Mom has been refusing to eat or drink properly the past few days. When the Home Health nurse came today, she noticed how pale and weak Mom was and witnessed first-hand some of Mom's mental confusion and stubbornness to cooperate with Dad and me in taking care of her.The nurse has to report her findings to Mom's surgeon, of course (because it was he who ordered Home Health for Mom as a post-surgical care). The doctor was explicit with the nurse that he wanted Mom transported via EMS — not by our own car, much to my father's chagrin — to the Emergency Room so he could examine her and run some IV solution into her antecubital vein as nourishment. They are also processing urine and blood samples to make sure there is no infection or other complications with her condition.
Another phycician, who is overseeing all patients in the ER tonight stopped by and said that we needed to be sure there was always someone at the house to make Mom eat and drink properly. DUH!
With all I have done lately — leaving my own husband and home behind in Kingsport to stay long-term at Mom & Dad's house, taking over the cooking & cleaning & laundry & grocery shopping for them, keeping track of medications for Mom & Dad, chauffeuring them to appointments, as well as making honest attempts at getting Mom to eat and drink properly after her surgery and subsequent discharge — his allegations that we "...need someone at Mom & Dad's house to take care of them..." was like a slap in the face to me.Thanks for that advice, Dr. Dickwad. Next time, how about asking about the situation rather than passing judgment so quickly and then disappearing. 
Oh, and now Mom's urinalysis showed that Mom has a urinary tract infection on top of everything else that's going on. Sheesh.
Anyway, the decision was made to keep Mom for 24-48 hours, continue the IV solutions, and try to get her back on-track with pain management and exercise. How long she is kept at the hospital, as well as whether she will be discharged to a rehab facility before coming home remains to be seen.
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The days here at Mom & Dad's house are beginning to meld together and each day is much like the previous, but with a slightly different set of circumstances with which to deal. Therefore, I went through my blog and added the "day of the week" to the last few entries. Perhaps continuing to post the "day of the week" in addition to the date will help me keep straight in my head exactly what day it is.
I had forgotten about all the oak trees around my parents' house. At odd times of day during the early autumn, and frequently at night, acorns can be heard falling off the trees and rolling down the roof. The first time I heard it this year, I thought, "WTF?" until I remembered that sound from my childhood.
Tink!
Most of you probably know this already, but virtually every photo that accompanies this blog has a purpose or some significance to what is being said. Very rarely, if ever, is a photo truly random. Sometimes the intent might be evident, but sometimes it is more subtle and requires a reading between the lines. Occasionally it might just be a personal thing that only I would understand in some abstract way and would have trouble putting into words; but those times are rare, too, like the idea of a random photo.
Was up this morning for almost an hour before I had to kick my butt into high-gear to prepare for visits from the Home Health nurse and the Physical Therapy Assistant, both on the same day. When I got Mom out of bed to get her ready for their visit, I discovered that Mom's sheets, pajamas, underwear, and the huge mattress pad — so big that it, alone, takes up a single load in the washing machine — were all soaking wet, stained yellow, and have to be bleached and laundered yet again. I will be so glad when this issue of incontinence is resolved. 
Spent the morning around the house and the afternoon running errands in the neighboring town, the most imporant of which was getting two of Mom's meds refilled. Dad usually asks her frequently whether she is running out of anything, but one medication slipped past without being noticed. There are some meds Mom does not "like" to take, some that she thinks she does not need despite what the doctor says, and some she forgets to take because she doesn't keep the bottles in the same place (we're working on that one). Most of her meds simply improve her well-being if she takes them, such as the Synthroid that boosts her energy by supplementing an underactive thyroid gland. However, the two meds that she needed were probably the two most important meds she is supposed to take. So, I made certain to get those meds refilled at the expense of anything else I had on my ToDo List today.
Shortly after I woke up this morning, Dad discovered that Mom had messed up the bed again. This time it was 2 instead of 1. The towel underneath her, the sheets, her pajamas, and underwear all came clean in one washing, thankfully. However, the mattress pad, being considerably thicker and as white as snow, took THREE washings/soakings in bleach as well as quite a bit of scrubbing with a brush, to come completely clean again.
Mom was visited by Michelle ("Mikki"), a Physical Therapist from P.Co.Home.Health today, to assess Mom's level of energy and physical condition as part of her post-surgical care. After hearing of Mom's recent surgery and host of other medical conditions, she prescribed a routine of daily "standing" exercises which include walking short distances each day. She stressed how important it was for Mom to get excercise to boost her energy level, as well as fresh air and sunshine to assist in lifting Mom's spirits and energy.
He said he had gotten a call from one of my uncles (R.F.) who was concerned because no one was answering the phone. I played the part of the "dumb blonde" beautifully, explaining how my parents both went to bed at 7pm each night, so I was outside on my cell phone so I would not disturb them. He insisted that I dial my uncle's number on the phone so he could talk to him, then instructed me to take the phone to my parents' bedroom and wake them up so my uncle could talk to them. 
Mom ate a very light breakfast this morning — only a few pieces of canteloupe and a few bites of the Multi-grain Cheerio's cereal that I poured for her. The indigestion/ heartburn problem that she's had off-and-on for the past few months returned in full-force last night and this morning. Her GP (Chang, Internal Medicine specialist), thought it might be caused by a stomach ulcer, but the endoscopy showed none. Dad thought it might be due to her scant eating habits not putting enough food in her stomach at a time, thereby causing an overabundance of stomach acids that had no food on which to work. My brother and I are thinking it might be due to the shocking quantity of salt that she adds to most of the foods that she eats. She's had an intermittent history of GRD ("Acid Reflux") and it might be that problem surfacing again. She has another appointment scheduled with her GP in a little over a week, and I definitely hope we can revisit this problem with him then.
Dad woke me up at 6:00 this morning with a request for help getting Mom and the bed cleaned-up, again. Ack! It wasn't too bad, though. Afterwards, I fixed breakfast for Dad, had one cup of coffee myself, and then went back to bed for a couple of hours while he got ready for church.
One of Mom's oldest friends (E.C.) called during the morning to check on Mom and offered the loan of a "potty chair" to keep beside the bed. Dad accepted the offer, and some other friends (T.&.C.H.) picked it up and delivered it with their truck a short time later. Before we could get the "potty chair" setup in the Master Bedroom, the sheets had to be changed again.
I honestly don't think Mom was strong enough to be discharged, but they let her go home from the hospital late in the afternoon. Dr. Wheeler (Mom's surgeon) had come by about mid-afternoon and asked Mom if she was ready to go home. Her face brightened and she quickly said, "Yes!" and my father agreed that he also wanted her back home. He added that it was difficult for him to come up to the hospital each day, and it would be much easier for him to look after Mom if she were back home. Since Mom and Dad were both emphatic about discharge, I said nothing of my misgivings and figured we could handle it, one way or another. Dr. Wheeler said he was on his way to the Operating Room to perform another surgery, but he would check back with us afterwards and approve discharge if we still wanted it. Thus, it was decided.
I had a talk with Dad yesterday about how he always seems to be waiting, very impatiently, for me in the mornings. Even when I am ready by the designated time that he has chosen, I can't seem to be ready soon enough to please him. So, I asked him, point-blank, yesterday if he wanted me to be ready to leave the house by 8:00 am or whatever. He said that NO, leaving the house around 9:15 - 9:30 am was good, which always gets us to the hospital by 9:45 or 9:50, and that any earlier would make for too long a day for him to handle.
When Dad and I arrived at the hospital today, Mom had a tray of solid food in front of her! She ate a few bites of the scrambled eggs, quite a few of the grits, a couple of bites of toast, juice, and coffee! That is her first solid food in a week and five days (since Saturday, 09/06/08)! She had another bowel movement this morning, so her body seems to be recovering nicely after the surgery!