Mom Update

Well it has been an interesting week. My visits to mom brought news of high heart rate, fevers, high blood pressure, low blood pressure, mixed in with stretches where all her numbers were fine. Mom's tests revealed nothing. The doctors said an increased heart rate is USUALLY brought on by an infection. They were never able to figure out anything specific. The pumped her full of antibiotics (a bunch of different ones it seems) and hopefully that has taken care of things. She was moved off the mid-ICU unit today to the regular floor, and if she has a good night she may be discharged to rehab at Park Pointe tomorrow. That is same place she rehabbed from broken hip at the end of last year. She is pale and whooped. and her appetite isn't great, but I'm sure that will pick up as she regains her strength. The pacemaker doc has restricted use of her left arm (the pacemaker is on the left side) for two more weeks, so she is forced to use that right arm, the one where she broke the elbow and opted for a non-surgical approach of healing, and she really has trouble using it. She is using her left arm some when she is unattended lol, and I don't blame her. Hard for her to eat with that right arm, but on the other hand it is good for her to use it, but not good for her to be frustrated! ARGHHH Doctor said she can't use left arm for two more weeks, so I'm not sure how much physical therapy she will be able to do until that time is up, as she will be unable to use the walker.

At this point in time, and I just left her a few minutes ago, her temperature was normal, blood pressure was normal, and heart rate was normal. Let's pray things stay that way and she can start to get her strength back! We want her back home.  We need to sit outside with our coffee in the mornings and laugh at our kitties and admire the garden and wait impatiently for garden tomatoes!

Mom enjoyed hearing about the Mallaney cousin luncheon last week, a splendid time had by all!

Gotta love that french pedicure!

And lest I forget. Happy Birthday today to Midge and Finnegan. Shut up John! Nine years old today. How time flies. Best cats ever.

Midge has always been especially photogenic. Look at her smizing. 

That's all for now!

Kay ☺

Sunday 98.6

Well, after a rather discouraging visit to Mother in the hospital last night, she had a 102.8 temperature, chills, heart rate was 145, she was exhausted and just generally miserable, things are looking up today! On my way to the Mallaney Cousin's Luncheon I stopped to see her, but she was busy with 2 physical therapists. She was sitting up on edge of bed, and there was no way she could have done that last night. Her temp was 98.6, and her heart rate was 80! She had eaten a whole bowl of soup for lunch! Wow. What a change. I did not stay long, she was so busy with therapists.

I stopped just now, post luncheon, to pass along all the love and well wishes of the cousins, but she was sleeping, deeply and peacefully, with NO oxygen! She was having no trouble getting air in, by the sound of her gentle snoring . . . lol. And one machine was gone! I sat for a bit but she was zonked, so I just left. Hopefully things are on the upswing!  No let me rephrase that . . . things ARE on the upswing!

Lunch was great, loud and fun and wonderful.

We are just fun, good-looking people. We can't help it, it is what it is.

Kay :)

Pacemaker

Mom got her pacemaker this a.m. Doc said things went very well. She is staying overnight in the hospital. I'm curious to see how much better she feels. The improvement since that first round of antibiotic for the UTI has been considerable. She got a blast of antibiotics during the pacemaker, and has an Rx for the UTI for another week as well, so hopefully everything will be blasted out of her. Joe is heading up to see her in a bit.

I hope everyone had a very happy Easter. John came home and we had a nice turkey dinner and carrot cake.

My stinker of a cat went MIA for a while, but has returned home. Not sure where he was, but he came home smelling like a garage . . . like he had been doing some oil changes on the side. Finn's Mysterious Adventure. Anyway we are very glad he is home. He is getting caught up on his rest and baths . . . and he wants some extra pats and kisses on the head too, and we are happy to oblige.

The Wanderer

Take care all.

Kay :)

President's Day

Nice to have a 3 day weekend! I had last Monday off too for Lincoln's birthday. And next Monday off for Pacemaker Take II . . .

Had mom to hospital this a.m. for pre-pacemaker blood work AGAIN! We went to hospital a week ago Monday (wicked wind and cold and dark 6:30 a.m. grrrrr) to get pacemaker, mom was all prepped, triple showered, stripped, scrubbed, IV'd had all those stickers on her, and we were waiting and waiting, and apparently the doctor then decided to look at the lab work from the week before, and turns out Mom had a UTI and he couldn't/wouldn't do pacemaker. You can bet your ass I will be on phone tomorrow to make sure that lab work results have been reviewed and that UTI is cleared up before we even get close to Monday the 26th, next pacemaker day.

I can't get too pissy about it because the day after we got home Mom spiked a fever so, in retrospect, it is a good thing the pacemaker didn't happen. Would have knocked her flat I suspect. It almost seems like every time we take her out of the house she gets sick. It is crazy.

The first antibiotic for the UTI made mom sick (honestly, she can't catch a break-good thing she is a tough cookie!), so I called and got something different and the improvement was almost immediate, thank God! Her appetite picked up tremendously and with the increased appetite came increased strength.  She is eating good meals, and is asking for frequent snacks, just like the mom I know and love! lol I have been buying/fixing all her faves to tempt her appetite. Taco salad tonight. John called her the Queen of Dips, she is a hummus eating machine and it is so easy to grab her some spinach dip from the deli at Jewel, she loves that! Yeah I could make a big batch, but Kathleen loves spinach dip too, so best just to buy a scoop at Jewel here and there for Jo Ann. Mom still isn't too keen on meat, but honestly she never was, so I'm planning some bean/rice meals to protein her up. She has been hitting the cottage cheese too. And she is enjoying cranberry juice and lots of water.  So she is back on her regular mini-meal/snack schedule and her color is so much better. She was so pale and weak and frail before. It was quite worrisome really, but things are much better now. Her spirit is always good and she never whines. Never. Incredible. What happened to me?! 😇

So we are off to hospital next Monday, the 26th (hopefully), for the pacemaker. Dad felt a lot better after he got his, and I'm hoping Mom does. too

Finnegan has bonded with my new clearance snow flake patterned micro-flannel sheets. I gotta say they are pretty spiffy.

The cats are such good company for Mom, just as they were for Dad. One of them is usually curled up next to her.  And I guess it is good to keep her limber, contorting herself around a sweet feline bed hog friend!

Peace and good health. Mom and I had a good giggle leaving the hospital, mom said "Shhhhh don't let the cardiologist hear . . . but I'm starving, I want a biscuit for breakfast!" lolol And she already asked me if corned beef was on sale yet! When you marry into an Irish family 'tis bound to happen!

Kathleen 💚

Pacemaker

Mom saw the cardiologist today. Luckily John had the day off and he and Joe transported mom to the doctor's office, and I headed over there on my lunch hour. Worked out nicely. We were kind of surprised to hear that when mom was in the hospital there were some stretches of up to 10 seconds where her heart did not beat! Yikes. We had no idea. No wonder the woman keeps falling! Anyway, pacemaker is set up for Monday morning, we need to be there at 7:00 a.m. Doc's office is right across from hospital, so while I went back to work John wheeled mom over for pre-procedure blood work and some other stuff. Pretty nifty. 

We were highly amused in the exam room when mom commented that she hoped it wouldn't be scheduled too quickly, because she needed time to "rest up because she was tired". John and I kind of laughed and made some bad jokes about resting up from what lol she said oh, just a week or two . . . so when the scheduler came out and said Monday, mom was kind of shocked, and when they asked if she had any questions about the procedure she said . . . "THIS COMING MONDAY?" lolol.  Dad had good results and increased energy when he got his pacemaker and we are hoping for and expecting good results for mom too. She has been very tired and weak in the legs, and the pacemaker will help with those issues. Her appetite is picking up a bit too.

I found it somewhat amusing that on the day we went to the cardiologist I had made biscuits and gravy to tempt mom's appetite. We did not tell the doctor that . . . 

That's all folks. 

Kathleen :)

Bug

Well, Mom can't catch a break. She is recuperating from a bug, chills and vomiting and diarrhea. She is on the upswing now. For a few days it was nothing but water and a little 7-UP. She is eating now, not a ton, but her appetite is picking up, thank goodness. She is pale and weak, but now that she is eating things are looking better. We had her to her ortho a week ago Friday, it was wicked cold and windy out,  our first outing since she got home, and it ended up being a very long afternoon.  Appointment was at 2:45, we didn't get home until 5:00. I think she just got chilled through and it really tuckered her out. Then the bug hit her on Saturday.

The good news at the ortho is her hip is healing fine. He wants to see her one more time in 2 months. I made an appointment with her GP for Monday. We were supposed to do a follow-up after her discharge from rehab, but the cold was so wicked, and it was slick out, and she was doing so well, I was putting it off. But  we need to see if she has to keep up on some prescriptions that she took after the surgery, if she needs a pacemaker, some follow-up blood work, etc. so we can't put it off any more.

Joe is so good with Mom, just as he was with Dad, so I have no worries while I am at work, for which I am very grateful. And I'm so glad I got a job close to home. I can come home at noon and give Joe a little break and he can have an outing. And his strength is coming in so handy, as Mom is weak from her illness. Her strength is coming back, so I'm positive we will have a good outcome. She missed out on her therapy this week due to her bug, but that will start up again next week. I'm going to see if she can get some extra visits, due to this setback. Mom is tough and in good spirits, thank God, but we don't need any more setbacks!

Enjoying this warmer weather. That cold snap sucked . . . .

Hope all the family is well and happy and flu-free!

Kathleen :)

Happy New Year!

The cats like to take a ride in Mom's new wheelchair. Here is Midge. Too bad the house is so small. If I win the Queen of Hearts drawing tomorrow I will fix that! I just wheeled Midge back to mom's bed, her favorite spot in the whole world. When Mom gets up to exercise or eat or for whatever reason, Midge sprawls right in the middle of it like she owns it! Amuses Mother to no end. She will not move either, until Mom nearly sits on her. She's a stinker. When I pretend I'm going to sit on her you should see how fast she moves!

Did you know Medicare will give you a wheel chair OR a walker. Walkers are a dime a dozen at the thrift store, so we chose the wheelchair. Medicare will also give you a commode. When you have aging parents you learn a lot of stuff. My friends who have been through it are teaching me the ropes.

Mom is having some ups and downs. She was picking up speed, eating better, color was better, and then appetite tailed off, she was pale, her cold sort of flared up again. Now she is picking up speed again, but her leg is sore. Could be from having physical therapy 3 days in a row this week, then the aide came and Mom had a shower yesterday. Lots of action. She was supposed to go to doc Friday but appointment got rescheduled. I'll be curious to see if she needs to stay on blood thinners, if she needs a pacemaker, etc. Mom says no to the pacemaker, but we'll see about that. I really didn't want to take her out in the wicked winter cold, but we are going to have to go out eventually. Mom's spirits are good, though she does get impatient with herself sometimes. I'm cooking good things to tempt her appetite. She enjoys everything, but only in very small portions. Not me man. I've only gained 5 pounds so far. Or maybe that was from Christmas time, not sure.

Mom reminds me that she is 80 years old, it will be slow going. And she has only been home two weeks after all. Patience patience. Joe is really good with her, they do very well during the day when I am at work, which is a big relief. So things are coming along.

Stay warm and stay home today, it is super slick out!

Kathleen