I hate those fu*kers. :mad:

I think that if anything went according to plan, I'd worry.

My mother is now safely ensconced in the CCU at Presbyterian, one of the top 100 hospitals in the United States for Interventional Cardiology.

However, because they are the best in the business, they get a lot of the business. They were so busy with emergency Catheterizations, that my mom, since she is stable, got bumped to the bottom of the list. They now think they will be doing her cath on Monday.

Guess I have to tell work that I was wrong, and that I won't be coming in.

Guess I have to tell work that I was wrong, and that I won't be coming in.

Sorry to hear about your mothers Illness ,
Stay strong ,
use your head to make dessions ,
When you have to make hard choices your heart will fuck with your head ( I know you know this ) .
if your work is worth a SHIT they will let you go when you HAVE to GO !!
My boss and a good customer BOTH told me to
" Get the hell out of here and take care of your Mom !!!!
These scales can wait !!!"
Stay strong !!!

I'd offer some helpful advice if I didn't think you weren't already five steps ahead of me in the advice dept so I'll just offer my support and hope that your mother makes a full and successful recovery.

My Mom had a cardiac scare whilst visiting here a few years ago - we had to take her directly to the hospital from the airplane where she stayed until she left. Her EKG looked like OJ Simpson's lie-detector test results. I know how scary that is - to have your mother's mortality on center stage with the finest cardiologists at Fairfax Hospital -not exactly a M*A*S*H unit itself- completely stumped as to the source of the problem.

That was several years ago and she made a complete recovery with the net result that I appreciate even more every day that she is still here. I wish the same outcome for you.

Sending good wishes your way for you and your mum, Wolf.

I managed to survive a trip into the city yesterday to visit. The difference between "city" and "suburban" hospital is eminently clear to me now. The nurse : patient ratio is much smaller, and the staff are very nice, and willing to provide a lot of detail about their expectations for mom's treatment and progress. They even paged the interventional cardiologist for me so I could speak with him. He was no longer in the hospital, but called in and I got to have a long conversation with him on the phone.

They totally rape you on the parking garage however. I was used to $5 for any time over 1 hr ... I paid $15 for about 2.5 hrs. Yikes!!

If I'm figuring out the public transit costs properly (round trip train ride, plus an assortment of subways and busses) I won't actually save much, if anything.

But on public transportation you don't have to steer, leaving a free hand to hold the spare magazine. No not Ladies Home Journal. :lol:

On for tomorrow?

I'm glad it worked out for you. My dad just moved out of Lankenau into rehab for a week or so. At Lankenau a doctor was talking to him in his room and finishing his examination. My mom and my wife walked into the room. The doctor went into a classic 'talk to the hand' pose and said 'Don't ask any questions.' He finished the examination, ignored my mother, and then left.

My mother may have been a little stunned by this and didn't do anything about it. My wife wanted to rip the guy a new asshole but also restrained herself.

As of today, yes, the cardiac cath with stent placement is to occur tomorrow, probably around 1300-1400 hrs.

A lot has gone on in a couple of days, and I was knocked offline by an 18 hour power failure.

The cardiac cath was done on Monday, but no stent placed (the architecture of the vessel was too tricky to allow that to be done safely). The cardiologist, who had cathed her before, said she was as stable as she was going to get and cleared her for surgery. She was moved back to the original hospital on Tuesday afternoon.

Things moved a little faster after that. We learned yesterday that her surgery was scheduled for today (one small step for momWolf, so to speak) at around noon.

Mom's surgery got moved up by an hour or so today. She called my sister and I at home to get us to the hospital in time to see her beforehand. We had visions of her grabbing onto the bedrails and refusing to be moved until she saw us. The hospital apparently has had experience with this. They just move your whole bed with you!

Everything went well, the surgeon was very encouraged by how she tolerated the surgery. She will be on the ICU for at least the next couple of days.

Good news, Wolf. Mom will be back being feisty before you know it...or are ready for it. :)

Glad to hear everything is going according to plan. Here's wishing your mum a speedy recovery.

Best wishes, WolfMom!

We're still with you, Wolfie.

Elspode, you must be psychic or something ...

According to the ICU nurse, Mom is officially feisty. Her first official conscious ... or to give her the benefit of the doubt, semi-conscious act was to attempt to extubate herself.

This earned her a set of soft restraints and some extra time is twilight sleepy land.

Hopefully they'll be able to extubate her tomorrow and let her loose.

That's what I did when they brought me up to make sure I hadn't gone brain dead after my bypass surgery. Damn thing is not supposed to be there.

As of about 1800 hrs tonight, momWolf still had not been extubated, however, is now breathing on her own rather than with the assistance of the ventilator. According to the ICU nurse, they'll pull it just as soon as she is sufficiently conscious to maintain her airway. They had discontinued the meds that were keeping her asleep, and she was sleeping naturally.

Progress...good progress. :thumb2:

Hey Wolf,

I'm new to the cellar and don't know a stitch about you , But I couldn't help but be moved by you and your mom's struggles outlined in this thread, so I wanted to let you know you have one more person adding their emotional well wishes and sending spiritual strength your way. Good luck with all !

Many good wishes to you and your mom! I am sure things will work out, but I know you can handle the difficulties in the meantime. :)

When I went to visit this afternoon I was told to hurry right down to the ICU because my mother was waiting for transport to go to another floor. My sister had gone to see her this morning prior to returning to Rhode Island, and did say that several more of the tubes and indwelling monitoring devices had been removed. We hadn't expected her to leave the ICU until sometime tomorrow, so she's doing better than was initially predicted.

The nurse on the cardiac floor was even very excited to see her, and told my mom that she had been checking on her progress following the surgery. Mom liked that. She must be endearing to the hospital staff ... on her return from Presby, the Chestnut Hill nurses, aides, and students were all rushing in and hugging her.

MomWolf is still quite hoarse, but today she is talking and making sense, even if she's sometimes hard to understand. She is having a bit of a hard time grasping the concept that it is now Sunday, but her time sense should come back okay. She was even bitching at me about my shirt being rucked up in the back, which tells me she's really doing much better.

Right on, Momwolf! Now tuck that shirt in and get to bein' snappy, you worrywart of a daughter! :)

Good to hear your mom's out of ICU. Now everyone can gather around at the same time.

Great news, Wolf!

Hi Wolf. Only being an occasional visitor these days I have read right from the start to here, the account of your mum and her recovery for which hoooray! I and my family have recently had a similar tale to tell with my aunt the star, my mum, her sister, died years and years ago.

Just to say I am so pleased for you and her that she is mending nicely and you must be so relieved. Big hugs to you Wolfie, get some treats organised for yourself and take great good care of yourself.

Hooray!

Glad to hear that your mom is doing much better

Some bouquets for the patient and her supportwolf:

Ah, labrat, you're so clever! Supportwolf is indeed what wolfie is! :)

Best to you, wolfmom and wolf. i'm rooting for you.

My grandmother is going through a tough hospital stay right now, and we've all been keeping a very close eye on her. Best wishes to your mom and her health, as well as your well-being, Wolf. You'll all make it through okay.

Today is my mother's 30th day in the hospital.

Saturday morning I received a panicked phone call from my sister, who lives about 5 hours drive away, "You better get to the hospital, there's something wrong with mom. I talked to her on the phone and she's not making any sense at all. She thinks that you're a baby, I'm dead, and she says Dad is in the room there with her."

My father died in 1983.

My sister was right. There was something wrong with mom. Friday night my mother was given some medication to help her calm down or to sleep or something (her nurse isn't sure why, but it may have been that there are two agitated patients near her room who scream all night, and she may have complained about the noise level). Anyway, she reacted poorly to the medication and was kind of bizarre. It worried me and scared my sister quite a bit ... audiovisual hallucinations, delusions, and disorientation are part of a pretty average day for me, but my sister is a financial manager ... even understanding what's going on it's difficult dealing with this in a family member who has never presented symptoms quite like this. Mom was really bad on Saturday, but was much better, but not totally there yet today. The episodes of confusion were fewer, but she's still not doing totally well, and was very irritable, particularly toward me.

The night nurse, Donna, is a great caregiver. She actually talked to me for about 20 minutes on the phone last night explaining a lot of what was going on, and she was equally helpful tonight in person. New labs were drawn and compared to an earlier set, with no changes noted, and a neurology consult was done ... they continue to assume that it was the Ativan my mom was given. Obviously, she will never get Ativan ever again.

The good news related to my mom for today was that she has started eating real food, if you can call hospital fare "real."

I'm allowed to take her special things that she wants to eat. So far she mentioned peanut butter and jelly, but she was still pretty goofy at the time. Once she's oriented a little better I'll start finding out from her what she really wants, but I will take PBJ along with me tomorrow, just in case.

Wow Wolf. That sounds really scary about your mom. I'm not sure what to say, I can only imagine that is must be very upsetting to be unable to communicate with her. I hope the ativan wears off quickly and she regains her wits.

Not in the hospital but in a couple weeks, when she's hale, hearty & home, she may sneak down to the ghetto to score. :D

Won't be long before she's home and back in the groove, because we're all willing it.
Are you going to have to move?

I've had three different relatives that have had a lengthy stay in the hospital (each over at least two weeks). Each one of them experienced dementia to some extent, one that seemed almost identical to MomWolf's experience. The severity of the dementia would rise and fall during their stay in the hospital and continued for about two weeks after going home. I'm happy to say that it subsided and then disappeared in each one of them. I hope you find as I did that it is a temporary condition and all will be well soon.

Today is my mother's 33rd day in the hospital.

(Incidentally, she returned from her little psychotic vacation yesterday. When I went to visit she was happy and chipper, eating lunch, and wondering what all the fuss was about. She has only very vague memories of what has been going on over the last four days)

Her surgeon came to her this morning, and told her that they had done as much for there as they could, and that she would be discharged later this afternoon. His parting comment was, "Thanks for not croaking on me."

Right now I am waiting for a phone call letting me know that my mom is being picked up by an ambulance to be transported to the nursing home I selected for her rehab. It is 2 miles from my house, and on my way to work. It's highly rated, and on their last state survey they were found to have no deficiencies. Basically that means that they got a perfect score on their survey which addresses patient care, documentation, environment of care, safety, and so on. That is very rare.

You're a good daughter, wolf. You deserve a party. Maybe some Chinese food, too :yum: (I am thinking along the lines of when you and friends went to that Chinese place for Chinese New Year...complete with Party Hat!)

Your description of your mom's bad reaction to Ativan brought back many memories...sleepers, anti-anxiety--all meds that can wreck havoc on older people. Sundowners is also a problem, but, doesn't sound like that was the case with your mom.

hang in there. You're doing a great job.

My father went back into the hospital today. He was resting comfortably in rehab and everything looked good for him to come home in a week or so. Unfortunately, he had a minor complication that required better monitoring than the rehab, so they took him to emergency room, which is next door to the rehab.

From what I hear, everything is stable. Chances are he will be back in rehab in a day or so. I'll be there this weekend to see him wherever he is.

My mother was hospitalised a couple of years ago and also had psychotic attacks. We think these were connected to oxygen shortage and a different environment full of strange goings on. My mum is home and well again and I hope that your mum will be, too, soon Wolf!

I've been through a lot of this stuff with my parents over the last few years, I get the feelings. Peace.

Well, mom is now in the nursing home. Of course, that wasn't easy. She was transferred there last Wednesday (3-AUG-06) and was there for probably about 5 hours. Then she told the nurses aide she was having some mild chest pain, and BAM. They activated their emergency protocols, and the ambulance took mom to the hospital which shares a parking lot with the nursing home.

I received notification of this at work, while I was sitting on a one-to-one with a patient in restraints. I couldn't get the attention of any of my coworkers, so I made a couple of phone calls from the exam room, and established that mom was in good hands, and they were doing an assessment in the ER. As soon as I was able to extricate myself from work, I ran over to the ER, which is about 3 miles from my office.

I stayed there until they made the decision to admit her and then got her settled on the telemetry floor, which happened at about 0900. At that point I had been awake for 26 or 27 hours. My last official conscious act was to call off work for that night. I slept 8 hrs, woke up, visited at the hospital, had dinner and went back to sleep for another 10 hours. I guess the stress finally caught up with me, because I don't sleep like that.

Mom has now been returned to the nursing home with stern instructions from the cardiologist not to tell the nursing home staff that she is having chest pains ... after he got the laugh he wanted, he then explained that he was the coverage cardiologist for the nursing home and that he was giving specific instructions about trying two rounds of nitro and seeing if the pains resolved before they called 911.

In all the transfers, the only actually expensive piece of property that my mother had in her possession has gone missing ... her eyeglasses. She did not take them to the ER, and definitely had them at the nursing home. I know this because I filled out the admission property sheet. Every other disposable plastic basin and bottle of hospital mouthwash is there, but no glasses. Luckily, she only really needs them for reading, and I got her a pair of drug store reading glasses to use for the time being. I filed an incident report, and I hope that they turn up. I asked Saint Anthony for help and everything.

Tomorrow will be her first big day, as her physical rehab will begin.

Talking to my mother, today;
The doctors don't listen to elderly patients.
The doctors choose a prescribed treatment regimen from the menu, according to what the physicians assistant noted in the file.
Even when the doctors ask a question, they only listen for one or two specific answers that would send up a red flag, and dismiss anything else she says.
Trying to tell them codeine, 4 times a day for pain, causes constipation that's a real problem for someone with limited mobility, is fruitless. Even though it was at least partially responsible for two of the hospitalizations, this year.

Of course being a loving, devoted son, my response was, Fer chrissake Ma, you were a nurse for 40 years. You've been telling me the doctors were this way, forever. You know what to expect and you know you have to get their attention, even if you have to kick 'em in the balls.

I envy your patience, Wolf. :notworthy

Well, she survived the first stint of rehab, but I'm not sure if I will.

She was complaining to me about the process, and I said, "But mom, you have to do this stuff. You can't just lay there."

"I don't want to be here. I will sign myself out and come home."

"But mom, you can't go up the stairs."

"I'll just lay on the sofa."

*sigh* "Mom, I promise you that on the day that you can walk across that parking lot and get into my car, you can come home."

"Don't you dare say things like that to me!"

"Somebody has to."

On the upside, a small miracle occured.

The social worker responded to the incident report I filed on Saturday by coming in to see my mother. She mentioned that she had "six or eight pairs of glasses in my office. Perhaps your daughter would look at them and see if she could identify yours."

Perhaps I could, but would it have killed her to put them on a tray and bring them down to show my mom?

I was kicked out of the room by the wound care specialist, and ambled down to the social worker's office. Of course, she wasn't there. But the door was wide open, and as I stood there, I noticed the glitter of lenses atop her filing cabinet. So I stepped into the room to take a better look. There were indeed six or eight pairs of eyeglasses. I looked through them and did not see my mom's frames. I was about to leave the office when I noticed an eyeglass case.

Yes.

The one with a contrasting color address label front and center on it, with my mom's name and address. My business card was inside the case, along with the glasses.

I guess you don't have to read to be a social worker anymore.

On the other hand, I am the one who asked Saint Anthony to return the glasses, so it's only right that I'm the one who actually found them.

I now have the "good" glasses at home. My mother has three pairs of the finest reading glasses Walmart had to offer. $7.96, for all three. That's $2.65 a pair, to save you from doing the math. These can be lost, run over with a wheelchair, or taken away in the bedsheets to the commercial laundry and I won't care.

Of course, none of these things will happen, and they will be around forever. We all know that you only lose the things you really like :rolleyes:

Was on vacation last week, and just had a chance to check in. I am really glad to hear that it seems you are on the downward side of this. Good luck with the recouperation. A virtual hug to you both.

And the battle continues... it sounds like you have your hands full. At least you got to take a short break to do lots of sleeping. Apparently you needed it. ;) Good luck to you and your mom. Things will probably stay difficult, but you can handle it. One day at a time... that is how I get through it.

It is my grandmother that I have to deal with in that respect. My mom died at a young age (43) of a heart attack, so now my grandmother is my stand in mom. And let me tell you, we have had our share of hospital and rehab stays. Good luck to you and yours.

I have also been away and am glad that things are moving in the right direction, if not steadily ... Positive vibes from Scotland.

It will surely come as comfort to you to know that your mother's care at the hands of social workers and their ilk will be immeasurably improved once the whole libertarian program gets under way since business practices such as these will not survive, in the long run...

Sorry for the slip into sarcasm. I'm having challenges this week.

Glad to hear things are improving, if incrementally.

hings had been going fairly well as far as my mother's healing, however, this week there has been a setback related to the healing of her wound. The wound on her abdomen had been left open to heal from the inside out, which is apparently common in cases where there was a lot of internal infection. The wound began widening a bit last week, and now there is increased drainage, although no pus, and there is a possibility of infection. I spent today accompanying her to an appointment with a surgeon ... not the one who did her procedure, but rather one who was nearer to the nursing home. He was a good guy, and I have reports from folks at work that he's a good doctor. He made some changes to her medications, and my mom will be watched carefully for any changes. The nurse that cares for her is very spunky and effective, and is keeping a good eye on things.

I have a feeling that your Mom is quite spunky herself, and is keeping tabs on the nurse...... one can never be too careful... :)

Wound infections are nasty, but manageable. Good job keeping Mom on the path to healing, Wolf.

The nurse that cares for her is very spunky and effective, and is keeping a good eye on things.

Good they are the BEST kind !!!!

I spent another night in the emergency room, interestingly in the same exam area where all of this started ... Curtain 10 at Chestnut Hill. Spunky nurse wanted my mom seen by doctors that had done her surgery and made it so.

All is well, the original doctors think the nurse is an idiot, nothing wrong with the wound ... but I'll tell you what, it looked entirely different last night versus the day before. Last night it was clean and dry, and the right colors of reddish pink, the day before it was bright right, dripping with blood, and with yellow bits poking out in wrong places.

Ah, the mysteries of medicine. It was nice to see Doctor Wong, though. He's a funny guy.

In an interesting coincidence ... the driver of the ambulance that took my mom to the hospital was the best man at my other boss' wedding ... I had told my mom to ask if he was on the truck and she would be treated like a princess ... and so she was. A different crew took my mom back to the nursing home. Somehow my mom found out on the way that the one fellow was the brother of a guy I worked with, and the other was a friend of another of my coworkers.

I'm not surprised that everybody at least knows of, everybody, in that tight knit medical movers society.

Sounds like things are looking up. :thumb:

If she weren't still weak, shaky, and occasionally confuddled, I'd agree.

Still rooting for you and your mum ...

Um...*I'm* that way more often than not, so no worries. :)

Hope you are still taking good kind care of yourself Wolf, you do deserve more treats you know..

In the time that I haven't been posting there has been yet another trip to the emergency room, but things now appear to be proceeding much better in terms of my mom's progress.

In a moment of true wonderment ... while I was visiting with my mom yesterday, she had another, very unexpected visitor. My mom's old doctor (the one before the DO she goes to see now) showed up out of the blue.

Well, not quite out of the blue. I got the story out of him. Somehow, despite him no longer being my mom's doctor of record, and having left the practice he was in when he was last her doctor, somehow got mailed a copy of my mother's hospital discharge summary. And so, he decided to track her down. He was my/our family doctor for about ... (counts on fingers, toes, and ends up having to strip ammo out of mags to complete) 32 or so years.

If I hadn't been there when he showed up, I would have accused my mother of hallucinating.

Wolf, That's touching and funny. (the last part)

Wow. Good guy. I can't imagine a relationship with a doc lasting that long anymore.