Tue.
11/30
The Davey family has been informed
that today is the
final day Kathleen's care is covered by Kaiser.
Starting tomorrow the family will pay the daily
charges. The phone message reporting this fact noted that "Her
benefits have exhausted."
Kathleen had an X-ray on her
swollen back (which looked
much better today). The tests were negative for bone
damage or new growth.
Kathleen was again very tight in the evening. This
phenomena seems to be becoming a pattern.
Bean had a good session of speech
therapy on Tuesday.
She used her tongue and tried very hard to imitate
vocalizations.
PLEASE NOTE: This updates page will
be moving to a
new server. The new address is http://www.getwellkathleen.us/
Please change your links address
accordingly.
Mon.
11/29
Kathleen
got a new light
blue (her favorite color) wheelchair today.
Kathleen
loves her new chair. She immediately
fell asleep in the chair and already seems to have
longer tolerance for sitting in the new chair.
Sun.
11/28
Kathleen
had another small incident with vomiting
after
being changed shortly following a meal. When
the
family got her up in the standing frame, however,
they
were even more concerned by a large 4 inch area
on
her back which seemed like a hard bump. No news
yet
on what it might be. The family is concerned that
it
might be a potential first sign of Heterotrophic
Ossification,
however, the spot of the injury is not a
place
prominent for that ailment.
Sat.
11/27
Kathleen
looked beautiful today. She had her hair
fixed
by one of the help staff who added hair
extenders
and makeup. Therapist and CNAs alike
continue
to comment on her lack of bed sores, and
unbelievable
muscle strength after 10 months in the
hospital.
Fri.
11/26
Kathleen appeared exhausted from
her trip home for
much of the day until the evening
when she was very
alert and appeared to be visibly
concentrating on both
her daughters voices on the phone
and not throwing up
(which she managed to avoid).
Thu.
11/25
Kathleen slept all morning and then
remained alert and
active for six hours while home for
Thanksgiving. She
seemed to be examining her new
environment (and
hopefully liked it). She was told that her sister in
law Kim (Tutu) was cooking Kathleen's famous
"southwest turkey" which had rave reviews.
In the evening Kathleen seemed to have trouble winding
down from the day's events and threw up a little of
her "late evening snack."
Promising cord blood news in a human clinical test:
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200411/kt2004112617575710440.htm
Wed.
11/24
Kathleen had a very good morning. In an extended
physical therapy range of motion session with a
volunteer she improved greatly on her range then
did wonderfully in the standing frame. Kathleen also
weathered the storm of a temper tantrum by one of
her daughters (which humored the hospital), yet visibly
upset Kathleen.
Mike's cousin, who often has dreams which foretell
something saw Kathleen sitting up and speaking
haltingly in her dreams last night. That image is
one which the entire family would like to become
reality soon.
Tue.
11/23
"Kathleen's nurse" was
involved in an auto accident
but first reports are that she is
okay though at emergency.
Since this incident so many nurses
have
been kind and caring to Kathleen and the family.
Please hold Cece in your thoughts today. She
stands out among the best of so many excellent
professionals.
Kathleen again seemed to be recovering from her
bout with an illness and slept for much of the day.
Another story about our wonderful community:
Three boys, 13, 9 and 5, came to the Mercury today
after rolling all the coins they had collectively saved
or had around. In a heavy, heavy shoebox, they had
$126 they gave us for the Davey
wish.
Mon.
11/22
Kathleen
slept for much of the day and seemed to feel
better.
Her fever broke and she was loose until the
late
evening hours.
Any
volunteers who have some time to spend with
Kathleen
during this hectic Thanksgiving week would be
appreciated.
Many of Kathleen's usual visitors are
out
of town this week putting an extra burden on the
family
to change their schedules to insure Kathleen's
safety
Sun.
11/21
Kathleen
had a wonderful morning. Several times she
again
raised her left arm and fingers upon command
from
her sister Sheila. In the early afternoon,
Kathleen's
set backs with her food continued as she
again
vomited. In the late afternoon Kathleen
verbalized
many long, loud noises of either discomfort
or
sadness (the family has been reporting a look of
sadness
on her face the past few days) followed by a
series
of coos. Later, with Tom and Allison, she
moved
her head back and forth following them.
Kathleen
registered her first fever in quite some time
99.9 but seemed to feel better as the evening
progressed
Kathleen
story was featured in an article
on the
front
page of the Mercury News today in a compassionate
feature
written by Mike Antonucci.
Sat.
11/20
Kathleen
continues to struggle with her stomach. For
much
of the morning she appeared to be gagging ready
to
throw up, but held it in.
Kathleen
was fairly sleepy today, but for alternating
periods
very alert. In the late evening Kathleen
raised
her arm several times and moved her fingers.
The
actions were not related to some clonus jerks that
she
has been having since she reduced her Keppra
(anti-seizure
medication).
Fri.
11/19
Kathleen
had, for the most part, a good day Friday.
She seemed
alert throughout the day (although she did
have some tremors), but did throw up in the
morning
Thu.
11/18
Bean
had a quite morning and was very sleepy. She had a tough early
afternoon.
She had a short time in the standing frame and vomited in the
afternoon.
The rest of the day, she seemed to visibly be trying to avoid
throwing
up again.
Kathleen
did seem to respond to music during the day. (At times snoring
with
the beat.) Her heart rate also respond to the music. As a whole
during
the day, her heart rate was very high and she seemed uncomfortable.
Wed.
11/17
Kathleen
may have caught a cold which the family is also fighting.
George Bush
continues is continuing his assault on
stem cell
research at the United Nations by seeking a
worldwide
ban which is unfortunately drawing
significant
support. Here is the story.
We
encourage you to write your congressman and
support
both more grants for regenerative medicine and
stem cell
research and an end to the Bush campaign in
the UN against stem cells.
There
is also promising research being
done at Stanford on
stroke
patients. As it progresses from rats to
clinical
studies on humans, the Davey's would
appreciate
people with contacts there to help Kathleen
get
"in the door."
Tue.
11/16
Kathleen
seemed rested and relaxed today and was
remarkably
loose. She seemed more alert as the
morning
went on. Her swallowing has improved and
visitors
who know work with her regularly are
encouraged
to work with her on eating ice chips
(remember
to put her head forward and sit her up in
bed).
The Davey
family would like to again thank everyone
who has
been so instrumental in maintaining the health
and well
being of Kathleen. Her daughters have spoken
frequently
about how they feel the love of so many in
the
community and always want to know "who is helping
mommy."
The financial and time contribution of so
many
organizations and individuals who seek nothing in
return
certainly portrays a different story than is
seen on the
nightly news. People like Keith Howe who
volunteers
regularly to give Kathleen chiropractor
care and
others who do innumerable tasks at the drop
of a hat
like Jan
Birenbaum, Cece Arnold, Risa
Schwartz
and Elizabeth Meyer (to name just a few among
so many
amazing people) have given more than they can
imagine. I
would also like to thank the author of
this web
site (Kirk Abe) for his personal friendship
and
tireless efforts on Kathleen's behalf (but also
one who
will likely erase this line unless he just
copies and
pastes.) :)
- Mike Davey
Mon.
11/15
Kathleen
was very tight today and seemed
uncomfortable.
In the evening, a Reiki session by
Joan
appeared to relax her greatly.
Sun.
11/14
Recently, Kathleen seems very sensitive to touch.
On a sad note, Kathleen’s Great Aunt Ruth passed
away. She held Kathleen close to her heart. One of her
last words was “Bean”.
Sat.
11/13
Kathleen
had a terrific day. She was able to go home
in
the new family van and visit the house for dinner
and
bedtime prayers. The girls excitedly took her
around
the house and showed her their drawings, the
ongoing
addition etc. Kathleen appeared relaxed and
alert
and responded to the girls requests to open her
mouth
several times.
Fri.
11/12
Kathleen
was very active today. After a sleepy
morning,
her eyes were moving rapidly throughout the
day and she
was awake till late in the evening
The family
plans to bring Kathleen home tomorrow for
dinner.
The family
intends to bring Kathleen home. However,
apparently
MediCal will pay for most of her expenses
ONLY if she
is in a nursing home. Thus the clearly
flawed
California law encourages care providers to
send their
loved ones away to languish in a skilled
nursing
facility for the rest of their lives even if
the family
desires to bring them home. Feel free to
write your
assemblyman/woman regarding this issue.
Kathleen's
representative is:
District 24
Rebecca Cohn:
Assemblymember.Cohn@assembly.ca.gov
District Office
901 Campisi
Way, Suite 300
Campbell,
California 95008
Phone:
(408) 369-8170
Fax: (408)
369-8174
Thu.
11/11
Kathleen
enjoyed a long visit from her daughters in
the
morning (and they also enjoyed the visit -
especially
the donuts).
One
of Kathleen's favorite CNA's had surgery today.
Please
send her warm thoughts.
Kathleen
was sleepy but comfortable today. She did
not
seem very alert
Wed.
11/10
Kathleen was a little under the weather today.
She vomited so the later feedings came a bit
later.
Kathleen seemed very loose today. Again, she
frequently
made the noises she makes when she
was uncomfortable in the evening.
Tue.
11/9
Kathleen
was again sleepier today and got up just once
in
the standing frame and wheelchair (3 hours total).
Kathleen's
phlegm caused her oxygen to desat a couple
times
when she had difficulty coughing it up and was
put
on oxygen for a short time in the early morning
hours.
Mon.
11/8
Kathleen
seemed refreshed today and was awake and
alert
most of the day. In the evening, however, she
frequently
made the noises she makes when she
uncomfortable
and also labored a bit with her breathing.
Here is another article
on advancing bio-technology advances.
Sun.
11/7
Kathleen
was very sleepy today and was trying to
regain
her strength after throwing up twice on
Saturday.
Here
is a poem
Mike read to Bean.
Here
is an article
regarding cell transplants.
Sat. 11/6
Plans to
bring Kathleen home for dinner this evening
were
cancelled due to colds in the family.
Fri. 11/5
Kathleen's
van arrived and the house remodel is
progressing
ahead of scheduled pace. Thanks to
Bill and
Ray among many others at Devcon. Rachel
is
excitedly telling everyone her "Mommy is coming
home"
and plans to snuggle with her and "watch movies
while its
raining outside."
Thu.
11/4-
Wed.
11/3
Kathleen
was sleepy in her wheelchair today but was
easily
arousable when she started her therapy. She had an
incredible
couple of days. Here is what she
accomplished:
- vocalized
repeatedly on command
- opened
her mouth 75% of the time when asked and
moved her
tongue when asked as well...again, not in
the
direction she was asked to, but she did mobilize
when asked
to.
- She moved
3 fingers on her left hand back and forth
90% of the
time when asked her to ( VERY consistently)
- She
blinked twice (X1 ) when asked (reliability)
- She is extremely excitable to touch (good
or bad?)
Tue.
11/2
Kathleen exhibited very good
"feedback" early today
especially when her hand and fingers were
worked on.
As she was given ice, she came out with the
"eh" sounds on the exhale - at
least twenty times.
Later,
Kathleen was surrounded by activity today with an
election
precinct at Almaden Care and Rehab Center.
Today olive
oil was added to Kathleen's diet for two
reasons. #1
It is heart protective. #2 The fat can
help
damaged brain cells in which the neurons are
still alive
but the protective outer coating is
damaged
(causing misfiring of the electrical
signals..resulting
in jerks and seizures). This may
allow the
gradual reduction of her anti-seizure
medicine
which is also sedating.
Mon.
11/1
Rachel sat
down in the kitchen for about an hour today
and drew a
"book" for Mommy. Here is one page
(warning-
large
file!) where Mommy's hair is standing up because she is
scared of
the Halloween creatures. The rest of the book was a
series of
pages about how Kathleen is the "best Mommy
in the
world" and how much Rachie lovers her.
Kathleen
slept very little and was awake well into the
evening, but was alert for portions of the
day.
Here is letter
from Mike to SJMN’s Editor.
