Day 31

arrived to find my mom talking with Shirley...she said hi to me but it looked like she couldn't turn her head.  Her neck is stiff and painful probably from the neurological tests done on Thursday.  A little while later she asked Shirley where I was.   Shirley told me that the doctor had already been there and he said that the pathology came back that it was not Herpes Encephalitis meaning that she still may have encephalitis but that the herpes test was negative.  They ran a lot of different tests that we should have answers for this week.  They are continuing the current course of antibiotics as my mom seems to be improving on them.

The doctor also said that she needs to eat more so she can regain her strength - she mainly eats the fruit but she really needs the protein - I had thought that adding a teaspoon of protein powder to everything may help.  There is an order to stop the IV fluids which means that she will have to drink more.  And she will be getting the Incentive spirometer - the breathing thing that she will have to do 10x per hour.

I realized that not only are her glasses missing but so is her watch...I went to the ER to see if they may be in lost and found but no so they gave me another place to check tomorrow.  Her glasses are gone but I reported them to Windsor and I will call them if the watch doesn't show up at Kaiser.

My mom still is showing signs of confusion although it is a bit better each day.  She is good about answering the questions the doctor or nurses asks but as the day and gets them right about 80-90% of the time but when I sit with her for awhile different things emerge...like she thinks she sees something or thinks that she's been somewhere...and she gets a bit mad when we explain that whatever she is talking about really isn't there.  I feel bad for her and sometimes wonder if I should just play along instead of correcting her.  I am really interested to see what all the tests show, if they give us a reason for the seizures as well as the confusion.

The discharge nurse came in today and I talked to her but I really didn't want to....I don't trust that they have the patient's best interest at heart...she told me that my mom was lucky to have advocates as she works with patients who have no one.  She asked what our plan was and I told her that I wanted to weigh all the options....home care vs. SNF (not my fav).  I can not help but feel that my mom (and anyone else for that matter) would heal better and faster in their own environment but the logistics are a bit confusing for me.

The physical therapy team was supposed to come in today to assess my mom's abilities but I never saw them - I am hoping that they came by so she can get started on a little movement.  I want to see what she can do...as she was doing really good last Wednesday and I had been hopeful that she was well on her way to recuperation....I hope that this hasn't taken her too far back.

Thank you again for all your well wishes....as the doctor told me today (he said he went back over all of her chart) my mom has made it through so much...she shouldn't even be here....she has climbed her way back from hell....her body has taken a very large hit and she is just going to take time to get back.  Friday marked 4 weeks since this all began.....her surgeon told me that she wouldn't even be "over" the surgery until at least 6 weeks.  It is going to be interesting to observe where this journey takes my mom and all of us on this trip with her.