SHE.HER.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

CARMEN'S BIRTHDAY PARTY IS TODAY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARMEN!

Okay, here are all the details which I got from Albert:

The CORRECT Start Time is: 4PM Until ???

13498 Whitestone Place

Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91739

Food will be provided but please try to bring a drink or two...

Carmen is looking forward to seeing all of you so please try to make it!!!!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Yesterday was the big day everybody! Carmen has left the building! She is now home and very excited about it. In fact, this weekend is her Birthday Party and Albert wanted me to let you all know about the details. It's going to be from 6PM till when ever out in Rancho Cucamonga. The invite that was done by Carmen's friend Lindsay is below...

Okay then... moving on to our Carmen. The plan from here is that Carmen will get evaluated sometime today or Friday to determine the level of "out patient" therapy she is going to need. She is also getting an MRI on the 28th to check everything out which obviously they're anxious for. Albert and Jodi are very excited to have her home but at the same time, a bit nervous since there are no docs around at all. Bert has been working very hard to get the house ready for Carmen too. She has her own brand new wheel chair now and Bert needed to make room for her to get around in it.

Carmen...we would all like to say Happy Birthday! Welcome Home! and Merry Christmas! What a GREAT time it is for you and Albert, Jodi and the family right now. We love you so much and are so excited for you.

We will see you Saturday!

Monday, December 8, 2008

Hi Everyone,

Carmen is still doing fantastic at therapy. She was actually scheduled to go home on Wednesday but she is progressing so well that the therapists think she would really benefit from another week. She is doing really well with her speech and she is also starting to stand up on her own. In fact, Bert said he has to watch out for her now because he may turn around to see that she has stood up. That's awesome Carmen!

Albert and Jodi are there with Carmen all the time still and certainly enjoy watching Carmen do so well. Visits and phone calls are obviously welcome so please keep them coming.

Take care Carmen! We love you!

Thursday, November 27, 2008

HAPPY THANKSGIVING CARMEN!!!!

Hi everybody....I just spoke with Albert and he's in a great mood. Carmen is too. She is doing fantastic at her new facility. They got there on Friday of last week and it was a bit rought at the beginning as far the room situation. One of the main reasons Bert and Carmen chose the facility in Tustin is because Albert was allowed to spend the night. Well, when they got there, they found out that wasn't the case. Of course Bert didn't fly off the handle or anything but he did say that it would really be a problem if he couldn't spend the night. Carmen still really depends on Bert at night and just isn't ready to be alone. To make a long story short, because Bert was so cool and once they got to know him and Carmen, they eventually hooked Bert up with a nice big room, with no roommate and Bert got the green light to put a blow up bed there to be with her. Nice work Berty Bert. Smother 'em with kindness! Good strategy!

Anyway, as far as Carmen goes with her therapy, I don't know too much because the speech therapist had just walked in the room when Bert was about to give me the details. I did learn that the therapy is all day long, but it's broken up into chunks so Carmen gets breaks during the day. Jody is there during the day to watch Carmen and then Bert gets there around 3:30PM or so from work. Yesterday he came into to see Carmen....drum roll please!.........STANDING ALL BY HERSELF!!!!! CHECK IT OUT!!!

Bert said she was using that table in front of her to push off and stand up! I can't believe it Carmen. This is incredible girl. Keep it up!! And Bert, more pics more pics more pics! We're all so anxious to see more.

We are all thinking of you on this day and are so Thankful for you in our lives. Carmen, you have certainly become quite an inspiration. And Bert, watching you stay by Carmen's side every possible moment during all of this, and not ever thinking twice about whatever needs to be done is also an inspiration. Your love for your wife is resonating through all of us and it's amazing.

Happy Thanksgiving you guys. We love you tons.

-The Fan Club.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Good news! Carmen is now at the new Acute Rehab Facility. Albert said it's SUPER nice and much more peacful than Orange Hills. He said that Carmen was in a good mood. The info for the new place is below:

Healthsouth Rehabilitation Center
14851 Yorba Street
Tustin, CA 92780
http://www.tustinrehab.com

Carmen had a rough week though. She was supposed to be at the new place on Wednesday but instead she started throwing up. She felt terrible all day and of course Albert and Jodi were scared that it would turn into something really serious. Luckily Carmen was able to shake it off and was feeling better the next day. She was BUMMED she couldn't leave though. Bert said that after she saw the new facility (he took her there a couple of days before), she was very anxious to get there.

All is well now though. Carmen is at her new place AND ALBERT'S NEW LAPTOP CAME IN!!!! Thank you to all that donated! You guys rock. We hooked him up with a sweet HP.

Alright Carmen, we are waiting on the sidelines and ready to watch you continue to really kick some but with the therapy. Our prayers are with you! We'll keep the prayers up that you stay HEALTHY! No more of this 24 hour stomach flu junk, or anything else for that matter.

Enjoy the new place Rockstar.

We love you

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Hey hey hey,

I'm super sorry everybody! I'm slacking! My family got attacked with the stomach flu last week. But...it was worth the wait as I have SUPER DOOPER news. (Yes. I said super dooper. What can I say? I like it. I'm a "super dooper" fan)

Anywho, let's move on. My wife Kelly and I went to see Carmen last night and she is doing fantastic! She was making sarcastic jokes to Albert and laughing and everything. It was great. She was sitting up, she was chatting away and we could totally understand her. It was so much fun to see her.

In fact, she is doing so well that the docs think it's time for Carmen to leave Orange Hills. She is ready for Acute Therapy. Acute therapy as you can guess, is very intense therapy that Carmen will receive for about 3 weeks. Following this therapy session, she will continue with out patient therapy about three times a week. There are few locations for this and Bert is driving with Carmen each day to check them out. Oh yeah! The driving...Carmen LOVES to get out and take those drives! She is still hating the showers at the facility though, but then who can blame her?!

Albert is back to work now, while Jodi and Carmen hang out. He rushes back to his girl about 3PM or so each day. I'm sure it's rough to be away from her.

Carmen will most likely be moved to the new facility this week! Great job Carmen! It was sooooooooooooooo good to see you last night. You are doing so great. We all love you and are anxious to hear which facility you chose so we know where to come and visit.

Have a great day.

WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Carmen Fans...Guess what?! Carmen's feeding tube (her G Tube) has been removed! Yep...you read it right, the G Tube is outta here. She is doing so well eating they decided they didn't even need to keep it in as a precaution. That's awesome.But wait, there's more. Carmen has gotten permission to leave for 4 hours every single day now! 4 hours! How nice is that? In preparation for these outings, Bert took Carmen outside the other day to practice getting her in and out of the car. I love it. She is also doing really well with the walker. She walked about 75% of the hallway the other day too!

And that's all the good news for now! Not too shabby eh? Way to go Rockstar! The Carmen Crew is cheering you on from the sidelines. Keep workin' it.

See you soon!