Peggy's on You Tube!

For those of you who missed the KGMB story on Peggy a couple days ago...you can watch it on You Tube! Wow! Just paste the link below into a web browser to check it out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrSvvrYS4XU

Coverage for Lehua and Other Stuffs

As some of you know, Lehua Silva sliced her finger on her dominant hand on some glasses at Chili's last night (her other job) and had to go to the ER and get stitches. She is OK, but is not going to be able to work for a while - plus she's on vicodin for the pain. I've been working on covering her shifts over the next few days and have gotten GREAT response! Kelly is covering tomorrow 10 to 2pm and Hanna is covering Monday AM shift, BUT WE STILL NEED TO COVER:

THIS SUNDAY 10 to 2 am or even Sunday evening 6 to 10 and I can switch Marvel to 10 to 6pm. Let me know if you can help out!!!!!

HCA has found coverage for Sunday and Tuesday, so that's great. Michelle is taking Tuesdays and Misty and Cathy are splitting Sunday nights. Phew. But I'm still looking to train others as back up. I'm thinking we're going to need to find another private hire to train for daytime back up as well. Let me know if you have any leads.

I have both kids here with me today. Indy is watching 101 Dalmations with Peggy right now and Sawyer is at my feet eating Baby Wipes. By the way...it is Kelly's birthday this coming Saturday!!! Happy Birthday Kelly!

Happy Hump Day

Did anyone see KGMB 6pm news last night? They did a story on the HPU documentary about Peggy. I missed it, but Peggy saw it and some others did too. Hopefully it will show up on Oceanic's News On Demand soon.

Today was a productive day for me. I got lots of office work done since Eric had Sawyer this morning and then Karen, Kelly, and Peg's Legs have been playing with him a lot. So awesome. I feel so blessed!

I've been on the phone a lot today. We had a hunch, but just found out for sure that today was Helena's last day. This means that we need to find coverage for Sun and Tue overnight. HCA got Michelle to take the Tuesday shift and are working on convincing their Eric to take Sunday. This would mean that he would be working overtime. It also means that Eric and Michelle would be the only 2 HCA nurses covering Peggy's shifts. I find it troubling to have all our eggs in one basket like this, so I have been working with Attention Plus and NurseFinders to train some back up folks. I feel very hopeful after talking with NurseFinders - they sound very optimistic about staffing.

One last thing - some of you may have seen the email that went out, but I'll post it here too:

Our wonderful Peg’s Legs private hire, Hanna, is looking for a place to rent. She would ideally like to rent a single studio (house/not apartment) with a yard for her adorable medium size dog GoGo. She’s hoping for a bathtub, utilities included, near Kaimuki/KCC/Kapiolani Park area for $900 or less a month. She’d love a washer/dryer, but can always find a laundromat...the most important thing for her is to find a good place for GoGo. She’s even up for rooming with non-smokers as housemates, so long as there is a yard...She is looking to move out either at the end of this month or the end of July.

Hanna would be a wonderful tenant. She is very responsible, hardworking, and an all around GREAT person!

Please spread the word and help Hanna find a new pad! :)

Tuesday Update

We had a little celebration for Lolo today when she came into work. We had some cupcakes, cocoa puffs, coke (the can kind not the white kind), and presents waiting for her when she arrived at 2pm. It was a nice surprise for her!

I spoke to Marvel today who is doing much better. Lolo graciously switched shifts with her so that Lolo will cover for tomorrow and Marvel will take her double this Friday. That will Marvel a few more days to get back on her feet.

Peggy was supposed to have her doc visit today, but Dr. Davis stood her up :) Boo! Hanna had such a cute costume for her too.

And some great news that I will finally make OFFICIAL by posting - Kelly is pregnant!!! Yes, you read that right - our charming former cottage dweller is HAPAI! Yay! Congraulations, Kelly - we are so happy for you!

Touching Base...

Indy was home sick again today so I was not into work, but I know a few things have been going on. Lehua told me that today Peggy's cuff was bothering her. She had Helena call Denise to see if she could deflate/reinflate and she got the OK. Helena only got 11 ccs out. She put 15 cc back in and Peggy said she felt better.

Marvel is not feeling well. She had to leave her shift earlier today - thankfully the AMAZING Pat Gamble came to our rescue and covered the last part of Marvel's shift from about 7 until 10pm. If anyone would like to trade some shifts with Marvel, I'm thinking she could use a break for a few days at least. Let me know...

I'll be back into work tomorrow. The kids and I are doing much better and I know Indy will be ready to return to school tomorrow. I hear Elroy is sick too. Sheesh. What's going on?! Take your vitamins everyone!

Meez

The kids and I have been under the weather the past couple days...but I've found the best new way to pass the time...Meez! See the new animated me on the blog! You guys have to try it! Go to meez.com - it is FREE and you can create a little animated you doing whatever you want. You can dress yourself up in outfits, try different hairstyles, make yourself dance, sing, cook, surf, even get captured by Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow (Pat Lokatos, we know you're gonna try it now!)

Tomorrow is Lolo's Birthday!!! Happy Birthday, Lolo! Hope you get some R&R - you deserve it! We love you :)

Getting our Dancing Feet Back on the Ground

Peg's up in the chair today sorting costumes and sending them back up to the attic. Getting organized - love it! Peggy's toe doc appointment went well on Monday - hopefully we won't have anymore toe funk.

Tomorrow Hawaiian Island Medical will be picking up the bed and some other stuff we've had around. Also, Yosca and her cleaning crew will be back again tomorrow at about noon or so. Yay!

Party Photos

Well, we did it! Peggy's 61st Wacky Women's Birthday Party was a HUGE success! The elves, fairies, and other forest folk rocked it from 4pm til midnight! It was a magical gathering that won't soon be forgotten!

Thank you so much to all of you who helped make last Saturday's party happen. This was the perfect birthday gift for Peggy who had the time of her life!

You can view the first batch of photos online, just click here http://pegslegs.shutterfly.com

Enjoy!!!

Only one more day til PARTY TIME

Our new bestfriends are Yoska and her cleaning team. They tackled the house yesterday totally unintimidated by all the clutter and chaos. They are so good and the great news is that they are coming back next week after the party too. Hopefully they will become a regular thing. They are even going to come to the party this weekend - they told us they will bring some authentic Indonesian food! Yum!

As you'll see from the photo, we have put Peggy to work babysitting so that we can do party prep. Today is the big set up day. The tent, chairs, and tables are coming at 2pm. Wendy Wichman's son and his friends will be helping move stuff around from 12 to 4. It is all starting to come together! So exciting.

HCA is training a new nurse. She was on last night and will be on the next 2 nights with Lolo. FYI - Attention Plus is having difficulty finding anyone to train, so I will be calling another agency next week.

And great news - Karen is feeling much better and will be back in action today!

Enchanted

Party! Party! Party! We are having so much fun getting ready for this party. Kelly and I went on the road yesterday stocking up on party stuffs. Today we have a cleaning lady coming to spruce up the bathrooms and house. I told the cleaning agency that it was a pretty straightforward "normal" job - is that wrong? Heh heh.

Eric has been busy moving stuff around in the attic to make room for the costumes and to work on rat elimination. He boarded up the attic window that was broken so that less creatures can get in and he put up glue traps to get the ones that have already "made house". Peggy has been sorting all her costumes since she's going to have a costume corner at the party (for those who come un-costumed). It's amazing what a little bit of liquid courage can do at these parties - we guarantee that by the end of the night the costumes will get wackier and wackier and normally straight-laced men will be donning skirts and wigs.

With all this party planning, we have had no time to deal with any of Peggy's medical issues, so that's it for now. Just kidding. But seriously, there really hasn't been much to report. Her eyes have been pretty good lately. There was some talk from the nurses that Peggy might have a UTI, but she isn't really experiencing any pain or discomfort - they are doing a urinalysis to see what's up. The lab is picking up the sample this morning which is in the office fridge - that's not apple juice, Kids.

Karen has been out sick this week - we suspect she might be in for "Robot Servicing"? Having a Karen-less week really reminds us how much she DOES!!! We are so dependent on her! Karen come back!!! We need you! Sawyer needs you! We can't function without you! OK, OK - I've calmed down. But please, send your prayers her way - for her sake and ours :)

Peg's Legs Update: Share the Care Website

Here's a short update that went out yesterday:

Aloha Peg's Legs,

We're busy getting ready for this weekend's BIG BASH http://peggyparty.googlepages.com/

But we wanted to take a moment to share with you the updated Share the Care Website. We are featured in the new "Share Your Advice" section. There is even a video excerpt from the fabulous "Courage to Live" documentary.

Check it out at http://sharethecare.org/pages/share_advice/STC_advice_index.html


Me ke aloha,

The Chun Ohana

Back in Blogland

Sorry - I've been slacking on the blogging lately. Were busy busy busy getting ready for the party this coming Saturday. This will be a fun and busy week as we get everything together for the PARTY OF THE CENTURY!!!

The biggest medical issue lately has been Peggy's eyes. But the past few days they have actually been pretty good. Did you notice the clear shower curtain in the doorway to keep the cool A/C air in the room - so awesome! Great idea! The A/C and humidifier seem to be working well and don't seem to bother Peggy's eyes which is a relief. There have been some MUGGY days lately and having the A/C has been a blessing.

There have been numerous reports of the cats bringing dead rats to the door of Peggy's room. Eric (and the cats) are currently working on a rat eraidation program. We'll keep you updated.

Peggy had a nice long visit with Keola and Moana Beamer on Saturday. It was great to see them. They got to meet Sawyer and the new cats. They'll be back again in July to visit again.

Peggy has asked that the nighttime staff NOT use the hoyer at night. She says that it is too painful. She also says that her reflux is a problem, especially at night. She says that it goes up into her nose and throat and burns. She says "please don't lay me back flast especially when pressing bladder and trach cleaning. Try not to go lower than 30 degrees"

Speaking of the night staff - I'd like to say a BIG MAHALO to Ms. Lolo Silva who has been covering some overnight shifts for HCA's Eric. Lolo worked 10pm to 10am this past Friday and Saturday and will be doing the same shifts this coming weekend (Peggy's party weekend). We can't express enough how grateful we are to her for covering these tough shifts.

To help avoid this type of scheduling problem in the future (HCA was not able to find a replacement for those shifts that nurse Eric needed off), I have made the decision to bring on another home care company to supplement HCA. We have selected "Attention Plus" and will most likely begin training new nurses this coming week. HCA is aware and supportive of this decision. HCA will still be managing all the meds, coordinating care and doc visits, etc. We'll give you all more info about integrating the new team as we go along.

Birthday Fun

Peggy had a fabulous birthday yesterday with lots of visitors, calls, cards, balloons, flowers, and fun. Her eyes were giving her lots of trouble in the morning but cleared up a bit by afternoon and evening. We had a small gathering with the Seglers, my mom, the kids, Marvel and Pat Lokatos...Peggy had lots of visitors...Lulu and Todd, Fatima, Joyce and Jan, Betsy, Andy with her dog Hoku in tow (Hoku shares a birthday with Peggy - she turned 14 yesterday or 98 in human years!)

Ty also came by last night and brought some new "eye bubbles" to tape over Peggy's eyes. You just spray a little defogger into the bubbles and then put them over Peggy's eyes. Hanna found that it you need to tape them to keep them on right. This creates a little moisture bubble around Peggy's eye which should help protect them and keep them from getting so irritated. Peggy calls them "eye-quariums"!

Peggy's eyes have really the been the only issue lately. Her doc visit today was very short - not much to report. This past Saturday Ed the dentist came by with Dr. Jon Yoshimura who was named Hawaii's dentist of the year a couple of years ago. They took photos of Peggy's mouth and teeth. Dr. Yoshimura would like to come back in the next week or two and make a custom mouth guard for Peggy to wear when she is being moved, like rolled for Hoyer or percussion. They also flossed and cleaned her teeth which she loves.

Household Projects and Stuff

Eric's here today. Peggy's friend donated $1000 to get her a new TV since the one in the room is kind of broken (you can't really see the top of the screen and the color is getting funky. So Eric is installing the brand new fancy TV that he picked up at Costco. He also got a DVD/VCR to hook up to it. He also will be putting in a new A/C and the humidifier to go with it so that Peggy's eyes don't dry up.

Yesterday Peggy got up in the chair and so while she was outside playing in the yard with Indy I vacuumed her whole room. I sprayed non-toxic bug spray and wiped everything down. I moved the palm tree out and tried to declutter a bit - it felt like a did a whole heck of a lot, but looking at it today, you can barely tell I did anything! Oh well, what's new.

Peggy's eyes were burning today. Michelle said that the Restasis really burns her eyes. We'll have to talk with Ty about that.