Many tears have been shed in our family, tears of sorrow, tears of joy, but mostly tears of laughter. These tears have gotten us through everything life has given us. So through our tears in losing our mommy we have shared our laughter as we remember all of the happiness she gave us.
We invite you to share in our celebration of her life. We will be gathering for a memorial dinner on Friday, January 4, 2008 at Angelo's Brothers at 6:00 please join us and bring a story to contribute. RSVPs at pylevh@aol.com would be appreciated. Those of you with stories to share that are unable to attend please send it to us either in the comments or in an email again at pylevh@aol.com and we will display them at the memorial.
We would like to thank you for your comments and support as we dealt with everything these past few weeks. Through the wonder of technology we were given instant access to your love and encouragement, words can not express what these meant to us.
We look forward to seeing everyone on Friday.
The Daughters
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Pain Free
Mommy passed quietly in her sleep tonight at midnight. Her breathing was labored with the fluid filling her lungs and stopped a couple of times before the actual end.
We are working on plans for a memorial service. We will post as soon as details are finalized.
We are working on plans for a memorial service. We will post as soon as details are finalized.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Privacy
Part of the Hospice care is a private room. At 7pm mom was moved to her sixth room in two weeks. She is settled in and so are we. She has not regained lucidity at all, and continues to moan/cry until we can get more morphine into her. She is entitled to 1-4 mg of morphine and a dose of Atavan every hour. If she is sleeping we have not asked for it, but when she is agitated we look for the nurse immediately.
Some News is...
Just bad news.
Gretchen talked to Dr. Soo late last night and we all met with Dr. Ghassan this morning. The consensus was that the infection is very aggressively moving through her body. They said that they could do a whole body scan and lance and drain every abscess they find, but since she is already on the most potent antibiotics available it would be a painful and, eventually, a losing battle. Dr. Soo said that even keeping her on massive amounts of antibiotics he would not expect her to last a week. So the upshot is, our mommy is going to die.
We have followed her directives and our own hearts and stopped all treatment as of this morning. The doctors did not disagree with this, in fact they both seemed to think it was the best possible choice. The hospital moved fast and we have already done the paperwork to admit her into hospice care here at Providence. She has been evaluated by the hospice nurse and they are currently requesting a private room.
We are taking turns breaking down and comforting each other, but we are strong when we need to be. One of the doctors commented that this was a very strong decision to make and we told him that mom did not raise any weak women. Those of you that are a praying sort please change your prayers so that this part of the process will be as quick and painless as possible.
Gretchen talked to Dr. Soo late last night and we all met with Dr. Ghassan this morning. The consensus was that the infection is very aggressively moving through her body. They said that they could do a whole body scan and lance and drain every abscess they find, but since she is already on the most potent antibiotics available it would be a painful and, eventually, a losing battle. Dr. Soo said that even keeping her on massive amounts of antibiotics he would not expect her to last a week. So the upshot is, our mommy is going to die.
We have followed her directives and our own hearts and stopped all treatment as of this morning. The doctors did not disagree with this, in fact they both seemed to think it was the best possible choice. The hospital moved fast and we have already done the paperwork to admit her into hospice care here at Providence. She has been evaluated by the hospice nurse and they are currently requesting a private room.
We are taking turns breaking down and comforting each other, but we are strong when we need to be. One of the doctors commented that this was a very strong decision to make and we told him that mom did not raise any weak women. Those of you that are a praying sort please change your prayers so that this part of the process will be as quick and painless as possible.
Friday, December 28, 2007
No News is...
No News!!
While I was there this morning mom had her wound vac (on the original wound) changed, she had a bath, and she had the draining of her foot. I saw Dr. Little, Dr. Ghassan, and Dr. Houseman. I thought she might be done for the day so when Aunt Rita got there around 12:30 I went downstairs to the cafeteria for lunch. Of course, as soon as I was gone Dr. Soo showed up. He talked to Aunt Rita and mentioned that he thought there was more infection in her other foot and in her shoulder again. He wants to do a whole body scan to find out where all of the infection is. She told him that he needed to talk to me and he said he would as soon as I came back up. I was back upstairs by 1:30 but when they tried to find him he was in surgery. They told us it would only be few hours, but when Gretchen showed up at 6pm we still had not heard from him. I waited another three hours and still nothing. The nurses left messages but still nothing. Gretch will be there all night so if he shows up someone will be there.
Mom has been out of it most of the day. When she comes to at all it is only babble something incoherent and then she drifts back out. She ate a few bites of sausage at breakfast and drank an Ensure but she has had nothing since then. They finally finished her morning pills with some apple sauce and I got her to take some pills tonight with a few swallows on Ensure but it was very hard.
We will let you know more when we know.
While I was there this morning mom had her wound vac (on the original wound) changed, she had a bath, and she had the draining of her foot. I saw Dr. Little, Dr. Ghassan, and Dr. Houseman. I thought she might be done for the day so when Aunt Rita got there around 12:30 I went downstairs to the cafeteria for lunch. Of course, as soon as I was gone Dr. Soo showed up. He talked to Aunt Rita and mentioned that he thought there was more infection in her other foot and in her shoulder again. He wants to do a whole body scan to find out where all of the infection is. She told him that he needed to talk to me and he said he would as soon as I came back up. I was back upstairs by 1:30 but when they tried to find him he was in surgery. They told us it would only be few hours, but when Gretchen showed up at 6pm we still had not heard from him. I waited another three hours and still nothing. The nurses left messages but still nothing. Gretch will be there all night so if he shows up someone will be there.
Mom has been out of it most of the day. When she comes to at all it is only babble something incoherent and then she drifts back out. She ate a few bites of sausage at breakfast and drank an Ensure but she has had nothing since then. They finally finished her morning pills with some apple sauce and I got her to take some pills tonight with a few swallows on Ensure but it was very hard.
We will let you know more when we know.
Long Update
We have been getting a little frustrated with the number of doctors coming in and out of mom's room and saying different things. Last night one of the doctor's said how much mom needed the fluids and then the next one said that we needed to control the swelling. I am doing this post mostly to inform my sisters and to keep it all straight in my own head.
Anyway, Dr Houseman was just here and he tried to explain the coordination of care. I think Dr. Richard's did not read the progress reports last night and that was part of our problems. It doesn't help that I thought he was Dr. Houseman and I assumed a certain knowledge from him. Note to doctors: never enter a room without your name tag showing who you are.
Mom had an abscess from her foot drained today (yeah, that was fun) and Dr. Little will be looking at the cultures (probably in a few days) and then she will make a decision about keeping or changing her antibiotics. Hopefully she will tell about this decision. The abscess in her shoulder was a staph infection, just like her back, so the antibiotics stayed the same. Dr. Houseman explained that now that it has been drained the antibiotics can get to any infection left in her foot.
Dr. Ghassan has decreased her fluid intake to a trickle (the trickle keeps the line open) and hopefully her swelling will come down. He is very worried about what she is eating (next to nothing) and her loopiness. She is very rarely coherent and we have been getting more and more hail marys. So he has decreased her pain medication by taking off the smaller fentynyl patch. It is a fine line that they need to walk between tolerable pain and coherence. I hate that line. But she is not so loopy that she won't lie. When we or the doctors ask her something directly we can usually get an answer. Dr. Ghassan was asking her why she was not eating and she said she didn't know. When he turned away she asked for some milk and when I said "you want some milk?" She said "I just want them to think I am eating more."
Dr. Houseman said that Dr. Soo will be here sometime today but it may be late, to evaluate her abscesses that have been drained. He said that he will review everything and when the time comes he will let us know what type of facility she should be released to. I asked if that was a split second decision; if they decide tomorrow do we have to be out the next day, and he said no. He said that more than likely what would happen is if one of the Long Term Acute Care places accept her and Dr. Soo can see nothing that would keep her in the hospital (blood pressure, heart rate, etc. stabilized) then they would discuss it with us and release her to that facility.
The PT person happened to be in the hallway when we were talking and I asked about PT. I asked if they would be working with mom everyday and the PT person said "no" only three times a week and they count the "sleeping" time as her being seen. She tried to explain that it is based on need, but I said that that would suggest that mom be seen everyday since her need was great. But that is not the case, they see the people that will be released in a few days every day, but those that will be here longer and will be released into long-term therapy are seen less. I argued the logic of this with her for a while but she was not budging. Hospital policy. [Just reading this over I think we forgot to tell you that mom was seen by PT and it did not go well, she could not even sit up on her own she just flopped back on the bed.]
I just tried to give mom some pills and she coughed a lot through the first few and then she chewed the second set (yuck). When I asked her if I should raise her head up so she could swallow better she said something about Karl telling her that "up" was better, then she said "smart boy, that Karl." I have a few more pills to give her but she is sleeping now and may do better when she wakes up.
Anyway, Dr Houseman was just here and he tried to explain the coordination of care. I think Dr. Richard's did not read the progress reports last night and that was part of our problems. It doesn't help that I thought he was Dr. Houseman and I assumed a certain knowledge from him. Note to doctors: never enter a room without your name tag showing who you are.
Mom had an abscess from her foot drained today (yeah, that was fun) and Dr. Little will be looking at the cultures (probably in a few days) and then she will make a decision about keeping or changing her antibiotics. Hopefully she will tell about this decision. The abscess in her shoulder was a staph infection, just like her back, so the antibiotics stayed the same. Dr. Houseman explained that now that it has been drained the antibiotics can get to any infection left in her foot.
Dr. Ghassan has decreased her fluid intake to a trickle (the trickle keeps the line open) and hopefully her swelling will come down. He is very worried about what she is eating (next to nothing) and her loopiness. She is very rarely coherent and we have been getting more and more hail marys. So he has decreased her pain medication by taking off the smaller fentynyl patch. It is a fine line that they need to walk between tolerable pain and coherence. I hate that line. But she is not so loopy that she won't lie. When we or the doctors ask her something directly we can usually get an answer. Dr. Ghassan was asking her why she was not eating and she said she didn't know. When he turned away she asked for some milk and when I said "you want some milk?" She said "I just want them to think I am eating more."
Dr. Houseman said that Dr. Soo will be here sometime today but it may be late, to evaluate her abscesses that have been drained. He said that he will review everything and when the time comes he will let us know what type of facility she should be released to. I asked if that was a split second decision; if they decide tomorrow do we have to be out the next day, and he said no. He said that more than likely what would happen is if one of the Long Term Acute Care places accept her and Dr. Soo can see nothing that would keep her in the hospital (blood pressure, heart rate, etc. stabilized) then they would discuss it with us and release her to that facility.
The PT person happened to be in the hallway when we were talking and I asked about PT. I asked if they would be working with mom everyday and the PT person said "no" only three times a week and they count the "sleeping" time as her being seen. She tried to explain that it is based on need, but I said that that would suggest that mom be seen everyday since her need was great. But that is not the case, they see the people that will be released in a few days every day, but those that will be here longer and will be released into long-term therapy are seen less. I argued the logic of this with her for a while but she was not budging. Hospital policy. [Just reading this over I think we forgot to tell you that mom was seen by PT and it did not go well, she could not even sit up on her own she just flopped back on the bed.]
I just tried to give mom some pills and she coughed a lot through the first few and then she chewed the second set (yuck). When I asked her if I should raise her head up so she could swallow better she said something about Karl telling her that "up" was better, then she said "smart boy, that Karl." I have a few more pills to give her but she is sleeping now and may do better when she wakes up.
The first to admit it
When Im wrong, Im wrong. And in this case I am ok being wrong. Once I got mommy back to sleep, she has been soundly doing so for about 3 hours now. We even turned, cleaned and got her vital signs without waking her up. Good thing? I don't know. I am going to look in to her pain medication dosages in the morning, but for now, sleep, sleep, sleep.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
It's Gonna be a LONNNNNNG night
I got here around 3:30 ish and mom slept soundly while Aunt Rita and I stared at each other for a good couple of hours. Right after she left mom started mumbling. She has been mumbling off and on for about 4.5 hours. She has recited her entire will (nope, I'm not tellin'), and has given all the info for the great grandbaby's Gerber insurance policies, including policy numbers. WHo knew she could be lucid without actually being lucid.
She has a pretty uneventful turn and wipe down, and as soon as I got her soundly sleeping again, they decided to bring in some meds. So once again she is mumbling and keeping both me and her room mate awake.
She has a pretty uneventful turn and wipe down, and as soon as I got her soundly sleeping again, they decided to bring in some meds. So once again she is mumbling and keeping both me and her room mate awake.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Quick Like Molasses
A mere 12 hours after they told us that mom would be moving, she is in her new room. We are on the 7th floor and getting settled in. First, the 2nd floor nurses (let's call them the Jets) told us that mom would not have to move to a new bed, then they said that she would and they gave her some morphine before rolling her into the hall. Once on the 7th floor the nurses there (let's call them the Sharks) started a rumble in the hallway with the 2nd floor nurses who insisted that they had to bring their high-tech bed back down and she would have to be moved. The Shark nurse insisted that they only reason she agreed to the move this late at night was if she did not have to be moved to a new bed. In the end, they found a bed of equal or greater value in the hospital bed market and sent that back down with the Jet nurses and just slid mom into her spot in 702-1. Luckily, she slept through most of this. The nurse we have right now seems a bit stern, but she could just be having a long day. She asked if one of us was going to spend the night (oh yeah, Gretchen got here just in time to wait for another hour before the move happened) and I said that I was. She said she would look for a comfortable chair for me, but then she added "we don't usually allow anyone to spend the night, but we will allow it tonight." I am not sure how this will bode for tomorrow, but I will leave that fight for a stronger sister who has had more sleep than me.
Night Shift
Mom has had another busy day but she is still in the same physical place. A few doctors talked about her moving to another floor today, and Adrienne had her all packed up and ready to go at about 11am, but I am here now (7:30pm) and we are still packed and ready to go.
Mom had her wound changed but the PT people came while she was asleep and since that is what we like most of all, Adrienne did not let them disturb her. Right now she is telling the nurse that she wants to go for a walk, but until the PT people get her cleared I don't think that is going to happen. I know she is anxious to go to the bathroom on her own so there is not as much cleaning involved.
The surgeon has still not come down so we are still not sure about the cultures that were taken from her shoulder. But her white count is way down (around 9 last time I heard) so that is very good news.
She and I had a pretty rough night last night. She is dreaming like crazy and talks about them and/or through them. So every time I would setting into my comfy reclining chair she would start talking and I would sit up to listen and talk her through it. At least once in the night she thought she was at Aunt Mary's house and once she was sure she was home. There has been murder and intrigue in Kalamazoo but, all in all, the dreams seem to be good ones and we are very happy about that. I am hoping for more sleeping and less dreaming tonight.
Mom had her wound changed but the PT people came while she was asleep and since that is what we like most of all, Adrienne did not let them disturb her. Right now she is telling the nurse that she wants to go for a walk, but until the PT people get her cleared I don't think that is going to happen. I know she is anxious to go to the bathroom on her own so there is not as much cleaning involved.
The surgeon has still not come down so we are still not sure about the cultures that were taken from her shoulder. But her white count is way down (around 9 last time I heard) so that is very good news.
She and I had a pretty rough night last night. She is dreaming like crazy and talks about them and/or through them. So every time I would setting into my comfy reclining chair she would start talking and I would sit up to listen and talk her through it. At least once in the night she thought she was at Aunt Mary's house and once she was sure she was home. There has been murder and intrigue in Kalamazoo but, all in all, the dreams seem to be good ones and we are very happy about that. I am hoping for more sleeping and less dreaming tonight.
Hurry Up And Wait
When I arrived this morning we were told mom was going to be moved back upstairs to the Med Surg unit on the 5th floor. this is good news and we reveled in it. The tech came in about 1/2 hour later to help me pack everything up. That all happened before 10am. It is now after 5pm and we haven't moved yet. There isn't a bed available is the rumor on the street. Personally, I am ok here in the Intermediate Care. The rooms are brighter and seem to be a bit bigger than upstairs. For those that know mom well, know that she does not like to anticipate anything. You tell her something is going to happen she wants it to happen NOW. So her anxiety level has been high since no action has been taken. She didn't have a great night, so I have been treated to some rather delusional dream moments. Between a lack of sleep and morphine, we have been on motorcycles all over Canada today and even went to Denny's for a while. Oh yeah and we made cookies too. It has been quite a busy day. Good thing she is snoring now.
Snoring usually means sleep for most, but here at the hospital it means a doctor or nurse is due to come in and poke or prod.
Snoring usually means sleep for most, but here at the hospital it means a doctor or nurse is due to come in and poke or prod.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Merry Christmas to All
We just had a very nice Christmas. Well, as nice as can be expected huddled around a hospital bed. The hospital actually had free meals in the cafeteria today, which was really nice since nothing else is open. I went home to sleep at around 10am and came back around 5:30pm. Mom was eating her dinner (she had some bites of roast beef, green beans, and mashed potatoes--yay!) so I ran down and got one of the free dinners from the cafeteria too. Adrienne, Gretchen, Gordon, and Megan were all here and we just sat around the room (I think Megan actually laid on the floor for awhile since there were only three chairs) and chatted. Mom drifted in and out and joined in the conversation occasionally (mostly making sense but sometimes referring to dream she just had). We read silly Christmas trivia questions and she was able to answer any questions that were answerable. At one point mom said that she would ask us to leave but she didn't want to miss anything. Just like old times. So everyone stayed a little while longer and then took off. Well, except me. I am settling in for the night. I think we scared the nurse that came on for the 7pm shift. She asked if we were all planning to stay. I am sure she was ready to point the way to the lounge, but we assured her that only one of us would be staying.
It has been a slow medical day since it is Christmas. I think Dr. Soo did come in while Adrienne was here so she will have to do a post to fill you all in on medical test results, etc. I know that mom's pain management is definitely better. When she reports on her pain it is usually around a 2 or 3 unless it is just about time for a shot of meds when it seems to be no higher than a 6. This is compared with the constant 10 and above while we were in the ICU those first few days. They are trying to rotate her every few hours to avoid bed sores and she complains but she complies. Which is all we really ask.
It has been a slow medical day since it is Christmas. I think Dr. Soo did come in while Adrienne was here so she will have to do a post to fill you all in on medical test results, etc. I know that mom's pain management is definitely better. When she reports on her pain it is usually around a 2 or 3 unless it is just about time for a shot of meds when it seems to be no higher than a 6. This is compared with the constant 10 and above while we were in the ICU those first few days. They are trying to rotate her every few hours to avoid bed sores and she complains but she complies. Which is all we really ask.
Monday, December 24, 2007
The Snore
In hotel rooms I dread it. I lay awake knowing that it is coming. I say, mommy, just let me go to sleep before you. She says, good luck with that. Hoooonnkkk!**
In a hospital room it is music to my ears. It means she is asleep. Truly and hopefully, deeply asleep. I wait for it and then I can finally doze off. I have been getting a few good snores today, but not nearly as many as I know she needs.
The roommate snores, but that doesn't count.
**I know Adrienne will tell you that I snored just as loudly as mom on our cruise last June, but, quite frankly, what does that have to do with anything.
In a hospital room it is music to my ears. It means she is asleep. Truly and hopefully, deeply asleep. I wait for it and then I can finally doze off. I have been getting a few good snores today, but not nearly as many as I know she needs.
The roommate snores, but that doesn't count.
**I know Adrienne will tell you that I snored just as loudly as mom on our cruise last June, but, quite frankly, what does that have to do with anything.
New Day -- New Daughter
OK, well maybe not new, just slightly used. I got here around 9am and mom was getting bath (so to speak) and she was not happy. At one point a bunch of people rushed into her room and Adrienne and I standing outside didn't know what was going on. Apparently, they were just reacting to her heart rate going up a little bit. Later, a doctor came by and told everyone not to get excited about her heart rate increasing he said that they have her on a couple of medications for that. Adrienne filled me in on as much as she could and then took off for a well deserved break.
The PT people (Stephanie and Nancy) came by and made mom move her arms and legs and got her into a sitting position in the bed. They told me she should be sitting up a few times a day for at least a half hour. Luckily, in about a half hour the nurse came by with some more morphine and I was able to lay her down and let her sleep. Of course, sleeping in a hospital is next to impossible. She asked me to put out the "Do Not Disturb" sign but I am sure they would not heed it even if I had it.
The PT people (Stephanie and Nancy) came by and made mom move her arms and legs and got her into a sitting position in the bed. They told me she should be sitting up a few times a day for at least a half hour. Luckily, in about a half hour the nurse came by with some more morphine and I was able to lay her down and let her sleep. Of course, sleeping in a hospital is next to impossible. She asked me to put out the "Do Not Disturb" sign but I am sure they would not heed it even if I had it.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Dragon Slayer
Mom just underwent a "small" procedure. Right here in her room, the surgeon, Dr. Jacobs, lanced her right clavicle area that has been swollen and bothersome, and removed over 8cc's of puss. They say they froze it but mom says it hurt anyways. But she does notice a difference is the relief of pressure after they were finished. Dr. Soo (her initial surgeon from October) came in earlier this evening and drew some out for a culture, we should have the results of that by Monday. Hopefully that will give us a clue as to what this is and where it came from, whether it is related to the infection in her back or something else all together.
Other than that the only pain she has been complaining of is a headache.
BTW When this is all said and done, there will be a test of all Dr.'s names and responsibilities.
Other than that the only pain she has been complaining of is a headache.
BTW When this is all said and done, there will be a test of all Dr.'s names and responsibilities.
Still Going
Sorry for the long pause. Mom had a rough night last night with her heart rate being elevated again. As far as I know they still don't know what is causing that. She is also having terrible heartburn, so Gretchen asked for something (she knew the drugs name) and now they have that in her IV. But she also has Tums handy in case she ever needs them.
She is eating good now that we can fill out her menu for her and we don't have to just wait and see what they bring us. She went for a CT scan and something else today but they don't have any results from that yet.
Adrienne is looking into a few more rehabs today and then Gretchen is heading back up north. Tomorrow will be a long day for Adrienne but then I will be there again Monday to provide some relief. Then Gretchen, Megan, and Gordon are coming back on Tuesday so maybe we will have a little mini Christmas at the hospital. I don't think we can sneak her out for this one. (We did that one time when we were younger and mom was in the hospital on Easter. We brought her some clothes and snuck her down a back stairway.)
EZ
She is eating good now that we can fill out her menu for her and we don't have to just wait and see what they bring us. She went for a CT scan and something else today but they don't have any results from that yet.
Adrienne is looking into a few more rehabs today and then Gretchen is heading back up north. Tomorrow will be a long day for Adrienne but then I will be there again Monday to provide some relief. Then Gretchen, Megan, and Gordon are coming back on Tuesday so maybe we will have a little mini Christmas at the hospital. I don't think we can sneak her out for this one. (We did that one time when we were younger and mom was in the hospital on Easter. We brought her some clothes and snuck her down a back stairway.)
EZ
Friday, December 21, 2007
All Clear
The cardiologist was just here and has given the all clear for mom to beign Physical therapy. She too is ready and willing for it to happen. I reminded her that her goal is to get well and be ready for our amazing cruise at the end of April.
She is no longer residing in ICU, she has been moved to Intermidiate Care. Kind of a step between ICU and the regular floor. The room is small but the care is good. She is looking forward to dinner, but a little remiss that Gordon won't be here for it, because she ordered her meal with him in mind. She one thing for herself and the rest thinking he would eat it.
Gretchen and Gordon have gone home to rest up for tonight's night shift.
I spent my day looking at Rehabilitation Centers. I have visited about 6 so far and have 2 more on my list for tomorrow. Our 2 main questions are "Can I stay with her? and Do you have readily available internet access, preferably in the rooms?" If the answer to the first is "no" then I don't bother to even visit that place. So far, most have been receptive, making sure I realize it means sleeping in a chair. I am ok with that. I have a top 2 right now, Botsford Commons and Oakland Nursing Center. The Botsford is run by the same Medical Group that mom belong to and her regular Internal medicine Dr. is the Medical Director. So that gives it a plus one point. The Oakland one is on the same campus as Providence Hospital and moms Surgical Dr.'s. So that is one point for it. I don't want to make a decisive, we can only go here! I want to make sure we have choices in case one or the other is not avaiable when we need it. I was optimistic back in October, that I could do everything on y own, but I am realistic this time, to knwo that I can't. But I will be with ehr every step of the way ('cept maybe when I go home to shower).
Sleep seems to be the best medicine right now, but it is a commodity that is hard to come by. Mom's new roommate does not like having her oxygen mask on and everytime she tries to take it off a loud alarm goes off, disturbing mom's rest. Then she (the roomate) raised a little stink with the Lab people who came to draw her blood and the nurse had to intervene. Shortly after that someone came in to do mom's vitals and had to run out for a "code blue" Never a dull moment here.
I hear even breathing, so it is back to reading our books for Aunt Rita and I.
Adrienne
She is no longer residing in ICU, she has been moved to Intermidiate Care. Kind of a step between ICU and the regular floor. The room is small but the care is good. She is looking forward to dinner, but a little remiss that Gordon won't be here for it, because she ordered her meal with him in mind. She one thing for herself and the rest thinking he would eat it.
Gretchen and Gordon have gone home to rest up for tonight's night shift.
I spent my day looking at Rehabilitation Centers. I have visited about 6 so far and have 2 more on my list for tomorrow. Our 2 main questions are "Can I stay with her? and Do you have readily available internet access, preferably in the rooms?" If the answer to the first is "no" then I don't bother to even visit that place. So far, most have been receptive, making sure I realize it means sleeping in a chair. I am ok with that. I have a top 2 right now, Botsford Commons and Oakland Nursing Center. The Botsford is run by the same Medical Group that mom belong to and her regular Internal medicine Dr. is the Medical Director. So that gives it a plus one point. The Oakland one is on the same campus as Providence Hospital and moms Surgical Dr.'s. So that is one point for it. I don't want to make a decisive, we can only go here! I want to make sure we have choices in case one or the other is not avaiable when we need it. I was optimistic back in October, that I could do everything on y own, but I am realistic this time, to knwo that I can't. But I will be with ehr every step of the way ('cept maybe when I go home to shower).
Sleep seems to be the best medicine right now, but it is a commodity that is hard to come by. Mom's new roommate does not like having her oxygen mask on and everytime she tries to take it off a loud alarm goes off, disturbing mom's rest. Then she (the roomate) raised a little stink with the Lab people who came to draw her blood and the nurse had to intervene. Shortly after that someone came in to do mom's vitals and had to run out for a "code blue" Never a dull moment here.
I hear even breathing, so it is back to reading our books for Aunt Rita and I.
Adrienne
Goodnight
We had a really good night. She got a full sponge bath and linen change about 1:00 this morning, and the nurse tech that we have (Chris) not only had everything he needed right there but had things stacked in the order that they were going to be needed. Mom was very impressed, it helped that he was strong and could turn her in one "oomph".
We've talked alot about what's been going on and why she is here. The nurse mentioned that she had stitches in her neck, which came as a total shock to mom. So I explained what had happened, and she told me what she thought had happened. Things make little more sense.
Her breakfast was still liquid, they have ordered a new one, but in the meantime Gordon and I are picking her up a few things from the cafeteria.
We've talked alot about what's been going on and why she is here. The nurse mentioned that she had stitches in her neck, which came as a total shock to mom. So I explained what had happened, and she told me what she thought had happened. Things make little more sense.
Her breakfast was still liquid, they have ordered a new one, but in the meantime Gordon and I are picking her up a few things from the cafeteria.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Domestication Is Not My Strong Suit
This is Gretchen:
We are still in ICU. I took over for Adrienne around 1:00. The nurse asked that I move our set up to the other side of the room. I moved the chairs around but many people know that I suck at arranging the furniture. I did create a cooler in a wash basin so we can keep her drinks (OJ, V8, milk, ensure) ice cold. She ate a little bit of banana pudding earlier and the dinner they brought was still full liquid. She is now on soft foods, her nurse had told her there was always extra trays and to let her know when the tray came and she would get one with mashed potatoes. Mom was really looking forward to those mashed potatoes. Of course, today there were no extra trays. So I went down to the cafeteria (I think it may technically be in another county) and got some mashed potatoes, good thing today's dinner was meatloaf. Now that I came back with the potatoes she is asleep for the first time since I've been here. I'm not waking her up.
On the medical side she had all of her tests today, I'm not sure of the others but the White Blood Count scan was very painful for her, they had to roll her on her sides and got her foot stuck between tables. I spoke with the cardiologist who said that they believe her elevated heart rate is from electrolyte imbalance. They are hoping that regulating these will bring her heartrate back to normal. She is pretty steady at normal now but they still have her on the cardizem IV. They will be puttinng her on cardizem orally once the pharmacy fills the order The echocardiogram showed that her heart was strong, They finally changed the original wound that they had placed a wound vac in when they reopened it, the vac had not been working since they put a brand new one on yesterday. I'll fill Adrienne in on the gory details but it was very interesting to watch.
Her spirits have improved tremendously and she is completely coherent. She is tired of hearng "I'm sorry" everytime someone hurts her, whether it be accidently putting things down on her feet or intentionally rolliing her on her side. "Put your sorries in a sack" has been heard more than once today. She would also like to know why they always put the a"stuff" so far away. Someone will come in and start something only to have to go get "stuff", this always takes much longer than the second they said they would be gone.
When being assessed by her new nurse prior to transport for her test she was asked most of the usual questions including "why are you here?" she replied that originally she had surgery on her back, when asked why she was here this time she said "because everything hurts and nothing works" we're working on reversing that.
We are still in ICU. I took over for Adrienne around 1:00. The nurse asked that I move our set up to the other side of the room. I moved the chairs around but many people know that I suck at arranging the furniture. I did create a cooler in a wash basin so we can keep her drinks (OJ, V8, milk, ensure) ice cold. She ate a little bit of banana pudding earlier and the dinner they brought was still full liquid. She is now on soft foods, her nurse had told her there was always extra trays and to let her know when the tray came and she would get one with mashed potatoes. Mom was really looking forward to those mashed potatoes. Of course, today there were no extra trays. So I went down to the cafeteria (I think it may technically be in another county) and got some mashed potatoes, good thing today's dinner was meatloaf. Now that I came back with the potatoes she is asleep for the first time since I've been here. I'm not waking her up.
On the medical side she had all of her tests today, I'm not sure of the others but the White Blood Count scan was very painful for her, they had to roll her on her sides and got her foot stuck between tables. I spoke with the cardiologist who said that they believe her elevated heart rate is from electrolyte imbalance. They are hoping that regulating these will bring her heartrate back to normal. She is pretty steady at normal now but they still have her on the cardizem IV. They will be puttinng her on cardizem orally once the pharmacy fills the order The echocardiogram showed that her heart was strong, They finally changed the original wound that they had placed a wound vac in when they reopened it, the vac had not been working since they put a brand new one on yesterday. I'll fill Adrienne in on the gory details but it was very interesting to watch.
Her spirits have improved tremendously and she is completely coherent. She is tired of hearng "I'm sorry" everytime someone hurts her, whether it be accidently putting things down on her feet or intentionally rolliing her on her side. "Put your sorries in a sack" has been heard more than once today. She would also like to know why they always put the a"stuff" so far away. Someone will come in and start something only to have to go get "stuff", this always takes much longer than the second they said they would be gone.
When being assessed by her new nurse prior to transport for her test she was asked most of the usual questions including "why are you here?" she replied that originally she had surgery on her back, when asked why she was here this time she said "because everything hurts and nothing works" we're working on reversing that.
Testing Testing, 1 2 3...
Mom has had at least 3 major tests done within the last 24 hours, and more are yet to come. Yesterday was an echocardiogram, today was an in bed x-ray, an ultrasound (that required the drinking of a bunch of "crap" - her words), and also a CT Scan. Besides the normal draw of blood every morning to get her White Blood Cells Tested. She has been a very busy woman today and I expect her to be fitfully exhausted when she returns to her room.
She has been upgraded from "full liquids", to softs for her diet. That should make her happy. Except today's lunch is lasagna and that is not on her favorites list. But I did get her to drink a little V8 and milk and orange juice this morning in between doses of "crap".
Hopefully all tests will be conclusive at the very least, and resolutely positive as well.
Posted by Adrienne
She has been upgraded from "full liquids", to softs for her diet. That should make her happy. Except today's lunch is lasagna and that is not on her favorites list. But I did get her to drink a little V8 and milk and orange juice this morning in between doses of "crap".
Hopefully all tests will be conclusive at the very least, and resolutely positive as well.
Posted by Adrienne
Overnight
Adrienne sent us an email at around 4:30am. She said that Mom slept pretty much the whole time she has been there (since 11:30pm). She did have to be cleaned and turned, and was very cooperative and didnt "scream" once the entire time.
She is worried about not walking again, but she can actually move her legs fairly well. She was concerned that she couldn't lift them, and Adrienne explained that they were very swollen and very heavy right now. Mom suggested that maybe she was drinking too much water and retaining or maybe she should wear the compression things again. Adrienne explained the amount of pain those put her in at the time and said that we chose to take them off of her. They decided to ask the doctors for some support hose in the morning. She drank some orange juice and mentioned being hungry, so I think that is a good sign. She tried raising her arms above her head, just to see if she could. Her right arm went all the way but her left went halfway. She also has a line on her left so that could be a factor. She has not complained to Adrienne of any pain all night.
She is worried about not walking again, but she can actually move her legs fairly well. She was concerned that she couldn't lift them, and Adrienne explained that they were very swollen and very heavy right now. Mom suggested that maybe she was drinking too much water and retaining or maybe she should wear the compression things again. Adrienne explained the amount of pain those put her in at the time and said that we chose to take them off of her. They decided to ask the doctors for some support hose in the morning. She drank some orange juice and mentioned being hungry, so I think that is a good sign. She tried raising her arms above her head, just to see if she could. Her right arm went all the way but her left went halfway. She also has a line on her left so that could be a factor. She has not complained to Adrienne of any pain all night.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Sweet Time
We have had some really terrific nurses at Providence and we have had some real duds. This afternoon's nurse was a dud. As mom put it herself, according to Gretchen, she takes her own sweet time.
Gretch called me around 6:30 and said that they were ready to move mom to the ICU. At aroung 8pm she called back and said she just got there. Aaargh! But she is set now and she took some potassium pills and she had some put into her IV so hopefully her heart rate will come down and she will have a restful night. I wish the same for all of you.
BTW Adrienne had the brilliant idea to bring the EZ Christmas CD to the hospital and she was playing it for mom earlier through the laptop. It is a nice way for me to be there while I can't be there.
Gretch called me around 6:30 and said that they were ready to move mom to the ICU. At aroung 8pm she called back and said she just got there. Aaargh! But she is set now and she took some potassium pills and she had some put into her IV so hopefully her heart rate will come down and she will have a restful night. I wish the same for all of you.
BTW Adrienne had the brilliant idea to bring the EZ Christmas CD to the hospital and she was playing it for mom earlier through the laptop. It is a nice way for me to be there while I can't be there.
Old Digs
Well, sorry to everyone who was so encouraged by mom's move out of ICU (I was never encouraged because I didn't see the improvement), but she is going back. Her heart rate has been elevated and they can't get it to go down. They think it is a potassium deficiency but mom threw up the liquid potassium they gave her. They will try again with a pill, but after that it will go into her IV line. But with it going in through an IV it could take up to 5 hours to absorb (I really don't understand these things. Some drugs they say absorb quicker through the IV).
Either way they are planning to move her back down to ICU for at least the night. I certainly hope our favorite nurse is on duty. That will make for an easier night. For us at least.
Either way they are planning to move her back down to ICU for at least the night. I certainly hope our favorite nurse is on duty. That will make for an easier night. For us at least.
Update
I talked to Gretchen this morning just after I started driving back to Indiana. Mom had a rough night with very little sleeping. Everytime she would drift off into a deep sleep the nurse would be there to do something. Gretchen tried very hard to coordinate the care so that everything would happen at once and then she could sleep, but the nurse was not terribly on the ball and could get that whole coordination thing down. Oh yeah, and she made Gretchen sing (mom, not the nurse). She has been asking me to sing and I, of course, am happy to do it. Gretchen tried to explain that she is not the singing daughter, but mom insisted so Gretch sand "Angels We Have Heard On High" over and over and over. That is love.
Gretch said that mom did eat a little bit this morning. About half a pudding and some milk. I think when she is more coherent she is refusing food, but then she forgets later and eats. We did that with some pills the other day. The nurse brought in some pills and mom was refusing to take them. Then she closed her eyes for 10 seconds and when she opened them I said "are you ready for your pills?" and she shook her head yes. Jeannette went home around 8am and Adrienne got there soon after so that Gretchen could go to work for a few hours.
I hate being gone, but I know we have plenty of people willing to help, so my job is going to be setting up a spreadsheet to make sure that my sisters can get meals and some sleep ocassionally.
Adrienne just called and said that they are talking about releasing mom on Friday and if she is not ready on Friday, then on Monday since they don't like transporting on the weekend. Adrienne will be looking at some rehab centers in the next few days and we trust that she will find the perfect one.
Thank you all for your comments. It really does help to receive them, even if it is just to say that you are still thinking of us. It is encouraging to know how many people are checking these updates because they love mom. We know we have a great support system, but it is always nice to get the comments to confirm it.
Gretch said that mom did eat a little bit this morning. About half a pudding and some milk. I think when she is more coherent she is refusing food, but then she forgets later and eats. We did that with some pills the other day. The nurse brought in some pills and mom was refusing to take them. Then she closed her eyes for 10 seconds and when she opened them I said "are you ready for your pills?" and she shook her head yes. Jeannette went home around 8am and Adrienne got there soon after so that Gretchen could go to work for a few hours.
I hate being gone, but I know we have plenty of people willing to help, so my job is going to be setting up a spreadsheet to make sure that my sisters can get meals and some sleep ocassionally.
Adrienne just called and said that they are talking about releasing mom on Friday and if she is not ready on Friday, then on Monday since they don't like transporting on the weekend. Adrienne will be looking at some rehab centers in the next few days and we trust that she will find the perfect one.
Thank you all for your comments. It really does help to receive them, even if it is just to say that you are still thinking of us. It is encouraging to know how many people are checking these updates because they love mom. We know we have a great support system, but it is always nice to get the comments to confirm it.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
New Digs
Mom was moved from the ICU to the surgical recovery floor today. The doctors and nurses say she is getting better but she just doesn't care. She created enough of a scene today screaming that she wanted to die and asking us for her pills (even accusing us of hiding her pills) that the nurse manager has put her on suicide watch and we will have an extra "sitter" in the room with us tonight to make sure that she does not harm herself and that we do not harm her. We can't blame them.
The room is smaller and it is a double so mom's poor roommate is having to listen to her ranting right now. She has recieved more morphine and she is resting now and I hope mom has a peaceful night. Aunt Rita, Jeannette, and Gordon are all in there now so she is well taken care of.
Adrienne is going to go home soon and sleep until morning. They she will be checking out a few rehabs centers in case that option is recommended to us by the doctors. Gretchen and Jeannette will be staying tonight and I will be heading back to mom's to sleep for a while and then I will be driving back to Indiana. I feel like I am deserting, but I know I have to go. I will be talking to the sisters here as often as I am now so I will keep this up as much as I can.
My plan is to work for a few days, have Jackson's birthday party on Sunday night and then head back up here on Monday in order to give Gretchen and Adrienne a break.
The room is smaller and it is a double so mom's poor roommate is having to listen to her ranting right now. She has recieved more morphine and she is resting now and I hope mom has a peaceful night. Aunt Rita, Jeannette, and Gordon are all in there now so she is well taken care of.
Adrienne is going to go home soon and sleep until morning. They she will be checking out a few rehabs centers in case that option is recommended to us by the doctors. Gretchen and Jeannette will be staying tonight and I will be heading back to mom's to sleep for a while and then I will be driving back to Indiana. I feel like I am deserting, but I know I have to go. I will be talking to the sisters here as often as I am now so I will keep this up as much as I can.
My plan is to work for a few days, have Jackson's birthday party on Sunday night and then head back up here on Monday in order to give Gretchen and Adrienne a break.
Coherenter
I have been here so long I can totally make up words and no one will care. Mom has had a busy morning. The nurse on at 6am offered to get her cleaned up and she screamed "no, no, no" except with a lot more nos. Our favorite nurse, Cheryl, came on at 7am said OK, you girls need to leave we are going to get your mom cleaned up. So we went for breakfast and mom got a sponge bath. She looks better.
She has also been slightly more coherent and has made it very clear that she is very angry. She is angry at the doctors for doing this to her and she is angry at us for letting them. I know we can take it, but the doctor's are wooses. Actually, one of the surgeons was here this morning and he took it pretty well. He was impressed that she could express her anger so clearly and that she could move both of her feet and lifted her legs off of the bed.
The doctors have also told us that her vitals have stabalized and she will be moved up the regular surgical floor (out of ICU) as soon as a bed is available. This is not terribly good news for us since we get pretty close attention from the staff down here and there is room for more than one of us in the room.
Right now she is asking to sleep and then sleep some more. She had a few bites of ice cream (I told you we liked this nurse) but when I asked if she wanted more when she woke up a few minutes ago she answered "I want to die." So it is more coherent but the song is the same.
She has also been slightly more coherent and has made it very clear that she is very angry. She is angry at the doctors for doing this to her and she is angry at us for letting them. I know we can take it, but the doctor's are wooses. Actually, one of the surgeons was here this morning and he took it pretty well. He was impressed that she could express her anger so clearly and that she could move both of her feet and lifted her legs off of the bed.
The doctors have also told us that her vitals have stabalized and she will be moved up the regular surgical floor (out of ICU) as soon as a bed is available. This is not terribly good news for us since we get pretty close attention from the staff down here and there is room for more than one of us in the room.
Right now she is asking to sleep and then sleep some more. She had a few bites of ice cream (I told you we liked this nurse) but when I asked if she wanted more when she woke up a few minutes ago she answered "I want to die." So it is more coherent but the song is the same.
Praying People
Anyone who knows me well knows that I don't pray. But everyone will also know that I will do absolutely anything to comfort my mommy. We have all said more Hail Mary's in the last few days than I am sure we have ever said in our whole catholic lives. Mom will wake up and start the prayer but always in the middle "Holy Mary, Mother of God..." and then we will start from the beginning and say it until she falls back to sleep. Once when I was alone with her she asked me to pray so I started "Hail Mary..." But she said "no, start it!" After a few frustrating moments I realized that she wanted me to start at the end just like she does. Is this something from her childhood?
We have done other parts of the rosary too and you can definitely tell that she is reliving her speed praying days from St. Gabes. I could hardly keep up.
Tonight, she said to pray with her and I did, but then as she was calming down I told her that a lot of people were praying for her and I started to list them. She just listened quietly (and quietly is exactly what we are going for these days). I started with the Aunts and Uncles and it was working so well that I moved down to the cousins and second cousins until she fell asleep. I know that she appreciates all of your thoughts and prayers so don't make a liar out of me.
We have done other parts of the rosary too and you can definitely tell that she is reliving her speed praying days from St. Gabes. I could hardly keep up.
Tonight, she said to pray with her and I did, but then as she was calming down I told her that a lot of people were praying for her and I started to list them. She just listened quietly (and quietly is exactly what we are going for these days). I started with the Aunts and Uncles and it was working so well that I moved down to the cousins and second cousins until she fell asleep. I know that she appreciates all of your thoughts and prayers so don't make a liar out of me.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Update
Mom had some pretty bad moments today but right now she is resting relatively comfortably. She had her dressings changed this morning and the doctors said that the wounds looked good. That gives us a lot less comfort this time around since we heard that right up until the moment the massive infection was found deep inside the first one.
She has had some apple juice, some orange juice, and some ginger-ale which produced some pretty amazing burbs and helped relieve a lot of pressure in her belly. She even ate a little bit of broth for dinner. She had her head raised pretty high in the bed and she rested in that position for a while, but every position ends in pain which does not seem to be getting better. We are maintaining her constant ice chip and water diet, but she seems to be tiring of those too.
Adrienne and I each got home to rest for a little while today and Gretchen and Gordon were just here and we were able to go to dinner. They just left and we will be hunkering down for the night soon.
I know I didn't post much today, but nothing felt momentus enough to feel the need to fill people in, but I know everyone is anxious for any news so I will try to do better tomorrow. I read Aunt Monica's comment about crying everytime she reads and update and I can relate since I am usually crying when I write them. Although we try very hard not to cry in the room with mommy, the bathrooms here have seen their fair share of tears.
She has had some apple juice, some orange juice, and some ginger-ale which produced some pretty amazing burbs and helped relieve a lot of pressure in her belly. She even ate a little bit of broth for dinner. She had her head raised pretty high in the bed and she rested in that position for a while, but every position ends in pain which does not seem to be getting better. We are maintaining her constant ice chip and water diet, but she seems to be tiring of those too.
Adrienne and I each got home to rest for a little while today and Gretchen and Gordon were just here and we were able to go to dinner. They just left and we will be hunkering down for the night soon.
I know I didn't post much today, but nothing felt momentus enough to feel the need to fill people in, but I know everyone is anxious for any news so I will try to do better tomorrow. I read Aunt Monica's comment about crying everytime she reads and update and I can relate since I am usually crying when I write them. Although we try very hard not to cry in the room with mommy, the bathrooms here have seen their fair share of tears.
I can't even come up with a title. Gretchen went home last night so that she could go to work this morning. She is planning on taking the end of the week off so that I can go home and we will still be double-teaming mom's care. Mom did not get much sleep last night, so Adrienne and I didn't get much sleep either. She woke up every few minutes to groan and moan and basically to find out that she was still alive and be pissed off. She did switch to telling us that she loves us, but we knew that even when she hated us. I went to a lounge to sleep for a few hours at around 4am and when I came back she had been given a shot of valium. So I sent Adrienne off to sleep and mom actually slept (fitfully, but slept) for almost 2 hours. I was actually rejoicing at 10 minutes. She slept 10 minutes! I will have to remember to tell Adrienne. But when she kept going I propped my head in my hands and I slept a little bit too.
This morning the torture began anew. They came in with a portable x-ray machine and attempted to slide a large plate behind her back. Her back that just had two major surgeries on it a few days ago. She was screaming, we demanded that he stop. He was very surprised to see that we were absolutely serious. When the doctor came they said they had to clean out her wounds. The surgeon showed up and we explained to him that pain management was the most important thing. Period. He listened to mom screaming that she wanted to die for a little while and we chatted about that and when it started, etc. He promised that they would give her all of the pain meds they could before they rolled her over to check her wounds. I have learned my limits and I knew I had to leave. Adrienne decided to stay but she just called and she said they wouldn't let her. So she is waiting in the lounge and I am going to bring her some breakfast.
That's where we are.
This morning the torture began anew. They came in with a portable x-ray machine and attempted to slide a large plate behind her back. Her back that just had two major surgeries on it a few days ago. She was screaming, we demanded that he stop. He was very surprised to see that we were absolutely serious. When the doctor came they said they had to clean out her wounds. The surgeon showed up and we explained to him that pain management was the most important thing. Period. He listened to mom screaming that she wanted to die for a little while and we chatted about that and when it started, etc. He promised that they would give her all of the pain meds they could before they rolled her over to check her wounds. I have learned my limits and I knew I had to leave. Adrienne decided to stay but she just called and she said they wouldn't let her. So she is waiting in the lounge and I am going to bring her some breakfast.
That's where we are.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
No Good News
It has been a long day and it is going to be an even longer night. Mom is awake and she is not handling any of this very well. She was furious to have a breathing tube in and at around 4pm it was taken out. While she feels more comfortable with this development, she is by no means comfortable. She is very uncomfortable and she is in a lot of pain. She has a self-controlled drip now (dilaudin) but the nurse said that until it builds up it will not help a whole lot. She is very unhappy and unless her pain situation improves I don't see that changing any time soon. We had a lot of people here today, Melody, Jon, Lynn, Megan, Steph, Arnold, Robin, Gordon, and Aunt Rita along with Gretchen, Adrienne, and I. I expect we three girls will spend the night in her room since she is not sleeping at all and needs much attention (mostly in the form of ice chips on demand). Gordon is camped out in the lounge. I just slept in a darkened un-used lounge for about an hour but I can't seem to talk my sisters into taking even that short of a break.
I really, really, hoped I have better news tomorrow.
I really, really, hoped I have better news tomorrow.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
ICU
Mom is in her recovery room in the Neurosurgery Intensive Care Unit. The rule back here is that we can stay with her but they don't want us sleeping back here. She has a big room all to herself and there is a pretty comfy chair, but we will try to stick to the rules. Right now Adrienne is in the lounge, where we have comandeered the two reclining chairs and I am in with mom. When we first came back she was in a semi-sleep state. She kept waking up and becoming agitated. She would try to talk (she can't because of the ventilator) and to lift her hands (she can't because they have restraints on her--to keep her from taking out the ventilator), but we have been able to calm her down by talking to her and stroking her forehead.
So, we will take turns for the rest of the night. With one of us trying to sleep in the lounge while the other keeps vigil. Gretchen will come again in the morning and we will let her be the one to tell her everything that went on in her surgery. She is not going to be happy. Her pain was to the point where she was sorry that she had the first surgery, she is not going to be encouraged that she just had a second, just like the first, which didn't go so well.
Anyway, all of the doctors we have spoken to are encouraging, so we soak up encouragement from them like sponges so that we can try to pass it on to mom when she wakes up. I suggested just keeping her asleep until she is all healed and ready to run out of her on her own, but no one else thought that was a good idea.
So, we will take turns for the rest of the night. With one of us trying to sleep in the lounge while the other keeps vigil. Gretchen will come again in the morning and we will let her be the one to tell her everything that went on in her surgery. She is not going to be happy. Her pain was to the point where she was sorry that she had the first surgery, she is not going to be encouraged that she just had a second, just like the first, which didn't go so well.
Anyway, all of the doctors we have spoken to are encouraging, so we soak up encouragement from them like sponges so that we can try to pass it on to mom when she wakes up. I suggested just keeping her asleep until she is all healed and ready to run out of her on her own, but no one else thought that was a good idea.
Quick Results
The surgeon just came back and told us the this part of the surgery went exactly as he had expected. He re-opened the wound and pull out as much of the infection as they could and then they hooked her up to a medi-vac. This is a vacuum system that she will keep on for at least a few days perhaps a week or more that will keep sucking up any moisture and infection. The doctor expects her to remain in the hospital for 4 to 5 days. Then special home care will be arranged to change the vacuum thingy and do more of the same on the new surgery site.
She still has an oxegyn tube down her throat and they plan to keep her asleep for the rest of the night. Adrienne and I will be allowed to go in once an hour so we will be staying.
She still has an oxegyn tube down her throat and they plan to keep her asleep for the rest of the night. Adrienne and I will be allowed to go in once an hour so we will be staying.
Starting Line
Well, we are back at the starting line and we are in for the long haul.
The surgeon came out to talk to us at around 6:30 (about 5 hours into a 2 hour surgery). He was very nice, but he told us it was much worse than they ever imagined. She had an infection from the top of her neck to the middle of her back. He spent the entire time scraping away bone until he could find no more pus in the upper part of her back. He ended up doing a laminectomy fusion on her upper back. The same thing that she had on her lower back in late October. The same thing that she is still recovering from. So we are starting over.
Except we are further back than before since she has not healed completely from the first one. In fact, when the doctor talked to us he had not even touched the original wound yet. That was what was supposed to take two hours, the flushing out of the original wound to get rid of any infection and the abcesses. He told us that he was going to go back in to the OR and start that in about 45 minutes and it should take about two hours. We promised ourselves that we wouldn't start jumping whenever we saw someone heading this way until around 9pm, but we have already broken that promise about 6 times.
Adrienne and I just went out to Wendy's to grab a bite since we knew it would be awhile, but we are back in the waiting room. A waiting room we have had all to ourselves most of the day. If only there was something decent on TV on a Saturday night.
The surgeon came out to talk to us at around 6:30 (about 5 hours into a 2 hour surgery). He was very nice, but he told us it was much worse than they ever imagined. She had an infection from the top of her neck to the middle of her back. He spent the entire time scraping away bone until he could find no more pus in the upper part of her back. He ended up doing a laminectomy fusion on her upper back. The same thing that she had on her lower back in late October. The same thing that she is still recovering from. So we are starting over.
Except we are further back than before since she has not healed completely from the first one. In fact, when the doctor talked to us he had not even touched the original wound yet. That was what was supposed to take two hours, the flushing out of the original wound to get rid of any infection and the abcesses. He told us that he was going to go back in to the OR and start that in about 45 minutes and it should take about two hours. We promised ourselves that we wouldn't start jumping whenever we saw someone heading this way until around 9pm, but we have already broken that promise about 6 times.
Adrienne and I just went out to Wendy's to grab a bite since we knew it would be awhile, but we are back in the waiting room. A waiting room we have had all to ourselves most of the day. If only there was something decent on TV on a Saturday night.
A Few Steps Back -- EZ
Well, mom has taken a few steps back since I was last here. As most of you know, she went to the emergency room on Thursday night. They assumed all of her problems had to do with over-medication and they sent her home. Everyone came over on Friday afternoon, Melody and Jon and Baby Lynn are in town and we had a nice spaghetti dinner. Mom was a little out of it, but she was functioning except that she could not put any weight at all on her feet. Jackson and I had to take off at around 6:30pm to go visit some friends in Chelsea and to spend the night there. When the Westbranch crew was ready to go, Gretchen offered to stay with Adrienne and Adrienne quickly took her up on the offer. None of them slept much because mom was in a lot of pain and at around 5am she could not move her legs and she actually requested to go to the hospital. So Adrienne called an ambulance and then called me. I disentangled myself from Jackson and met them all at Garden City Hospital. When they got there they were told by the staff that there was a major infection and some major discharge from the wound. Keep in mind that this is the hospital that declared her fine just the night before. Adrienne imediately called Dr. Soo and was told to get a private ambulance and to get mom to Providence hospital. There was a general consensus that she would need surgery to clean up the infection in the wound. She was in a lot of pain and the drugs they were giving did not help. Her mouth was incredibly dry, but with surgery on the horizon, no water or ice could be ingested.
Anyway, we got her to Providence and we got some good people to look at her and we finally made them understand that the pain was in her feet and she could not move her legs. They ordered an MRI and explained to us that there were some internal infected absesses that were pressing on her spinal cord. That is why the wound looked OK from the outside, but there was a river of discharge at the hospital when one of the absess burst. After they got the MRI done (a very painful process for mom) they had her in surgery in about a half hour (1pm). As soon as she went in Adrienne and I headed home so she could shower. She is on her way back and I am just waiting for some laundry to finish. I left all of my clothes in the suitcase with Jackson's. Lyle ended up taking him to see his Great Grandma since that was the original plan and then he took her down to Ohio to stay with him mom. I will pick him up tomorrow and then head home.
We will post more when we know more.
Anyway, we got her to Providence and we got some good people to look at her and we finally made them understand that the pain was in her feet and she could not move her legs. They ordered an MRI and explained to us that there were some internal infected absesses that were pressing on her spinal cord. That is why the wound looked OK from the outside, but there was a river of discharge at the hospital when one of the absess burst. After they got the MRI done (a very painful process for mom) they had her in surgery in about a half hour (1pm). As soon as she went in Adrienne and I headed home so she could shower. She is on her way back and I am just waiting for some laundry to finish. I left all of my clothes in the suitcase with Jackson's. Lyle ended up taking him to see his Great Grandma since that was the original plan and then he took her down to Ohio to stay with him mom. I will pick him up tomorrow and then head home.
We will post more when we know more.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Am I better, am I worse?
It is the best of times, it is the worst of times
I don't have good and bad days I have good and bad hours.
I was alone most of the day yesterday as I am today. Gretchen is the daughter in charge and she has a real job with real hours.
Yesterday morning she changed my dressing before work and put me back down for a nap. About 10 I felt good enough to want to get up, even got dressed and was going to have something to eat. Rita happened to be on her way in while I was getting up so we visited for a while. I had some lunch, the nurse came at 3 and changed me again and I decided to lie down again. A pretty good day.
By 4:15, I was crying like a baby. The kind of cry that required sobs and gasps between breaths.. I was crying because of great pain. I could ring the bell and no one would come. I could call out a name and no one would come. I had to get out of bed and get my own pills if I wanted some relief (I have since learned to keep a supply by my bed - but too late smart) It took almost an hour (with all the crying going on) to get out of bed and get to the pills (which were a recent refill and in an impossible to open cap), get the pills down my, get back to the bed and for the crying to subside.
That's how I am.
I don't have good and bad days I have good and bad hours.
I was alone most of the day yesterday as I am today. Gretchen is the daughter in charge and she has a real job with real hours.
Yesterday morning she changed my dressing before work and put me back down for a nap. About 10 I felt good enough to want to get up, even got dressed and was going to have something to eat. Rita happened to be on her way in while I was getting up so we visited for a while. I had some lunch, the nurse came at 3 and changed me again and I decided to lie down again. A pretty good day.
By 4:15, I was crying like a baby. The kind of cry that required sobs and gasps between breaths.. I was crying because of great pain. I could ring the bell and no one would come. I could call out a name and no one would come. I had to get out of bed and get my own pills if I wanted some relief (I have since learned to keep a supply by my bed - but too late smart) It took almost an hour (with all the crying going on) to get out of bed and get to the pills (which were a recent refill and in an impossible to open cap), get the pills down my, get back to the bed and for the crying to subside.
That's how I am.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Back Home
Who among you have ever heard of someone being discharged from the hospital at 8:30 PM? It was certainly a first for me.
Whatever the time, I was so glad to be home.
This time, I have a visiting nurse that will be coming every day to change the dressing on my wound. The dressing has to be changed twice a day and Adrienne has been given the task of the second changing each day. The nurse was here already this morning and walked Adrienne through it step by step and even tho adrienne is a little reluctant, I'm sure she will do a good job.
Today's nurse was the set-up person and our regular one will start tomorrow.
I had a really good night's sleep and it feels like it. I feel more discomfort than pain and am doing well with the medications that are prescribed whether I need them or not and haven't used hardly any that are prescribed for "as needed". Of course its only been about 16 hours since I've been home so that may yet change.
But I have been taking it easy and don't have any trips planned until Thansgiving weekend. I should be all better by then. Yes?
Whatever the time, I was so glad to be home.
This time, I have a visiting nurse that will be coming every day to change the dressing on my wound. The dressing has to be changed twice a day and Adrienne has been given the task of the second changing each day. The nurse was here already this morning and walked Adrienne through it step by step and even tho adrienne is a little reluctant, I'm sure she will do a good job.
Today's nurse was the set-up person and our regular one will start tomorrow.
I had a really good night's sleep and it feels like it. I feel more discomfort than pain and am doing well with the medications that are prescribed whether I need them or not and haven't used hardly any that are prescribed for "as needed". Of course its only been about 16 hours since I've been home so that may yet change.
But I have been taking it easy and don't have any trips planned until Thansgiving weekend. I should be all better by then. Yes?
Monday, November 12, 2007
Not so Fast
We have been informed that we are waiting for non-existent blood test results before mom can be released. Our afternoon nurse came in and the following conversation happened
Me: Are her discharge papers ready?
Nurse: No we are waiting for the CBC results.
Me: From Saturdays blood draw?
Nurse: No from today's.
Me: Nobody drew blood from her since 10pm Saturday night.
Nurse: yes they did
Me: No, no they didn't. I keep a chart myself of everything that goes in and out of her. ANd everything that happens to her, There was no blood drawn today.
Nurse: (looking from my list to her chart) hmmm......the other nmurse told me it had been done, let me get back to you.
She returns in a few minutes letting us know that the blood test had been ordered at 2pm (It is now after 4 pm at the point of this conversation (it is almost 6pm at the time of this writing and they STILL have not taken the blood)).
So we are in Limbo waiting for the blood to be drawn, the CBC test to be run and the results to come back in our favor.
Me: Are her discharge papers ready?
Nurse: No we are waiting for the CBC results.
Me: From Saturdays blood draw?
Nurse: No from today's.
Me: Nobody drew blood from her since 10pm Saturday night.
Nurse: yes they did
Me: No, no they didn't. I keep a chart myself of everything that goes in and out of her. ANd everything that happens to her, There was no blood drawn today.
Nurse: (looking from my list to her chart) hmmm......the other nmurse told me it had been done, let me get back to you.
She returns in a few minutes letting us know that the blood test had been ordered at 2pm (It is now after 4 pm at the point of this conversation (it is almost 6pm at the time of this writing and they STILL have not taken the blood)).
So we are in Limbo waiting for the blood to be drawn, the CBC test to be run and the results to come back in our favor.
Light at the End of the Tunnel
The Wound Nurse came in and was not displeased with what she saw. She cleaned mom nicely and poked and prodded some but all in good faith. Then she talked about "packing" the wound. That is where I got nervous. More TMI for you, for packing the wopund think of having a really runny nose and taking a kleenex and packing your nose with the corner and leaving it there. That is what they did with the open part of the wound. Then put some 4X4 squares and another larger bandage on top of that. After that mom dedcided to sit in her chair for lunch and then back to bed for a morphine induced nap. Shortly after the pain killer was administered the Surgeon showed up. He seemed pleased with what he saw. Of course, he messed up the beautiful dressing the wound care nurse put on. He told me what kind of antibiotic cream (no oral med) to put on and where, and I boldly asked for a home care nurse once in a while to come look at it. He said sure she can come daily to change the dressing. That really made my day. So now we are awaiting our discharge orders and info about the home nurse. Mom is sleeping off the morphine and we will be snugs as bugs in rugs later this evening.
Oh What a Beautiful Morning
Mom had a very restful night. She had very few pain killers and slept for quite a long time. I have never been so glad to hear her snore in such a deep sleep before. When she got up this morning, she walked on her own to the restroom and washed up, then sat in a chair then decided she wanted to go for a walk down the hall. Back in the room she was in the chair again while her bed was refreshed. Once back in bed the pain settled back in. She is again resting comfortably.
The Dr. that removed the sutures came in before all of this activity and again proclaimed the wound superficial. But he did express worry that it could go deeper if given the chance. So we are not on our way home yet. We have to wait for her surgeon to come in this afternoon and check her out himself. meanwhile she remains on the IV antibiotic Ancef. Hopefully we will be homebound shortly.
The Dr. that removed the sutures came in before all of this activity and again proclaimed the wound superficial. But he did express worry that it could go deeper if given the chance. So we are not on our way home yet. We have to wait for her surgeon to come in this afternoon and check her out himself. meanwhile she remains on the IV antibiotic Ancef. Hopefully we will be homebound shortly.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Pain, Pain Go Away
Hi, this is Adrienne. Around 2pm, one of the nice Dr.'s came in to remove mom's sutures. Even though she had had 4 mg of morphine a couple of hours before and her 10mg of vicodin just an hour before it was truly a painful process. About halfway through the Dr. stopped and ordered an extra 4mg of morphine to help her get through the most painful part. Although the extra drugs helped take the edge off it didn't completely make it a painless process. Gretchen and Gordon arrived just in time to watch this fun time and afterwards I went back to moms to get a little rest. When I returned about 4 hours later she proclaimed to not be in any pain. What?! Could this be as simple as removing those horrible sutures? Or were a Herclean amount of drugs still rushing through her system. It is now around 9:30 pm and she has just asked for her bedtime meds to make sure getting into a comfortable sleeping position is a smooth operation.
We fully expect to be home in our own beds (well sofa bed for me) tomorrow evening.
We fully expect to be home in our own beds (well sofa bed for me) tomorrow evening.
Not Worried
OK, Adrienne just called and Dr. Soo is not worried. He says that the incision did not so much open up as fail to close. He said there is no infection but they are going to keep mom in the hospital tonight with an antibiotic drip and then send her home tomorrow with some antibiotic cream. Another doctor is suppose to be coming soon to take out all of the sutures to make sure those are not what is bothering her. The nurses did not seem to want to change mom's dressing so Adrienne asked for the supplies and has done it herself. What a good daughter.
Morning
She slept well and ate some breakfast. The morphine is helping, but the incision isvery painful to the touch. When she left the hospital two weeks ago I think Dr. Soo told her to make an appointment with him in 4 weeks, she had whittled that down to three but Dr. Soo seemed to think that to be indulgent. Now at the hospital the other doctors and nurses seem amazed that no one has looked at her back since the surgery. Between that and doing too much too soon, here we are.
In A Bed
1am - OK, she is settled in a bed, has had 4mg of morphine, and has asked for a sleeping pill. Adrienne will be there all night and then Gretch will come in tomorrow to give her a break. I still have Jackson here and I have to be at work on Monday so I am useless.
G - your number is busy and I am tired. Stop by the house and pick up the envelope of papers before you head to the hospital.
G - your number is busy and I am tired. Stop by the house and pick up the envelope of papers before you head to the hospital.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Admitted
9:25pm - Adrienne just sent a text saying that mom is being admitted. She will update when she has more cells on her phone.
Three Steps Back
Well, we broke the mommy today. We took her out to Colasanti's (about a 2 hour drive) and we broke her. Broke her right in half.
When Adrienne checked her incision this morning it looked OK, maybe a little red but OK. Tonight after Adrienne, Jackson, and I got back from dinner mom was complaining about some pain around her incision and when Adrienne and I looked it seemed to have broken open in one place and was oozing something green and unpleasant. (TMI? Tough.) Adrienne called the doctor's service and he called back within a few minutes and after a long conversation (well, long for Dr. Soo) he said to bring her to the emergency room Providence Hospital (not the closest hospital, but the one where she had the surgery). He did not seem worried about infection but he was worried about the wound opening. So we packed her up and they set off just after 8pm.
9pm - Adrienne just called me and said that she really didn't have anything to report except that they had been seen by a doctor and he did not like what he saw so he was calling in the resident. I am sitting here listening to Jackson playing the bedroom without any intention of going to sleep, but I don't even care.
I will keep you all posted.
p.s. - You can tell at the bottom of a post (where the time and comments are) who posted here. It is is mom, it will say "Paulette" if it is me it will say "EZ."
When Adrienne checked her incision this morning it looked OK, maybe a little red but OK. Tonight after Adrienne, Jackson, and I got back from dinner mom was complaining about some pain around her incision and when Adrienne and I looked it seemed to have broken open in one place and was oozing something green and unpleasant. (TMI? Tough.) Adrienne called the doctor's service and he called back within a few minutes and after a long conversation (well, long for Dr. Soo) he said to bring her to the emergency room Providence Hospital (not the closest hospital, but the one where she had the surgery). He did not seem worried about infection but he was worried about the wound opening. So we packed her up and they set off just after 8pm.
9pm - Adrienne just called me and said that she really didn't have anything to report except that they had been seen by a doctor and he did not like what he saw so he was calling in the resident. I am sitting here listening to Jackson playing the bedroom without any intention of going to sleep, but I don't even care.
I will keep you all posted.
p.s. - You can tell at the bottom of a post (where the time and comments are) who posted here. It is is mom, it will say "Paulette" if it is me it will say "EZ."
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Hitting the Wall
I'm afraid I was trying too hard to become the poster child of how quickly one can recover from this surgery.
I've been out to eat four times, been to the mall twice, been to the show, out for long walks (in my wheelchair) and last night I spent the night lying awake waiting for the time to take my next pain pill.
I think its time to slow down a little.
I had an appointment at the eye doctor yesterday, but when Adrienne looked up some of my medications on the Internet we found that they could affect my vision. So when we mentioned this to the doctor, he changed my major pain medication from percoset to darvoset. I cancelled the eye doctor. I am continuing the percoset until it runs out (sometime today) then I will start on the other.
Monica, as to the long shoehorn, it seems to be a tool to be used standing up and I am not quite able to put my shoes on standing up yet. I'm not able to get a good angle on it while sitting. I guess you would have to try it to see what I mean.
I've been out to eat four times, been to the mall twice, been to the show, out for long walks (in my wheelchair) and last night I spent the night lying awake waiting for the time to take my next pain pill.
I think its time to slow down a little.
I had an appointment at the eye doctor yesterday, but when Adrienne looked up some of my medications on the Internet we found that they could affect my vision. So when we mentioned this to the doctor, he changed my major pain medication from percoset to darvoset. I cancelled the eye doctor. I am continuing the percoset until it runs out (sometime today) then I will start on the other.
Monica, as to the long shoehorn, it seems to be a tool to be used standing up and I am not quite able to put my shoes on standing up yet. I'm not able to get a good angle on it while sitting. I guess you would have to try it to see what I mean.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
I've been warned
Yesterday morning Adrienne caught me in bed whimpering in pain and yelled at me that if I wasn't going to wake her up when I needed her she may as well go home. That got my attention.
I didn't have to wake her up last night, but she attended to me often and I had a pretty good night. I couldn't account for her's tho. She's is theoretically still in bed but had been up and down so much she couldn't possibly be sleeping.
We had a beautiful fall, sunny day yesterday and Adrienne got my wheelchair out and took me for a walk. We stopped to visit my old neighbors, the Suchy's. The filled me in on recent deaths in the complex. One was the husband of the lady who had been my roommate on a trip to Italy. He was originally from the hills of Kentucky and was our "go-to" guy when we found animals in the traps set near the garbage containers.
The other was a woman whose son coincidentally committed suicide the same day she died. Neither was aware that the other had died. What a reunion that must have been in the afterlife.
I didn't have to wake her up last night, but she attended to me often and I had a pretty good night. I couldn't account for her's tho. She's is theoretically still in bed but had been up and down so much she couldn't possibly be sleeping.
We had a beautiful fall, sunny day yesterday and Adrienne got my wheelchair out and took me for a walk. We stopped to visit my old neighbors, the Suchy's. The filled me in on recent deaths in the complex. One was the husband of the lady who had been my roommate on a trip to Italy. He was originally from the hills of Kentucky and was our "go-to" guy when we found animals in the traps set near the garbage containers.
The other was a woman whose son coincidentally committed suicide the same day she died. Neither was aware that the other had died. What a reunion that must have been in the afterlife.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
I'm Really Home
The first couple of days I was apprehensive of coming home. The things that were so difficult for me to do in the hospital (get in and out of bed, walk a little, even roll over) just seemed like they would be impossible on my own. I had at least one daughter there around the clock and sometimes two. But this is turning out to be way better than I was expecting. Adrienne is a hard taskmaster but I try to do everything she says.
They gave me a walker and that is more helpful than I expected. Trying to use it inside the hospital room was just ridiculous. But using it here is helpful, even tho there are only 10 to 15 steps at a time. In the hospital there were never more than 2 or 3.
From Mary's estate came a bidet type of seat that can be installed on a normal toilet and Jeff is coming over tonight to install it (or give it a good try).
Adrienne is fixing a roast beef dinner for us and Steph and her husband and Rita will be joining us also.
My wound leakage has been keeping Adrienne busy with laundry and she went out and got me a vinyl mattress cover for my bed and pillows. She is taking very good care of me and is sympathetic to my whining. She has set up some very professional medication charts so as not to kill me.
I thank you for all the prayers and good thoughts.
They gave me a walker and that is more helpful than I expected. Trying to use it inside the hospital room was just ridiculous. But using it here is helpful, even tho there are only 10 to 15 steps at a time. In the hospital there were never more than 2 or 3.
From Mary's estate came a bidet type of seat that can be installed on a normal toilet and Jeff is coming over tonight to install it (or give it a good try).
Adrienne is fixing a roast beef dinner for us and Steph and her husband and Rita will be joining us also.
My wound leakage has been keeping Adrienne busy with laundry and she went out and got me a vinyl mattress cover for my bed and pillows. She is taking very good care of me and is sympathetic to my whining. She has set up some very professional medication charts so as not to kill me.
I thank you for all the prayers and good thoughts.
Monday, October 29, 2007
There's No Place Like Home
Mom is home!! I just got the call from Adrienne. After I talked to her at about 11am they changed mom's dressing and basically said she was good to go. She stayed for lunch (they had good soup there) and then off they went. Adrienne claimed to be stinky (I thought I smelled something) and she was heading into the shower and then she was going off to fill prescriptions. Just in case mom has any more pain. Nah, that won't happen.
Some things may be harder at home than they were in the hospital, but still I am sure it is nice to be home. I know I like thinking of here there more than I liked thinking of her in the hospital. Maybe she will even do her own post soon.
Some things may be harder at home than they were in the hospital, but still I am sure it is nice to be home. I know I like thinking of here there more than I liked thinking of her in the hospital. Maybe she will even do her own post soon.
Better and Better
Mom did a lot yesterday morning while Adrienne went home to sleep. She had an Occupational Therapist come in and talk to her about how to do things when she goes home. Mom proved to her that she could handle the bathroom and I was happy for the help with that (Adrienne had been doing most of the potty runs). As soon as she left the Physical Therapist came in and Mom walked down the hall and up a few stairs. Of course, I ran ahead and had a chair waiting at the end of the hall for her to rest and she was very happy for that. The PT person was surprised but we explained that we have been dealing with back pain for years, this is nothing new to us. Anyway, she handled the stairs fine and then it was back to bed. But only for a few minutes until the new brace arrived with a brace technician to show us how to use it. Boy was I sorry Adrienne wasn't there then, she is the one that will need to get this on mom when they are home. Luckily, she is a smart cookie who has braced things before and she will figure it out in no time. The brace person really pissed mom off because she was always standing in the way and was just generally clueless. I finally went for the nurse who was able to intervene and the brace person went on her way. So mom was sitting up in the brace for most of the morning and she was sitting that way and having her lunch when Adrienne got back. Aunt Rita showed up at about the same time and quickly filled them in on all of our activities and then hightailed it to Indiana to hug my baby. And sleep. Sleep is good. Sleep is great. Sleep is even better in a real bed with real pillows. Mmmmmm. Sleep. But I digress.
I talked to Adrienne last night and again this morning and mom is doing fine. She has pain on and off, but she has more good than bad. The doctor mentioned changing her dressing before she went home but he did not sign a discharge order yet so we are still hanging on to find out exactly when they might be able to go home. I will keep you all posted.
I talked to Adrienne last night and again this morning and mom is doing fine. She has pain on and off, but she has more good than bad. The doctor mentioned changing her dressing before she went home but he did not sign a discharge order yet so we are still hanging on to find out exactly when they might be able to go home. I will keep you all posted.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Ice Anyone?
Mom has eaten more than her fair share of ice here in the hospital, each tech has commented on how much she can go through. That would not be enough to necessitate a whole blog post but then Adrienne called me from the parking lot this mornng at 6:45am asking where mom kept her ice scraper. I told her to bring mittens and she didn't believe me.
Mom is doing really well. She had some pretty bad, discouraging pain last night. Each pain med they gave her seemed to have no effect at all. We turned the ballgame on and read trivia questions and the distractions helped. At around midnight the nurse got some Benadryl approved and I decided to go to sleep in the lounge so Mom could try to sleep better. I found out later that around 1am she had some of the IV pain medicine and ended up getting up to go to the bathroom and decided to take a little walk down the hall. I missed it all.
She slept good and I slept good (the lounge had a chair that turned into a pretty decent bed) but Adrienne did not sleep much. So we sent her back to mom's to get some sleep this morning and when she gets back I will start for home. I couldn't let her go before 6:30 because the tech that was on last night (nicknamed BroomHilda) was terrible. We needed Adrienne her to manage potty breaks, etc.
One of the doctors came in after Adrienne left and told mom that she could have the IV taken out this morning since she has been eating good. That will makes trips to the bathroom much, much easier. He also took out a drain that has been in her since the surgery. He seemed to think that she should be going home tomorrow. Yay!
I don't have much juice left in my laptop and all of the plugs in here are taken up by beeping things, so this may be my last post. I am sure Adrienne and mom will keep you all updated when they get home.
Mom is doing really well. She had some pretty bad, discouraging pain last night. Each pain med they gave her seemed to have no effect at all. We turned the ballgame on and read trivia questions and the distractions helped. At around midnight the nurse got some Benadryl approved and I decided to go to sleep in the lounge so Mom could try to sleep better. I found out later that around 1am she had some of the IV pain medicine and ended up getting up to go to the bathroom and decided to take a little walk down the hall. I missed it all.
She slept good and I slept good (the lounge had a chair that turned into a pretty decent bed) but Adrienne did not sleep much. So we sent her back to mom's to get some sleep this morning and when she gets back I will start for home. I couldn't let her go before 6:30 because the tech that was on last night (nicknamed BroomHilda) was terrible. We needed Adrienne her to manage potty breaks, etc.
One of the doctors came in after Adrienne left and told mom that she could have the IV taken out this morning since she has been eating good. That will makes trips to the bathroom much, much easier. He also took out a drain that has been in her since the surgery. He seemed to think that she should be going home tomorrow. Yay!
I don't have much juice left in my laptop and all of the plugs in here are taken up by beeping things, so this may be my last post. I am sure Adrienne and mom will keep you all updated when they get home.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Vampires
We are doing great! Right at this moment. Mom's doctor has come and gone and he upped her pain medication. She hasn't actually taken any more than usual but she is feeling good anyway. Adrienne went home for a little while and she just came back a few minutes ago. Aunt Rita just went home and we plan on settling in for the night. One of the results from an earlier blood test was that her hemoglobin was low an so we have been dripping the fluid of life into her for the last few hours. Her cheeks are pink and rosy and all is right with our world. Right enough even to take a picture or two.
Home for One
Adrienne is here! Yay! Since we all had such a long day yesterday and mom was not ready to be left alone without a daughter, Jeannette picked Adrienne up from the airport and brought her right to the hospital. To manage cars I had Jeannette bring me back home so that I could shower and change and then drive my own car to the hospital. That way Adrienne could take possession of mom's car and not be tied to anyone for a ride anywhere. Aunt Rita is on her way back to the hospital so it might be a full room for the rest of the day, since I plan on heading back as soon as I am done here.
We made it through the pain (with a little help from Categories/Encore and modern pharmeceuticals) and on to lunch, which mom liked very much. She did some rotating in the bed which was not as bad as she feared and she was scheduled to get some blood as I was leaving. I feel great knowing that I left a sister behind so I don't have to worry about her.
A shower and a nap sound really good right about now.
We made it through the pain (with a little help from Categories/Encore and modern pharmeceuticals) and on to lunch, which mom liked very much. She did some rotating in the bed which was not as bad as she feared and she was scheduled to get some blood as I was leaving. I feel great knowing that I left a sister behind so I don't have to worry about her.
A shower and a nap sound really good right about now.
Take a Little Walk
It is just past 10am and mom just went for a little walk. The physical therapist taught her the right way to get out of bed and she said it was not nearly as bad as she feared it would be. Not that it was good, but when you are dreading something and it is only bad the contrast effect makes it seem great. She walked with a walker just a little ways down the hall and back and it made her feel weak. She is still having a lot of pain so it is all hard, but we are getting through it.
A New Day
It is just about 7:30am and Adrienne is in Houston. Mom and I both slept some but could have used more. Here is the thing about sleeping in a hospital room while not in a bed: I am not so old that I can't get into the contortionistic (totally a word) positions necessary to sleep in a chair but I am too old to hold those positions very long. Something would start to hurt and/or fall asleep and I would have start positioning all over again on the other side. And then, when I could finally find the perfect position someone would come it to take vitals or blood or something. The nausea seems to be gone; Adrienne says that means the anestesia has finally worn off.
One of the nurses last night assured mom that this was the worst part and today wouldbe better because she would be able to get up and walk some. If you know mom, and you all do, you know that she is very dubious of this claim.
Anyway, Jeannette will be picking Adrienne up in a few hours and bringing her here. Yay!!
One of the nurses last night assured mom that this was the worst part and today wouldbe better because she would be able to get up and walk some. If you know mom, and you all do, you know that she is very dubious of this claim.
Anyway, Jeannette will be picking Adrienne up in a few hours and bringing her here. Yay!!
Friday, October 26, 2007
Still Here
Well, it is nearly 10pm and I am still at the hospital with mom. She was in a lot of pain when she was wheeled upstairs and then she got very nauseous. For the record, dry heaving is not recommended after back surgery. When the nurse got back from dinner she gave mom some pain medication and something for the nausea. It helped a little but she was still very uncomfortable and the room felt very hot. Gretch and I took turns fanning her with a folder while the technicians brought her a roommate. Luckily, the roommate started snoring almost immediately so we did not feel like we were disturbing her.
Visiting hours were officially over at around 8pm but I asked mom if she wanted me to try to spend the night and she said yes. So Gretchen and Gordon took Aunt Rita home and I have pulled the most comfortable chair in the room up the bed. She had some more nausea at around 9:20 and they gave her something else (reglan?) which seems to be helping a great deal. The nurse also put the head of her bed up at about a 30deg angle (a position that she had resisted earlier because getting there was painful) and that seems to have helped too. Oh yeah, and they shut off the stupid automatic blood pressure machine which was squeezing her arm off every 14 minutes. She is still having some on and off pain and the nurse just offered her a Valium, but mom said it is not that bad yet. The nurse told her not to wait until it got bad. I like our nurse.
Anyway, she is going in and out of sleep and hopefully she will feel better in the morning.
Visiting hours were officially over at around 8pm but I asked mom if she wanted me to try to spend the night and she said yes. So Gretchen and Gordon took Aunt Rita home and I have pulled the most comfortable chair in the room up the bed. She had some more nausea at around 9:20 and they gave her something else (reglan?) which seems to be helping a great deal. The nurse also put the head of her bed up at about a 30deg angle (a position that she had resisted earlier because getting there was painful) and that seems to have helped too. Oh yeah, and they shut off the stupid automatic blood pressure machine which was squeezing her arm off every 14 minutes. She is still having some on and off pain and the nurse just offered her a Valium, but mom said it is not that bad yet. The nurse told her not to wait until it got bad. I like our nurse.
Anyway, she is going in and out of sleep and hopefully she will feel better in the morning.
A Real Room
After three hours in recovery mom is finally in a real room. She is sharp as a damn tack (according to her) and she looks like she just went through major surgery but she is fine. We are only going to stay for a little while so she can get set up (can you say morphine drip) and then we will all be heading off to our respective beds. Gretchen's bed is still 2.5 hours away. Poor baby.
Recover This
OK, she is out of surgery and into recovery. It took much longer than they expected and her bones are softer than anyone (including her) knew, but she did fine.
At about 2:45pm we got beeped and when we went to the desk we had a phone call from the OR saying that it was taking longer than they expected but she was fine and they should be finished within the hour. Then 15 minutes later we were beeped and the surgeon said "It went fine." He had no intention of saying anything else (mom warned us that he was a man of few words), but when pressed he said that she had very soft bones so it took longer than expected. He said she would be in recovery for a few hours and then moved to a regular room where she will be for 3-4 days. We are back in the cafeteria having some lunch. We probably won't get to see her until around 5pm but I will post after that.
At about 2:45pm we got beeped and when we went to the desk we had a phone call from the OR saying that it was taking longer than they expected but she was fine and they should be finished within the hour. Then 15 minutes later we were beeped and the surgeon said "It went fine." He had no intention of saying anything else (mom warned us that he was a man of few words), but when pressed he said that she had very soft bones so it took longer than expected. He said she would be in recovery for a few hours and then moved to a regular room where she will be for 3-4 days. We are back in the cafeteria having some lunch. We probably won't get to see her until around 5pm but I will post after that.
In the OR
It took a long time, but she was finally wheeled into surgery at around 9:50am. The hospital has a beeper system that is really cool. When we showed up they signed mom in and they gave us a beeper, just like the one you get at a restaurant when there is a wait. Then we all went into the waiting room, when the beeper went off they took mom away. I tried valiantly to go with her but they assured me that they just needed mom at that point and they would beep us when we could come back. After a half hour I started getting antsy (it is going to be a long day) and I made Gretchen go look in the hallways to make sure they hadn't left her somewhere. While she was gone the beeper went off again and we were able to go back and sit with mom. Well, sit is overstating it, only one of us could sit at a time. After about an hour of waiting for the surgeon and having twenty people come in and take a brief history ("have you become alergic to anything in the last three minutes?) the resident said that the surgeon was not likely to come back to see her before the surgery and it could be up to a half hour more. So, Gretchen went to get Aunt Rita so that she could see mom before she went back. Then within about 20 minutes they came and wheeled her off. I assured her that we loved her like crazy and we would be there when she came out.
Gretchen went out for a McD run and Aunt Rita and I are sitting in the cafeteria waiting. Our next beep should not be for a few hours and it should be the surgeon coming to tell us how the operation went. I will check in again after that. Or when I am bored. Which ever comes first.
Gretchen went out for a McD run and Aunt Rita and I are sitting in the cafeteria waiting. Our next beep should not be for a few hours and it should be the surgeon coming to tell us how the operation went. I will check in again after that. Or when I am bored. Which ever comes first.
Out the Door
It is 6:10am and we have all be up since 5:30am (OK, we woke mom up but she needed to get up eventualy). Aunt Rita just came in the door and we are on our way to the hospital. I called ahead they told me I could scrub in on a few surgeries while I am there, I feel qualified since I watch her little video. Or we may just play cards (Gretchen, Gordon, Aunt Rita, and I will all be there).
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
And So It Starts
A few weeks ago Jeannette informed me that Marc's sister Theresa had died. I knew that she was ailing, but if I knew from what, I have forgotten now. She is the second one of those 13 siblings that reached adulthood to pass. She was 82 years old. She is survived by (in descending order) Lucille (86), Noella (84), John Robert (79), Julien (76), Marc (75), Pierrette (73), Andree (72), Gilles (71), Fleur Ange and Fleur Aimee (70), and Francine (64). Note the big jump between the twins and Francine was filled by two other children (MaTante Yvonne was no slacker) who died very young.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Doctor, Doctor
Yesterday I had a doctor's appointment with my primary care physician to renew my maintenance prescriptions. Those include blood pressure medications and Celebrex for arthritis. However, he was not the doctor that could clear me for surgery. So I had another appointment today with his son who does Internal Medecine.
A couple days ago I mentioned to someone that I almost felt like a fraud for scheduling such drastic surgery when my pain had been tolerable for the last few days. Fast forward to this morning. Two days ago I had stopped (on surgeon's orders) taking any Vicodin, Celebrex or anything else containing aspirin or nsaids. I had a heck of a time getting out of bed. I could take tylenol except not then because I was fasting for blood work. I got myself to the doctor's office and sat in the waiting room, fighting back tears (and not always successfully). They took the blood, and EKG, and Xrays, then the doctor came in.
I told him my dilemma and asked him if I could maybe take Tylenol 4 which I used to take for back pain. He explained why not but said that it would be ok for me to take the vicodin as long as I didn't take more than one or two per day. I love this doctor. I took one on my way out to the car.
Me and Jeannette have a date to go to Windsor Casino on Sunday and I was supposed to treat her to a birthday lunch. All morning I was thinking of how disappointed she was going to be when I cancelled. Not because she needed the free lunch but she doesn't like to go to the casino alone and counts on me as a companion. Now that I can take a pain pill, with tylenol in between, I'm good to go.
By the way, I'm good to go for the surgery, too. The doctor said I tested perfect.
A couple days ago I mentioned to someone that I almost felt like a fraud for scheduling such drastic surgery when my pain had been tolerable for the last few days. Fast forward to this morning. Two days ago I had stopped (on surgeon's orders) taking any Vicodin, Celebrex or anything else containing aspirin or nsaids. I had a heck of a time getting out of bed. I could take tylenol except not then because I was fasting for blood work. I got myself to the doctor's office and sat in the waiting room, fighting back tears (and not always successfully). They took the blood, and EKG, and Xrays, then the doctor came in.
I told him my dilemma and asked him if I could maybe take Tylenol 4 which I used to take for back pain. He explained why not but said that it would be ok for me to take the vicodin as long as I didn't take more than one or two per day. I love this doctor. I took one on my way out to the car.
Me and Jeannette have a date to go to Windsor Casino on Sunday and I was supposed to treat her to a birthday lunch. All morning I was thinking of how disappointed she was going to be when I cancelled. Not because she needed the free lunch but she doesn't like to go to the casino alone and counts on me as a companion. Now that I can take a pain pill, with tylenol in between, I'm good to go.
By the way, I'm good to go for the surgery, too. The doctor said I tested perfect.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Well Shut My Mouth
Today I had an appointment at the Michigan Spine and Brain Surgeons. I thought I was meeting with a Dr. Tecksoo. Turns out it was first name Teck, last name Soo. As Rita was parking the car I said, "The best thing that could happen is that he looks at the MRI pictures and says, I can fix that." We were in the waiting room and inner exam room for 2 hours before we ever saw the doctor. Nurses took a lot of information from me and they took a set of x-rays.
When the doctor finally came in, he took out my MRI pictures and looked at each one and said (I swear to God) "I can fix you". I'm not sure I asked all the right questions and he seemed a little cavallier but I am scheduled for a Lumbar Laminectomy and Fusion on October 26th. He asked several times if I was sure that I could no longer live with the pain. That was a hard question because I still have some relatively good days. But when I remember the really bad ones I believe I am ready for whatever will help.
All the nurses I interacted with at that office said he is an excellent surgeon. The surgery will be done at Providence Hospital. They have a spine surgery seminar every Friday and Rita and I plan to go next friday. They also gave me a web site www.understandingspinesurgery.com/soo that will give me an animated explanation of my surgery. If you want to see it, you click on Patient Education, enter your email address and click I Agree and it will take you to the main menu. My condition is under Spondylolisthesis - Laminectomy, Fusion - Instrumented. The nurse that gave me this information also checked Scoliosis - Derotation with Instrumentation, but the doctor never mentioned that he was going to do that part although I was told a few years ago that scoliosis was one of my problems.
I am hoping that Adrienne will be able to come stay with me for a few weeks during my recovery. Its all moving pretty fast and things are falling into place. Just everybody remember to add me to your list of people for God to bless when you say your evening prayers.
When the doctor finally came in, he took out my MRI pictures and looked at each one and said (I swear to God) "I can fix you". I'm not sure I asked all the right questions and he seemed a little cavallier but I am scheduled for a Lumbar Laminectomy and Fusion on October 26th. He asked several times if I was sure that I could no longer live with the pain. That was a hard question because I still have some relatively good days. But when I remember the really bad ones I believe I am ready for whatever will help.
All the nurses I interacted with at that office said he is an excellent surgeon. The surgery will be done at Providence Hospital. They have a spine surgery seminar every Friday and Rita and I plan to go next friday. They also gave me a web site www.understandingspinesurgery.com/soo that will give me an animated explanation of my surgery. If you want to see it, you click on Patient Education, enter your email address and click I Agree and it will take you to the main menu. My condition is under Spondylolisthesis - Laminectomy, Fusion - Instrumented. The nurse that gave me this information also checked Scoliosis - Derotation with Instrumentation, but the doctor never mentioned that he was going to do that part although I was told a few years ago that scoliosis was one of my problems.
I am hoping that Adrienne will be able to come stay with me for a few weeks during my recovery. Its all moving pretty fast and things are falling into place. Just everybody remember to add me to your list of people for God to bless when you say your evening prayers.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
The War
Last night I finished watching the Ken Burns series on PBS called The War. Boy, was that ever informative and interesting. Names that I remembered or heard later of battles and cities were put into perspective. The sheer numbers and statistics were so interesting. We all knew that virtually all manufacturing was geared to the war effort but I didn't know that only 139 automobiles were built during the 4 years that we were at war.
And at the Willow Run plant here one airplane rolled off the assembly line every 63 minutes. That's just about 24 airplanes per day and the plant was running 24/7. Ok, so even with more than 165 airplanes per week coming off the line here in Detroit, how the heck did they get them all overseas to take part in those massive battles.
The next most interesting fact I learned was about the battle of the bulge. I thought "The Bulge" was a city or area in Europe and learned that it was a protrusion on the map where the Germans were able to push back part of our hard-fought advance line near the German border.
I thought the program was very well done, giving information about what was going on here at home as well as "over there".
And at the Willow Run plant here one airplane rolled off the assembly line every 63 minutes. That's just about 24 airplanes per day and the plant was running 24/7. Ok, so even with more than 165 airplanes per week coming off the line here in Detroit, how the heck did they get them all overseas to take part in those massive battles.
The next most interesting fact I learned was about the battle of the bulge. I thought "The Bulge" was a city or area in Europe and learned that it was a protrusion on the map where the Germans were able to push back part of our hard-fought advance line near the German border.
I thought the program was very well done, giving information about what was going on here at home as well as "over there".
Monday, October 01, 2007
They're Still Laughing
I mentioned in a comment of one of Gabby's posts that slot machines don't talk to me they just laugh at me. Well they were all in cahoots at Windsor yesterday. One of my worst days at a casino. The bus doesn't leave there till 7:00 and by 5:30 I was all done playing. I told Jeannette to just park my wheelchair out of the way somewhere and keep on playing, but she just played a couple more machines and we went to the bus lounge to wait.
The up side of yesterday, not counting that erika and Jackson were there in the morning is that Jeannette had made some green tomatoe relish the day before and she gave me a jar. Yum.
The up side of yesterday, not counting that erika and Jackson were there in the morning is that Jeannette had made some green tomatoe relish the day before and she gave me a jar. Yum.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Give me an M, Give me an R
I laid in the tube for a half hour and brought home a bunch of pictures. They don't look very flattering.
When I first laid down, they elevated my knees and I was quite comfortable. It only took a few minutes for the comfort to wear off and become dis-comfort and that eventually turned into pain. But me and pain are old friends and before we had visited very long the whole thing was over.
They helped me off the table and gave me a glass of water to take some aleve and a chair to wait for the films and I was on my way.
When I first laid down, they elevated my knees and I was quite comfortable. It only took a few minutes for the comfort to wear off and become dis-comfort and that eventually turned into pain. But me and pain are old friends and before we had visited very long the whole thing was over.
They helped me off the table and gave me a glass of water to take some aleve and a chair to wait for the films and I was on my way.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Dr. Ouch
Even with all the pain management meds, a new pain has cropped up that sent me back to the Doctor. This time she ordered a new MRI and a consult with a neurosurgeon.
The ouch part is the MRI. I know you just have to lay there but with my back that's the part that hurts. Laying on that flat slab. Hopefully some good will come of it.
The ouch part is the MRI. I know you just have to lay there but with my back that's the part that hurts. Laying on that flat slab. Hopefully some good will come of it.
Monday, September 03, 2007
chocolate
I like this thinking.
Chocolate Calories
A good piece of chocolate has about 200 calories. As I enjoy
two servings per night, and a few more on weekends, I
consume 3,500 calories of chocolate in a week, which equals
one pound of weight per week.
Therefore...
In the last 3 1/2 years, I have had a chocolate caloric
intake of about 180 pounds. I weigh only 165 pounds, so
without chocolate, I would have wasted away to nothing about
three months ago!
I owe my life to chocolate.
Chocolate Calories
A good piece of chocolate has about 200 calories. As I enjoy
two servings per night, and a few more on weekends, I
consume 3,500 calories of chocolate in a week, which equals
one pound of weight per week.
Therefore...
In the last 3 1/2 years, I have had a chocolate caloric
intake of about 180 pounds. I weigh only 165 pounds, so
without chocolate, I would have wasted away to nothing about
three months ago!
I owe my life to chocolate.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Party in New York
Happy Birthday Bernie
We all traveled to Rome, N.Y. for Melody's wedding. All my children, grand-children and great-grandchildren were in attendance. But we only got one picture of all of us together. I am very happy that we got at least that one.
Our map quest route took us through Canada and the scrutiny of our citizenship papers was more thorough than anytime in my recent memory. Crossing out of Ontario into Lewistown N.Y. took us more than an hour. The bridge itself is only .5 miles and it was about 11:00 am, a time that I would not consider rush hour.
We were able to do a casino trip at Turning Stone Casino on Friday afternoon while the younger set took the youngest set to the zoo.
As much as I love travelling and being with my whole family, you still can't beat home sweet home.
We all traveled to Rome, N.Y. for Melody's wedding. All my children, grand-children and great-grandchildren were in attendance. But we only got one picture of all of us together. I am very happy that we got at least that one.
Our map quest route took us through Canada and the scrutiny of our citizenship papers was more thorough than anytime in my recent memory. Crossing out of Ontario into Lewistown N.Y. took us more than an hour. The bridge itself is only .5 miles and it was about 11:00 am, a time that I would not consider rush hour.
We were able to do a casino trip at Turning Stone Casino on Friday afternoon while the younger set took the youngest set to the zoo.
As much as I love travelling and being with my whole family, you still can't beat home sweet home.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Dr. Feelgood
I had a follow-up visit to the doctor today and we are both pleased with the progress. The diagnosis last week was severe muscle strain. The treatment was pain management to allow the muscle time to relax itself. She gave me a prescription for vicodin that was 1/2 the strength that I had been taking, but I take it every 4 hours whether I am feeling particularly painful or not. She also gave me prescriptions for Flexeril (muscle relaxer) that I take 3 times a day and morphine patches (25 mg) that last for 3 days.
So my pain is being managed quite well. Today I will try going back to the exercise regemin that I got from the physical therapist and had been doing since February.
Rita and I stopped for breakfast after the doctor and the ham was so good, it made me think of Marcel and all the good breakfasts we have had together.
So my pain is being managed quite well. Today I will try going back to the exercise regemin that I got from the physical therapist and had been doing since February.
Rita and I stopped for breakfast after the doctor and the ham was so good, it made me think of Marcel and all the good breakfasts we have had together.
Monday, July 23, 2007
How it came out
the trial run, that is.
I never should have left the house. First of all, because we didn't have reservations we ended up sitting way at the back of the bus. The motion back there around curves and through rough pavement was horrid on my back. They brought us a wheelchair right to the bus lobby and Jeannette was a trooper pushing me through the casino, but the motion of getting in and out of the chair took a huge toll. Then there was the whole bus ride back.
I have been pretty much bed ridden with pain ever since. Today is the earliest I could get a doctor's appointment and Rita is taking me at 11:00 am. The most I am looking for is stronger pain pills. I don't know if there will be any other remedy.
I wouldn't mind all the aches of aging if it didn't hurt so bad.
I never should have left the house. First of all, because we didn't have reservations we ended up sitting way at the back of the bus. The motion back there around curves and through rough pavement was horrid on my back. They brought us a wheelchair right to the bus lobby and Jeannette was a trooper pushing me through the casino, but the motion of getting in and out of the chair took a huge toll. Then there was the whole bus ride back.
I have been pretty much bed ridden with pain ever since. Today is the earliest I could get a doctor's appointment and Rita is taking me at 11:00 am. The most I am looking for is stronger pain pills. I don't know if there will be any other remedy.
I wouldn't mind all the aches of aging if it didn't hurt so bad.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Restless dreams
I dreamed that someone was chasing me with a 2 x 4. They caught me. It was that little green guy from the Ben Gay ads in the funnies years ago. I opened my eyes. My back was throbbing. BOOM boom, BOOM boom. It was throbbing in direct correlation to my breathing. BOOM boom, in; BOOM boom, out; BOOM boom, in; BOOM boom, BOOM, boom. I looked at the clock. It was two and one half hours since I had taken a pain pill. What was I going to do for the next three and a half hours till I could have another one.
While I was contemplating this, someone drove a nail into my left ankle. It really hurt and I tensed up. My right foot took that tensing motion as an invitation to cramp and my toes started to curl down. I quickly sat on the side on the bed to place my foot flat on the floor to stop the curling process. Another 15 minutes had gone by.
As I sat up I said "Hello, there" to the new pains. The rib cage that wouldn't let me take a deep breath. The neck and shoulder pain that made my head tilt funny. Another 5 minutes went by. All my pains were mocking me. "If," I said to myself, "I can stand up, I am going to take another pain pill, and a sleeping pill, and some quinine so that a cramp doesn't come back and wake me if I should happen to fall asleep."
I placed my hand on the corner of the dresser near my bed, and bracing myself, began to stand up. The tremor in my hand dropped it off the dresser and I was plunked back down onto the bed. What to do? I looked at my pillow and tilted to the right and laid my head back down. I could take a deep breath in that position and it didn't hurt. Also, if I tilted just so, my shoulder didn't hurt as much. Another 10 minutes went by. Now I only had to wait three hours for a pain pill.
I pulled my legs back up under the covers and they both seemed relaxed. Now it was just me and the BOOM, boom; BOOM, boom. I conciously changed the rhythm of my breathing so they wouldn't coincide. I closed my eyes and began a string of Hail Mary's.
When I opened my eyes, another 20 minutes had gone by. I didn't feel any pain. Another couple of Hail Mary's in gratitude. The World Series of Poker was on ESPN2. I had seen that episode but it didn't matter because I didn't have my glasses on. They were scrolling sport scores along the bottom of the screen. The Nations had beat the Martians. The Corinthians had beat the Philistines 5 to 3. I reached for my glasses to see who the teams really were.
Big mistake. Several twinges reminded me that I wasn't supposed to be moving. So I lay very still and closed my eyes. Next time I opened them there were only 20 minutes to wait till I could have my next pill. Maybe I won't need it.
So I drifted off to sleep anxiously awaiting a visit from my good friend Mrs. "I-need-to-pee", and her sisters "right-now", and "hurry-up".
While I was contemplating this, someone drove a nail into my left ankle. It really hurt and I tensed up. My right foot took that tensing motion as an invitation to cramp and my toes started to curl down. I quickly sat on the side on the bed to place my foot flat on the floor to stop the curling process. Another 15 minutes had gone by.
As I sat up I said "Hello, there" to the new pains. The rib cage that wouldn't let me take a deep breath. The neck and shoulder pain that made my head tilt funny. Another 5 minutes went by. All my pains were mocking me. "If," I said to myself, "I can stand up, I am going to take another pain pill, and a sleeping pill, and some quinine so that a cramp doesn't come back and wake me if I should happen to fall asleep."
I placed my hand on the corner of the dresser near my bed, and bracing myself, began to stand up. The tremor in my hand dropped it off the dresser and I was plunked back down onto the bed. What to do? I looked at my pillow and tilted to the right and laid my head back down. I could take a deep breath in that position and it didn't hurt. Also, if I tilted just so, my shoulder didn't hurt as much. Another 10 minutes went by. Now I only had to wait three hours for a pain pill.
I pulled my legs back up under the covers and they both seemed relaxed. Now it was just me and the BOOM, boom; BOOM, boom. I conciously changed the rhythm of my breathing so they wouldn't coincide. I closed my eyes and began a string of Hail Mary's.
When I opened my eyes, another 20 minutes had gone by. I didn't feel any pain. Another couple of Hail Mary's in gratitude. The World Series of Poker was on ESPN2. I had seen that episode but it didn't matter because I didn't have my glasses on. They were scrolling sport scores along the bottom of the screen. The Nations had beat the Martians. The Corinthians had beat the Philistines 5 to 3. I reached for my glasses to see who the teams really were.
Big mistake. Several twinges reminded me that I wasn't supposed to be moving. So I lay very still and closed my eyes. Next time I opened them there were only 20 minutes to wait till I could have my next pill. Maybe I won't need it.
So I drifted off to sleep anxiously awaiting a visit from my good friend Mrs. "I-need-to-pee", and her sisters "right-now", and "hurry-up".
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Trial Run
Jeannette and I are making a trial run at the Windsor Casino today. The last couple of times I have gone there I just had to walk as far as the bus lobby and Adrienne got a wheel chair for me and wheeled me wherever we had to go. Alas, Jeannette doesn't have the youth and strength to do that. She can push me over smooth surfaces but most of the casino is carpeted and that's harder.
Jeannette really enjoys our shared casino escapades and apparently stayed awake all night mapping out a plan of action that would require minimum carpeted pushing. So we are going to the bus this afternoon without reservations and if they have openings we will test out her theoretical plan.
Jeannette really enjoys our shared casino escapades and apparently stayed awake all night mapping out a plan of action that would require minimum carpeted pushing. So we are going to the bus this afternoon without reservations and if they have openings we will test out her theoretical plan.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
I have survived
Survived and thrived and it was probably the best trip of my entire life. Exceeding by far all the expectations.
The secret to enjoying travel in a wheelchair is to bring along at least two people who really love you. I don't think this trip would have been as doable with only one daughter.
I just re-read all of the cruise postings so I would know what I don't need to tell. They covered it pretty thoroughly. One nice thing we found at the very start was there were umbrella's provided with the room for our use. We hadn't thought to bring any.
Adrienne turned out to be a master at organization, navigation and procurement. We booked in advance only the St. Petersburg private car and the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. We figured we would book others when we felt the need. It turned out that by the time we felt the need some were no longer available. Adrienne kept checking the excursion desk and managed to pick up most of what we wanted. It was her perseverance that got us the Rivers and Canals tour in St. Petersburg that was one of my favorites.
Our trivia games on ship were so much fun. One of the last trivia's was a geography one and we only got 8 answers out of 20. Adrienne turned our paper over and said "I'm not telling anyone how bad we did." Usually people shout out their scores. Adrienne maintained her silence until it looked like the winner was going to be someone who had 7. She still wasn't proud of having only 8 but that turned out to be the winning score. It was a very difficult quiz.
The prizes we collected (pens, lanyards and luggage tags mostly) will be used by Adrienne on a turn-around bus trip she is helping to organize to State Line as prizes for their travel games on the bus.
The last couple days of rough seas were very hard on my back and I developed a whole new area of pain that made life a little more difficult. But after being home and doing nothing for a few days that part has subsided. All my current pains are old friends and we are back to normal.
The secret to enjoying travel in a wheelchair is to bring along at least two people who really love you. I don't think this trip would have been as doable with only one daughter.
I just re-read all of the cruise postings so I would know what I don't need to tell. They covered it pretty thoroughly. One nice thing we found at the very start was there were umbrella's provided with the room for our use. We hadn't thought to bring any.
Adrienne turned out to be a master at organization, navigation and procurement. We booked in advance only the St. Petersburg private car and the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. We figured we would book others when we felt the need. It turned out that by the time we felt the need some were no longer available. Adrienne kept checking the excursion desk and managed to pick up most of what we wanted. It was her perseverance that got us the Rivers and Canals tour in St. Petersburg that was one of my favorites.
Our trivia games on ship were so much fun. One of the last trivia's was a geography one and we only got 8 answers out of 20. Adrienne turned our paper over and said "I'm not telling anyone how bad we did." Usually people shout out their scores. Adrienne maintained her silence until it looked like the winner was going to be someone who had 7. She still wasn't proud of having only 8 but that turned out to be the winning score. It was a very difficult quiz.
The prizes we collected (pens, lanyards and luggage tags mostly) will be used by Adrienne on a turn-around bus trip she is helping to organize to State Line as prizes for their travel games on the bus.
The last couple days of rough seas were very hard on my back and I developed a whole new area of pain that made life a little more difficult. But after being home and doing nothing for a few days that part has subsided. All my current pains are old friends and we are back to normal.
Friday, June 15, 2007
I may survive
These girls are trying to kill me. But I'm a survivor.
The fun started when the phone rang. A trip to the airport and Adrienne was in my car. We stopped on the way home at a restaurant I wanted to try for their $2.25 breakfast special. Adrienne laughed at me when I brought home the extra toast we hadn't eaten. A couple of shopping stops and we got home about 11:00 AM.
We left to get the Casino Windsor bus at noon. As soon as we got to the casino, Adrienne was looking for her next meal. She's a three meal a day girl. Who knew. We had a very nice lunch and proceeded to the machines. I listened intently but none of them knew my name. I had enough canadian cash for each of us to start out with $40.00. about 6 o'clock heading back to the bus pick up area we stopped at a wheel of fortune machine and I took out $66.00 and change. We stopped at a machine that cashes out tickets and it spit out $61.00. My first thought was, "the machine is broken" my next thought (after I looked at and counted the money a couple of times) was, this is american money. The small print on each machine tells you whether it will dispense american or canadian currency. I complained to the cashier and she traded me the proper amount of canadian, taking my word for how much the ticket was for.
Once off the bus, we needed a stop at Long John Silver, (3rd meal). Thursday morning we had some shopping and copying errands and I sent Adrienne on her own. Dinner at the Texas Roadhouse with erika, steph, jeannette and gretchen was a lot of fun but I was really tired. We had plans to get up at 4 or 5 to go to Greektown. I slept a couple of spurts and at about 1:00 AM we were all awake and decided to go then. We left the casino and looked for a breakfast place on the way home. We were confident that restaurants and coney islands would open at 6. Not so. When we got to the one closest to home it was 10 to 7 and we just waited for it to open at 7.
I fell into bed when we hit the house and didn't even hear Gretchen get up for work. We didn't take her with us to Greektown, her having a job and all.
So here we sit. All of our luggage got packed into Jeannette's trunk last night so we can't change our minds about what to bring. We are all showered and shaved and half asleep as we wait for our ride.
The fun started when the phone rang. A trip to the airport and Adrienne was in my car. We stopped on the way home at a restaurant I wanted to try for their $2.25 breakfast special. Adrienne laughed at me when I brought home the extra toast we hadn't eaten. A couple of shopping stops and we got home about 11:00 AM.
We left to get the Casino Windsor bus at noon. As soon as we got to the casino, Adrienne was looking for her next meal. She's a three meal a day girl. Who knew. We had a very nice lunch and proceeded to the machines. I listened intently but none of them knew my name. I had enough canadian cash for each of us to start out with $40.00. about 6 o'clock heading back to the bus pick up area we stopped at a wheel of fortune machine and I took out $66.00 and change. We stopped at a machine that cashes out tickets and it spit out $61.00. My first thought was, "the machine is broken" my next thought (after I looked at and counted the money a couple of times) was, this is american money. The small print on each machine tells you whether it will dispense american or canadian currency. I complained to the cashier and she traded me the proper amount of canadian, taking my word for how much the ticket was for.
Once off the bus, we needed a stop at Long John Silver, (3rd meal). Thursday morning we had some shopping and copying errands and I sent Adrienne on her own. Dinner at the Texas Roadhouse with erika, steph, jeannette and gretchen was a lot of fun but I was really tired. We had plans to get up at 4 or 5 to go to Greektown. I slept a couple of spurts and at about 1:00 AM we were all awake and decided to go then. We left the casino and looked for a breakfast place on the way home. We were confident that restaurants and coney islands would open at 6. Not so. When we got to the one closest to home it was 10 to 7 and we just waited for it to open at 7.
I fell into bed when we hit the house and didn't even hear Gretchen get up for work. We didn't take her with us to Greektown, her having a job and all.
So here we sit. All of our luggage got packed into Jeannette's trunk last night so we can't change our minds about what to bring. We are all showered and shaved and half asleep as we wait for our ride.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Any Minute Now
The phone is going to ring any minute now. And Adrienne will be here. I will jump in the car and drive to the airport and she will be there. That means the cruise starts now. Actually it started the minute Adrienne left her house to go to her airport, but I slept through that part.
Its ringing, she's here.
Its ringing, she's here.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Who Won
I am watching the French Open a little earlier in the day today since ESPN2 is running the women's semi-finals live. All week I've been watching those scrolls at the bottom showing team match-ups and what time the game is going to start. I was surprised when I saw the Tigers-Indians come up and they actually had last night's scores posted. Wow, Tigers 10, Indians 0.
BTW does Micky Mouse winning the Stanley Cut diminish it in any way?
BTW does Micky Mouse winning the Stanley Cut diminish it in any way?
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Respect or Lack of
this is a story about three people who earned no respect this morning.
The first was the greeter at Meijers whose sigh and eye roll earned no respect when I asked her for an electric cart.
I used my list but succumbed to a few impulse buys along the way. Half pound Hershey bars were on clearance. Probably because they are planning to decrease the volume and increase the price. So I bought some of those. The milk (priced at 3.09) was free if you bought two packages of oreo cookies (on sale 2 for 5.00) so I bought some of those. Natural Wheat bread, that was packaged just like my favorite Brownberry brand was buy one get one free. So I bought some of those. My cart was over flowing.
Now comes the cashier. I can't do it myself any more and it doesn't matter how far down the store the first working cashier is because I'm using the electric cart and travel is easy. The cashiers have those bag carousel things at the end of the counters and I can usually, from my sitting position, take each bag and put it in the cart as she fills it. So now I have the bread, some lunch meat and both packages of cookies in the first bag. As I try to lift it into the cart I say "You're kidding, right?" And as I am re-packing that, she is rapidly filling bags.
I am putting them into my cart, leaving a corner space for the milk. I stop to take care of the payment part of the dance and as soon as she thrusts the paperwork into my hands she comes around the counter and I am thinking "Oh good, I'm going to get help". She piles the rest of the bags into the cart and her parting words are "Don't forget your milk, I don't know where you want to put that."
Where indeed. Short of unloading and re-packing the cart there is no place for the milk. So I put it on the floorboard at my feet and proceed to the parking lot. Usually I will transfer my groceries to a regular cart and wheel that out to my car. The thought of lifting that milk is what made me ride the electric cart all the way to my car. That cashier earned no respect from me.
Now I wheel up to the back of my car and there appears beside me a cart-collector guy. I'm thinking I will not have to lift that milk into the car. Silly me. He was standing so close to the cart, I had to say "Excuse me" to be able to stand up. He moved far enough away to let me open the trunk and that's where he stood till I was all done packing the bags into the trunk. When I was near the end of the bags I almost said "Would you get that milk for me?" but I was fuming a little by then and was going to show him I didn't need no stinkin help.
When I closed the trunk he said "I'll take the cart back." and I said "Thank you." How does that thank you fall out so easily. The sentence I had in mind did end with you but it didn't start with thank.
Meijers is still my favorite place to shop. Most of the employees are courteous and helpful and I don't know why I had to encounter all 3 of the rude ones today.
The first was the greeter at Meijers whose sigh and eye roll earned no respect when I asked her for an electric cart.
I used my list but succumbed to a few impulse buys along the way. Half pound Hershey bars were on clearance. Probably because they are planning to decrease the volume and increase the price. So I bought some of those. The milk (priced at 3.09) was free if you bought two packages of oreo cookies (on sale 2 for 5.00) so I bought some of those. Natural Wheat bread, that was packaged just like my favorite Brownberry brand was buy one get one free. So I bought some of those. My cart was over flowing.
Now comes the cashier. I can't do it myself any more and it doesn't matter how far down the store the first working cashier is because I'm using the electric cart and travel is easy. The cashiers have those bag carousel things at the end of the counters and I can usually, from my sitting position, take each bag and put it in the cart as she fills it. So now I have the bread, some lunch meat and both packages of cookies in the first bag. As I try to lift it into the cart I say "You're kidding, right?" And as I am re-packing that, she is rapidly filling bags.
I am putting them into my cart, leaving a corner space for the milk. I stop to take care of the payment part of the dance and as soon as she thrusts the paperwork into my hands she comes around the counter and I am thinking "Oh good, I'm going to get help". She piles the rest of the bags into the cart and her parting words are "Don't forget your milk, I don't know where you want to put that."
Where indeed. Short of unloading and re-packing the cart there is no place for the milk. So I put it on the floorboard at my feet and proceed to the parking lot. Usually I will transfer my groceries to a regular cart and wheel that out to my car. The thought of lifting that milk is what made me ride the electric cart all the way to my car. That cashier earned no respect from me.
Now I wheel up to the back of my car and there appears beside me a cart-collector guy. I'm thinking I will not have to lift that milk into the car. Silly me. He was standing so close to the cart, I had to say "Excuse me" to be able to stand up. He moved far enough away to let me open the trunk and that's where he stood till I was all done packing the bags into the trunk. When I was near the end of the bags I almost said "Would you get that milk for me?" but I was fuming a little by then and was going to show him I didn't need no stinkin help.
When I closed the trunk he said "I'll take the cart back." and I said "Thank you." How does that thank you fall out so easily. The sentence I had in mind did end with you but it didn't start with thank.
Meijers is still my favorite place to shop. Most of the employees are courteous and helpful and I don't know why I had to encounter all 3 of the rude ones today.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
The Visit
Mama came to visit me this morning. I was standing at the stove when I heard movement in the other room. I assumed it was Gretchen getting ready for work so I continued what I was doing with my back turned. When I turned and looked up there was Mama sitting in my chair in the living room. I was so glad to see her. I rushed in and leaned over to hug her and said how sorry I was to be living in a place where she had never been, and how did she find me. She said that she hadn't come alone. I heard noise in the bathroom and realized that Pa had come with her.
Before he could reveal himself, I was well and truly awake. I should have realized it was a dream because there is no way I can bend over like that. But the warm, fuzzy feeling of having seen her stays with me.
It occurs to me that my children might feel the same way about me. Happy to see me and be in the same room. I'm a little high maintenance right now but I want them to know that I will be visiting them forever even when its just in a dream.
Before he could reveal himself, I was well and truly awake. I should have realized it was a dream because there is no way I can bend over like that. But the warm, fuzzy feeling of having seen her stays with me.
It occurs to me that my children might feel the same way about me. Happy to see me and be in the same room. I'm a little high maintenance right now but I want them to know that I will be visiting them forever even when its just in a dream.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Lazy Days
My mother went on Retreat. Retreat is something Catholics used to do (and quite possibly still do) for a day or a weekend to help kick start their spirituality. With the added bonus of a couple that I have been on, of getting away from the kids for a day or a weekend.
During her Retreat, a lecturer asked the women to write down on a piece of paper one negative attribute about themselves. My mother wrote "lazy". Then all these pieces of paper were gathered and dumped into a makeshift fire pit and the lecturer said he was going to set fire to them and the women would feel cleansed of these attributes.
My mother did not wish to be "cleansed" of her laziness. It was all she could do not to jump up and say "Wait, I want mine back." But, of course burning the papers did not make the attributes disappear, and my mother continued to enjoy being lazy till the end of her days.
In fact, her laziness is alive and well and living in her favorite daughter. My days of actually having to get dressed and do something outside the house are getting fewer and farther between. Its not that I don't like doing things outside the house (well, I kind of don't) but I love the lazy days.
During her Retreat, a lecturer asked the women to write down on a piece of paper one negative attribute about themselves. My mother wrote "lazy". Then all these pieces of paper were gathered and dumped into a makeshift fire pit and the lecturer said he was going to set fire to them and the women would feel cleansed of these attributes.
My mother did not wish to be "cleansed" of her laziness. It was all she could do not to jump up and say "Wait, I want mine back." But, of course burning the papers did not make the attributes disappear, and my mother continued to enjoy being lazy till the end of her days.
In fact, her laziness is alive and well and living in her favorite daughter. My days of actually having to get dressed and do something outside the house are getting fewer and farther between. Its not that I don't like doing things outside the house (well, I kind of don't) but I love the lazy days.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
That's OK Grandma
Usually Jackson stories belong to Erika but these two are mine.
While eating lunch at my kitchen table yesterday one of my front teeth broke. The one right next to the one that they fixed last time. When he saw my mouth with a tooth missing Jackson said, "That's OK Grandma, another one will grow in there."
Later he had reluctantly agreed that we could go shopping. He wanted to do something more fun than that but I told him we needed to go to the bathing suit store because I needed a bathing suit. There was someone moving out in my parking lot and their truck was blocking my car so he knew we had to wait till the truck left. While he was watching out the front door for the truck to leave he turned around and said, "Actually, Grandma already has a bathing suit."
Who expects a 3 year old to begin a sentence with actually?
I convinced him that since my bathing suit was black, I needed one with flowers on it. He likes flowers. I did find 2 bathing suits, both with flowers and Erika got one with Polka Dots. It turned out he loved polka dots on Erika.
While eating lunch at my kitchen table yesterday one of my front teeth broke. The one right next to the one that they fixed last time. When he saw my mouth with a tooth missing Jackson said, "That's OK Grandma, another one will grow in there."
Later he had reluctantly agreed that we could go shopping. He wanted to do something more fun than that but I told him we needed to go to the bathing suit store because I needed a bathing suit. There was someone moving out in my parking lot and their truck was blocking my car so he knew we had to wait till the truck left. While he was watching out the front door for the truck to leave he turned around and said, "Actually, Grandma already has a bathing suit."
Who expects a 3 year old to begin a sentence with actually?
I convinced him that since my bathing suit was black, I needed one with flowers on it. He likes flowers. I did find 2 bathing suits, both with flowers and Erika got one with Polka Dots. It turned out he loved polka dots on Erika.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
And Then There Were Two
One little, two little, three little sisters. Papa could sing that song all the way up to 10. And now there are two. Last Friday, Alfreda succumbed to Leukemia that had been diagnosed in January. That leaves Monique, who recently suffered a stroke and is recuperating with her daughter Merrielle, and Julia who had surgery this year for a cyst removal from her breast that was benign.
Friday, April 20, 2007
I could spit
The Fed Ex truck stopped at my house yesterday. They left a mail packet from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Many years ago I participated in a National Institute of Health Diet and Health Study. I remember thinking as I answered their questions "Hah, compute this."
Another time I volunteered to participate in a study of Post Menopausal Women who had never taken hormones. But when push came to shove, I was not willing to take the pills they provided without knowing whether they were placebos or hormones. So I bowed out.
It seems this Institute is now doing a study called Parkinson's, Genes and Environment Study (PAGE). I have been selected as a participant who does not have Parkinson's. The packet included 1) consent forms, 2) PAGE Study brochure 3) 2 Saliva collection kits 4) a Logo Pen and 5) a one dollar bill oh and a prepaid return envelope.
Although Adrienne had some misgivings about giving away your DNA, I have decided, in the interest of science to participate. The saliva collection kits consist of an inner vial with a screw top cap; an outer container (like a large pill bottle)with a snap on lid, a snug plastic bag with a sticky top closure that you put the outer container in. Then there is a Manila bio hazard bubble envelope that the two plastic bags go into. This envelope is stamped "Exempt Human Specimen" There are sticky-back labels for me to affix to each specimen with control numbers etc.
They want two specimens collected within 24 hours. So this morning I did my first one. The inner vial, although it is pretty small has a fill line on it. They ask that you collect the specimen within 15 minutes. Seriously, how much can you spit in 15 minutes.
So the first one is in the bag. Now I have all day to be conscious of my saliva glands and worry about how much I am wasting every time I swallow.
Many years ago I participated in a National Institute of Health Diet and Health Study. I remember thinking as I answered their questions "Hah, compute this."
Another time I volunteered to participate in a study of Post Menopausal Women who had never taken hormones. But when push came to shove, I was not willing to take the pills they provided without knowing whether they were placebos or hormones. So I bowed out.
It seems this Institute is now doing a study called Parkinson's, Genes and Environment Study (PAGE). I have been selected as a participant who does not have Parkinson's. The packet included 1) consent forms, 2) PAGE Study brochure 3) 2 Saliva collection kits 4) a Logo Pen and 5) a one dollar bill oh and a prepaid return envelope.
Although Adrienne had some misgivings about giving away your DNA, I have decided, in the interest of science to participate. The saliva collection kits consist of an inner vial with a screw top cap; an outer container (like a large pill bottle)with a snap on lid, a snug plastic bag with a sticky top closure that you put the outer container in. Then there is a Manila bio hazard bubble envelope that the two plastic bags go into. This envelope is stamped "Exempt Human Specimen" There are sticky-back labels for me to affix to each specimen with control numbers etc.
They want two specimens collected within 24 hours. So this morning I did my first one. The inner vial, although it is pretty small has a fill line on it. They ask that you collect the specimen within 15 minutes. Seriously, how much can you spit in 15 minutes.
So the first one is in the bag. Now I have all day to be conscious of my saliva glands and worry about how much I am wasting every time I swallow.
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