition from hospital to home. She bought and then put together Moms new bed. She also spent hundreds of dollars paying for some of Marie's needs so Mom doesn't have to worry about it for a couple of weeks. She's rearranged furniture, decluttered drawers and shelves, and come up with numerous creative and inspiring ideas . I do not know how we could have made it through this week without her. I'm so grateful to have the honor of sharing sisterhood with her.

We're trying to create a new schedule for all of us. We're going to adopt hospital schedule of PT, OT, and SP every day. I've learned lots from the hospital and I also have some of this knowledge from working with special needs children.

Mom's been having a lot of anxiety since she came home.. It's all so scary. We finally got her on the walker yesterday; she was too panicked to even try the first few days. She walked 42 feet yesterday... And this morning she was able to touch her chin with her right hand! She also started working on a crossword puzzle today.

Again, thank you all so much! I know my Mom and I would normally send personal "thank you" notes... But this will have to suffice.
With much love, gratitude, and peace
Sue and Michele

Pics are from yesterday, opening b'day gifts

26/07/2020

Mom has made FABULOUS progress. She's able to walk over a hundred feet with a regular walker instead of a one side demi walker. We've also learned the transfer from chair to car and back. She is working so hard to make new pathways in her beautiful mind so her hand and leg can function.
Her chair to bed or toilet transfers are going great for her and me; I'm hoping my sister Marie is willing and able to learn these skills too.
Mom will be coming home Tuesday.

My sister Charlene is here for this whole week.(Yay!) We decided that Mom's trundle bed is just too high for her right now, so Charlene has purchased a new bed for her. We are making the living room into a bedroom for her and working on getting it all ready.
I got a walker from her church but PT doesn't want her to use it yet as it has 4 wheels. We did find another one at Habitat for humanity today for only $10. Yay!
John finished ramp work today and is going to do few more things for us tomorrow.
She really is loving all your cards.. If you want to keep sending some just mail to our home address. Short notes are best for now. She's back to reading but not at her regular genius level!
Also, many of you have wondered about how you can help, or what you can do for her happy birthday.

1. My Mom has 3 magazines that she subscribes to and really loves. They're all due for renewal, and I know it's expensive so maybe it could be a group effort... They're "The Week", "National Geographic" and "People". ( She might seriously get mad at me about telling you she subscribes to People)
2. Good coffee (fair trade, organic)
3. A GC for Wild Birds Unlimited.... Or any type of bird food.
4. ANYTHING you made by hand or created or dreamed up...I cannot tell you how much joy that will give her. Some of you have sent such beautiful art! She loves it!

5. Money. I am sorry to be crude or overly blunt but we need help.

I want to thank all of you for continuing your positive loving energy/prayers.
I can't wait to have her home!!! ☮💜

16/07/2020

Such a hopeful few days! Mom is making progess with standing and walking. She is able to hold most of her weight and is learning the ordered steps of walker, right leg, left leg. She did a whole walk of about 50 feet in the therapy gym, with balance assistance from therapist and me behind with wheelchair yesterday and today.

Her beautiful mind continues to be more aware every day too. We're learning about different language and communication cues and how to retrain mental pathways. She's now reading all her magazines and playing games on her phone. These were activities suggested by the therapists but she is already doing them. She still struggles a lot with finding words sometimes but we are learning strategies to find different pathways. I keep telling her to give herself the same patience she gives everyone else.💕
We are definitely aiming for her to come home when the corporation kicks her out of the rehabilitation hospital on July 28. We are learning so many activities/therapies to do together. Her doctor said today that he'd prefer keep her there as long as possible because she's doing so well with therapy, but that's not a possibility.
So I'm just learning everything I can, and so is she.
Even though we're both exhausted, I looked at her today and said, "This time together is a gift, you know? "
And she agreed.

.... And here is more BIG news:
I got certified/approved so I'm now trained enough to do her transfers on our own. So I can transfer from bed to wheelchair to toilet and we don't have to push the call button and wait. Plus I'm comfortable with it and so is Mom. A HUGE step forward for her to come home.
Peace☮💜

13/07/2020

13/07/2020

Well, terrific news from PT this morning. Mom was able to (with assistance) walk 20' with a one sided walker. It was slow and very tiring for her but she was persistent and stubborn to do it. Tomorrow they will score her on her ability to get in and out of a vehicle. Baby steps but big ones and she was so encouraged, as was I.