Where Have I Been?
I have missed blogging and checking in with my RGBPs ... but I have been busy with DH's mom's surgery last Wednesday and unexpected post-surgery complications/extended hospital stay.
DH's mom --whom shall be referred to as Pistol from here on out-- had a 99% blockage removed from her carotid artery last Wednesday. DH, having just started a new job, took the one sick day she thought she had and we went down together for the surgery. The hospital is in Pontiac --we are about a 1.5 hour drive away.
The surgery went great Wednesday --but when I drove down Thursday late to see her, thinking I'd be taking her home [because DH works for a place that taking an unpaid day to care for her mom seems to be a problem], we discovered that her blood pressure hadn't stabilized yet. Whenever she would sit up for an extended time, say to eat, the top number would plummet to about 80 or 90, the bottom number about 30 --much too low. They had to give her medication to stabilize that, which took about 48 hours to work. It appears to have done the trick, so far.
Friday and Saturday I worked all day to make up the time I lost Wednesday and Thursday. With two services and a board meeting on Sunday, there was no time to do anything extra that day.
In the meantime, Pistol's developed fluid in her lungs, making it difficult for her to breathe, so now she's on oxygen. Thankfully so far it is clear fluid, but they're supposed to get a chest X-ray today. She's also not producing as much urine as they would like, and they found a trace of blood in the first test they did, but not the second. They've also had to do two fecals, and they're waiting to do a third, but, although she's eating pretty well, she hasn't produced the necessary material for the test.
DH also has to be careful about the number of personal calls she makes right now, so today, I'm the one making the calls and trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Trying to figure all of this out over the phone isn't easy. DH is very worried about her mom, but also doesn't want to create any problems with her employer. Pistol also gets frustrated when she doesn't understand what the medical staff is telling her, and while she's pretty mentally sharp for a 78 year-old, she does sometimes get confused. Pistol's condition isn't critical --she's not in ICU-- but we'd like to know what the doctor thinks is going on, and we haven't seen him since the surgery.
I wouldn't mind just hopping in the car and going down there --except that we've gotten four inches of snow today so far. The roads are pretty passable right now ... but would they be OK after dark, when the snow melt refreezes? I'm still working on shoveling our driveway, so we don't have to drive across an ice rink to get into the garage.
Anyway, I just needed to vent all of that --and warm up before I shovelled some more. Almost done!
DH's mom --whom shall be referred to as Pistol from here on out-- had a 99% blockage removed from her carotid artery last Wednesday. DH, having just started a new job, took the one sick day she thought she had and we went down together for the surgery. The hospital is in Pontiac --we are about a 1.5 hour drive away.
The surgery went great Wednesday --but when I drove down Thursday late to see her, thinking I'd be taking her home [because DH works for a place that taking an unpaid day to care for her mom seems to be a problem], we discovered that her blood pressure hadn't stabilized yet. Whenever she would sit up for an extended time, say to eat, the top number would plummet to about 80 or 90, the bottom number about 30 --much too low. They had to give her medication to stabilize that, which took about 48 hours to work. It appears to have done the trick, so far.
Friday and Saturday I worked all day to make up the time I lost Wednesday and Thursday. With two services and a board meeting on Sunday, there was no time to do anything extra that day.
In the meantime, Pistol's developed fluid in her lungs, making it difficult for her to breathe, so now she's on oxygen. Thankfully so far it is clear fluid, but they're supposed to get a chest X-ray today. She's also not producing as much urine as they would like, and they found a trace of blood in the first test they did, but not the second. They've also had to do two fecals, and they're waiting to do a third, but, although she's eating pretty well, she hasn't produced the necessary material for the test.
DH also has to be careful about the number of personal calls she makes right now, so today, I'm the one making the calls and trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Trying to figure all of this out over the phone isn't easy. DH is very worried about her mom, but also doesn't want to create any problems with her employer. Pistol also gets frustrated when she doesn't understand what the medical staff is telling her, and while she's pretty mentally sharp for a 78 year-old, she does sometimes get confused. Pistol's condition isn't critical --she's not in ICU-- but we'd like to know what the doctor thinks is going on, and we haven't seen him since the surgery.
I wouldn't mind just hopping in the car and going down there --except that we've gotten four inches of snow today so far. The roads are pretty passable right now ... but would they be OK after dark, when the snow melt refreezes? I'm still working on shoveling our driveway, so we don't have to drive across an ice rink to get into the garage.
Anyway, I just needed to vent all of that --and warm up before I shovelled some more. Almost done!
posted by Reverend Dona Quixote @ 8:09 AM
1 Comments:
At 9:27 AM ,
Rainbow Pastor said...
Oh, RDQ--
Prayers going up for you, DH and Pistol...
I fell on the ice--bruised my tailbone and strained several muscles--but that's back in perspective now!
Keep us posted!
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