Tonight marks the 6 week mark since this all began. My mom ruptured her abdominal aortic aneurysm at 7pm on March 15...hard to believe that it has been 6 long weeks. Her surgeon said that the pains of surgery would be gone by this time and I think he is right...BUT he also said that at the 6 month mark she would feel more like herself. I think that with her setbacks it could take just a wee bit longer.
Today I called at 7:30am to check on my mom on my way to work (day 2 - it feels good being back) and they told me she did OK last night. Pulled the mask off a few times but had a good dinner and was friendly and happy. She was still asleep this morning so I didn't try to talk to her. I didn't go to Windsor until the "Care Conference" at 2:30pm. This meeting was just like and IEP (special education) meeting. The 3 people present each had things to say about my mom's progress....the kitchen lady (dietician) said that my mom was still getting a no salt added diet (not easy for someone who likes salt) and they were still chopping it up to make it easier for her to chew and swallow - she said that my mom is eating about 50% of her diet. The social service person wanted me to fill out another DNR form...the 3rd one at this place...they are worded so crazy that it gets confusing when filling it out...hopefully that was the last one I had to fill out. The other person there was Joesphil, the discharge coordinator for Kaiser patients, she read the report of the physical therapists. She said that my mom had been walking 250feet with a walker and no assist from the therapists...that she walks to the right (a side winder) and she needed to verbal cues to stay "inside" the walker as she tended to lean too much onto it. They were currently working on her oxygen saturations (keeping her oxygen up to normal without the use of O2). As I sat there I thought "ok so when is she being discharged?" because that wasn't even brought up....I thought that is what this was about. We talked about her equipment that she already had and what she may need when she comes home. They told me that the therapists would be training me on how to take care of her. They talked about medic alert buttons and hospital beds and wheel chairs. There would be a therapist to come over about 2x a week and a visiting nurse to check meds. I shared with them how I am having a hard time completely tusting any SNF right now and that I question if the staff is telling me the truth or just telling me what I want to hear...they just listened. Then they asked me if I had any questions....YES "when is she being discharged?" the answer was that there will be another meeting on Tuesday and then most likely it would be next Thursday....ok - so I have time to get it all together.
Shirley was with my mom this morning and she told me that my mom wasn't as "awake" as yesterday. We all go in day to day and wonder what is the day going to bring? Today seemed like a down day, my mom didn't really want to get out of bed. I think today was a little "pity party". She was a little pissy with me and told me that I was scaring everybody into believing that she was going to die...I told that maybe the events of the last 6 weeks scared them and not me. I arrived in her room about 3pm and she was dozing on her bed. I noticed right away that she didn't have her oxygen in her nose...I asked her and she said that "I don't need it anymore" - really?? So I excused myself to ask a staff person. The nurse told me that they were testing her on room air and that my mom had a good number when she finished with the therapist - her number was 98 (yesterday Shirley told me that her number was 99) so I supported them trying especially after she came in and tested her and it was at 92 and when she breathed deeply it went up to 94. I did call Sonia, who was coming next, and asked to have it checked before she left. Thank goodness they had it checked (even though the nurse was sassy at them for asking) because her number was done to 86 and my mom was hallucinating that there were 2 men in the yard and a scary man in a trench coat trying to get into the place. They told the nurse and I also called to talk to them about it. I then asked to talk to my mom and she sounded ok just tired.
I talked with the staff before I left about putting the mask on earlier and they said they would and one of the CNA's told me that my mom had "reminded" them last night. I was in shock and he said really - that when he had gone in to check vitals she said that no one had put the mask (she motioned over her face) on...WOW really........then quit pulling the f'en thing off mom.
I am hoping that she continues to get better with that mask....and I keep thinking that her confusion will get better at home...but I can not help but be nervous about her coming home and maybe 1 week more will help her....RIGHT???
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