damn... September already. This summer truly sucked but at least I got my mom out to several events including the new Ripley's Aquarium and that she wants to go back to. As soon as I get her home and she's up to it, I promised her another visit. :-)
So.. I was running a wee bit late today and didn't get to the hospital until 1:05 pm. When I got off the elevator I could hear this hacking. The closer I got to her room, the louder it got. Hacking, choking, grunting... it was her! No one is with her! The nurse for the other patient is in with her but she can't stop what she's doing and she tells me to get Lauricel, my mom's nurse. Instead I straighten her up and start to pat on her back hoping to unlodge whatever the hell that is in there that is choking her.
She can't even talk she's choking so bad. Finally someone comes on the speaker and the other nurse yells for Lauricel and in she comes.
I'm telling her I think she's aspirated something she says "no". Meanwhile the choking, gagging, dry heaves continue strongly and she keeps falling over sideways. So what is Lauricel's solution? Oh that would be to yank the poor old thing over on the side that gives her the most pain too. Due to the curve in her back she always leans to the left. Always. It's the curvature of her spine. So I tell her not to pull her that way, it's too painful for her. She says "I know but she's always over on that side".. again I repeat myself and she says "that's what she has pain killers for"! I'm just going to rip my hair out at this rate. Abbey the C.A. came in and between her and the nurse they finally hiked mom up the bed, got her a bit more straight so it didn't hurt her back and cleaned her up.
I can't stand this damn place.. I so can't stand it. I really want to know what this hospital's morbidity rate is because as far as I'm concerned they kill them off here.
Here Lauricel has been shovelling food into my mom. Now the woman hasn't eaten for well over a week and a half. So far today she's shovelled her morning supershake with a packet of protein powder in it and half of her milk!! Then comes afternoon and again she shovels the afternoon supershake with a packet of protein powder in it, something else and for Christ sake... fucking potato soup which is way too thick for her!! No bloodly wonder she's choking! I'm surprised she isn't throwing up with all that food suddenly in her little shrunk up tummy.
And she's crushing her damn pills too. Really? Is there absolutely no freaking communication in this damn place either? STOP CRUSHING HER PILLS, THEY'RE DISGUSTING THAT WAY. Then she wants her to take this damn huge multi-vitamin. I'm telling her to toss it, she won't take it. She says "it's chewable". I say "Lauricel.. she has no teeth in, how do you expect her to chew it"? she says "oh.. then I will crush it!!!"
Look... just shoot me and get it over with ok?
Again I told her to toss it.. she says "ok.. we'll crush it!". I swear it takes everything in me not to choke some of these people. I finally said "Lauricel, I said to TOSS it.. she's not going to take that huge thing". finally she gets it, she says she won't toss it though, she'll just put down that it's not administered. That's perfectly fine. geez
Then she wants to know if the Dr's talked to me yesterday. I said no... was here for over 8 hrs and didn't see one of them. She wanted to know if they spoke to me about a pep tube or something like that. I knew what she was talking about, a feeding tube placed right in her tummy but I told her that I wouldn't allow it. You can't be knocking her out like that at this stage. So she asked if they will insert the tube in her nose again but I'm really having issues with it. They use people that don't know what they are doing. It's brutal on her. This will be the 4th one and a few alterations too. Pulling it out to push it in further, etc. I think she's had enough of it. It's torture for her. Obviously the mittens to prevent her from pulling it out don't work either because every time you turn around she's pulled them off again.
2:35 pm.. my mom is exhausted from all that hacking and choking but it's finally completely stopped. She's trying to sleep. Sleep is good for her. Sleep is healing. Not in here though. First the guy comes in to change all the garbage's and bangs and rattles everything and scares the crap out of her. She manages to drift off again when the nurses station starts up. If I didn't know better I'd swear they were having a party out there. Loud laughing, talking, yelling across the space.. so loud it freakin wakes her again. I guess they forget this is a hospital and a quiet zone.
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