June 25th 2014

In the midst of chaos and strife it is easy to forget the gratitude so let me start by saying how grateful I am to have the family that I do. Without Dad's strength and the support and love of Brenda, Randale, Susan and the rest of our mazing family and friends I don't know how we would manage.

I am sorry that it has been difficult for us to keep everyone informed of Mom's recent health issues and I thank everyone for their understanding. It has been difficult at best just to keep the immediate family up to date so I thought perhaps creating this blog would provide a place where you can all check in on a regular basis for updates. We certainly appreciate all of the calls, texts and Facebook posts and apologize that we haven't been able to spend more time with you individually. Our hearts are filled with all of the love and we all appreciate and respect the power of your prayers and concerns.

Mom is currently gaining her strength back at a rehabilitation facility in Orlando called The Commons Lutheran Towers. The staff has been very good there as well as a brilliant staff that helped us at Florida Hospital North during her recent stay. We are grateful to them for their passion, knowledge and compassion.

Mom was diagnosed with a slight pneumonia and respetory infection that was brought on my her parkinsons. Apparently this is a common thing with parkinsons patients and is know as Aspiration. Basically the act of eating and drinking takes on a whole new meaning due to the deterioration of muscles and a bit of the food particle seep into her lungs causing weakness, difficulty breathing and coughing. She has been on antibiotics and has made great progress with this. In fact she is able to resume her normal eating and drinking with minor changes to her daily habits. At the start of all of this back on June 16th  she was extremely weak and admitted into the hospital for evaluation and treatment. She spent a week in the hospital before being moved to the rehab facility.

She is currently undergoing treatment and physical therapy to regain her strength but is still pretty weak. She is learning to walk again with the aid of a walker but still requires a lot of attention. We are working towards getting her healthy so we can move on to phase two which brings up another concern.

Three weeks back we discovered a lump of her left breast which is pressed against the sternum which makes it very difficult to perform a routine biopsy. We are meeting with Doctors on Thursday this week to see how she is progressing so we can schedule the biopsy. They will need to perform an out patient procedure to remove the lump in order to do the biopsy. Our Doctor cannot not yet predict the outcome but said it is cause for concern. Until she is healthy enough to perform the biopsy we are all in a hurry up and wait mode and will not know anything more until the procedure is completed.

She is currently scheduled to go to Shands Hospital in Gainsville for treatment regarding her parkinsons but this too is contingent on her progress with the previous mentioned issues.

Mom's mood comes and go's. Needless to say she is frightened and concerned and anyone that knows Mom knows how much she likes to worry. We laugh at times when her concern turns to house cleaning and as usual she is always thinking about others before herself.

Speaking of others the rest of the Coble Family is doing pretty well. Dad is perhaps the strongest man I know and has been by Mom's side throughout. One of us has been able so far to be by her side throughout however she is now sleeping alone at night since there is no space for us to join her. I think Mom would be pleased by how our family has pulled together and we are making sure she knows she is not alone.

Today they resume her physical therapy. She will be in and out of her room at times but when she is strong enough she does like to talk on the phone or listen to us tell her stories of all the family and friends that have been checking up on her. She does have some trouble with motor skills so will not be on line but you can feel free to post here or on her Facebook page and we will make sure to pass along your love and prayers. It means a lot to her as well as us.

We are so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives. I can't express enough how much it means to us all to have your love. Mom, Dad, Brenda, Randy and Susan I love you all so much and I love all of you out there as well. Here is a link to the facility she is currently staying at if you would like to send a card or say hello. http://www.orlandoseniorhealth.org/

If anyone feels they need to reach me for anything text or Facebook works best. I stay connected at all times and can respond quicker than via phone calls.

We have a battle ahead but our resolve is strong. We will continue to move forward one day at a time and I will do my best to keep you all posted through this blog. God Bless and I will talk to you soon.