Scary turn for Mom

Neither my sister nor I went to see her yesterday. Our cousins did. I think I need to ask them how she seemed to them.

When I dropped in to see her Friday night she seemed a bit confused. She said she had a low grade fever. That worried me since she still has an epidural, but I assumed it was the pain meds.

They'd had her up and walking. Her dinner had been delayed because of that. I arrived just as they were putting her back in bed. The nurse came with her meds and discovered her IV had come out. One of her pain meds would have to wait until it was put back in. The nurse gave her insulin and left to get the IV lady to come. As minutes passed, mom started feeling woozy despite the pain she was in. I asked her nurse about mom's dinner, reminding her she'd given the insulin but Mom had no food to eat to balance it. She looked shocked then jumped up to get Mom food right away. Naturally the IV lady came just as the food did and she used Mom's right arm so Mom still couldn't eat until she was done. Then as Mom started eating, the IV shut down. It was in the crook of her elbow so when her arm was bent the IV stopped. Idiots!!! Grrr!

Mom had me call Sherrie after the nurse gave her meds. They'd told her to take metamucil she had from home. Mom started talking in loops when I was on the phone. She needed two things from her suitcase and forgot she'd already asked for the other one.

Mom told me I didn't need to come everyday, so I took yesterday to do intense homework. I got all but one Cisco assessment (test) finished. Today's plan was to do that last one then start on the case study and do some Unix homework.

My assigned tasks came from my sister who spent the morning emptying out Mom's guest room and getting the bed ready for her. The outside plants need to be watered and the bedspread needs to come out of the dryer and onto the bed. I was still asleep when she called so Eric took the message. I was going to call her back to verify which plants and if the watering system was working or not but Eric said they were headed up to Davis to celebrate Katie's dad's birthday.

I started in on that last Cisco assessment. A few minutes later the phone rang. It was Sherrie. She was in Mom's hospital room. She's not going to Davis after all. Mom has slipped into a state of mental confusion. They're not sure why. They think it might be an infection. She's become combative and rude. She pulled out all her IV's and took off her oxygen. She was convinced she was in Mexico because all the nurses have dark skin. She refused to let them start the IV antibiotics she needs, wouldn't believe her doctor was her doctor and didn't remember having surgery. She thought they were torturing her.

When Sherrie arrived, Mom thought she was only saying what the staff told her to say. Finally she started to believe her and let them put the oxygen back on. She demanded to know where Dad was. Sherrie said, "He's not here."

"Oh, THAT'S the way it is," Mom replied with anger. So Sherrie gently told her Dad died four years ago. Mom covered her face with her hands. "I remember that now."

Mom's no longer in a single room. She has a roommate in the same mental state because they need a dedicated nurse to watch them all the time.

Gosh I hope they put her back on the census so we can find her. I hope it's caused by an infection they can cure. Hospitals are terrible places to be when you have open wounds.

The plan is for Sherrie to stay there today and tomorrow. Then we'll either stick to the Mom care schedule to keep someone there with her or I'll take Tuesday.

Today I'll shower, go over to water Mom's plants and put the bedspread on the bed then go over to be there. Maybe I'll volunteer to stay the night with her so Sherrie can get some rest. I'm an owl. She's not.

I'll take my Unix book in with me just in case I can get some reading done.