Update on MOM

UPDATE ON MOM:  She has had a rough go of it.  Thanksgiving went fairly well but Mom had her problems.  I picked her up around 11:30 am from OAR.  I loaded her walker in the back of my pickup with the folding chairs borrowed from church.  Mom had her cane with her too.  For the first time in over 30 some years, we did not have the event at OUR house this year.  EVERYBODY was invited to “Firecracker’s” place there on the property next to “Popcorn and Snickers.”  Food, Football & Fellowship was great but Mom didn’t eat very much and had to take a nap.  Everyone had a dose of reality and many wonder if this will be our last thanksgiving with Grandma.  I got her checked back into OAR around 3:30 or 4 pm I think.  She wanted to skip supper and go straight to bed.

I may not have the details of the timeline perfect but here is where we are.  Mom has been having a problem with her bladder and has been seeing a specialist.  She is constantly feeling as if she must use the rest room.  At some point, Mom got up in the night and took a fall.  OAR called Snickers to advise that they were sending Mom to ER for assessment.  Snickers called me the next morning and gave an update.  They kept Mom in St. Anthony Hospital because she was dehydrated.  The report was that nothing was broken but she was very sore. 

I spend all day Saturday with her in the hospital.  She kept insisting that she needed to get up and go to the bathroom.  The nurses and I must have told her 500 times that she had a catheter and could relax and let go with her urine and all would be well.  She would not eat.  I hand fed her some rice, chicken, one bite of veggies, applesauce, and mandarin oranges with some 7up and water to drink.  She didn’t eat much.  After she had her evening medication, she fell asleep and I went home to get ready for church on Sunday.

 

 Snickers stayed with Mom all day Sunday.  I was involved with the church services and dealing with a police report about property damage at church by vandals Saturday night.

They kept Mom in the hospital Sunday night again and we thought she was doing a little better.  She was re-hydrated enough to disconnect the IV saline solution. However, we found out early Monday morning that Mom actually had three broken ribs.  They have her on pain medication for that now.  She also has “Thrush” in her mouth and throat.  They prescribed a “rinse and swallow” medication for this.  Snickers and I were both there this morning to talk with the attending Physician.  He was very helpful and informative.  He is going to keep her in the hospital again tonight and decide tomorrow if she can move back to OAR or more likely, to a rehabilitation unit other than the hospital.  All vitals are good.  She will be very sore with the broken ribs and depending on a variety of things, she should heal up from them in six to eight weeks.  She is very weak due to her not eating well but it is reasonable that she would not be eating well with the urinary problem and the thrush (and possibly Alzheimer's).  They will continue to give her pain medication and treat the thrush and put her on a “one on one watch” for her meals.  She still has the catheter.  A “Swallow Therapist” tested Mom and she did well with drinking liquid, swallowing applesauce and fruit cocktail but struggled with toast.  They have her on a very SOFT foods diet now.  She is also having problems with her dentures and has a sore spot on her lower gum.  So, they are letting her leave them out.  Snickers stayed with her today and I had to go re-paint part of our church building while we had some nice weather today.  Mom is a sweetheart most of the time but when she is having these kinds of problems along with her Alzheimer’s I think the staff at the hospital are glad when someone from the family is there to be with her.