Friday, January 17, 2008

Today I went over to the hospital early. It seems like Mom has been getting up early and getting into trouble early the last couple of mornings so I thought I'd get there early. When I got there a little before 7 AM she was sleeping and the room was dark. I had hopes that the extra oxygen might help her confusion and difficulty in speaking but she really wasn't much better. She knew me right away and seemed to understand questions I asked but she didn't know where she was or why she was there. She was having some discomfort so I asked the nurse and she gave her a pain medication in her IV. They are administering a course of antibiotics and fluids by IV. She continues to get oxygen to ease her breathing. Her circulation seemed to be better but she wanted to stay bundled up in blankets. She gets cold really easy. The tell me that they've ordered a heated air mattress that will help keep her warm and cut down on any breakdown of her skin.

I sat with her all day. Helped her have a little oatmeal at breakfast and some chicken and mashed potatoes at lunch. She had about a half dozen Hershey's Kisses, her favorite as snacks, and took sips of water, juice and milk from time to time.

Her oncologist stopped in and basically gave us the same report we'd heard from the ER Doctor on Wednesday. The cancer had not advanced in her lung and liver. He did say that it is possible that it may have metasticised into her brain but he felt that was un likely. Given her declining health he didn't recommend continuing the medication that she'd been on and didn't feel a head CT would really serve any purpose.

Late in the afternoon her internist stopped by to discuss her condition. She did say that her kidney function had not eroded further but there was a concern that they couldn't continue the IV drip more than another day or so because that will start to contribute to her adema. There was a concern that her very limited oral intake of both food and liquids will stress her kidneys and consequently her heart.

I tried to get an idea how long Mom has but there's really no way to know. It seems pretty certain that if her oral intake doesn't increase she'd need a feeding tube and IV to keep her going and we don't plan to do that.

It sounds like she'll be spending the rest of the weekend in the hospital and we're hoping for a spot and Parmly on Monday. At that point she will be designated for Hospice and the hospice nurses will see that she has the medications necessary to keep her comfortable.

Late in the day her nurses got her a recliner and helped her move into the chair to sit for a while. She was pretty tired by that time, but she liked the chance to sit up and have a little supper. Mom is definitely best early in the day. About 5 PM I drove home. I stopped at mothers and checked on Chrissie. We're going to have to figure out what to do with her. She's got the house to herself right now. I picked Sue up and we went back to Wyoming and got some supper before stopping back to see how mom was doing. When we got there they had just gotten her out of her chair and tucked her into her bed for the night. She was so tired. We just wished her a good night and we went home to update her blog.

Erik, Angie and Jessie are coming down from Grand Forks tonight so they'll be here to see Mom tomorrow.