Extra double warm thoughts being beamed in your direction.

Hang in there UT. The path to recovery is never smooth.
Thankfully you are in a place where the recognized and immediately reacted to the situation.
Thoughts & prayers for you and your mom.

Glad katkeeper is doing well. Penn Presby is an awesome heart center. Yes, they do call MICU "Mick-you." Neonatal ICU is "Nick-You." They do not, however, call regular ICU "ick-you." Probably something to do with the negative connotations.

Yes, the 14 is the respiration rate. I've spent a lot of time watching monitors also. Those were some nice numbers. I had to wear the squeezy-pants after my gall bladder surgery. It's a little weird, but they do prevent blood clots.

That arrangement with all the necessary "stuff" in an ICU room is becoming more and more common. Abington Memorial did that as well. I've tried to decide whether it is comforting or disturbing to have the crash cart in the room with you.

Was Bradford Linn on her surgical team? He was one of momwolf's cardio-thoracic guys, and he is really good. Actually, anyone down at Presby was really good.

She is out of the water. The A-fib has not returned, whether due to the meds or due to it being a single event. Today she was able to walk 10 feet with assistance. They are thinking Bryn Mawr as a possible intermediate step between the hospital and my house.

yay!

Bryn Mawr Rehab, that is... for those who have not yet had loved ones there.

UT. BMRH is an awesome choice. Moss is another, but I believe it is much further from you.
I was at BMRH last Friday to see the neurologist. I'll be back next weekend too.
We still go back to visit patients every couple weeks.
Another friend of ours has surgery and is back recovering from "tendon lengthening surgery" (Tenotomy, I think).

They seem to be settling on Bryn Mawr and they seem to be settling on Tuesday.

It's so weird to realize that this has been a month ongoing so far, and probably has at least another month and half with my participation. But things should get better at this point!

It gets better.


Not that there's anything wrong with that. I don't want to change her, well, I guess I do, just the aneurysm part though.

Kidding aside, I love good news, thanks!!!

Bryn Mawr Rehab is top notch. Great that your mom was able to get a bed there.

^WSS^
Good for you - GREAT for her.
One piece of advice - go to some therapy with her. Pay attention to what they do. TAKE NOTES. Duplicate/replicate/mimic/build upon what they do with her. Insurance only pays for so much and you have a closing window of rehab time from the moment she gets there. It'll all be on family after discharge.
Good luck!

This.

Oh, and when my father in law was in rehab last summer, he was super nice and friendly to everyone. Learned everyone's names. Thanked everyone. Smiled to everyone. Etc.

When it came time for him to be kicked out, they fudged the forms a little bit and reported that he needed more rehab. And he got to stay a week or two longer. That extra time was very helpful when it came time to lining up a nursing home.

Ooooh - Very good glatt. I forgot about all that.
After that ran out I bitched up a storm about how the home wasn't ready.
I got another week on them. ;)

Great news!

Another round of A fib this morning means moving to rehab is delayed.

It seems like I am just documenting, at this point, not really sharing, but you do get the entire story.

documenting, sharing... is it working for you? I know that sounds cliche, but I think you know what I mean. We care for you and for those you care for. If this documenting / sharing is helping you, continue. If it's a drag for you, don't. We don't need to add to your burdens. (not all martyr-y, I'm just sayin.)

Well it's a story and I guess the whole story should be told, even if the most dramatic bits are done now.

I feel like this is a part of life and others of y'all may have to go through it at some point, or might someday know somebody going through it, so having heard all about it on the Cellar might be good.

Atrial fibrillation in and of itself is a manageable condition. My mum and my brother both lived with it for many years, managing it with medication. How it impacts on the other issues here, I cannot say. Continuing to send you and KatKeeper every good wish!

Funnily enough that's exactly what I thought after reading your previous post. If any of my nearest and dearest have to go through somethinglike this (and lets face it it grows more likely with each passing year!) I would find this thread really helpful and reassuring.

Yes, but the happy parts are just starting, where we can share the joy of rehab progress, and her going on to cure cancer, discover a non-polluting renewable energy, and bring world peace. :thumb:

Round three of a-fib at 3:30 am and improper responsiveness from the rehab place nurses. Rousted me at 4am. Decided to go to the hospital ER at 8am. Admitted by 3pm and IV'd with the right doses to keep her heart straight. She'll probably go back to rehab tomorrow or Sunday.

I worked an 11 hour day today.

frustrating times. hope she improves quickly and gets back to rehab and then back home

^^ WSS ^^

At least the rehab is properly responsive to the issue. Good on them!

Not really. This was supposed to be a cardiac rehab facility but they don't have EKG on premises, can't do IVs, not sure I get it.

regarding rehab: WTH?

Hoping for the best for your mom.

Rehab is for when you don't need that stuff.

I can almost assure you that they have one of those machines that goe ping on the premises, but that doesn't mean they have someone handy that knows how to use them. Heck, even the nuthouse had one of those, and I suspect they have one somewhere in the back room at the rehab. But anyway, if something's a-lookin' and a-soundin' funky, they have 911 on speed dial, and they're close by to Bryn Mawr Hospital, which does have a pretty good ER. So do the other ones nearby, for that matter.

lost in the telling is that she didn't go to burn mawr rehab although now she might. She went to a smaller place. But her am phlebotomist at the hospital just said that rehab has a poor infection rate which is a bad idea for heart patients. Wtf

ughhhhh

We finally found out:

Acute care: 3-4 hours/day
Sub-acute: 2-3 hours/day
Skilled nursing: 1/2 hours/day

~~~

That's why a cardiac patient doesn't get into Bryn Mawr. Bryn Mawr is acute-only.

Mom certainly didn't need anything but skilled nursing -- except that it needed to be actually skilled, in which severe a-fib should be recognized as a problem, monitored as closely as possible, and referred to the hospital immediately and perhaps not left up to the patient's decisions.

But at the shitty rehab, none of that was really available -- and thus...

It was eventually the patient who decided that she should be taken to Pottstown Memorial's ER. By ambulance, so that she could remain on oxygen. Once at Pottstown she was evaluated as truly at risk, and far enough from surgery that she could get blood thinning meds, which reduced her stroke risk by half [citation needed]. She was admitted and then told she had to stay for 3 days.

That allowed J the time to germinate the idea that mom didn't have to go back to the shitty rehab facility, and that the local retirement community/assisted living facility Shannondell had attached to it a skilled nursing facility. And although it was said to be hard to get a bed there, they had one available -- which mom was slotted for.

What a difference! Shannondell's private rooms have wall to wall carpeting, walk-in showers with benches... everything is clean and smells ok! Her nurse met us right at the door with a wheelchair and told us jokes as he explained that every day would get better. The next day's menu was taken and it was top-notch: pan-seared duck breast and green bean casserole. Within two hours of admission another nurse was fighting to transfer the meds that the Pottstown doc hadn't put on her list.

And then she went into AF again, and this time she had the right meds to keep it in check. The S-dell staff was authoritative: you'll stay here, now that you have the right meds, and our doc has read all fifty pages of your history and will see you on rounds. And she did stay; and today, out of AF, she did the physical therapy she needs.

I suspect Shannondell's facility is more for its permanent residents, which I think number about 3000. But they've overbuilt it (which is a great idea) and allow laypeople to get in, in order to keep the facility running at max.

However it occurred, Mom is now at an elite facility with excellent elite staff. If we had known what rehab is, that it was inevitable, and that it differed greatly from place to place, we would have visited these places beforehand. As it was we were offered a list of places to choose from with no notion of which one was better and how.

Thats what your case manager is for - WTH?

Anyway - I'm happy to hear that she is in the right place with the right people and equipment.
Goooooo Rehab!

A-FIB IS not a big deal if given appropriate meds, and if you feel like you are being screwed start the baby ASA a day routine and it will basically give you all the protection needed.

This is good news. I'm glad she's getting what she needs at Shannondell.

Don't get complacent though. Show an interest when you visit so the staff there continues the fine level of treatment. Hopefully she won't need to be there too long.

Sounds like your mum is in the right place this time. Fingers crossed for you all, UT!

The problem Merc is that post-surgery she could not be given blood thinners of any kind, and clots are a more severe stroke risk then. The hospital would IV the med for it and it was always a more serious med, one that's only used for more severe arrhythmia, because it can't be used for more than two months without liver risk.

Now that she is further past surgery, and stronger, the AF will be less of a problem. And now that she can sit up without oxygen, I can be her ambulance service for anything that happens from now on.

How're things?

Progressing along nicely, she will be out of the rehab and into my house by the end of this week, headed for a 100% recovery.

And that's when the fireworks really get started... hi mom

that's the good news.



the less good news, there's an old Ballard idiom for trouble represented by "two women under one roof". Good luck man!