The worst is over
Mar. 20th, 2007 10:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sugarplumkittySherrie told me Mom was seeing ants crawling all over everything and was trying to brush them off. I didn't see that behavior but she was definitely not herself yet. She was better, but not right by a long shot. Sherrie warned me there would be no sleep. She was mostly right. Mom was a real battle for her. I was lucky enough to get her when she was so exhausted that she slept for an hour after a dose of morphine. She slept for nearly another hour after a dose Vicodin kicked in. A couple of hours after she woke up from that it was time for morphine again. She slept about two hours after that. Her fever was breaking. I tried to sleep but she kept shouting "AAAAAHHHH!" in her dreams and waking me up.
The other confused lady was in the next room. The nurse's aide kept shouting at her or the nurses or someone all the time. The lady responded by yelling back. I had instructions to leave Mom's door open so the aide could keep an eye on her. She was rarely at her station because the other lady didn't have a family member there to calm her. At the shift change, it got really noisy. The night staff didn't seem to have a clue about using quiet voices so the patients could sleep. It was agitating Mom so I explained she was used to a quiet house and asked if I could close the door to block some of the noise. The nurse said it might be OK if I was in there all the time, and if I left it open when I wasn't in there. He said if there was any trouble he'd have to insist the door be open. I agreed.
Mom had been trying to get out of bed for some reason. I closed the door and it really helped the noise level. "Isn't that better?" I asked her. "Oh yes." she replied. I told her the nurse said we could only keep the door closed if she stayed in bed. "Oh, OK" she said and settled back in. Then the light from the little window was in her eyes so I taped three tissues together and positioned them just right to shadow her face.
She was in really horrible pain most of the night. I kept getting up to tend to her, help her move up in bed, sit up, lie down, change the pillows around for different positions, give her a drink of ice water, etc. She soaked the bed with sweat a couple of times and by morning her fever had broken. It seemed like every time she went to sleep they came in to poke her or take her stats. In the morning they told me they should pay me for working my shift. teehee!
The recliner they gave us was so damaged it wouldn't fold up or fully recline. I managed to wrench a few muscles trying to get into it or get comfortable in it. Sherrie says she hurt herself trying to get into that chair, too.
By morning, Mom didn't need morphine anymore. She seemed more like herself, still a bit confused but nothing like she'd been the day before. The doctor came in and said from the sound of things he might take the last chest tube out tonight. Then if she could do without the catheter, she could go home. That got her hopeful. She mostly slept all day. It was a healing sleep. Her color went from pasty pale to rosy by nightfall. All day she kept getting more and more lucid. By this evening, my memory was worse than hers. lol
She was brought a walker to keep. The PT guy showed her how to go up a curb with it. That won't get her up the two steps into her house, but a strong male on either elbow will. The "curb" was a piece of cake for her. She's strong enough to get in and out of bed on her own now. By the end of the day she was moving herself around the bed. The doctor hadn't shown up by 9PM when I left Mom in Aunt June's care for the night. That was 23 1/2 hours of full time Mom care. I'm exhausted. The only reason I'm still awake is that I need to have clean clothes to wear tomorrow and they're in the washer.
Sherrie called to say Aunt June was going to spend the night. Heh, they thought I was good. Wait until they see Aunt June in action! She's a retired R.N. :)
The aide on duty found a good recliner for her. Yay!
Just before I left, Aunt June asked Mom about her memories of the time since surgery. It turns out she drifted into consciousness thinking she was in Mexico having her organs harvested. Yeah, I'd fight too!
She's still seeing ants crawling around everywhere but she knows they're hallucinations. I told her what my friend Steve told his dad about taking control of the hallucinations and having fun with them. She smiled.
She's going to be alright. Whew!
Hmm... wonder if I can talk Eric into putting my clothes in the dryer when he takes his out?
The other confused lady was in the next room. The nurse's aide kept shouting at her or the nurses or someone all the time. The lady responded by yelling back. I had instructions to leave Mom's door open so the aide could keep an eye on her. She was rarely at her station because the other lady didn't have a family member there to calm her. At the shift change, it got really noisy. The night staff didn't seem to have a clue about using quiet voices so the patients could sleep. It was agitating Mom so I explained she was used to a quiet house and asked if I could close the door to block some of the noise. The nurse said it might be OK if I was in there all the time, and if I left it open when I wasn't in there. He said if there was any trouble he'd have to insist the door be open. I agreed.
Mom had been trying to get out of bed for some reason. I closed the door and it really helped the noise level. "Isn't that better?" I asked her. "Oh yes." she replied. I told her the nurse said we could only keep the door closed if she stayed in bed. "Oh, OK" she said and settled back in. Then the light from the little window was in her eyes so I taped three tissues together and positioned them just right to shadow her face.
She was in really horrible pain most of the night. I kept getting up to tend to her, help her move up in bed, sit up, lie down, change the pillows around for different positions, give her a drink of ice water, etc. She soaked the bed with sweat a couple of times and by morning her fever had broken. It seemed like every time she went to sleep they came in to poke her or take her stats. In the morning they told me they should pay me for working my shift. teehee!
The recliner they gave us was so damaged it wouldn't fold up or fully recline. I managed to wrench a few muscles trying to get into it or get comfortable in it. Sherrie says she hurt herself trying to get into that chair, too.
By morning, Mom didn't need morphine anymore. She seemed more like herself, still a bit confused but nothing like she'd been the day before. The doctor came in and said from the sound of things he might take the last chest tube out tonight. Then if she could do without the catheter, she could go home. That got her hopeful. She mostly slept all day. It was a healing sleep. Her color went from pasty pale to rosy by nightfall. All day she kept getting more and more lucid. By this evening, my memory was worse than hers. lol
She was brought a walker to keep. The PT guy showed her how to go up a curb with it. That won't get her up the two steps into her house, but a strong male on either elbow will. The "curb" was a piece of cake for her. She's strong enough to get in and out of bed on her own now. By the end of the day she was moving herself around the bed. The doctor hadn't shown up by 9PM when I left Mom in Aunt June's care for the night. That was 23 1/2 hours of full time Mom care. I'm exhausted. The only reason I'm still awake is that I need to have clean clothes to wear tomorrow and they're in the washer.
Sherrie called to say Aunt June was going to spend the night. Heh, they thought I was good. Wait until they see Aunt June in action! She's a retired R.N. :)
The aide on duty found a good recliner for her. Yay!
Just before I left, Aunt June asked Mom about her memories of the time since surgery. It turns out she drifted into consciousness thinking she was in Mexico having her organs harvested. Yeah, I'd fight too!
She's still seeing ants crawling around everywhere but she knows they're hallucinations. I told her what my friend Steve told his dad about taking control of the hallucinations and having fun with them. She smiled.
She's going to be alright. Whew!
Hmm... wonder if I can talk Eric into putting my clothes in the dryer when he takes his out?
