Hospice

Ash Wednesday is the night Mom went into the hospital and had emergency surgery, a few days ago Good Friday the doctor told us she would not heal. I asked if hospice was appropiate and his answer-- we've crossed the line where we're preventing her death instead of prolonging her life. We consulted Hospice and today Easter Sunday will be her first day under full Hospice Care. Once papers were signed yesterday it took til 8:30 last night to physically get the move done. She is very much at peace with this decision; though it was a difficult one for the family to come together on. I take comfort in knowing her decision is the right decision; though I say it with a heavy heart.

I hope each and everyone of you spend this special day with loved ones.

Good bye ICU, better??

Been a few days since I posted an update. I have mixed and confused feelings about whether or not Mom is doing better. She's left ICU, which means they think she's doing better; but we're up and down with that feeling. She's miserable, she's in pain, they've continued to do lots of test and she is well beyond discouraged. Monday late in the day (dinner time) they moved her from ICU to step down. The move alone caused her both emotional and physicial difficulties. Tubes get jostled during the rolling around process which causes discomfort. They began giving her food, but she didn't tolerate it well. She felt nauseated, full and nothing tasted good. She's not yet gotten her voice back since the respirator was removed. Getting help takes longer, larger unit, more patients per each nurse etc. Plus when they answer her call light over the intercalm she's not able to speak up enough to let them know what her needs are. Occupational and Physical Therapy came in and did a wee bit with her which cause her heart rate to get real high, her oxygen level to drop (thus oxygen put back on), and caused her more pain and tired her out. Medicated and a nap were in order. No sooner did she fall asleep til they came in and removed both chest tubes..............she said the pain was excruciating. She looked very bad after that and had a tough night, followed by a tough day of more nausea, vomitting, x-rays etc.

Obstruction? They're wondering, as she's full even when they aren't feeding her. After another round of x-rays (too many to count at this point), they moved her yet again to another floor. They discussed putting other tubes in last night and she was most upset about that. However, when I left around 10 last night I was told no tubes, and they were through poking and prodding...or at least for the night.

I don't know what to expect for today.

I've spent 3 days making phone calls and visiting rehab centers in and around my work schedule; trying to prepare for when she'll be released (as I think they do things too hurried and beds in good rehab centers aren't that easy to come by. I've toured 4 and talked to about 8, and have her on a list for 2.

I'm very wordy this am, sorry sometimes it's good --sorta of release for me to type about it.

HUGS to one and all for the prayers, please keep'em coming.

Today day 18, in ICU

Well by the title you can tell Mom didn't get moved out of ICU yesterday. It was another tough day with another feeling of going backward. Such a let down after you think it's finally going the direction it needs to. She was pretty uncomfortable yesterday with having several x-rays, a new central line being put in (arterial line); and an old one removed. Problem is Mom is a very very hard person to stick, draw blood, start IV etc. They have to really work, often get multiple people, and she ends up bruised head to toe. This is frustrating to her, painful and makes her anxious which makes her vitals jump and be less stable than they should.

The person who removed the central line didn't come prepared with what she needed to complete the job and left the room part way through to obtain supplies, somehow doing that the water used in conjunction with oxygen started pouring in through the nasal cannula. She thought she was drowning, as did my Dad who ran for help. That incident made both of their blood pressures sky rocket. Emotionally she was on edge all day, as was he. Her bed was soaked, she had to moved alot to get everything cleaned up which caused her to be in more pain and wore her out.

On the positive side, she had several bites of soup, juice, and jello yesterday. Her nutrition is still really coming from the tube feeding; but....they're introducting clear liquids for the first time. I think thats pretty exciting.

It sounds like if they need her bed in ICU today, she may be moved out; as they consider her stable. Being stable is obvioiusly a good thing; though she's apprehensive about going to a different part of the hospital. In step down areas and regular areas of the hospital you obviously have less nurses taking care of patients and thats a bit scarey.

Hoping today is a better day. I'm going to the hospital before heading to work. I do feel I need to try and get back to work again.

Again many thanks to all for the prayers, and well wishes.

Day 17 in ICU begins

Mom is still in ICU. She is doing better. Vitals are better, they've reduced her Oxygen level as she's able to do better now on her own. They removed the respirator and she's doing well with that. She still can't talk beyond a whisper. I don't know how long it will take to get her voice back since the respirator was in that length of time. But...the exciting thing is, she's doing far better than she was when they removed it the first time and had to put it back in.

She still has 2 chest tubes, but they are now draining on their own via gravity rather than being hooked up to suction which is another mini step forward.

She's still being fed by way of a feeding tube, though she has been allowed a few ice chips and a pop sicle or two which has been a real treat for her. She's more alert and though still in need of pain meds, it seems she needs them a little less.

We're very grateful to have her still with us and for all the wonderful support and prayers you've all offered.

She might....still a little iffy get moved from ICU today to what they call a step down unit. She still has much ahead of her and will still need lots of support and prayers in the days and months ahead; but for the first time I feel like she's truly turned the corner and is out of the woods.

HUGS and blessings to you all

Tough Day, & Followers??? The changes?

A tough day at the hospital. Mom is not feeling better; in fact she feels worse. She had less activity today; but had more pain and needed more medication. She's very frustrated and isn't shy about letting her frustrations out...on whomever is around be they family or hospital staff. Her breathing continues to be very labored. She is still in ICU, she is still holding too much fluid in lungs and elsewhere. Vitals are not what we'd like them to be. In a handfull of hours, she'll hit the 1 full week in ICU. I don't know what to expect of tomorrow, but am hopeful she'll be rested and doing better tomorrow.

I'm lost here on blogger...what happened to our followers section? Why did they change it? Do we have an option to change it back to the way it was? I see no reason to go through the motions of inviting everyone as a friend when we're already connected? It's time consuming for one and then I assume we'll have yet another list on our blogs? I already have my list of links that I visit, as do most of you. The other time consuming thing is when you click on the head/avatar you used to go to the person page which was great...now you don't. Now you have to sign in a 2nd time? What a pain, and then if you scroll down without signing in you get this whole long paragraph about the person, part of their bio which takes up space...all the stuff one would see if you went to their profile page. Then you have to pick a link before you finally go to their page. All of these steps slow down the works, plus it would seem use up bandwith? Doesn't that slow the whole net down? Then once you do that, you can't see anyone else on your followers list without yet another step...refreshing. I really dislike this, can someone tell me what I'm missing here? Why, when it began, and can we get rid of it?

Thanks

Another cold day here in Central Ohio, I've updated my travel blog to help us all get through the winter...pop over no packing necessary.

A light at the end of the tunnel!

Mom is still in ICU, though several tubes have been removed. Breathing is still quite labored with the aid of oxygen; but the ventilator has been removed. We've been very pleased with the nursing care she's received and are very grateful for all the prayers and good wishes from you all. It's possible she may be moved from ICU tomorrow to a less critical care unit. We're taking one day at a time. The highlight of her day today was getting a pop sicle! She is still being feed through a feeding tube and I've not heard anything about it coming out anytime soon, so the pop sicle is more of a treat and pick me up then food at this point.

She's more comfortable today than she was yesterday and so we're hoping tomorrow brings more good news.

My best to you all, and again many thanks for your support.
Sandy
(I did another mini update over on The Bridge, please pop over)

Projects in the works:
Baby Booties
2 preemie blankets
Opal ghan (I've not been able to work on this in 2 wks)
Completed 2 scarfs which will go to the Bridge (maybe I'll get pics up tomorrow)
Candy Corn Ghan (I've not been able to work on this in several wks)

Emergency Surgery

I've neglected all my wonderful blogging friends here of late. Initially I was out of town on vacation, and then once I returned have been spending most of my time at the hospital. My Mom has had a hernia for some time; that has now escalated. She was sick, over 24 hours at home and things were not subsiding. When you vomit that long and hard you get dehydrated and ultimately she ended up in the ER. Through x-rays and cat scans it was determined she needed emergency surgery. Her stomach and colon were twisted and up inside her diaphram. This is a very major surgery. Part of her stomach and colon have been removed. She has IV's, and drains-tubes everywhere you look. She's on a ventilator, has a G-tube, a colostomy, foley, central line, arterial line, and I think one other that I can think what it's called. She's in Intensive Care. She is alert, and knows we're there; though with the ventilator is unable to speak. She's got a very long hard road ahead and is listed as critical but stable.

They've turned of the ventilator a couple of times to see how she does breathing on her own; and that's quite a labor for her. As I understand it, she'll remain in ICU until they're able to remove the ventilator. The surgeon initially told us she could be in ICU a day or a month, he wasn't able to give us a time table; it all just depended on how she did. He said this is a major surgery for someone half her age. We feel like each day she's a tiny bit better, but they keep telling us she's not out of the woods; still much can happen so it's an hour by hour, day by day thing.

Since only 2 can visit at one time, and hours are restricted in ICU, we have lots of time sitting in the waiting room and I have taken yarn with me. It's nice to have something to work on, also helps to occupy my mind a bit. I've managed to finish the scarf I was knitting and have a 2nd one going; switching off a bit to work on a preemie blanket. Gotta keep mind and fingers busy, helps not to worry as much.

I'm behind updating The Bridge, but am chipping away, so please do swing over and check things out.

When things calm down, I'll come visiting.