June and I got together last night and went to the hospital to visit Mom. Dad stayed with her most of the day yesterday and he said that she looked better than Wednesday. Well, I didn't see her Wednesday, but she must have been in terrible shape because yesterday she looked awful. She is very pale and weak. She kept her eyes open for the first few minutes when we arrived, but quickly closed them for most of the time. She had a hard time catching her breath, just lying in bed and not even talking. I asked her why she was breathing so hard. She didn't know. The last time she breathed real hard in the hospital like that, she developed pneumonia. She developed pneumonia because of the C-Dif, she was extremely dehydrated and most of the fluid went straight to her lungs. Even when she would talk to us, she had a hard time catching her breath and concentrating. The nurses seem to be taking good care of her. Her night shift nurse came in and I asked her about Mom's breathing. She checked her lungs and heart. She said that her lungs sounded clear and she didn't hear any abnormal heart rhythms. Mom had a bad stomachache, which is one of the symptoms of C-Dif. I tried to get a giggle out of her, but nothing seemed to work. I felt so bad for her having to suffer so much. They did a blood test to see about her oxygen level. It came back normal. According to her nurse, Melanie, they are planning to doing the test again today.
Sherry called us while we were with Mom. She can't stand being in TX and not being here with her sister. So, she told us that she is flying in on Sunday. She plans to get a hotel close to Mom's hospital, instead of staying with one of us. She wants to stay as close to Mom as possible. She said the trip to and from our house to the hospital wears her out. I have to agree. I know the trip makes me tired, so I can't imagine the discomfort for someone with back trouble.
On the way to the hospital, June and I talked about Nursing Homes. I don't want my Mom to go to a Nursing Home. If she comes home in the same state that she was in last week, I'm afraid Dad won't be able to take care of her. I'm hopeful that once the C-Dif is gone, she will be able to walk and concentrate a little better. In my opinion, I believe the rehabilitation center sent Mom home with C-Dif. I was telling June that it was so strange how the PTs went on about how Mom walked so many feet and we couldn't get her to do a simple pivot from chair to chair, while she was at home. Dr. Stewart sent her home with Cipro, antibiotic, because they thought she had a UTI. I think you remember the story. Anyway, we gave Mom Cipro every morning. She took her last Cipro Friday morning and her symptoms of C-dif came back on Saturday morning. I believe the Cipro was sustaining the C-dif symptoms, but not strong enough to kill it. June seems to agree with me. C. difficile is bad about coming back over and over. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/c-difficile/DS00736 here is a link from the Mayo Clinic for further information. June asked the nurse, if Mom's chances of getting this again was high and the nurse agreed. Apparently, June had been talking to Kim Ann about Mom going into a Nursing Home, so she can get full time assistance. Kim Ann told June that if Dad decides to put Mom into a Nursing Home that he needs to put her name on the list as soon as possible. Most of the time, there are not enough beds to accommodate all patients and you'll have to wait. She also said that most Nursing Homes will take all of Mom's Social Security check except for $30 a month, to pay for her expenses. The $30 a month will go to Dad. She said they will take anything with Mom's name on it for collateral.
My family and I appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers! Thank you!
On a lighter note, I was able to get a few more things for Doug's party. Yesterday, I worked on some of the decorations and plan to work some more today on it. I really need to go back to Party City. I just need to find the time to go. ;) Sorry, I can't give you a lot of information for fear of some certain person reading this post.
I have to tell you a Katie story. I've been meaning to post, I just kept forgetting to write about it. I've been working on Katie about names. She pretty much knows me and Doug's name, so I tried to get her to name her baby dolls. Last week, we were playing baby dolls in her bedroom when I asked her for the hundredth time what her baby dolls' names were. I started off naming one of the dolls, Olivia. Nope! She didn't like that name. I said, "what about Lauren?" She liked that name better. Well, there were two more babies. I asked her "what are their names?" Finally, she said "Bria" and "Sicky." Okay, I know they are not your traditional names. I was just tickled that she finally got the idea. I don't know where the word "Bria" came from, but I do know that Katie says "Sicky" a lot. When she talks her baby talk, she'll throw in the word "Sicky."
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