Aug 12

Mom is doing better. In summary, she has all the same problems she had before she was put into rehab but not nearly as seriously. She still has a temp with a touch of pneumonia and pancreatitis. She's on antibiotics. She's still on the vent though Hurley is slowly weaning her and she's taking well to it. She continues to be tube fed because of the vent. Her potassium keeps showing as low so they switched her nutrition to a different brand that has helped to keep her potassium level better but it is still prone to being low along with her magnesium. Her hemoglobin dips a bit. They have given her blood a couple times this week to fix the low levels just mentioned. Again she has loose stools. Her kidney levels aren't great either so she's being monitored by the kidney docs.

It's amazing how everything is tied together. For example,
Not eating in rehab --> dehydration --> IV nutrients --> too many fluids on board --> fluid on lungs --> difficulty breathing --> ICU --> vent --> tube feeding --> loose stools --> low potasium --> blood transfusions.

It would have been nice if the Rehab would have been monitoring her food intake.

Mom is on board with getting herself better. She is mentally stable and ready to work. She says she's ready to eat. When I told her that Dad had a big, fresh tomato on his kitchen counter and suggested that he make a juicy BLT, out of the blue she cried. She wants a BLT... she wants out of there. She's been in the hospital since the day after Memorial Day, remember.

Amazingly enough, she seems to have more control over her legs now than when she was in rehab. Again, I think that Henry Ford pushed her into the intensive rehab to quick and that rehab didn't take good enough care of her in her not-so-perfect medical condition. Hind sight is 20/20.

I bought Dad a month's supply of weekly pill boxes and I finally wised up and have my parents' mail forwarded to my house so that I can pay their bills at my leisure instead of trying to cram it in on the weekends. These two items will allow me more time with Mom on the weekends. Aunt Susie is looking into professional help for Dad from local agencies. It would be great to have someone stop by every day, make sure he's taking his meds, check his vitals, make sure he is eating, make sure he hasn't fallen and can't get up, etc. It's just too hard for the family to keep doing this stuff for him -- all of us but Aunt Susie work full time and have kids at home. His friends are checking in on him more often now and taking him some yummy food. (Jan, great beef stew! I stole a bite.)

Sorry I haven't updated the Blog in a while. It's been a crazy couple weeks for me.