One Journey After Diabetic Coma

(Tricia) Yesterday, we went to the appointment for Linda, the one that magically materialized earlier this week with the infectious disease doctor, Dr. Erik Dubberke. Everything went very well. We woke her up around 6:00 a.m. so we could gradually get her ready for the 8:00 a.m. pickup. And her mood was much better than it was on Saturday when she went to the primary care doctor. We had quite the contingent for the trip: Linda and the caregiver traveled in the medical transport van, while Ed, Marilyn, and I met them there in my car. Not quite the festive family outing we would choose, but it was still good to be out of the house! Once we got to the doctor's office (in St. Louis' Central West End, which is about 25 minutes away--the farthest we've had to go for an appointment for her), we waited a long time to see Dr. Dubberke. Her appointment was at 9:20, but he didn't actually arrive in the exam room until about an hour past that. But he explained why--he spends a lot ...

 (Tricia) Things were not looking good last week--after Linda aspirated as she was eating her soup, the nurses seemed to think that aspiration pneumonia was inevitable. They were, once again, preparing me for the worst. But by now, I should know that I can't jump to conclusions too quickly--Linda has a habit of surprising people. We gave her an ongoing course of Mucinex, at one of the private duty nurse's suggestions, and by the weekend, the gurgle in her breathing had quieted considerably.  So much so that we were actually able to get her to her Saturday morning appointment with the new primary care physician--so, that, at least, was some good news! Making that appointment wasn't without challenge, however--when we tried to get her up for her 11:30 appointment, she absolutely did not want to be woken up. She was yelling out a continuous "No, no, no, no!" as we used the lift to get her into the Broda chair. She begged not to be moved. It was hard to ignore that, b...

(Tricia) I should know by now that Linda's condition rarely stays good for long. As Marilyn mentioned, Linda's C.diff returned yet again Monday morning. We jumped on it with antibiotics (vancomycin), along with antidiarrheal and electrolyte drinks, as soon as we knew it had returned, but she was weakened almost immediately by dehydration. And just as the meds started pushing the C.diff back, we had a seemingly small incident with chicken noodle soup that has turned out to be not-so-small at all. When Linda was in the hospital, the nurses and doctors were incredibly concerned about Linda's ability to swallow. They were afraid that she would accidentally get food or drink down the wrong pipe and into the lungs: aspiration. If you recall, they put her on "no food, no drink" protocols when they were concerned that she was having trouble swallowing. At the time, I thought they were being overly cautious, and Linda wanted to something to drink so badly.  Well, that dang...

(Marilyn) Tricia just called to tell me that Linda has developed C.Diff again.  Tricia is trying to get the antibiotic renewed.  Linda is miserable. Tricia will follow up at some point with ongoing details.

(Tricia) I should know by now that whenever we make a little progress, something else will happen to set us back! The bad news: As noted above, one of our nighttime caregivers now has COVID!  Sigh...we had just started getting back to normal in the house, but now we're back to wearing masks and waiting to see if Linda comes down with it. Ed and I have been negative for more than week, so it is more likely that the caregiver was exposed at her family reunion, which she attended this past weekend.  I suspect that Linda will turn up positive because she spent two full nights in a row in the same room with the caregiver. Our only hope is that she remains asymptomatic. And, of course, there is the chance that Ed and I could catch it again--please, no. The good news: In the past week, I've made an appointment for Linda with a highly recommended primary care physician with a geriatric specialty--he is even seeing her on July 23, a Saturday morning, in order to spend more tim...

(Marilyn) Tricia's posts pretty much say it all.  I haven't been over to see Linda much because of the whole COVID thing. But I work on my own health. Several doctor appointments, etc.  Interestingly, I used to type 125 words a minute, but Parkinson's has pretty much knocked the heck out of my typing.  Good thing I'm not job hunting.   Anyway, during my visits with Linda, we watched old movies -- something we always loved to do together, and it felt so normal.  She is proving to be very interesting.  

(Tricia) Linda has had a very quiet week, which is always a good thing! Ed and I have been feeling better. Ed has been able to go back to work. Today, which is 10 days after I first tested positive for COVID and 12 days after Ed tested positive, we both retested . Ed tested negative, but I still tested positive--since he gave this to me, this somehow seems unfair! Regardless, I'll continue stay in the back of the house a day or two longer, just to keep my distance from everyone, and then test again. Last week, the hospice nurse once again said that Linda is doing well, and if all things stay the same, she will not qualify for hospice at her next evaluation. So, I need to start making preparations for her coming off hospice, such as transferring her into palliative care, making doctor's appointments (virtual, at this point), and restarting some form of in-home physical therapy--which, as we know from recent history, is bound to make Linda unhappy! But this time, the PT, which wi...