It was a nice holiday here in Sycamore. I actually slept in and Mom was asleep when I got to the hosptial. They lowered her vent from 14 to 12. (that is breaths per minute) She had a good day, tolerated the change with no problem. She also had alot of awake time too! I like to sit and just talk to her, but I try to be quiet too. She gets tired easy and I try not to overload her senses, which is not good for a stoke patient like her. I did try to soak and scrub her fingernails for her and she did not like it!! Back to the drawing board on that one. She was up in her chair for about 3 hours in the evening. It was actually too long, she was getting very fidigity and went right to sleep when she got back in bed. She winked at me too! That made my day!!
I had a nice dinner in the cafeteria. I had turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, green bean casserole and some apple pie and I have to say it was really pretty good.
Today is exciting for me. Jeff is coming today!!!!!!!!!!! Then this evening Rich, Marie, Jonah and Paige will be here. I have not got to love on those babies for several months and plan to spoil them while they are here. Hey, isn't that my right as an aunt? I know Mom will be so glad to see everyone. She will have a busy weekend. Saturday night the 6 of us are going to Midevil Times. I don't think the kids or Jeff have been there. I think it will be really fun and good for me to get away for awhile.
I hope everyone had a wonderful day and ate lots!! Mom's aid Ruby said she ate too much turkey when she came back for her break and was moaning about how much her stomach hurt and she couldn't bend over. Mom was smiling at her. She is one of the sweetest aides we have had. Hope she can move today!
Bunches of Love, Angela
babiak3@yahoo.com
www.kindredhospitalsyc.com
www.payitfowardhouse.org
Friday, November 27, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Thanksgiving Eve
Good late evening everyone :O)
Today started the weaning process again. Let's see if I can explain this so it is understandable.
They moved her from full ventilator breathing for her to the ventilator breathing with her. It is still going to breathe with her for 14 breaths, but anything over that she is doing on her own. Does that make sense. I am a little nutty lately, maybe all of you should worry about me! HAHA!!
I spoke with the Pulmonologist's Physician Assistant today. Had not met him before. Seems to be a really nice person and a caring medical provider. He calls Mom..Nurse Ryan and said he makes sure everyone knows she is a nurse. He said that is because they need to remember she can hear what is going on and she knows what is being done to her and why. He said that can be a good thing or a bad thing. He said they were disappointed having to put her back on the ventilator, but he assured me it isn't uncommon. He said they were just so excited for her because being off the ventilator opened up so much more for her rehab. He explained to me that this is a dance. Sometimes they lead, sometimes mom leads. It just takes time and patience to get the dance in sync. I just love that explanation for some reason.
He had explained to me her episode and being put back on the vent was a bit puzzling. They still think she was getting tired, but the way I understood it, there is still a bit of concern about infections. Of course she still has some because of her belly (and they said that could take months to heal) but she is on 4 IV antibiotics and she is still getting a high white cell count.
I asked about her still having so much mucus and if it was because of her laying and not moving around. He said that was part of it, but when they were on a ventilator and with oxygen, they had to give them some moisture with those things which introduced moisture in the lungs and made a bit more mucus. So it's one of those things. He said that is another reason to get them off the ventilator a plug the trach is to help dry them out. Maybe we could put her on the clothesline.
He also said they were going to do a test on her and didn't get to it because of going back on the vent. I believe it is called a histology. I had Carol, her very sweet Respiratory Therapist explain it to me. So the way I understand it is they keep track of her breathing at night and basicly are checking for sleep apnea, which could wear her out. I told her I didn't doubt if she had it. I have it and wear a CPAP. So when she gets back to where they can do that test on her, they will.
Oh I got Mom's car fixed. Everyone here is so sweet. The hospital maintence man jumped the car for me. Mary Lou (who runs the house, my house mom) followed me to the repair shop and brought me back and Teri the very nice lady at the hospital front desk took me and dropped me off to pick it up when she got off work. Just needed a new battery. Now...what is wrong with Zach's car?
I went to a support group last night and I really enjoyed it. It was just me, another woman and Katherine who does the group. It is nice to talk to people who are going through what you are and know what you are feeling is normal. I am going to eat dinner with her tomorrow since we are both alone. The hospital is serving a Thanksgiving dinner. I will report back on that. I don't think they will have mom's homemade noodles. Since I don't care for pumpkin pie, I got a piece of pumpkin cheesecake at Barnes and Noble today. I hope it is as good as it looks.
I want everyone to have a wonderful Thanksgiving, eats lots and think of me and enjoy and love your family and friends. Life is fine one day and not the next.
Bunches of Love,
Angela
babiak3@yahoo.com
http://www.kindredhospitalsyc.com/
http://www.payitfowardhouse.org
Today started the weaning process again. Let's see if I can explain this so it is understandable.
They moved her from full ventilator breathing for her to the ventilator breathing with her. It is still going to breathe with her for 14 breaths, but anything over that she is doing on her own. Does that make sense. I am a little nutty lately, maybe all of you should worry about me! HAHA!!
I spoke with the Pulmonologist's Physician Assistant today. Had not met him before. Seems to be a really nice person and a caring medical provider. He calls Mom..Nurse Ryan and said he makes sure everyone knows she is a nurse. He said that is because they need to remember she can hear what is going on and she knows what is being done to her and why. He said that can be a good thing or a bad thing. He said they were disappointed having to put her back on the ventilator, but he assured me it isn't uncommon. He said they were just so excited for her because being off the ventilator opened up so much more for her rehab. He explained to me that this is a dance. Sometimes they lead, sometimes mom leads. It just takes time and patience to get the dance in sync. I just love that explanation for some reason.
He had explained to me her episode and being put back on the vent was a bit puzzling. They still think she was getting tired, but the way I understood it, there is still a bit of concern about infections. Of course she still has some because of her belly (and they said that could take months to heal) but she is on 4 IV antibiotics and she is still getting a high white cell count.
I asked about her still having so much mucus and if it was because of her laying and not moving around. He said that was part of it, but when they were on a ventilator and with oxygen, they had to give them some moisture with those things which introduced moisture in the lungs and made a bit more mucus. So it's one of those things. He said that is another reason to get them off the ventilator a plug the trach is to help dry them out. Maybe we could put her on the clothesline.
He also said they were going to do a test on her and didn't get to it because of going back on the vent. I believe it is called a histology. I had Carol, her very sweet Respiratory Therapist explain it to me. So the way I understand it is they keep track of her breathing at night and basicly are checking for sleep apnea, which could wear her out. I told her I didn't doubt if she had it. I have it and wear a CPAP. So when she gets back to where they can do that test on her, they will.
Oh I got Mom's car fixed. Everyone here is so sweet. The hospital maintence man jumped the car for me. Mary Lou (who runs the house, my house mom) followed me to the repair shop and brought me back and Teri the very nice lady at the hospital front desk took me and dropped me off to pick it up when she got off work. Just needed a new battery. Now...what is wrong with Zach's car?
I went to a support group last night and I really enjoyed it. It was just me, another woman and Katherine who does the group. It is nice to talk to people who are going through what you are and know what you are feeling is normal. I am going to eat dinner with her tomorrow since we are both alone. The hospital is serving a Thanksgiving dinner. I will report back on that. I don't think they will have mom's homemade noodles. Since I don't care for pumpkin pie, I got a piece of pumpkin cheesecake at Barnes and Noble today. I hope it is as good as it looks.
I want everyone to have a wonderful Thanksgiving, eats lots and think of me and enjoy and love your family and friends. Life is fine one day and not the next.
Bunches of Love,
Angela
babiak3@yahoo.com
http://www.kindredhospitalsyc.com/
http://www.payitfowardhouse.org
An even quicker one :O)
First of all, yes my phone was dead last night. Sorry. Jeff says it is hard to leave comments and you have to do it as anonymous. So if you do leave me one. Better tell me who it is!! That is one of the reasons I was going to start putting the email address on each post.
Bunches of Love,
Angela
babiak3@yahoo.com
www.kindredhospitalsyc.com
www.payitfowardhouse.org
Bunches of Love,
Angela
babiak3@yahoo.com
www.kindredhospitalsyc.com
www.payitfowardhouse.org
A Quick One
All is well, I am just behind. Still keeping her on ventilator for a few days before staring the weaning process again, so she can rest. Mom was awake more yesterday and interacting with me. Didn't seem as mad at me as she was on Monday. I am adding my email address, the hospital website and house website at the bottom of my posts for now. I have to sit a figure out how to make sidebars on the blog and frankly my brain just can't process it right now.
Bunches of Love,
Angela
babiak3@yahoo.com
www.kindredhospitalsyc.com
www.payitfowardhouse.org
Bunches of Love,
Angela
babiak3@yahoo.com
www.kindredhospitalsyc.com
www.payitfowardhouse.org
Monday, November 23, 2009
Long Day-Short Post
This won't be long, I am about to fall asleep. Didn't sleep much last night and had a stressful day today. I have been told it is not uncommon to go back on a vent many times until the person is able to be off of it full time. Mom was off for 4 days and they said she just got too tired. They are giving her a few days on the ventilator for her to rest up and then they will start weaning again. Thanks for all the prayers and keep them coming. Oh, she was more awake today and I got the vibe she was ticked off all day. Oh well, I still love her.
Bunches of Love,
Angela
Bunches of Love,
Angela
Ventilator
Not so good news. I got a call last night around 12:15 from Mom's nurse. They said he had some problems and was put back on the ventilator. I went right over to the hospital. Details are still kind of sketchy right now. They say she just couldn't handle the breathing on her own right now and got too tired. She was resting when I got there. I was told she might not be responsive to me, but she did open her eyes, focus on me and smile. They were doing a bunch of lab work on her, getting a blood gas, started another antibiotic and said she would get a chest xray and cat scan today. When I left her around 2:30 she was sleeping (finally nobody messing with her) and was stable. No more calls in the night. They said her oxygen levels and blood gas and everything was just fine, they think she was tired. I have a meeting today at 1 (was already scheduled) and I will find out more. This is supposed to be about where she has been and where they think she is going. I'll let everyone know tonight.
Bunches of Love,
Angela
Bunches of Love,
Angela
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Small Step Back
Today was a good day, just a small step back. She seemed to working really hard to breathe, you could tell by watching her stomach. She was working those muscles pretty good. So they put her back on the oxygen she was getting through the trach. You could tell within a few minutes that it helped. I was told not to worry, that was normal. Usually when they start stopping the oxygen through the trach, they do half and half. Half on the oxygen and half with the trach plugged for a 24 hr period and they didn't do that with her.
The cardiologist was in and listened to her heart and said all was good. He made the comment to her that he was sure she was sore from doing all that work while breathing on her own. That was before they put back on oxygen. She woke up for him and rubbed his hand and smiled at him. I think she likes him. Don't we all know how we feel about someone. He is very nice and soft spoken and he gets down in her face to talk to her and is never in a hurry.
Mom slept most of the day today. I put a bunch more pictures up for her and she was looking at them. Maybe tomorrow I will get something out of her besides a smile, not that that isn't good enough!!! They did start her tube feeding and it is not leaking out her belly.
Anyone want my story about going home? Went home Wednesday afternoon. It was really good to be home, but I missed Mom. Jeff and I went to visit Luca and Ashleigh that evening. I knew I missed Luca, but didn't know how much til I saw him. He seems like he has grown so much in just a month. I think he missed me too!!! I was hard to leave him. I took a few videos for Mom and we have watched them a few times, but then she goes to sleep.
I ran into a few problems while I was home and luckily they let me spend another night at home. I learned that it is hard to get a nurse on the phone to check on Mom. Does anyone else experience that?
Being home was nice. Got to love on my sweetie and Zach and the doggies. When I got home, Jeff was vacuuming. That is attractive!!! He even cooked for me Thursday night. Best meal I have had for awhile.
I went to see the lawyer Friday morning and then Martha met me and gave me a book she bought, more on that later. Then I was off. I stopped in Bloomington at the mall to get mom some of her favorite body butter at Victoria's Secret. Anyone who knows mom, knows she does not like to have dry skin! They were having a sale, so I got me some too. They have my favorite scent there too! It's not bad when they have a sale. If you spent so much, you got a gift. A free pair of thongs. WooHoo. They are packaged like a cupcake, really pretty. I took them out and decided they might fit on one of my legs. HAHA Anyone want them??? I stopped and went to the bathroom and got a drink at Mickey D's. On the road again, I was going to call Jeff, couldn't find my phone. Stopped at the next offramp and tore the car apart looking for it. Nothing. Only thing I could think of was I accidently threw it away at McD's. I had to turn around and drive back 32 miles. Went in and told the, was not in garbage. Great! A nice employee went out with me and called my phone. Somehow it got down in the seat and I couldn't see it. Sigh....at least I hadn't lost it. Back on the road, 64 miles wasted. I was so glad to get here.
They put a realtor's lock on the house with the key in it for me. Do you think I could get it open....NO, of course not. I do know how to do a combination lock. I had to call Mary Lou and she got me in the house (it's a secret how) finally got to go over and see Mom.
Saturday morning I try to get in the car and they remote doesn't work. Oh, the battery is dead. I figure I left something on. I came to the house early in the afternoon to get my key out of the box. The volunteers got it right out. Makes me look smart! One of the ladies had some jumper cables and she went with me and we got the car started. I let it run awhile and drove it around town. Parked it and turned it off and back on to check it. I go out around 5 to go get something to eat and its dead again. Luckily I didn't have to have it. I am right next to the hospital and I did have some food in the freezer. I will ask tomorrow and find out where I can take it. Can anything else go wrong this week? Guess I will just laugh.
Bunches of Love,
Angela
The cardiologist was in and listened to her heart and said all was good. He made the comment to her that he was sure she was sore from doing all that work while breathing on her own. That was before they put back on oxygen. She woke up for him and rubbed his hand and smiled at him. I think she likes him. Don't we all know how we feel about someone. He is very nice and soft spoken and he gets down in her face to talk to her and is never in a hurry.
Mom slept most of the day today. I put a bunch more pictures up for her and she was looking at them. Maybe tomorrow I will get something out of her besides a smile, not that that isn't good enough!!! They did start her tube feeding and it is not leaking out her belly.
Anyone want my story about going home? Went home Wednesday afternoon. It was really good to be home, but I missed Mom. Jeff and I went to visit Luca and Ashleigh that evening. I knew I missed Luca, but didn't know how much til I saw him. He seems like he has grown so much in just a month. I think he missed me too!!! I was hard to leave him. I took a few videos for Mom and we have watched them a few times, but then she goes to sleep.
I ran into a few problems while I was home and luckily they let me spend another night at home. I learned that it is hard to get a nurse on the phone to check on Mom. Does anyone else experience that?
Being home was nice. Got to love on my sweetie and Zach and the doggies. When I got home, Jeff was vacuuming. That is attractive!!! He even cooked for me Thursday night. Best meal I have had for awhile.
I went to see the lawyer Friday morning and then Martha met me and gave me a book she bought, more on that later. Then I was off. I stopped in Bloomington at the mall to get mom some of her favorite body butter at Victoria's Secret. Anyone who knows mom, knows she does not like to have dry skin! They were having a sale, so I got me some too. They have my favorite scent there too! It's not bad when they have a sale. If you spent so much, you got a gift. A free pair of thongs. WooHoo. They are packaged like a cupcake, really pretty. I took them out and decided they might fit on one of my legs. HAHA Anyone want them??? I stopped and went to the bathroom and got a drink at Mickey D's. On the road again, I was going to call Jeff, couldn't find my phone. Stopped at the next offramp and tore the car apart looking for it. Nothing. Only thing I could think of was I accidently threw it away at McD's. I had to turn around and drive back 32 miles. Went in and told the, was not in garbage. Great! A nice employee went out with me and called my phone. Somehow it got down in the seat and I couldn't see it. Sigh....at least I hadn't lost it. Back on the road, 64 miles wasted. I was so glad to get here.
They put a realtor's lock on the house with the key in it for me. Do you think I could get it open....NO, of course not. I do know how to do a combination lock. I had to call Mary Lou and she got me in the house (it's a secret how) finally got to go over and see Mom.
Saturday morning I try to get in the car and they remote doesn't work. Oh, the battery is dead. I figure I left something on. I came to the house early in the afternoon to get my key out of the box. The volunteers got it right out. Makes me look smart! One of the ladies had some jumper cables and she went with me and we got the car started. I let it run awhile and drove it around town. Parked it and turned it off and back on to check it. I go out around 5 to go get something to eat and its dead again. Luckily I didn't have to have it. I am right next to the hospital and I did have some food in the freezer. I will ask tomorrow and find out where I can take it. Can anything else go wrong this week? Guess I will just laugh.
Bunches of Love,
Angela
Quick Update
Did anyone think I disappeared? More of that later...... Mom is doing good. They have her trach plugged and she does have a nasal cannula with some oxygen, but she is doing all the work on her own!!! Her oxygen stats are around 98-100% and her heart rate is good. The infectous disease doctor did reorder all of her antibiotics since she still has drainage from her tummy. Last evening the gastro-guy ordered for her to start getting fed through her NG (nose) tube. If anything comes out of her stomach, they will stop it. So we shall see what today holds. She slept most of the day yesterday with just a few minutes of being awake here and there. I left her for a few days, maybe she it acting like the cat does and is ticked at me!! Have a wonderful Sunday, the sun is shining here and its supposed to be around 60!!
Bunches of Love,
Angela
Bunches of Love,
Angela
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