Dehydration

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.



© 2008 Sapphire Words @ Blogspot.com