Try Not To Get Sick During What is Effectively a Holiday Weekend
 

My mom's in the hospital and as a consequence I'm not getting the usual amount of opportunities to get online as usual.

She's doing okay at this point, but still not out of the woods. She has a massive abdominal infection, and they're still trying to figure out the origin. There is a possibility that she will need surgery, but that's a bridge we'll cross when we come to it.

From time of arrival at ER to time of admission ... NINE hours. They had her in X-Ray and then CT Scan fairly quickly (X-Ray within a half hour or so, then two hours after that into the CT, but that was based on the amount of time that the contrast material had to be in her system).

Admittedly my hospital doesn't have to do as much stuff as a medical hospital, but come on ... nine hours?? We typically take two to three hours from front door to inpatient unit.

The one upside to the hospital we went to is that the other, bigger, shinier (better, IMHO) hospital I would have preferred to take her to receveived the victims from a head-on collission between two SEPTA trains. We were sitting in triage when my pager started going off over and over and over ... All my mom's specialists have privileges at the hospital she prefers to go to, so she may have better coordination of services.

I'm holding up, she's well enough to be cranky, although yesterday when she was convinced she was going to die I was getting all kinds of instructions ... location of the cemetary deed, and instructions to give her the cheapest send off possible, and NOT to put her in the family plot that she gave me the location of the deed for. She fights with her family enough currently, she doesn't want to hang with them in the afterlife, either. I was told where the deed was just so I could give it to her brother.

Good luck & fingers crossed for your Mom - I hope they find the cause soon. It does sound like she's in a good place to be, once you get over the first hurdle.

In London I had 9 and 7.5 hour waits in A&E (ER) which I simply didn't understand. I was walking wounded so the waiting affected my mood more than my health, but I still considered it excessive.

Luckily waiting times in A&E have been targeted and the last time I went (in Leicester) I was seen within 30 minutes.

Any parent well enough to be morbid sounds like a parent on the mend :)

I'm sorry to hear about your Mom's troubles. 9 hours seems more than a little excessive. good luck G

my best wishes to you and your mom, wolf. I've always wondered about the brutally long waits in the ED's. I think half the time they're hoping people will get fed up and just leave; you know, the old, "Oh, I'm not that sick!" routine.

An abdominal infection is nothing to sneeze at. I hope she's on the mend.

Tell your mom that we're pulling for her recovery, Wolf.

Bummer, Wolf.
Hang in there. :(

aww, best wishes for the best outcome wolf

I was all prepared to craft this wonderfully witty (in my head anyway) message that may not be fully appreciated but have decided not to post it and instead write this post to create the illusion that I'm in process of developing tact.

Besides, you might still have my GPS coords.

Hope your mother recovers fully despite this initial delay. Make sure you give her a big hug for me. :)

*Sending loving and healing energy to your mom, you and your family*

I hope your mom has improved since you posted, wolf...and that you've had a chance to get some rest, too.

Rest? What the Hell is that?? I'm not entirely sure what things like "regular nutritious meals" are either.

The quality in the hospital cafeteria has gone down significantly since the last time my mom was hospitalized. I can't stand soggy croutons in a salad, and dammit, if you are going to serve Chicken Cesar Salad you should have some damn Cesar Dressing for it!!

The surgeon told my mother today that it was unlikely that she would leave the hospital without surgery, and also let her know that she is a high risk patient. We still do not know exactly what the surgery would entail.

The radiologist placed a drain to get the infected matter out of her abdomen, this apparently happened late this afternoon after I had visited with her.

My mom is scared, but in fairly good spirits, and seems to have a good team of people looking out for her welfare. She has even come to accept her surgeon, whom she had seen before and had some problems with. The Hospitalist (an internal medicine physician whose practice is covering the hospital, rather than having an outpatient practice) came to see her while I was there. He had just the right combination of goofy humor and good medical skills, and said that members of his own family have been treated by this particular surgeon, and he wouldn't want anyone else.

I thank everyone for their prayers and energy, they are helping a great deal.

Oh my gosh Wolf - I just saw this post! I am really hoping that things have improved for your Mom..... that's some scary stuff. How are you holding up?

wolf, just saw the post as well. I send the best towards a speedy recovery for your mother!

Keeping Mom in a good, positive humor and her spirits up are the first steps to ensuring her successful treatment and recovery. I can't imagine anyone doing a better job of that than you, Wolf.

wolf, I pray for healing for your mother, wisdom for her doctors and peace for you. Feel free to share amongst yourselves. I'll be rooting for you.

Wolf - just now saw this thread.

Your Mom is in good hands so don't forget to take care of yourself while you lend her your strength and support.

Your Mom sounds like my Mom. Whenever my Mom starts giving me instructions and locations of stuff - I just tell her that we (her kids) are far from through making her life miserable so she'll have to stick around for a lot longer.

Prayers and positive thoughts are on the way. Keep us posted.

So what's the latest? Have they decided to do the surgery?

Hope you and she are both feeling better...

I also just saw this thread....

I will be sending you warm thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery for your mom. It looks like you are doing everything you can for the time being. Good luck.

Surgery is scheduled for Monday, 7/10/2006 if things proceed as they have been. They installed a PICC line today (a kind of fancy IV, that will make it easier for them to give meds that might irritate a regular IV.)

Her room got moved today, too. The downside is that she will have to break in a whole new team of nurses. The upside is that she is now on the med-surg floor rather than the cardiac telemetry floor, because she doesn't need the heart monitor any longer.

PICC lines are *so* much better than being stabbed all over, over and over again. Once they're in, hospital life becomes much easier.

My mother is definitely scheduled for surgery on Monday, supposed to start between 1100-1200 EDT.

~~~~~~~~~~

I went to Build-A-Bear for the first time yesterday.

I had been meaning to go, because they had a limited edition Build-A-Hello Kitty.

I'm nuts for Hello Kitty.

Not bad nuts, but I guess I should say I'm entertained by all things Hello Kitty. I don't have 1001 doodads ... just a couple of watches, a cellphone charm, a wallet, the occasional online avatar ...

http://www.blackstormhawk.com/cellar...shnikitty.jpeg

So, anyway.

I was going to go to Build-A-Bear last weekend because a coworker told me about the limited time Hello Kitty. She was only supposed to be available through July 5th.

With all the chaos involving my mother, I didn't make it.

I figured that eventually I would get there.

Yesterday was the first time that I was able to get to the Stupidly Big Mall™. I decided not to go to a party after visiting with my mom, just so I could have some time to myself.

And what a time I had.

I quickly noticed that I was the only person over 40 there without children in tow. I'm used to this. A cheery Bear Adoption Consultant (or however they refer to themselves) greeted me at the entrance to the store. She helped me through the early stages of the Build-A-Bear process. Selecting my new friend's "skin" was easy. I was guided through the stuffing preliminaries by another cheerful young lady, who managed to get me to behave in an assortment of goofy ways as I warmed my new friend's gingham check heart between my hands, jumped up and down and wiggled to add joy and smiles, and placing in love and good wishes.

A hug check to make sure she was stuffed properly, and she was sewn up, and escorted to the bath for a final plush brushing.

Dressing her was actually more of a challenge that I thought. I almost immediately found the cutest of tee shirts, but had to shop about a bit for the white demin skirt with eyelet lace hem and Sketchers Sneakers. I passed on the Hello Kitty purse, but did get the underwear. You can't go without underwear, after all! I got some extra bows, and a set of very cute jammies for bedtime.

Fill out her birth certificate, and it's time to go home.

I also got her a little friend (a mini-bear dressed like a witch) to hang out with while I am at work.

You can't feel bad after that. It's just not possible.

http://www.blackstormhawk.com/cellar/hellokitty.jpg

Awwwwwwwwwwww! So cute!

I need a picture of the mini witch-bear, please.

I'll take a couple with my digital camera instead of the cellphone.

The Hello Kitty Photo Shoot
 

First, a better shot of Hello Kitty relaxing on the sofa.

http://www.blackstormhawk.com/cellar...y/kitty001.JPG

Hello Kitty likes to spend time with her friend.

http://www.blackstormhawk.com/cellar...y/kitty002.JPG

http://www.blackstormhawk.com/cellar...y/kitty003.JPG

Detail of the eyelet lace on her skirt, and her Sketchers.

http://www.blackstormhawk.com/cellar...y/kitty004.JPG

I see London, I see France, I see Hello Kitty's Underpants.
http://www.blackstormhawk.com/cellar...y/kitty005.JPG

I just thought that it was overly cute that there is a cutout on her clothing for her tail.
http://www.blackstormhawk.com/cellar...y/kitty006.JPG

Hello Kitty's Jammies and her very own special slippers.
http://www.blackstormhawk.com/cellar...y/kitty008.JPG

Gosh Wolf, those pictures are a little risqué.
Maybe a nsfw tag is appropriate.
At least a tcfw (too cute for words) tag. :lol:

I, myself, am almost overwhelmed by the cuteness.

I love the little witch-bear!

Amazing! You sure know how to have a good time, Wolf!

Wolf, I gotta say that this is the cutest thing that I've ever been aware of you doing. Go you!

I have my moments. Sometimes, like this, they take me unawares.

I think that, if one is to be taken by a Hello Kitty moment, unawares is probably easiest on the constitution.

Hey - I want one of those!! I want one with purple clothes though.

Wolf - I'm crossing my fingers for a great outcome for your Mom's procedure tomorrow (If it's still on), and I am sending both of you good vibes like you wouldn't believe!!
I will be thinking of you!!

Good luck to Mom. My prayers are with you today.

How're things looking Wolf?

How are things going?

So far so good ... if "so good" means that momWolf still hasn't had surgery. She's not cardiac stable yet. When I showed up to visit today she had three additional IV pumps (for a total of five), and has bags hung for hydration, nutrition, two different antibiotics, heparin, and nitroglycerin, not to mention shots as needed for pain, short-acting insulin, and a couple of oral meds for good measure.

She might actually be doing better than I at this point. Her blood pressure is lower and she's sleeping better.

We still don't have a date for surgery, but the nice Surgical resident in today seemed quite encouraged over the softness and lack of tenderness in her abdomen. Mom has been having some episodes of angina at night, but I can't get anyone to tell me if there are any EKG changes.

Thanks to everyone for the prayers. I had a devout friend tell me today that since God is all knowing and exists outside of time, He'll make sure that the prayers are applied at the proper moment.

You should be able to hook up on plenty of purple, although the proprietary Hello Kitty stuff tends to be pinker than pink. If they had matched better, I would have gotten a pair of camo shorts to go with the pink Hello Kitty Sparkle Shirt.

fargon could probably testify to this. :) I am encouraged by your good news. I'm keeping the faith, so to speak, for all of you.

Surgery is now scheduled for Friday, 7/14/06.

Is that Muffy Vanderbear?

No, it is not. That would have been too much proprietary cuteness for one day.

But I do know who Muffy Vanderbear is, as a friend's child insisted on having one, and much of her wardrobe.

The little witch bear was sold in the Build-A-Bear store. They also had assorted naked small bears, cats, a bear dressed up for the RenFaire (the tag actually said Prince Charming), and a husky.

Just when I think I know what's going on ... they change the game plan.

My mother is not having her surgery tomorrow. Rather she will be transported to another hospital for angioplasty to try to stabilize her cardiac status, and then back to where she's been to have the abdominal surgery. Eventually.

I know this must be really really frustrating, but hang in there. Your mom is a lucky woman to have such great support. Good luck, I hope this all gets worked out soon.

yeah, very frustrating, but she needed the angioplasty anyway and now her heart will be getting some oxygen and other fun things.

Hang in there, wolf.

Times like these always make me feel so helpless. We are pulling for momWolf way down here in Ga.
If I were in your mom's shoes I would be proud to have you standing in my corner, Wolf.

Hang in there and good luck.

Tonight I had to argue with her about going tomorrow. I told her that she had to. I hope that she listens to me.

She does not like riding in the back of an ambulance, she also becomes (what I think is) overly embarrassed about ... umm ... incontinence. It has been explained to her numerous times that all the folks involved are medical professionals, and while it is not the most pleasant job in the world, cleaning her up is part of what they do. This is, of course, a stupid reason to decline a necessary medical procedure. I understand that she is scared. But at this point, she should just say so. If I am awake early enough I may call her doctor to see if it would be safe to sedate her for the ride. Not totally out, just enough so she doesn't care.

She's getting morphine every three hours already, so this probably isn't an option.

I hope she does decide to go and that all goes well.

My thoughts are with you

She fought with the staff this morning. She called me right before they were about to take her. She said to me, "you know, they won't do anything if you don't sign, I have them over a barrel."

"No you don't, Mom. You need to go. Sign or I'll come down there and cry until you do."

"They gave me extra morphine. I signed. I'm going."

"That's good."

The transport ambulance crew arrived while I was on the phone saying a last few encouraging things.

I will give her the benefit of the doubt and assume that she did not hold onto the bedrails and shriek.

Well, I guess we know where you got your independance from ;)

And also my avoidance of medical facilities and procedures.

I'm sorry she is having such a hard time with this.
Though, at the same time I understand. Until I got my spinal stimulator implant I had some of the same problems. Incontinence is monumentally humiliating.
The embarrassment is indescribable, especially for someone my age, but it is for anyone. What is worse is how you are dependent on others for everything. It is very hard.

sending some virtual morphine your way, wolf!

Dear wolf,

I have had the same experiences with some of the episodes you describe: incontinence (embarassing but hardly fatal), uncooperativeness with doctors, attempts to retain/assert personal sovereignity by defying doctors, not signing papers, not taking meds, etc. It has been wearying at times, to say the least. I reckon it's fear talking, or ignorance, or passing (perhaps slowly) crankiness.

In our more reasonable interactions, it's clear that I'm working in her best interest. It's clear that she trusts me. It's clear that she's grateful. She knows it and I know it. I hold onto those moments when faced with the shrieking and the flinging of poo. I hope you and she can hold onto your shared moments too, like a beacon of hope and security on the edge of this sea of fear and uncertainty. Courage to both of you.

Luckily my mom is not yet a poo flinger. However, I have plenty of experience with that from work.

I know that, wolf, and I am sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. I was speaking metaphorically. "When the craziness happens..." ok, another wrong/weak/poorly chosen phrase. I was just stuck working "bedrails crushed by fear powered grip" into something euphonic. My bad. I intended no disrespect whatsoever to you or your mother. Please accept my apologies.

Your love and concern for your mother is proof of your considerable quality as a person, Wolf. Geriatric relatives require a mustering of resolve and patience that few of us can call up without some serious consideration and force of will.

I hope my own children will attend to my best interests as well and faithfully as you are doing for you mother's benefit now.

The truth is that I keep her in line by reminding her that I know the name and address of every single hell-hole nursing home in the county, and that if she starts giving me too much crap, BAM, she's ringing the call bell for Nurse Ratched before she knows what hit her.

UPDATE: Mom is now at Presby, described as "stable," and raising hell with all the CCU nurses. They have confirmed by labs and EKG that she hasn't had a heart attack. She has not yet had her catheterization, but they are expecting to do it this afternoon.

OT (off topic, not Old Testament, but the connection's there...)
 

Did you know that presby- means "old age"?

I did not know that.

Presby-terians == elders
presby-opia == old sight

Two I am familiar with, the others I'd have to look up.