7-27-2021 She ate yogurt today!

(Marilyn's Perspective) 

I got to NHC around 9:30 this morning and she had her eyes closed and wasn't responding to me yelling at her.  One of the things we're supposed to be doing is cleaning out her mouth several times a day with these sponge-on-a-stick things dipped in mouthwash.  They clean the mouth and they also provide moisture. So she opened her eyes and cooperated.  And she kept asking for more.  So I kept refreshing the sponge for her. But at some point I tried to joke with her and she started laughing and I guess some of the moisture went down wrong and she had a coughing fit.  Scared me.  I summoned the nurse and she said she would keep an eye on Linda but she thought all was well.  

The speech pathologist came by with a container of yogurt and sat Linda up in bed and showed her how to use a spoon (yes, Linda had trouble with that).  It took about an hour but Linda did finally manage to hold onto the container and feed herself. Then she was given some water, a tablespoon at a time.  So that went well and tomorrow they may try regular food.

Then the resident doctor (who calls herself Dr. Itzy) came by to evaluate.  When she listened to Linda's lungs she heard "rattling."  That alarmed me but Dr. Itzy said that could be simply coming from Linda's inability to breathe deeply.  After the doctor left, Linda sat up for a while longer (the speech pathologist said she needed to sit up for at least 30 minutes after eating) and then she closed her eyes again.

Tricia arrived around 12:30 or 1:00.  We had a meeting with the Admissions lady to get information about what we're looking at if we get to the point where Medicare ends and we need to move to Private Pay.  Wow.  

I left around 2:30.  Tricia tells me that after I left, they came and took x-rays to check out the lungs.

NOTE:  These blog posts may seem unnecessarily long but in addition to having a place where friends and family can check on Linda's progress, it is helping Tricia and me memorialize everything and being able to look up our "time line" if we need to.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

12-25-2022 Merry Christmas to all!

Image
(Tricia) Since Linda came home from the hospital in November, it has been much quieter than it was before she went in.  No more physical therapy, very few nursing visits. Hospice started up again two weeks ago, but Linda has turned down most services (such as the bath aide and chaplain). She has been telling us that she wants to rest, so we are giving her that. She does get up in her wheelchair almost every day, which at least gives her a change of scenery. Last Tuesday, we did take Linda to a previously scheduled doctor's appointment with a neurologist specializing in cognitive issues such as brain injury and dementia, at a practice is called the St. Louis Center for Cognitive Health. I almost canceled the appointment, because I didn't think much would come of it. But this was an appointment I had rescheduled after canceling one in July the last time she was in hospice (and I had made that appointment in March-- the joys of American healthcare). When I canceled the July appoin
Read more

3-24-2023 "Never Roger, always Ed!"

Linda's brain injury has brought with it a host of maddening symptoms, but one of the most prevalent is that it has made her not just unable to remember people's correct names, but at times seemingly unwilling to. This has been especially true for Ed's name.  For some reason, her brain is convinced that there are actually two males living in this house--one named Roger and one named Ed. When we ask her what each one looks like, she points to Ed and says, "They both look like him!"  And, of course, when we ask the obvious follow-up question, "Then why do you think they're two people?" she will respond with some version of "Their hair is different" or "They wear different clothes." We don't know where this comes from. We don't think she's connecting Ed to her neighbor in Mountain View or our cousin in Indianapolis (hello to both of you!).  But the mix-up has been there since she first started talking after coming out of
Read more

4-28-2022 Hospice is NOT "like a party"

(Tricia)   We are still struggling to establish a routine in our care for Linda at home. One hospice nurse told me that it is "like caring for a baby." I never had children, but it seems to me that elder care is a harder responsibility, primarily because of the emotional toll it takes. I would think that taking care of a child most often follows a hopeful trajectory, in which the child grows and becomes stronger. Taking care of an elderly adult in hospice is absent that same sense of hope because the trajectory is in the opposite direction. On Tuesday, the hospice nurse assigned to us told me with a smile, "I always say 'Hospice is like a party.'"  When I asked her to explain, she said, "It's a party because it's all about making your loved one comfortable." I know she was trying to be upbeat, but I respectfully disagree. Hospice is many things, but it is not a party.   Linda has been hanging in there, but she very much hates having to be &
Read more