Mom’s Status: 2010-08-17
Summary
Mom has improved markedly today; as compared to yesterday. Her pain level is lower, and she’s more tolerant of the remaining pain; though she still wants to be discharged from here as soon as possible — even sooner actually. 
She wanted shifted less today, and I’d describe her overall mood as jovial, playful, and joking; she actually laughed a couple times.
She dreamed a lot and talked in her snoozing of family and close friends and pleasantly memorable incidents in the near and distant pasts. She asked to make a few calls to friends but did not yet remember their numbers. But she passed a mind quiz today; acing all the questions; at least the ones she took seriously anyhow. Her alertness has greatly improved. But her cardiologist says that it could take weeks or even months for her mind to completely clear from this infection and the high-power meds they had to give her for her pain. We can deal with that, as long as she can comfortably remain with us.
Pending Objectives
- Get council on results of the 2010-08-17 mid section CT scan; once it’s done.
- Monitor Mom’s overall pain status. We’re looking to get her pain stopped. About the same level of pain as yesterday.
Completed Objectives
- 2010-08-16: Find out if that “flapping object” was present in Mom’s heart in her 2008 echo cardiograms. DONE. It was not present. This is a new development since 2008.
- 2010-08-16: Get council on results of the 2010-08-13 mid section CT scan and arterial doppler study. DONE. Mom’s bleeding has lessened. They plan on doing another CT scan tomorrow to check progress.
- Establish physical therapy for Mom; per her cardiologist’s recommendation. DONE. She should have her first session either today or tomorrow.
Log
08:30 AM: Leaving for the hospital. Details of the visit when I get back.
- 09:10 AM: Upon my arrival, Mom seemed immediately more lively and less pained; though she’s still insisting on leaving here immediately.
- She wanted to borrow my cell phone to call a couple friends. But she did not remember how to use it very much, and she did not know their phone numbers. For the numbers she did recall, she fell asleep before we could complete the call. She’s still quite tired.
- She wasn’t sre if a night sitter was present last night.
- She wanted to talk with sister Christine, but then quickly decided that she did not.
- 09:40 AM: Her pain appears to have just gotten stronger, and she’s asking for pain meds now.
- 09:45 AM: Her male nurse entered and said that she’s just taken her pain meds less than an hour earlier. So he wanted to wait a bit longer before giving her more. He repositioned her, and says that she slept relatively soundly last night; very few reports of her trying to get out of bed.
- 10:10 AM: Nurse Cathy stopped by. She’s the one that comforted Mom when she was hurting so badly the first day or two of her sojourn here in Pittsburgh. She said that on a couple of occasions, when she left Mom’s room, she cried because she felt so helpless; unable to ease Mom’s torment.
- 10:35 AM: Mom went back to sleep and is talking in her sleep of fond memories and people.
- 10:40 AM: Her main cardiologist arrived.
- He quizzed her and she knew all the answers.
- Since she’s so much more alert and appears to be suffering less, he’s lowering her pain med doses a little.
- She’s scheduled for a CT scan of her belly sometime today to see if her internal bleeding has decreased.
- Infections diseases doctor saw Mom last night and thinks that she’ll likely not completely be disinfected until she has the heart surgery. But her main cardiologist still wants to wait until Mom’s antibiotic regimen is finished to see if it can be eradicated without surgery.
- Her cardiologist believes that it’s a good idea that Mom get up and about as soon as she can. So they’ve ordered physical therapy for her, to enable her to get up and sit in the chair beside her bed at least.
- He also canceled an appointment Mom had with a neurologist later this week; now that her awareness has improved so much.
- 10:46 AM: Her main cardiologist left.
- 10:50 AM: Her inner thighs and fronts of thighs still hurt. The right thigh hurts the worst and her feet are still very sensitive to fast movement. Her feet are still swollen.
- 10:50 AM: The physician practitioner arrived and shifted Mom’s position in bed and gave her a new pair of socks.
- 11:00 AM: The practitioner left, but said that they’d be by soon to clean Mom up.
- 11:30 AM: Mom’s resting peacefully, and I’m leaving. I’ll come back later today, when sister Mary Ann arrives.
03:45 PM: Leaving for the evening visit to Mom now. Details follow:
- 04:15 PM: I arrived to find Mom resting and sister Mary Ann, playing cards with herself on Mom’s meal table.
- Her hemoglobin values have not decreased from yesterday; a sign that any internal bleeding still going on is very small at this point.
- Mom had the CT scan of her stomach area this afternoon. The results of that test will not be known until tomorrow morning.
- Mary Ann brought Mom a book titled: My Mother Gave Me The Moon; a little poem about a child’s loving sentiments about her mother. Each stanza was accompanied by illustrative and emotionally moving water color drawings.
- 04:30 PM: Mary Ann changed Mom’s sheets and then read the above mentioned book to her. Mom smiled and chuckled as each page was read.
- 04:30 PM: Now, Mary Ann and I are headed to Montefiore hospital, to visit a relative there who just had thyroid and parathyroid glands removed. We’ll come back to see Mom again a little later.
- 05:30 PM: We’re back. Mom is kind of awake, and kind of not. She’s been dreaming a lot and talking in her sleep the past few days, and often tells some interesting tales.
- Mary Ann repositioned Mom at her request. However, moving her legs, even gently, still produces great pain.
- 05:50 PM We’re getting ready to leave. But I must remember tomorrow to pick up some diet Pepsi for Mom when I visit her tomorrow.