Dr. A to Dr. Z

I have to admit, while I was telling you about how Ada was treated by those wonderful Doctors and Nurses, I had to take a deep breath and held my anger deep in my chest. First, I am angry at myself for spending almost 24 hour a day standing by my daughter bed side, but can neither oversee that she received the best care, nor make sure that no mistakes were made by the Medical Professionals. Lack of knowledge and experiences, I must say.
Here's the problem. Each group of doctor work as a team, so we have several teams of expert working and caring for Ada. At the same time, each team is working as an individual and neither play (work) well together with the other team nor being on the same page. So, there are a lot of "Oh, we don't do that", "We just do this", or "The other team should be responsible", blah-blah-blah.

So Dr. J from Nehro team said Dr. T from Trauma team should do this, Dr. W from Orthopedic team forgot about Ada and blame it on other team, the Neuro team refuse to take a look at Ada while she was in ER.

One patient, one body, can't we all get along.

Finally, Dr. Biggerstaff (my hero) , Chris Hilbush and his team was able to put all the pieces together. Still, Ada hasn't received her much need medicine for 5 days after being in the hospital. Dr. B team has to apologized for other people's mistake.

I can go on and on and on about this, but the point is, you cannot totally rely on the hospital, and the medical professionals that your love one will get the best care. Like Ardis said, I am not a doctor or a nurse, but I play one on the internet. Educate yourself or get a good friend who can help you, like I did.

But I would like to report that Ada is doing fine. She got all the attention that she needed. We will not put the bone flap back at this time due to the time crunch and it is ok for now. She got a new cast today under Dr. W's supervision. He still did not look into my eye and tell me that my daughter's ankle is going to be ok, or introduce himself when he enter the room. TJ came by and took the trach tube out of her throat. Yes, you heard it right, she is now breathing on her own nose. Her tube feeding had been lower down from her stomach to prevent the overflow. We still working on the right combination of medicines to help keep her calm and comfortable, so she will be able to focus on what else she can do. Oh, she will be able to talk now that the trach is out, so I can't wait to hear she say "Hi Mommy" again.
She will be able to go back to American Village on Friday to a nice and quiet room because we no longer need that Humidifier machine.
Bye for now, thank you for having us in your thought and pray.
Hugs
Ponsawan

All night in ER

Ada is back in the hospital again. Last week she had some fever so she had a blood work done and they found that she had high white count. The nursing home quickly send her back to ER. Not enough evident that she was so sick, the young ER doctor send her back home because she did not high enough fever that they can keep her in the hospital. How high is too high? Well, she had 100.3 but 101 is a requirement. Ada is not a typical patient and she prove them wrong. On Tuesday night at 10 o'clock, her nurse took her temp and it was 89, 2 hours later she was perspiring like crazy. Her sweat dripped down and I cannot kept up with it. The nurse took the temp and it had gone up to 104. Immediately, we called the ambulance and took her back to ER. This time we took advantage and demand that she got full attention and the best care they can give her because they had realized that they made a big mistake sending her back on Friday. Amazing how they can call those big head Neuro doctors to come to see her because they had refused to see her before.
Now we are back in the 6th floor. I walked around and say hello to my old friends, all the nurses who took care of her and still thinking about her. I can't say that about the doctors, they seem to forget that she is still exist.
At first, they thought that she has some kind of infection from virus, but might not be that bad as they think. Ada, Ardis and I spend 15 hour in the ER. We both wrapped ourselves in big blankets, sitting and sleeping on the chairs. We were lucky that not only they can find the room for her, but also assigned the best doctor for Ada. You wouldn't believe how many doctors and specialists who had paraded into her room today (including someone from Neuro group).
Finally, the cervical collar that was on her neck for 8 weeks has been removed. Ada got her neck clean for the first time after the accident (imagine that).
We will stay at the hospital for a couple more day. Meanwhile, I know that our friend at American Village will miss Ada, but we will be back soon. We miss seeing them too.
This time, I hope, she will be discharged from the hospital in a proper way. With all the important informations she needs; medicaion, nutrition and list of the doctors names in case we need more help.
More information later, I need to catch up on my sleep, but Ada is fine for now.
Hugs
Ponsawan

Care Basket for Ada

Hi, I am trying to get the Care basket for Ada and there are a few things that I need. May be you could help filling the basket when you come to visit Ada.

Here is the list of items that I need; Kleenex, Huggie baby Wipe, small bottle of baby Powder, small bottle of Lubriderm lotion, small bottle of Water (for mom), Biore' daily cleansing cloths, Air freshner, Candy and healthy snack for the staffs, Fresh cut flower

Now, don't bring a truck load of stuffs, we don't have much storage space. A box of tissue will be fine, so you can come often. We use Kleenex and the wipe to keep Ada clean.

Ada got a new cast on her right foot, some more new accessories for her arms and legs. She is making a small progress, a baby step at a time.

Hugs

Care Bear

P.S. The care package can be send to:

Ada Silapiruti

co/American Village community

2026 E. 54th St., Indianapolis, IN 46220

The lake at American village. We will bring Ada out here soon to get some sun.

Visiting Ada

I would like to ask everyone who want to visit Ada to call me first. My phone number is 317-640-7096. The reason is that most residents of the village do not have as many visitors as Ada. I know she is a popular girl and everyone love her, but we have to respect other people too.
So I would like to ask that you plan your visit early and leave at 9.00 pm. so Ada can rest and have a quiet evening so she can have a good sleep. During the day, she will be busy with physical therapists who will work on her arms and legs and sit her up in a chair.
Also mom can rest too.
May be Saturday or Sunday is better.
Also I would like to thanks all the staffs at American Village for taking good care of Ada and we like to keep everyone happy, right? :) Bring some treats for the staffs if you want. Ada is in good hand and we are happy that they let Ada stay here. Until she can come home, this is her home.
Hugs
Ponsawan

Love you loads

This message is kind of a continuation of the one that Kirsty wrote a few weeks ago. I (Marisa) did have the privilege of living with Ada spring semester of last year. That semester was just too much fun and just too short. I agree with Kirsty in that it was the best combination of people to live together. Ever!
One of my favorite moments that proved our camaraderie was one night I decided to study for my chemistry exam in the dining room. Shortly afterwards, Kirsty joined me to do a project for another class. Peter was in the living room (which is technically connected so can still be considered to be “studying with us”) doing a take-home math exam. Then Ada joined us to study for an exam for one of her classes. Under normal circumstances, the four of us were rarely in the same room together, nonetheless in the house at the same time. So we did take advantage of these rare moments. Having the four of us together and being around each other to just be around each other made me so happy and at peace. I love my roommates. Of course, true to John Olson’s earlier post, Ada didn’t study for very long (don’t worry, she still did well on the exam, of course!!) and decided she was hungry. The rest of us agreed and we ordered a pizza. However with the mass amounts of paper on both the dining room table and the table in the living room, we just ate the pizza on the floor. It was glorious.
Ada was my tv-watching buddy. As Kirsty earlier stated, she would always come home to find Ada watching either Family Guy or Robot Chicken. At least 7 times out of ten I would be with Ada. One time we took the small tv that Ada brought and put it in the sun room and then stole the dvd player from the tv room. We proceeded to spend the next few weeks in the sun room because of all the time we watched tv in the tv room, we decided to change scenery. There was even the time that we decided to watch the 5-hour BBC version of Pride and Prejudice in one sitting…on a whim. It was glorious. We never really talked. It was just so nice to have another body in the room, mindlessly watching the same thing you are.
Sadly, one semester is not enough time to spend with someone as amazing as Ada. I have three other great memories; however, kirsty already mentioned them. Alas, right now I’m in Sevilla, Spain and have no way for the next month to come and see Ada. But I have been praying for her and making cranes. I almost have a box filled and will send it to Kirsty asap so she can bring to Ada.
Also, note to Ada: a week before your accident, you wrote on my wall on facebook asking me how being in Spain was and you said that Angel was an amazing teacher and to tell him you said hey.
My response: Spain is amazing, I have sent you the mass e-mails….but I can always resend them later cause I’m sure you’ll have a lot of deleting to do when you finally have access to your e-mail. Alas, I don’t have Angel as a teacher, my roommate does though. I did have him as my guide in Italica (the roman ruins outside of Sevilla if you remember). On the subject of me saying hi for you. Well….it’s kind of complicated at this point. First I never see Angel, and when I do (I’ve been going over this a hundred times) I keep coming up with this scenario:
Marisa: (In Spanish) Hi Angel, my name is Marisa. I’m a friend of Ada Silapuruti who was here over a year ago. She mentioned how you were such an awesome teacher and wanted me to pass the message that she says hi
Angel: (also in Spanish) Oh of course. I remember her. How is she?
Marisa: (again in Spanish) she’s in a coma…
Angel: (Spanish awkward silence….actually not much difference than an English one, but you get the point)
I love you. I read this blog everyday to see how you were doing. I still pray for you loads. You know how it is with these Spaniards and their churches. And I’m making the cranes as well. I feel very blessed to have had this semester with you. Please keep getting better so we can continue on our wild and zany adventures. Or at least so we can watch another movie together.
love you loads!!
Marisa Tishner

Ada's new home

Hello, this is Care Bear, again. We will take a tour of Ada's room at American Village. Mom gets the big couch at the corner where she sleeps every night. She can no longer sleep in the bed. The other side is Ada's bed with a special air mattress on it. There is a bed on the other side of the room but we pile a lot of stuff on there; linen, towel, diaper, baby wipe, and her accessories; leg braces, arm braces, hand braces, etc. Over the wall we put a note to remind the nurses not to roll her on to the left side. We also have a small refrigerator and a small TV. It is a nice size room. I am happy that Ada's here.
Mom took a picture of Ada sitting on the chair with me. She still looks pretty like before. For those of you who haven't had a chance to visit Ada and want to see the picture, send email to mom at silastones@aol.com and she will email the picture to you.
P.S. Some of you might have already known that Mom's father just passed away on Wednesday night. She is really sad because she can't go to Thailand right now, but she feels that it is necessary to stay with Ada at this point. Grandpa was almost 100 years old. He is in a better place now. Mom will go home later, next month, may be, for the funeral.

A new chair has arrived

I have a big calender where, every night, I write down what Ada had done today that different than yesterday. A tiny step but a giant one for her. For example, on Sunday she respond by blinking her eyes when we wave our hand in front of her. Yesterday she bend her right arm more and she can get her hand almost to her chest. With fear and frustration in her eyes, I have to look away. She also starts showing some emotion through her face. We decided to cut her medication in half to see if there is something more she can do. Sure there is another factor of "pain" that we do not know of, pain medicine and anti-depression drug will be given to her.
I have to say that Ada had received the best care that the staffs at American Village can offered. All the questions, all the concerns that I have, had been answered. Everyone is working tirelessly to take care of her. Thank you, thank you.
Today we put her on the chair. It is a special recliner on wheel that can be adjusted to any position. She looks comfy in the chair and fell asleep the whole time. Adding the portable humidifier machine, we can wheel her out of the room to meet her neighbors or even go outside when it is warm. They also weight her today. The liquid, high protein, and non-fat food that she has, does not give enough calories that she needs, but they will adjust that.
Other than that, she looks good, her skin looks good, she can cough up and clear her lung very well. Also she can breath through her nose, bypassing the teach. Pretty soon they will train her to breath on her own take out the trach, then she can talk. The speech terapist has started working with her already.
So everyday she has so many people come in and out of her room. Tomorrow, the ambulance will pick us up to go to the doctor. They will look at her right ankle, the one with cast.
For me, .... hum, to tell you the truth, very fustrated by all these. I fell like having "out of body" experiences because I have neither power nor control of my life. I just get up in the morning and do what I told, I can't make any decision or too afraid to make one. Ardis is taking care of everything. Without her, I am not sure what to do.
Hugs
Ponsawan

Settle down

We finally settled down at American Village with very warm welcome from everybody. Ada will get a good care from the nurses and nurse aids who come in every 2 hour to check on her. I did made an executive decision to take her collar brace off while she is in bed. She looks much happier and turn her head and follows me around the room. There was a starring contest this morning between Ada and I while I was trying to put the brace back on her left arm, and I gave up. The staffs all learn how to take care of her. This is a new experience for everyone. Ada was blessed to be here, otherwise, who know where they will send her.
They don't have cable TV in the room but I can pay $15 to get it, so forget about Internet. LOL
We start decorate the room, trying to make it feel like home. I still sleep on the couch and continue to pile up stuff on the other bed. Abby starts stringing the cranes and hang them on the wall. Ada can see them. More cranes are flying our way from Thailand and Australia.
I promise that I will take care of myself, spend more times with the boys and taking a break from the nursing home. There is still a long road to recovery for Ada and the family.
Fundraising will be put together soon. Please let me know if you will be available to help.
Hugs
Ponsawan

Ready, get set....

Last morning at Methodist Hospital. I fell like home here after camp out for almost 5 weeks, but it is time to move on. Thanks for all doctors, nurses, therapists, custodians who had been taking good care of Ada. Everyone is so friendly and genuinely care about my daughter.
After all this time, we just learn about a best kept secret Pizza place down in the basement. Walking down the long hallway, turning left and right and left and right, some hallway looks like the scene from the movie "Shining", until the last turn and the aroma of the fresh baked pizza hit your nose. Ahhhh. Don't go alone though, you might get lost easily.
I will miss that cute Dr. Matthew who came to visit us at 7.00 am everyday. Both Ada and I always half sleep when he came. This morning I told Ada that it is her last chance to say"Hi" to him, but she just laid there like a "Sleeping Beauty" waiting for a kiss from her Prince Charming.
Then it was occurred to me that a couple days ago, she had problem with her pee-pee tube, so T.J., the nurse practitioner who took really good care of her told the nurse to put diaper on her instead. So, Ada is thinking ahead of us, by wearing "Depend", she is preparing herself to "blend-in" with those folks over 65 at American Village. (Sorry, Ada, you can hate me later for making fun of you:))
Hugs
Ponsawan

Under 65

Today, we has been informed that Ada was excepted to stay at American Village Senior Community located at 2026 E.54 th St. Ardis and I went over to see the facility. Surrounded by the senior citizens age over 65, Ada will be the only resident age under 65. The nursing home staffs are excited to have Ada. It is going to be quite a challenge for them as well as for us. Since Ada was denied by several facilities before due to her age, we quickly accepted it. She will have a private room across from the nursing unit. I can stay with her at all time. We are allowed to decorate her room any way we like. We have more than 900 cranes now, may be we can hang all of them there. They promise to take good care of her.
We will be moving there tomorrow morning.
Hugs
Ponsawan

The First Time...

I saw Ada was last August and she was working at Naked Tchopstix. I was there having dinner with my two sons and some friends from Korea. I had been to Naked Tchopstix quite often and I knew most of the staff but over towards our table and I did something I never do...I said "Wow, what a beautiful girl I wonder when she started working here?" Ada came over to take our orders and very shyly looked up at us from that great hairstyle she has and as she walked away my son Kyle who had just been offered a job there said "I think I'm going to go to work here"and he did. Ada and Kyle became great friends. Among other things they shared a commonbond of growing up Asian in Indiana not always the easiest thing to do. Every time I saw Ada I liked her more....she has a soft way about her and as Kyle said "she's no phony, what you see is what you get."
Throughout the next few months Ada would come into our home and actually stopped long enough to talk to me or sit down and watch whatever I had on the tv. She was so sweet and genuine not like so many young people that feel that have to speak in order to get past me to get to see my sons. Many mothers can relate to that.
I looked forward to getting to know Ada better when she came home from Paris and during the last four weeks I have gotten to know her better if not from Ada herself from all her caring friends and family. I only knew the Ada that made my son smile...now I have had the honor to be by her side and try to take care of her family the way she would if she could.
Kyle had told me many times how much her parents and her brothers meant to her. Ada's parents know how determined and strong she is, so we will all be with her while she works at getting better. I am not a patient person but through Ada and her mother I am learning to have patience.
If anyone should ever wonder where Ada gets her strength...it is from her mother. There are no words to describe Ponsawans strength and resolve in the face of her worst nightmare. I wish with all my heart we didn't become friends because of this but it is a friendship that I will always treasure.
And since the first time I saw Ada and every time since... my thoughts are the same, "Wow, what a beautiful girl" and now I know Ada Silapiruti is beautiful inside and out.
posted by Ardis Hendrix

Canoeing with Ada

One of my best memories of Ada happened during a Girl Scout trip. One summer Pike Troop 1298 took a canoe trip down Sugar Creek in Turkey Run State Park. I was in a canoe with Ada and Anna and I would have to say that out of all of the girls, Ada and Anna had the smallest, teeniest arms for paddling down a creek. But we had great fun! We stopped at a sandbar for swimming and a hot dog roast. We really appreciated Molly and Sueanne’s dad building our fire while we swam. In other words, they did all of the work while we played. Ada, Anna and I did not tip our canoe, but the canoes with the two dads did! My little arm girls were steady and dry on our trip down Sugar Creek. We also were way behind the rest of the troop due to our lack of upper body strength. Oh, and I have to admit, I’m not too strong myself! So, we are paddling, slow yet steady, far behind when it started to storm. Not much rain, but some serious thunder and lightening. Ada said, “Are you scared, Rhonda?” Well, heck yes! However, I said, “No, but let’s paddle hard and fast!” And we did and we made back before the serious rain. I have lots of wonderful memories with Ada and Girl Scouts…
Selling Cookies, Pokagon, Camp Ada, Skiing, Mall of America, Junior Jam, Mammoth Cave and of course, Pornsawan’s rice crispy treats!

My thoughts and prayers, like Katherine, are part of my waking moments, too.