Showing posts with label Mother in Law. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mother in Law. Show all posts
Monday, March 28, 2011
Not Long Now
I don't want this to turn into a "death watch", but Kris is going to be at her mom's tonight. The hospice nurse who was there today said in her opinion, there isn't much more time for her mom. Maybe 24-48 hours. I told Kris she should probably call the priest from St. Anthony's and we are waiting for a call back from him right now. I think that is all I am going to be "reporting" about Carole's condition until we have to announce a funeral.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Downhill
We found out that Kris's parents had to call the hospice nurse overnight because she was having difficulty breathing. As a result, we ended up spending a total of about six hours there yesterday.
First we stopped over there late in the morning and her mom did not look good. We had to make sure that her dad took all of his pills (which of course he didn't). Then as we were trying to get Carole readjusted in her bed, she got up and decided to walk across the room. I had to grab her arm to stop her as she was about to rip her catheter out. Then as she had stopped she turned around and said she was just going to sit down and rest while we readjusted her bed. The only problem was that she wasn't near a chair, well she was near it, just not in front of it, so she starts rocking backwards and BOOM! I was able to grab her arm and catch her so that she didn't crash hard, but she still hit the ground pretty good. It took a little bit but we did get her back into bed and re-situated a little more comfortably. Once she was settled we left and went home.
Then about 4:30 in the afternoon we got a call from her dad. He said Carole was having problems and he thought we needed to call 911 and get her to the hospital. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) he doesn't remember what is happening. So we went over to check on things and found out that Carole hadn't been taking her pain medication. We managed to giver her her medication and waited around to make sure it started working and she was comfortable enough to fall asleep. While we were there we also made sure that her dad had his dinner and took his medications. Then we left figuring we would need to go back a little after 8:00 to make sure Carole would take her long acting pain killers before bedtime.
I think that things are sinking in for the girls, especially Alison. I am actually surprised at how well Sarah is taking everything. Alison though is very upset by the thought of her grandma going away forever. I have a feeling that it might not be long. I am actually very surprised at how quickly things have gone downhill. Maybe things will be better in the morning.
First we stopped over there late in the morning and her mom did not look good. We had to make sure that her dad took all of his pills (which of course he didn't). Then as we were trying to get Carole readjusted in her bed, she got up and decided to walk across the room. I had to grab her arm to stop her as she was about to rip her catheter out. Then as she had stopped she turned around and said she was just going to sit down and rest while we readjusted her bed. The only problem was that she wasn't near a chair, well she was near it, just not in front of it, so she starts rocking backwards and BOOM! I was able to grab her arm and catch her so that she didn't crash hard, but she still hit the ground pretty good. It took a little bit but we did get her back into bed and re-situated a little more comfortably. Once she was settled we left and went home.
Then about 4:30 in the afternoon we got a call from her dad. He said Carole was having problems and he thought we needed to call 911 and get her to the hospital. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) he doesn't remember what is happening. So we went over to check on things and found out that Carole hadn't been taking her pain medication. We managed to giver her her medication and waited around to make sure it started working and she was comfortable enough to fall asleep. While we were there we also made sure that her dad had his dinner and took his medications. Then we left figuring we would need to go back a little after 8:00 to make sure Carole would take her long acting pain killers before bedtime.
I think that things are sinking in for the girls, especially Alison. I am actually surprised at how well Sarah is taking everything. Alison though is very upset by the thought of her grandma going away forever. I have a feeling that it might not be long. I am actually very surprised at how quickly things have gone downhill. Maybe things will be better in the morning.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
The Next Chapter
Friday I took a day off of work because Kris’s mom was being released from the hospital. We thought that we had everything set up for her to go to a residential hospice, but at the last minute on Thursday we found out that the doctor was sending her home with home hospice care. The hospice delivered everything to the house Friday morning and Kris and I went to the hospital to get all of Carole’s things and then meet her at home, as she was being taken home in an ambulance. While we were waiting we took all her prescriptions to be filled and then waited for the intake nurse to get there and do her assessment of the situation.
I don’t know exactly how well this is going to work. While Kris’s mom was in fair shape Friday when she left the hospital (I say fair because compared to her worst it was pretty good, but by no means do I think she was in good shape) We are of the belief that she is going to need round the clock care. The only one who can do it is Kris’s dad, who needs to be cared for himself. I am expecting to be getting calls on a fairly regular basis. We’ll see how things are tomorrow when the home nurse and the aide show up and evaluate her.
I don’t know exactly how well this is going to work. While Kris’s mom was in fair shape Friday when she left the hospital (I say fair because compared to her worst it was pretty good, but by no means do I think she was in good shape) We are of the belief that she is going to need round the clock care. The only one who can do it is Kris’s dad, who needs to be cared for himself. I am expecting to be getting calls on a fairly regular basis. We’ll see how things are tomorrow when the home nurse and the aide show up and evaluate her.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
The Latest
Things have been very busy around the house lately, I don't know where to even start. I have been very busy at work, so I have been putting in 10-11 hour days. I shouldn't complain in this economy though. But last Sunday we got a call from Kris's mom saying she was very short of breath and having lots of difficulty breathing. She wanted to know if w thought she should call 911. We ended up driving over to see how she was doing and I convinced her to let me call 911 for her. We figured I could drive her to the ER where she might sit for an hour or two or we could call the ambulance where they could at least begin treating her initially with oxygen and get her breathing under control.
I hope I get this right but her blood oxygen level was in the range of 65 when she was up walking about. So we have been scrambling to try and make sure someone can sit with her dad during the day and also stay with him at night time. Monday (I think) Carole was so bad she got put on a full oxygen mask. Mid week we found out that she had tested positive for MRSA which meant that if anyone wanted to visit her they had to gown up with gloves and face mask just to enter the room. After a couple of days they removed the mask restriction but we still had to gown up and put on gloves to go in the room. Also, we found out that through the blood tests they ran the doctor thinks she had a heart attack. My guess would be that maybe that happened last Sunday when we got called to go over there.
The doctors have been trying to figure out how to treat her. The heart doctor was going to to a heart cath, but after going back over Carole's history for the last few years, he said she exhibited the signs of vascular disease and that her arteries show severe calcification (I hope I got that right) and that a catheter isn't an option at this point. The prognosis isn't good. The doctor said she could have an event next week, or she could make it six months. But it sounds like it is only going to go downhill from here.
Add to this the fact that her mom is on all kinds of pain medication to control other things, like the bile duct block and the liver problems, and it just doesn't look good for her. Kris said that yesterday her regular doctor came in and told her that it is probably going to be maybe a month or so, but she isn't going to get better. They can treat the pain for her, but that is about all they can do for her at this point. It is going to be a rough next month or two I think.
I hope I get this right but her blood oxygen level was in the range of 65 when she was up walking about. So we have been scrambling to try and make sure someone can sit with her dad during the day and also stay with him at night time. Monday (I think) Carole was so bad she got put on a full oxygen mask. Mid week we found out that she had tested positive for MRSA which meant that if anyone wanted to visit her they had to gown up with gloves and face mask just to enter the room. After a couple of days they removed the mask restriction but we still had to gown up and put on gloves to go in the room. Also, we found out that through the blood tests they ran the doctor thinks she had a heart attack. My guess would be that maybe that happened last Sunday when we got called to go over there.
The doctors have been trying to figure out how to treat her. The heart doctor was going to to a heart cath, but after going back over Carole's history for the last few years, he said she exhibited the signs of vascular disease and that her arteries show severe calcification (I hope I got that right) and that a catheter isn't an option at this point. The prognosis isn't good. The doctor said she could have an event next week, or she could make it six months. But it sounds like it is only going to go downhill from here.
Add to this the fact that her mom is on all kinds of pain medication to control other things, like the bile duct block and the liver problems, and it just doesn't look good for her. Kris said that yesterday her regular doctor came in and told her that it is probably going to be maybe a month or so, but she isn't going to get better. They can treat the pain for her, but that is about all they can do for her at this point. It is going to be a rough next month or two I think.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Another Trip to the Hospital
Kris called me at work yesterday to let me know that her mom is in the hospital again. She was having heart problems so she ended up calling her my brother in law to take her in. they admitted her with a heart arrhythmia and have been running all kinds of tests for the last couple of days. More test to come tomorrow but there has apparently been talk of a pacemaker.
Kris will find out more tomorrow, but either way it can't be good.
Kris will find out more tomorrow, but either way it can't be good.
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