The new new room
Okay, guys, where was I? Oh yeah- Mom was working with OT.
She actually did quite well with the OTs. They helped her to the edge of the bed where she was able to provide limited work towards putting on a sock. This was followed by some forward kicks with the OTs. She then stood twice with considerable assistance and a walker. Afterwards, although she was spent, Mom didn't want to lay back down. So the nurses came back about an hour later and put her into something called a 'neuro chair'. This is a gurney that the patient can be slid onto which then folds into a chair. Mom stayed sitting up for about 2 hours before she had had enough. Humorously, in retrospect, Mom gave both Grandma and myself quite a cardiac kickstart when she signaled her interest in returning to bed by faceplanting in her own lap. I hadn't been there when she was put into the chair and did not know she was strapped in at the waist so I was quite concerned she would tumble out at any moment and conk her head. As it was, keeping her in a tolerable position so she could breathe until we got the chair 'transformed' back into a gurney was quite a challenge in and of itself.
Grandma and I decided that Mom needed a rest and we needed a bracing glass of wine after this adventure so we shot over to Houstons for a bite. Well, shot is an overstatement as it was really choice by elimination as we discovered all the restaurants that have closed on West End. Lunch was nice-partially because I got carded (huge ego boost for a newly 32 year old that currently feels senior to Methuselah). Grandma dropped me back toward the hospital and I walked up- needed a little air.
When I reached Mom's room, the phone rang. Curious, I thought, as we had given no one that number. As I suspected it was someone looking for a previous occupant of the room, I went ahead and answered it. A cheerful voice announced that the ambulance would be there in 20 minutes to transport Ms. Shellner.
Surprise! Road trip!
As the nurse dropped in immediately thereafter and I found the call humorous, I shared it with her. Turns out they hadn't known about the impending transfer either. Oops!
A frantic 30 minutes later, Mom was bundled up onto a gurney and wheeled off to the ambulance. Charlene came by to assist me in packing up Mom's things and trying to reach Roland. We scurried off to the client elevator, trundling along Mom's belongings behind us. Mere minutes later, we found ourselves settling into the new new room while I still had the post about the old new room to publish!
Currently, Mom is stationed at Stallworth Rehabilatation Center where she will stay until her orthopedic procedure. It is quite likely she will return there thereafter for further work before she can return home. This is a huge step forward as aggressive rehabilatation is the key to getting Mom home.
Last night I was allowed to stay with Mom so I could get a feel for her days from start to finish. We got to bed about 10:30pm (thanks to Stallworth for use of a rollaway) but we up off and on all night. Mom had a couple nasty coughing jags in the night, partially the result of a new type of respiratory therapy known as HIT (hyperinflation therapy) that will decrease atelectasis (collapse of the little chambers of the lungs) and improve clearance of secretions. It is unpleasant at best but seems to be working.
In spite of restraints, Mom pulled her nasogastric tube again about 4:30am. (I was up at 4 to help her with some airway issues and it was still in place at that time). This led to quite a mess and an entertaining production as both Mom and the bed were stripped, cleaned and rearranged. Unfortunately, we then had the joy of tube replacement, my new least favorite thing. It is remarkably unpleasant, stimulates nasty coughing jags and eventually both Mom and I end up crying. But it is essential that Mom get the nutrition she needs so she can heal so we just suffer through and squeeze each others' hands until it is over. That done, Mom immediately needed deep suctioning to clear her trach and then remained quite restless till 6:00am. She finally quieted down just about the time the phlebotomists came in to stick her for blood work. Sigh. No wonder she's tired. Its killing me! :-|
Today has gotten off with a bang as Mom has had another course of HIT and a couple visits with speech therapy. She still is desaturating rapidly when the Passy-Muir is attached so they hope to downsize her trach to a 4mm in the next day to improve her ability to communicate.
Finally, for the med heads, I have learned a new scoring system- the Rancho Los Amigos Scale. This is a scale to 8 (or 10) with 1 being unresponsive and 10 being basically normal. Right now, Mom is probably a 5, though this is expected to wax and wane as she heals with [hopefully] an overall trend upward.
As Mom is going to be pushed very hard at Stallworth, please respect our wishes and wait to be invited to visit. This is key for Mom as it ensures that visits do not delay or negatively impact therapy. In addition, it is very important that we allow Mom as much control over her life as possible right now. Therefore, only people she expresses interest in seeing will be invited to visit so that she can feel she is calling the shots. The front desk, nurses station and nursing staff all recommend and support this course and will turn you away if you come to visit without them receiving prior authorization by me. Please be patient and remember that this is not about you or me, it is about her.
Thanks again for all the supportive comments and cards. Every day I am humbled anew by your compassion and ability to identify needs we did not even realize we had. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!
With love overflowing-
jax
She actually did quite well with the OTs. They helped her to the edge of the bed where she was able to provide limited work towards putting on a sock. This was followed by some forward kicks with the OTs. She then stood twice with considerable assistance and a walker. Afterwards, although she was spent, Mom didn't want to lay back down. So the nurses came back about an hour later and put her into something called a 'neuro chair'. This is a gurney that the patient can be slid onto which then folds into a chair. Mom stayed sitting up for about 2 hours before she had had enough. Humorously, in retrospect, Mom gave both Grandma and myself quite a cardiac kickstart when she signaled her interest in returning to bed by faceplanting in her own lap. I hadn't been there when she was put into the chair and did not know she was strapped in at the waist so I was quite concerned she would tumble out at any moment and conk her head. As it was, keeping her in a tolerable position so she could breathe until we got the chair 'transformed' back into a gurney was quite a challenge in and of itself.
Grandma and I decided that Mom needed a rest and we needed a bracing glass of wine after this adventure so we shot over to Houstons for a bite. Well, shot is an overstatement as it was really choice by elimination as we discovered all the restaurants that have closed on West End. Lunch was nice-partially because I got carded (huge ego boost for a newly 32 year old that currently feels senior to Methuselah). Grandma dropped me back toward the hospital and I walked up- needed a little air.
When I reached Mom's room, the phone rang. Curious, I thought, as we had given no one that number. As I suspected it was someone looking for a previous occupant of the room, I went ahead and answered it. A cheerful voice announced that the ambulance would be there in 20 minutes to transport Ms. Shellner.
Surprise! Road trip!
As the nurse dropped in immediately thereafter and I found the call humorous, I shared it with her. Turns out they hadn't known about the impending transfer either. Oops!
A frantic 30 minutes later, Mom was bundled up onto a gurney and wheeled off to the ambulance. Charlene came by to assist me in packing up Mom's things and trying to reach Roland. We scurried off to the client elevator, trundling along Mom's belongings behind us. Mere minutes later, we found ourselves settling into the new new room while I still had the post about the old new room to publish!
Currently, Mom is stationed at Stallworth Rehabilatation Center where she will stay until her orthopedic procedure. It is quite likely she will return there thereafter for further work before she can return home. This is a huge step forward as aggressive rehabilatation is the key to getting Mom home.
Last night I was allowed to stay with Mom so I could get a feel for her days from start to finish. We got to bed about 10:30pm (thanks to Stallworth for use of a rollaway) but we up off and on all night. Mom had a couple nasty coughing jags in the night, partially the result of a new type of respiratory therapy known as HIT (hyperinflation therapy) that will decrease atelectasis (collapse of the little chambers of the lungs) and improve clearance of secretions. It is unpleasant at best but seems to be working.
In spite of restraints, Mom pulled her nasogastric tube again about 4:30am. (I was up at 4 to help her with some airway issues and it was still in place at that time). This led to quite a mess and an entertaining production as both Mom and the bed were stripped, cleaned and rearranged. Unfortunately, we then had the joy of tube replacement, my new least favorite thing. It is remarkably unpleasant, stimulates nasty coughing jags and eventually both Mom and I end up crying. But it is essential that Mom get the nutrition she needs so she can heal so we just suffer through and squeeze each others' hands until it is over. That done, Mom immediately needed deep suctioning to clear her trach and then remained quite restless till 6:00am. She finally quieted down just about the time the phlebotomists came in to stick her for blood work. Sigh. No wonder she's tired. Its killing me! :-|
Today has gotten off with a bang as Mom has had another course of HIT and a couple visits with speech therapy. She still is desaturating rapidly when the Passy-Muir is attached so they hope to downsize her trach to a 4mm in the next day to improve her ability to communicate.
Finally, for the med heads, I have learned a new scoring system- the Rancho Los Amigos Scale. This is a scale to 8 (or 10) with 1 being unresponsive and 10 being basically normal. Right now, Mom is probably a 5, though this is expected to wax and wane as she heals with [hopefully] an overall trend upward.
As Mom is going to be pushed very hard at Stallworth, please respect our wishes and wait to be invited to visit. This is key for Mom as it ensures that visits do not delay or negatively impact therapy. In addition, it is very important that we allow Mom as much control over her life as possible right now. Therefore, only people she expresses interest in seeing will be invited to visit so that she can feel she is calling the shots. The front desk, nurses station and nursing staff all recommend and support this course and will turn you away if you come to visit without them receiving prior authorization by me. Please be patient and remember that this is not about you or me, it is about her.
Thanks again for all the supportive comments and cards. Every day I am humbled anew by your compassion and ability to identify needs we did not even realize we had. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!
With love overflowing-
jax
posted by Jacqui at 9:37 AM
1 Comments:
J, I have only met you a couple of times but, through reading your postings on this ordeal, I have really come to appreciate your attitude and your focus on doing (and having done) what is best for your mom. For this, I wish to personally thank you; I'm sure that your "full-court press" is a part of why Pam is progressing so nicely. I hope that everyone will respect your wishes concerning visitation; you've made it clear that the rules exist to help Pam and we all want her to receive any and all help she can get.
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