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Mom update
Mar. 16th, 2007 10:32 amThere had been talk when I left of Mom leaving ICU the next morning so on the way in I checked with the volunteers at the front desk to see where she was. She wasn't in their system. I kiddingly asked if she'd died. Poor man didn't "get" my twisted sense of humor so I assured him I was joking and that she'd been doing well the night before. He then told me the only reason she wouldn't be in there is if she'd signed a "no visitors" paper. Mom hasn't told many people about her lung cancer but it isn't like her to say "no visitors" when she's in the hospital. She likes the distraction.
She was sitting in a chair next to her bed when I arrived. The pain meds weren't working very well. Mom said she didn't sleep well because of it. The nurse annoyed the heck out of her by ignoring her pleas for food starting at 7AM. He was nice enough, she said but he just didn't seem to do the right things for her. She hadn't eaten much in the last 36 hours and was starving. They'd given her a small salad the night before. It wasn't until 10AM after he bathed her, brushed her teeth and did all kinds of other stuff that she finally got breakfast.
What was really bugging her were the two chest tubes. They poked her in a bad way every time she moved. I explained that she needed them so her chest wouldn't fill up with fluid. But gosh, I felt so helpless watching her squirm in agony. The tubes were still pretty full so she did need them.
She wanted her little baggie of personal items and was awake enough that I felt OK in leaving them with her. I went down to my car to retrieve them and as I came back in there was a nurse practitioner or head nurse in there talking about her daily meds and which ones she still needed to get added to her inpatient list. There was one they wanted to add right away but Mom couldn't remember the dosage. I was there exactly at the right time because her list of meds with dosages was in the baggie I held.
It was determined that her blood pressure was being held too low by one of the pain meds and they were switching her to another that included a button she could press when she needed more. YAY! There's no worry of her doping herself out because she likes to be in control. Being able to manage her own pain med is a total blessing.
After they left to update charts and do the mountain of paperwork required to change anything, I talked to Mom about the "no visitors" thing. She said she'd signed a paper saying they could release information unless she'd misunderstood. I told her I'd stop off in admitting and fix it on my way out. She wanted to get back into bed. Sitting was becoming too painful and she was exhausted. Her nurse was nowhere to be found so I checked with the head nurse to ask where he was and why. She said she'd relay the information to him when he finished with another patient. I thanked her and went back in to make sure Mom had everything she needed. The nurse call button was still tied to the other side of her bed. That's handy.. not. I untied it and put it next to her. She said she needed it on that side always because her right hand (where it had been) didn't work very well yet. She couldn't press it even when she was in bed. I hate Kaiser. Then I kissed her goodbye and took off to sort out the "no visitors" thing on my way out.
Admitting told me I needed to talk to her nurse. Great. He was hardly ever available to talk to and I was going to be a little late for work if I stayed. This was important because they were going to move her sometime during the day and we needed to be able to find her. I went back upstairs.
Her nurse and another man had just gotten her back in bed. The head nurse told her nurse he was urgently needed in another room. I asked as they left who I could talk to about straightening out the "no visitors" error. The head nurse said she'd handle it. I explained that I'd asked Mom and she did want visitors. The nurse said a family member must have requested it. I told her I was a family member and the only other family member was the one who had power of attorney. She said she'd have to call Sherrie. I explained Sherrie was teaching school and to please not bother her with this. Mom makes her own decisions. At that both Mom and the nurse smiled and the nurse said she'd fix it.
After class, it was too late for me to find Mom's room number because visiting hours were over. I called Sherrie and found out Mom had indeed moved, was on pain meds that worked and requested a crossword puzzle book.
A major grocery store and drug store near the hospital had word seek puzzle books but no crossword puzzle books. I noticed the other customers were mostly immigrants. Maybe crossword puzzle books just don't sell there? Seems odd to me. I went closer to my house to a store with more native English speaking customers and found the best brand of crossword puzzle books for her. Sherrie wasn't sure she had a pencil so I also picked up a nice mechanical pencil for her. It was lavender with 7mm lead and a nice fat eraser. Then I snuck quietly up to her room. Nobody seemed to notice. That's one thing that's nice about Kaiser. As long as you fly under the radar, they're lax with the rules.
Mom was much, much better. She was pleased with the gift and even though she had a mechanical pencil, she liked mine a lot and said she'd keep it. :)
I didn't stay long. It was after 10PM and I was exhausted. By the time I got home I was feeling shaky. It worried me a bit. I'd eaten lunch at a Jack-In-The-Box the day before and it made a quick trip through me. It was continuing to give me problems all day despite the immodium I was taking to counter it. I found it interesting that at 12:10PM when I drove past the same restaurant that had been full the day before, it was completely empty. I guess my problem wasn't just my anxiety about Mom after all. I'm a bit better today.
She was sitting in a chair next to her bed when I arrived. The pain meds weren't working very well. Mom said she didn't sleep well because of it. The nurse annoyed the heck out of her by ignoring her pleas for food starting at 7AM. He was nice enough, she said but he just didn't seem to do the right things for her. She hadn't eaten much in the last 36 hours and was starving. They'd given her a small salad the night before. It wasn't until 10AM after he bathed her, brushed her teeth and did all kinds of other stuff that she finally got breakfast.
What was really bugging her were the two chest tubes. They poked her in a bad way every time she moved. I explained that she needed them so her chest wouldn't fill up with fluid. But gosh, I felt so helpless watching her squirm in agony. The tubes were still pretty full so she did need them.
She wanted her little baggie of personal items and was awake enough that I felt OK in leaving them with her. I went down to my car to retrieve them and as I came back in there was a nurse practitioner or head nurse in there talking about her daily meds and which ones she still needed to get added to her inpatient list. There was one they wanted to add right away but Mom couldn't remember the dosage. I was there exactly at the right time because her list of meds with dosages was in the baggie I held.
It was determined that her blood pressure was being held too low by one of the pain meds and they were switching her to another that included a button she could press when she needed more. YAY! There's no worry of her doping herself out because she likes to be in control. Being able to manage her own pain med is a total blessing.
After they left to update charts and do the mountain of paperwork required to change anything, I talked to Mom about the "no visitors" thing. She said she'd signed a paper saying they could release information unless she'd misunderstood. I told her I'd stop off in admitting and fix it on my way out. She wanted to get back into bed. Sitting was becoming too painful and she was exhausted. Her nurse was nowhere to be found so I checked with the head nurse to ask where he was and why. She said she'd relay the information to him when he finished with another patient. I thanked her and went back in to make sure Mom had everything she needed. The nurse call button was still tied to the other side of her bed. That's handy.. not. I untied it and put it next to her. She said she needed it on that side always because her right hand (where it had been) didn't work very well yet. She couldn't press it even when she was in bed. I hate Kaiser. Then I kissed her goodbye and took off to sort out the "no visitors" thing on my way out.
Admitting told me I needed to talk to her nurse. Great. He was hardly ever available to talk to and I was going to be a little late for work if I stayed. This was important because they were going to move her sometime during the day and we needed to be able to find her. I went back upstairs.
Her nurse and another man had just gotten her back in bed. The head nurse told her nurse he was urgently needed in another room. I asked as they left who I could talk to about straightening out the "no visitors" error. The head nurse said she'd handle it. I explained that I'd asked Mom and she did want visitors. The nurse said a family member must have requested it. I told her I was a family member and the only other family member was the one who had power of attorney. She said she'd have to call Sherrie. I explained Sherrie was teaching school and to please not bother her with this. Mom makes her own decisions. At that both Mom and the nurse smiled and the nurse said she'd fix it.
After class, it was too late for me to find Mom's room number because visiting hours were over. I called Sherrie and found out Mom had indeed moved, was on pain meds that worked and requested a crossword puzzle book.
A major grocery store and drug store near the hospital had word seek puzzle books but no crossword puzzle books. I noticed the other customers were mostly immigrants. Maybe crossword puzzle books just don't sell there? Seems odd to me. I went closer to my house to a store with more native English speaking customers and found the best brand of crossword puzzle books for her. Sherrie wasn't sure she had a pencil so I also picked up a nice mechanical pencil for her. It was lavender with 7mm lead and a nice fat eraser. Then I snuck quietly up to her room. Nobody seemed to notice. That's one thing that's nice about Kaiser. As long as you fly under the radar, they're lax with the rules.
Mom was much, much better. She was pleased with the gift and even though she had a mechanical pencil, she liked mine a lot and said she'd keep it. :)
I didn't stay long. It was after 10PM and I was exhausted. By the time I got home I was feeling shaky. It worried me a bit. I'd eaten lunch at a Jack-In-The-Box the day before and it made a quick trip through me. It was continuing to give me problems all day despite the immodium I was taking to counter it. I found it interesting that at 12:10PM when I drove past the same restaurant that had been full the day before, it was completely empty. I guess my problem wasn't just my anxiety about Mom after all. I'm a bit better today.
