January 4, 2016

It has been a very long time since I posted to this blog but thought it might be best to let everyone now the latest news with Jim and JoAnn.

We made the decision back in October of 2015 that Tulsa was not working out as a viable option for them to live together at Methodist Manor so we started exploring other options. This included a quick trip for my dad to come out to Walla Walla, Washington to see what all of the fuss was about. I tried to keep my opinions to myself (almost impossible as I am my mother's daughter) but after a week, my dad was sold on the small town living.

We picked a 2 bedroom apartment at Wheatland Village, the retirement community near my house, for independent living for the both of them. It is a much better investment than Methodist Manor and the people are very friendly and welcoming.

I flew down to Tulsa in mid November and picked up Mom and brought her back. We hung out for 2 weeks while Dad finished tying up loose ends and driving the car out here. He arrived on Thanksgiving day which was definitely something to be thankful for, and we all headed to a friend's house for a jovial Thanksgiving dinner in the snow. We spent most of December trying to unpack their life and get everything hung on the walls to my mom's liking. It was definitely an adjustment for them both and I can't stress how homesick my mom was for her friends and her old life. Even though talking on the phone is not as enjoyable for her anymore, she desperately wanted to catch up with old friends. Christmas day arrived and felt really good despite not having any family but me present. We talked to all the family on the phone and had a beautiful little Charlie Brown tree (my dad's preference) loaded with gifts to unwrap. Dad and I made some chili and whiskey sours and we all ate tamales. We had a lot to be thankful for and I think finally felt somewhat settled.

Susie and Megan planned a trip and showed up on New Years day.

Unfortunately, after building her strength over the last few months, Mom took a spill while getting ready for her day and hit the ground, fracturing both her pelvis and her collar bone. So on New Years Day, she was admitted back into the hospital and remains there now. The fractures do not require surgery but obviously do require much time to heal and physical therapy. We don't really have any other news regarding that but will try and keep you all as updated as we can. The opinion is that she will likely move to a skilled nursing facility sometime this week to start rehabilitation. She has asked me to call several of you but with work ramping up and little sleep, I have not found the time to do that.

Please keep her in your prayers and if you would like to send a card or a letter, find their new address below. They are currently in the process of getting a home phone hooked up so, for now, their cell phone is the best way to talk to them.

Jim & JoAnn Clapp
1500 Catherine St. #302D
Walla Walla, WA
99362

Please pass this blog on to anyone who would be interested and I may have missed.

Thank you and Happy New Year.
Jennifer & Family

Monday, March 23rd

I know I haven't posted in a while so I thought I should send everyone a little update on how things are going with the Clapp Family. My mom has fully recovered from her last fall that happened back in January. She spent some time back in St. Francis and then the Villages, both of which did an excellent job of helping her recuperate. I am happy to report that they are back home and she seems to be stronger than ever. She has been fabric shopping and picking out furniture, shopping for some new clothes this last weekend, and even baking a pie for my dad's 80th birthday, which happened to be yesterday! They are still in negotiations with the powers that be at Montereau, which is the retirement community they have had their eyes on. Unfortunately, the staff there was given some bad information from 6 months ago and so had initially rejected my parents to live there but we uncovered this error and are trying to figure out a way to get them into the apartment they picked out and love.

Until anything is final, you can still reach them at their home phone number and mailing address. I will let you all know when and if their address does change.

Thanks for all the prayers. I am happy to say, it looks like they worked!

Jennifer & Family

Monday, February 16th

There are no real changes to report on my mom's recovery. She is still in St. Francis hospital. They are having trouble getting her to sleep at night and she does not tolerate the bi-pap machine for very long so keeping her up during the day for physical therapy is very challenging, to say the least. My dad remains ever vigilant and is hoping that someone at some point will have some information or suggestions about what the next step is going to be for Mom. The family is pressing forward with selling the house and getting my dad moved into Montereau with the hopes that Mom will be able to transition to some form of care there once they are officially residents.

Again, I promise to try and keep everyone updated on any progress or news we receive but just holding steady right now.

Jennifer & Family

Thursday, February 5th

I just wanted to send everyone a quick update. We have not published anything thus far because we really weren't sure what was going on. But to get everyone up to date, my mom has fallen again and has been readmitted to St. Francis hosptial. Luckily, it was not a bad fall (on carpet) and my dad was just feet away, so they were able to get her to the ER pretty quickly. She has been there for about 2 weeks now and is just not strong enough to leave yet. She has a few fractured vertebrae down lower on her back and they talked about putting some liquid cement in there to help with healing but did not end up going that route because she doesn't seem to be experiencing much pain.

We are trying to figure out what the next step is and I promise to update all of you if we figure that out any time soon. In the meantime, Dad is faithfully by her side most hours in the hospital and Susie is able to visit outside of work hours.

Cards are always best because my mom loves getting them and reading all about your updates.

Thank you,

Jennifer & Family

Christmas at HOME!!!

Sorry for the delay in getting this post up but wanted to let everyone know that Mom is headed home in less than a week. And not just for a visit. She is coming to the end of her rehab and has made so much improvement, that they feel she is ready to go home!

She will be sprung next Monday, December 22nd. Nancy and her family will be arriving that night so the house will be full of people. In preparation, Susie took Mom over to her house this last weekend to get some of her Christmas decorations out and displayed around the house.

Speaking of outings, she has been spotted around town quite a bit these days. Last week she went to one of Megan's indoor soccer games and had a blast. There was pizza night at Mazzio's on Friday and a Christmas concert on Saturday night. I think she is very happy to be back in the mix of things.

Even though her children will be spread all over the country this holiday, we are all VERY thankful for her recovery and the people that made that possible. The entire staff at the Villages has been amazing and we could not have reached this goal without their help.

Thank you SO much for all of your support and cards and dinners you provided. It helped us get through what has been the toughest time for any of us. We appreciate each and every one of you!

Happy Holidays to you ALL!!!!

Much love,

Jennifer & Family

Back Together Again!

Well, here we are! I just arrived Saturday night into Tulsa and already Mom and I are stirring up trouble at the Villages. The next few paragraphs are straight from her mouth:

To my loyal fan base and hangers-on. 
Thank you for sticking with me through all these ups and downs. I have now graduated from drinking all my meals through a peg tube to plates with food colored tan or beige, with a touch of orange or green, all in a delectable pureed form.Tried some gooey hot tea today and decided, "No thank you." 

P.T. is progressing very well according to all my crew and passers-by in the hall. I am more critical of myself. Although, my dancing has improved since Jennifer came to town. We put on a little number for Jim last night and he loved it. I don't know which gets more laughs, my wooden-legged walking or my samba steps with Jennifer. 

Jennifer: She is hard on herself but most people are stopping by for a laugh at her quick-witted jokes.

Back to Mom: Thanksgiving is right around the corner and along with Jennifer, Jimmy & Kippy will be bringing their whole crew to town, including their 2 dogs. We are sure to have a full house and I am anxious to get a couple of trial runs home in before the cooking begins on Thursday. Already working out how to direct traffic in the kitchen from my throne, without whiskey sours. At least I can monitor the rest of the family's whiskey hijinks. 

Thank you so much for all of your cards and letters. I enjoy reading through them with Jim. He frequently sits down at night and reads through them all again. He has the toughest job in town and needs every word and picture for the smile it brings to his face and the chuckle he treasures, as do I. 

Thanks to therapy, I can now walk and talk at the same time, with a walker or the occasional hand rail. However, you wouldn't want to see my handwriting, at least not yet. 

Wishing all my "Thanksgiving Family" a great gobble, gobble, gobble and a tasty drumstick and keep me in your mind even though there is only a puddle of turkey on my plate!

The surgeons gave me no chance, but they didn't count on you!

-Josie

Friday, November 14th

SHE EATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have made big improvements this week. The speech and occupational therapists have been working hard with Mom on her swallowing and they slowly moved her into some applesauce and pudding at the end of last week. And then ever so slowly this week, they have started pureeing foods and giving them to her to test it out. She even had mashed potatoes and stuffing a couple of days ago! She is really enjoying and seems to be doing so well, they will start substituting some of her peg tube feedings with real food!!!!

We are very excited! She has also made it her job to entertain the staff at the facility and they all seem to really love working with her. I will be there a week from tomorrow and will try to post every day while I am there. I imagine Mom will have some ideas on what she would like written in the blog!

Keep it movin!!!!!!

Jennifer & Family