It is now Monday morning and I am back at the office for the first week of classes. Actually I have now been at the office for 3 hours. This weekend was one of those that usually makes one look forward to getting back to work so that things will slow down. The trouble is, as I said, this is the first week of classes.
Let's first talk about my parents. My Dad seems to be doing better, but he has developed (well it has worsened) a cough. Hopefully it is not the pneumonia coming back. He also has a pain in his mid-section that we want to get the doctors to look at some time this week. Hopefully it is nothing really serious. It is my mom that I am now worried about. Over the weekend she has barely eaten anything. As a matter of fact, on Sunday she literally did not eat or drink anything as best the nursing home staff could determine. We'll see where this goes, but it does not look like it is heading in a positive direction.
I do think that Alilcia is now completely recovered from her wisdom teeth extraction. We go back to the dentist this week to confirm that, but she seems to be doing fine now. And I think Sylvia is getting over whatever it was that was ailing her as well.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Matt's Mother
In the just when you thought things were getting better... vein, we got a call from the Nursing home Monday night around 9:00. It seems that my mother was found on the floor of her room next to the bed. Apparently she had fallen out of bed around 4:30 that afternoon. This was the second time it had happened in the last week, but the first time her just scraped her leg a bit. This time the knee was swelling also. They patched her up again and put her back in bed.
At 9:00 they came back to give her her night time medicine and noticed that the knee was VERY swollen and the bruising was extensive. That is when they called us and told us they were taking her to the ER. Jari volunteered to head up to the hospital and be with her while I got a bit of rest.
Well, about 9:30 the nursing home called again. My mother was refusing to go with the EMT's to the hospital. I got re-dressed (I had just changed for bed) and headed up to the nursing home to talk to her. For those of you who know my mother she can be a very stubborn woman and I fully see her not wanting to go.
I got there about 9;45 and spent about 15 minutes talking her into going. I rode with her in the ambulance to the hospital. She acutally went fairly peacefully and it was not a bad trip. Once we got through all the preliminary stuff (paperwork) they took an X-ray and determined that her had broken her tibia (the large bone of the lower leg) just below the knee on her right leg. That is the paralyzed leg for those that are wondering.
Jari and I talked with the ER doctor at some length about the break and the best treatment plan. Since the leg will never be load bearing again and any treatment would be somewhat invasive, we decided to just let it be and wait the 4 or so week it takes for new bone to knit in place. They put her on pain medication and sent her back home that evening (well about 12:30 am the next morning). She was to follow up with her family doctor and the orthopedic specialist within 48 hours.
The orthopedist agreed with the ER doctor and we have told the nursing staff to just be very careful when moving her since it will be painful for quite some time.
With any luck that will be our emergency for this week and we're safe until the coming weekend. That is unless you count our children...
At 9:00 they came back to give her her night time medicine and noticed that the knee was VERY swollen and the bruising was extensive. That is when they called us and told us they were taking her to the ER. Jari volunteered to head up to the hospital and be with her while I got a bit of rest.
Well, about 9:30 the nursing home called again. My mother was refusing to go with the EMT's to the hospital. I got re-dressed (I had just changed for bed) and headed up to the nursing home to talk to her. For those of you who know my mother she can be a very stubborn woman and I fully see her not wanting to go.
I got there about 9;45 and spent about 15 minutes talking her into going. I rode with her in the ambulance to the hospital. She acutally went fairly peacefully and it was not a bad trip. Once we got through all the preliminary stuff (paperwork) they took an X-ray and determined that her had broken her tibia (the large bone of the lower leg) just below the knee on her right leg. That is the paralyzed leg for those that are wondering.
Jari and I talked with the ER doctor at some length about the break and the best treatment plan. Since the leg will never be load bearing again and any treatment would be somewhat invasive, we decided to just let it be and wait the 4 or so week it takes for new bone to knit in place. They put her on pain medication and sent her back home that evening (well about 12:30 am the next morning). She was to follow up with her family doctor and the orthopedic specialist within 48 hours.
The orthopedist agreed with the ER doctor and we have told the nursing staff to just be very careful when moving her since it will be painful for quite some time.
With any luck that will be our emergency for this week and we're safe until the coming weekend. That is unless you count our children...
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Matt's Dad
This is going to be a sort of historical post, starting about 3 months back when my dad fell and broke his left hip. It was a simple enough fall in the bathroom when he was brushing his teeth and he lost his balance and toppled over backwards. The day sitter cleaned him up and got my mom's extra wheelchair for him to use for a few days. It was really no big deal. Well 3 days later the bruise was still spreading and he kept complaning abot it hurting more and more, so we took him into the hospital and they found the crack in his pelvis. Three pins and 5 days later he was virtually good as new and went back home.
For several weeks he stayed mostly in his wheelchair and then started using a walker. He would occasinally fall with just the walker, but he was stubborn and wanted to use it anyway. Of course, eventually he would fall and cause more damage. This time 3 cracked ribs. We were somewhat more prepared for this since we had installed one of these lifeline help call buttons, so when he fell, he pressed the button and we could respond quickly. With cracked ribs there is not a whole lot to do, so that did not even merit a night in the hospital.
Following this he was a bit more contrite and took things slowly but he did slowly gain his strength back and his balance imporved. It looked like he was seriously on the mend. He started walking as well as he had for a few years and the walker got left behind most of the time.
This brings us to the night of the 30th of July. That night, about 8:00 he was serving himself and my mom ice cream and while he was sliding my mom's bowl across the counter to her he lost his balance and fell splat in teh middle of the kitchen floor. The day sitter called me and I went over. We helped him into the wheelchair and tried to see if he wanted to eat his ice cream before we called the ambulance. He did not it hurt so bad. This was a good sign that this one was a big deal, since last time he waited 3 days before calling.
And it was a big break. He basically shattered the joint and the surgeon had to put a post down his femur and a socket attached into his pelvis. They then stitched him up and he stayed in the hospital for a week. Before the surgery he spent nearly 24 hours in the hospital during which time he talked with Jari or me abotu what happened and the things going on with him and my mom. When he came out of surgery he was in the fog that all people are who are on anesthesia. THe bad news is that after 24 hours it did nto wear off. He forgot things (virtually everything) about the here and now. He kept drifting amoung times in his life as if they were the present. He had a full fledged case of dementia. This did not clear up after another day, not even after another week.
This left Jari and I with a difficult decision. Actually it was not a difficult one, since the only real choice was a nursing home until his mind came back and his physical mobility improved. it was the secondary decision that was hard, to move my mom in with him in the nursing home. He moved in the nursing home on August 7th and she joined him on August 10th. At this time he still did not know what was happening. in other posts I'll give a few examples of his thinking, but he wanted to take the elevator to the second floor of a one story building.
That Friday, August 10th we got a call at 6:00 in the morning that my dad was having trouble breathing and that his pulse was a bit weak and his blood oxygen level was low. They were transporting him to the ER. Jari and I took turns staying with him over the weekend, since it was a bit touch and go for a while. He had been bleeding in his colon and had pneumonia. They gave him 3 units of blood and checked him out with a CT scan of his lungs. They found a blood clot in his right lung and the culture from his bowel showed a bacterial infection. They put him on a bunch of drugs and he slept a whole lot but after a few days he began to pull out of it.
By the 20th he was beginning do actually come around and him dementia was much better. I got a phone call on the 21st and it was actually my dad. He said "THEY'RE TRYING TO PUT ME IN A NURSING HOME!!!!!!". I took sick leave immediately and went up to the hospital. I had a long discussion with him during which time Jari joined me. I explained all that had been happening and he took the information in. He did nto remember much of it, but he accepted that he had been in the nursing home before and that he needed to go back unti lhe cold get his leg strength back. Finally I went out to What-a-Burger and got the three of us lunch and we all ate together. In some ways that may be one of the more special meals I have ever had, since dad really was beginning to understand what was happening around him.
It was the next day before he was actually able to return to the nursing home. Once he got back it was very touching to see he and my mom reunited after being apart for over a week.
Anyway, that is the latest information about my dad.
For several weeks he stayed mostly in his wheelchair and then started using a walker. He would occasinally fall with just the walker, but he was stubborn and wanted to use it anyway. Of course, eventually he would fall and cause more damage. This time 3 cracked ribs. We were somewhat more prepared for this since we had installed one of these lifeline help call buttons, so when he fell, he pressed the button and we could respond quickly. With cracked ribs there is not a whole lot to do, so that did not even merit a night in the hospital.
Following this he was a bit more contrite and took things slowly but he did slowly gain his strength back and his balance imporved. It looked like he was seriously on the mend. He started walking as well as he had for a few years and the walker got left behind most of the time.
This brings us to the night of the 30th of July. That night, about 8:00 he was serving himself and my mom ice cream and while he was sliding my mom's bowl across the counter to her he lost his balance and fell splat in teh middle of the kitchen floor. The day sitter called me and I went over. We helped him into the wheelchair and tried to see if he wanted to eat his ice cream before we called the ambulance. He did not it hurt so bad. This was a good sign that this one was a big deal, since last time he waited 3 days before calling.
And it was a big break. He basically shattered the joint and the surgeon had to put a post down his femur and a socket attached into his pelvis. They then stitched him up and he stayed in the hospital for a week. Before the surgery he spent nearly 24 hours in the hospital during which time he talked with Jari or me abotu what happened and the things going on with him and my mom. When he came out of surgery he was in the fog that all people are who are on anesthesia. THe bad news is that after 24 hours it did nto wear off. He forgot things (virtually everything) about the here and now. He kept drifting amoung times in his life as if they were the present. He had a full fledged case of dementia. This did not clear up after another day, not even after another week.
This left Jari and I with a difficult decision. Actually it was not a difficult one, since the only real choice was a nursing home until his mind came back and his physical mobility improved. it was the secondary decision that was hard, to move my mom in with him in the nursing home. He moved in the nursing home on August 7th and she joined him on August 10th. At this time he still did not know what was happening. in other posts I'll give a few examples of his thinking, but he wanted to take the elevator to the second floor of a one story building.
That Friday, August 10th we got a call at 6:00 in the morning that my dad was having trouble breathing and that his pulse was a bit weak and his blood oxygen level was low. They were transporting him to the ER. Jari and I took turns staying with him over the weekend, since it was a bit touch and go for a while. He had been bleeding in his colon and had pneumonia. They gave him 3 units of blood and checked him out with a CT scan of his lungs. They found a blood clot in his right lung and the culture from his bowel showed a bacterial infection. They put him on a bunch of drugs and he slept a whole lot but after a few days he began to pull out of it.
By the 20th he was beginning do actually come around and him dementia was much better. I got a phone call on the 21st and it was actually my dad. He said "THEY'RE TRYING TO PUT ME IN A NURSING HOME!!!!!!". I took sick leave immediately and went up to the hospital. I had a long discussion with him during which time Jari joined me. I explained all that had been happening and he took the information in. He did nto remember much of it, but he accepted that he had been in the nursing home before and that he needed to go back unti lhe cold get his leg strength back. Finally I went out to What-a-Burger and got the three of us lunch and we all ate together. In some ways that may be one of the more special meals I have ever had, since dad really was beginning to understand what was happening around him.
It was the next day before he was actually able to return to the nursing home. Once he got back it was very touching to see he and my mom reunited after being apart for over a week.
Anyway, that is the latest information about my dad.
Purpose
I figured I'd start this blog to help me and my family keep track of what is happening in our lives and to help share that with whoever has way too much time on their hands and wants to read about our family's trials and tribulations.
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