7:30 am my mom called me on my cell phone....she talked with Michael and then me...she just said hello and I asked her if she wanted a vanilla latte and she said yes....so I brought her one. It has now been one week exactly since she arrived at Kaiser for the 3rd time and tomorrow marks 5 weeks since this all began.
When I arrived she was sleeping a little but I woke her. A little while later Gunjit came in and got my mom up and gave her a bath and put her in a chair...it was 8:45. She ate a little more food and then asked for the paper - she really wanted to do the crossword puzzle from Monday but I only had yesterday (she said it would be too hard), then I suggested doing the puzzle in the people magazine. We had good conversation, she was clearer than yesterday.
The doctor came in...a new one since the dr. who has had her for the last week is now off rounds and it is Dr. Chu's turn, this drives me crazy about the health system do doctor follows the patient the whole way through - whatever happened to continuity of care??? Anyways Dr. Chu came in and said to my mom that she has been through so much and that his plan was to discharge her today....but after reading her chart and talking to the other doctor they thought that one more night would be good. I was very glad to hear this as the last 2 events have occurred on Thursday's. He said that she still has 5 days on the IV antibiotics so they could do those at the SNF and for each day she stays at the regular hospital she increases her chances of getting something new like another infection. He also talked to her about the Bi-PAP machine and that this was going to save her life without it she will die as the doctors believe that my mom has a little brain damage due to the fact that she needed CPR on the operating table and her Co2 status (she is considered a Co2 retainer) which if those numbers climb to the danger zone she will just stop breathing. I am still not convinced that my mom totally "gets it" but the more we all tell her the more it should sink in. He explained that my mom's ordeal was like being wounded in war....she can be repaired but she will never be quite the same...she will have to carry "battle scars" for the rest of her life, and one of those scars was the Co2 problem and the breathing problem. She will be moving tomorrow if nothing changes....crap.
Lunch came while Shirley was there, I had run home to get her Bi-PAP machine so the respiratory therapists (RT's) could work with her on her own machine, she didn't eat much of the main course but she did eat yoghurt and drink a little of the protein drink. Tomorrow I am going to have the RT's show me how to put the machine on so I can show the SNF.
Physical therapy came and my mom got up from the chair and walked with a walker about 50 feet back and forth....they practiced getting into bed as well as doing leg lifts and such. When they were done my mom said that she was tired so they PT left her in the bed and told me that my mom is doing really well. The PT told me that based on what she can do she would not qualify for the SNF but the fact that she needs IV meds she would. Her guess is that my mom will be there only 5 days and she will get PT during her stay but that she would be getting it at home 2-3x a week...shit....my mom is going home in 5 days?????? OH man - is she ready for that.....??? A little panic went through me...how was this going to happen?? Stay tuned.........................
Overall it was a good day....Sonia called and said my mom was acting totally normal and they had a good visit and she ate about 1/2 her dinner. My brother went up there now and he will call soon with his report. Until tomorrow
No comments:
Post a Comment