Yesterday I spend a good part of the afternoon making phone calls to various places regarding my dad. My first call was to Air Compassion America. There were a lot of questions still of how my mom was going to get home, so I thought that I would contact as many resources as I needed to. This non profit is a patient advocacy and helps in air transportation from bed to bed. The lady was really helpful on the in's and out's and had a lot of good information. Air Abulance from Sacramento to Boise runs about $9-12,000. Wow! She said that it is more expensive on the west coast.

My next call was to Idaho Elks. I was able to talk to Cheryl, the Stroke Program Director. She is awesome and extremely helpful. I really liked talking to her. She helped me in figuring out the process and gave helpful advice. She was going to notify the admissions office of my mom so when a call comes in from the physician in Sacramento, they will be aware. This entire time I had not felt overly joyed about bringing my mom home in the SUV. It just did not seem fast and/or comfortable to me. Cheryl assured me that if she is medically stable, she will be fine with lots of pillows and blankets to be comfortable. She said that they receive lots of patients from all over the United States and the majority arrive by car. She did mention that getting a complete copy of her medical records before we left would be a good idea just in case we get stuck somewhere or end up with problems. She asked lots of questions about my mom's condition and situation. She listened a lot. She also informed me of how my mom is probably processing information. She also asked if my mom would say an understandable word or two while talking on the phone. I told her that she has not done that with me. She told me that stroke survivors will usually say complete words while talking on the phone. Nobody knows why they do that. I found that interesting. While my brother was with her the other day, she did turn to him and say "Why" very clearly. Brent was blown away. Cheryl also mentioned that my mom will digress about 3 days when she arrives at Elks. She said that doing so is normal and happens whether she was flown or driven there. It doesn't matter. I am glad that she mentioned that so we are all prepared for it. Looking back, that completely makes sense. Every time she was moved to a new hospital or room, we all noticed it. The digression was there. She will also need to gain trust for her new therapists. I really appreciated the call with her and it made me feel so good about my mom going there.

My dad and I are leaving Caldwell Thursday if all goes as planned. Prayers are being answered as resources are being made available. Someone in my parents ward(they were also in our ward until boundary changes were made a while ago), offered us their van/RV type vehicle. Lynda Sue takes it to the midwest every summer with her 3 girls to visit her parents. It looks like a van but has the amenities of an RV. Not sure of what they are really called. It would be perfect in our situation. The drive from Sacramento to Caldwell is about 8.5 hours in good weather. We all know that weather is questionable right now. I am hoping that we can get there and start the process immediately to check my mom out if she is ready. We are now armed with more information than before.

I really appreciate so many offers in watching Gunnar. I have more than I can use! For this next week or two I have plans in place. After that I may be contacting many of you if I am needed at Elks or just to visit a little. It also helps that my sister is a program director at Wings Center with the preschool age kids. Gunnar loves going there and Heidi is so willing to take him. I really, really appreciate that!