Archive for August 9th, 2010

Today’s Business: 2010-08-09

Monday, August 9th, 2010

Today’s Activities

  • Shower.  DONE.
  • Cat duty.  DONE.
  • Do 2 loads of pending laundry.  DONE.

Log

08:00 AM: I’m up. 

11:00 AM: Blogged for the past couple of hours; adding the   Today’s Diet: 2010-08-06   and   Today’s Diet: 2010-08-07    posts to this blog that I failed to write over the weekend since I was on vacation. 

12:00 PM: Talked with sisters and cousin throughout the morning about Mom’s ailments, treatments, and prognosis. 

02:00 PM: Watched the 2010-08-06 episode of   The Young and the Restless   on the DVR.

03:45 PM: Going to the hospital to visit Mom.  Back later.

08:00 PM: I’m back home from visiting Mom.  Details   here. 

09:05 PM: Called [Emmy].  But she’s busy at present and says that she’ll return my call when she’s finished with whatever it is that she’s doing.  Now, back to blogging.  :-)

10:00 PM: Went through the twenty or so email messages in my inbox and filed, discarded, or otherwise processed them. 

11:00 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   on the DVR.

11:20 PM: Skipped the 2010-08-05, 2010-08-06, and 2010-08-09 episodes of Dr. Phil.  They’re all reruns that I’ve seen. 

11:25 PM: Skipped the 2010-08-08 rerun episode of CBS’s   60 Minutes   news show, but watched the 2010-08-08 episode of   CBS’s   Face The Nation   news show.

01:15 AM: Watched the 2010-08-08 episode of NBC’s   Meet The Press   news show on the DVR.

01:20 AM: Finished putting away today’s laundry, and now, it’s bed time.  So good night.  I’ll have more tomorrow.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

  • The Writer magazine; the 2010-08 issue.

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Mom’s Status: 2010-08-09

Monday, August 9th, 2010

The big decision made today is that Mom is to be transferred to a hospital in Pittsburgh where they’ll conduct an evaluation of the overall condition of her heart, the bacteria that have lodged there, and determine the best treatment option. 

She’s appears better than on previous days; she does not look quite so pale.  But she still feels very sick and weak, and she’s called members of the family several times over the past couple days for help with pain management. 

Now here are the tid bits I picked up throughout the day in phone conversations with sisters and cousin, and my visit to her this afternoon:

  • They have Mom on fluid restrictions to avoid working her heart too hard. 
  • She’s suffered severe pain periodically throughout today.  They gave her morphine this afternoon to quell it.  But they’re reluctant to administer to much of this drug due to the negative effects it has on her breathing; her breaths grow shallow when she’s under this medicine’s influence. 
  • As an alternative, the sisters have found that rubbing and pressing her legs at various points soothes the bulk of the pain.
  • 01:30 PM: She had some lunch today but could not keep it down.  Cousin observed severe right leg pain in Mom. 
  • 02:30 PM: They administered Loritab for the leg pain. 
  • 03:00 PM: But the pain persisted.  So cousin asked for more pain meds for Mom.  Further, Mom’s stomach was sick again. 
  • 03:30 PM: They administered morphine. 
  • 03:30 PM: Mom’s oxygen level was a bit low; between 90 and 96.  But the nurse cousin was not alarmed at this; particularly since Mom has been breathing room air (no additional oxygen) all afternoon. 
  • 04:10 PM: Her chart is inaccessible at present while they prepare it for transfer to Pittsburgh along with Mom.
  • 04:17 PM: Mom refused the scheduled pain meds, saying that she’s too sick at the moment. 
  • 04:20 PM: Mom’s medical insurance will definitely not cover a flight to Pittsburgh unless her situation were to be dubbed as ‘urgent care needed.’  The doctors don’t feel that she’s urgent, saying that the bumps and jostling in a helicopter are likely just as dangerous to her heart as that of ground transport.  So we’re going the much cheaper route of ambulance-provided transportation for Mom. 
  • 04:40 PM: Mom refused supper as her stomach is still unsettled.  But she did drink some diet Pepsi. 
  • 05:00 PM: Blood sugar reading: 141, and they covered with 4 units of insulin.
  • 05:00 PM: Mom’s transfer case worker stopped in to say that arrangements were underway for Mom to be moved to Pittsburgh.  However, it’s not likely that her insurance company will fund a life flight there.  The case worker is checking with the doctors on this and she’ll come back presently with their answer.
  • 05:00 PM: The morphine seems to be working; though Mom still has some pain in the right leg.  A cousin, who has extensive background in nursing and anesthesiology visited Mom today and feels that these pains are likely spasms.
  • Nausea meds taken.  Though her pain may be less, she still says that she feels very sick overall.
  • Mom’s on several different pain meds but unfortunately, they’re not removing all of the objectionable part of the pain.  We may have to ask for another pain management strategy once she gets to Pittsburgh.
  • Finally, she’s been eating ice a lot today; though her hemoglobin count has not fallen further since yesterday. 

Tom Hesley

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Today’s Diet: 2010-08-09

Monday, August 9th, 2010

I keep this food diary to stay aware of just how many calories I’m eating daily, with the hope that it decreases the likelihood that I’ll overeat.    It seems to work, so here we go with another day…

Today, I consumed the following items:

  • Diet pop and herbal tea throughout the day. 0 calories.
  • 01:00 PM: 1 bag of popcorn.  260 calories.
  • 03:00 PM: 1 bowl of Cheerios, raisins, blueberries, and skim milk.  500 calories.
  • 06:30 PM:  Pot roast & green beans.  400 calories.
  • 06:40 PM: 2 hard-boiled eggs.  200 calories.
  • 06:45 PM: Salad with numerous vegetables and a bit of cheese and dressing.  300 calories.
  • 09:20 PM: Multivitamin.  0 calories.
  • 11:30 PM: 1.5 bowls of oatmeal with Parmesan cheese.  600 calories.

Total calories: 2260.

Tom Hesley

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