Please send your prayers and good wishes to my mom - Kathy, down in Florida.
She is currently in the Oak Hill Hospital. She is dealing with the fact that some how her colon has twisted and has been in a lot of pain as a result. They have a tube in her nose to pump out the stuff that is stuck on one side of the obstruction and diarrhea taking care of the other side of the obstruction.
It is possible they might operate tomorrow. Her thought is that the scar tissue that she has is causing this issue (she has fought off colon cancer now twice)
Dad is with her, but his hearing aids are currently broken and at the his dr office. So it makes communications with them just a bit more difficult. When I talked with mom today (on her cell phone) - she said she was a bit tired and weak.
It is hard know that she is so far away and dealing with this. So please send good thoughts her way.
Ohiocat
Prayers are heavenbound for your mom and you and your dad. Please keep us posted on her condition.
Cricket
I am praying for you and your entire family in this time of need! Keep us posted!
My thoughts are with you and your family.
Ohiocat - sorry to hear that your mom is having such difficulties.
Will say prayers for her surgery and recovery and that she will feel better very soon. I'm sure it's hard on your Dad too. Prayers all around.
I know from experience how difficult it is to have your parents in one state, and you in another. Especially, with health issues involved. Will keep you in prayer too Ohiocat.
Hugs,
Bucky
Hi Ohiocat
I'll keep your Mom in my thoughts. It's awful when someone you love is in pain and you can't do anything about it. The distance is hard too - made worse by lack of communication! I hope they can operate soon and get her on the road to recovery.
Take care - Scottie
(((((((((ohiocat and family)))))))))
Sending lots of positive thoughts and prayers to your mom, dad and of course you! I hope they are able to help your mom get through this and back on track soon. Then she can get on the road to recovery and back to her life with your dad!
Keep us posted!
Ohiocat,
So sorry to hear about your mother's illness. I know it's so difficult when you are long distance.
Sending prayers for her, your Dad and for YOU and wishing blessings for you all.
Take care and keep us posted,
Melinda
I'm so sorry that your mother is experiencing such pain and that your father is not able to hear as well without his hearing aids. Even worse, how helpless you must be feeling since you're not able to be with them.
My thoughts are with you.
I'm sorry to hear that your Mom is having such problems. It is painful to have this type of problem plus one just feels really sick until the get the tube put in. Prayers are being said for both your parents. It is also hard to be without hearing aides. I hope that the doctors write things down so your dad can understand them. A notebook and pen at the bedside would really help with this. Irish ;D
Prayers and hugs to you and your family. Take care.
LeoLady
Saying prayers for your mom!
ohiocat
Keeping you and yours in my prayers.
KAthyx
Prayers said, and peace to your family. I am so sorry for this time you and your family have to endure.
susanep
Just spoke to my Dad (just had to talk a bit louder to make sure he could hear me).
According to his estimates Mom has been in surgery now for just about seven hours. The latest report is that she is still doing okay and they have found the blockage in her colon and are working on that.
He has had nothing but two cups of coffee so far, but he won't leave the room because they have given him no time estimate at this time. He feels he needs to be in the room until she is out of surgery.
It sounds like this hospital also has some sort of status board, that shows the status of the patients in surgery, but he says the board is about 2 or 3 hours behind.
He has promised to call me when he know more.
(and just for the record, florida is on the same time zone as I am - and it is currently 7:45 pm eastern standard time.)
Dad just called back. She is in recovery now. And he was out getting some food (from panaro breads).
She will be in the recovery room for about a hour at least. So that's why he felt he could now leave to get some food.
He said that the Doctors remove some masses and feel that this might solve a lot of the problems that she has been having off and on. In addition they reexamined her and said there was absolutely no sign of cancer. Dad also said that they had to remove a bit more but they did not say how much.
Mom already has a bit of an issue due to how much that they have removed in the past. (When she has to go to the bathroom-- she has to go right now!) Hopefully this will not make that problem worse for her.
She will most likely be spending several more days in the hospital healing (after all, Mom is 77 years old and does not heal as fast as she use to). (Dad is now 80 years old this year, but I have no doubt he will be taking good care of her through this.)
That sounds like a very good update Ohiocat... I hope your mom continues to do well through the night and dad can get some rest...
Prayers going out for all of you...
Ohiocat - good news that Mom is out of surgery. Wow, that was a l-o-n-g surgery! I bet your Dad was hungry - bless his heart, he didn't want to eat until she was in recovery. They should have someone come around with sandwiches or something and offer them to people waiting for people in surgery.
I'm glad to hear there is no cancer. I'm sure that is a relief to the family.
I hope your mom has a speedy recovery and will feel better now that this mass has been removed.
Hopefully, everyone will get some sleep tonight - you included Ohiocat.
Bucky
Thanks for the update ohiocat. Your dad must be absolutely whacked. Prayers for them both.
Kathyx
Sending prayers for a quick recovery and lots of support for them both and for you... Is always hard to deal with a family crisis long distance, *hugs*
-Y
Found out from Dad this evening that Mom gave a few Nurses a fright this morning.
She is in the Surgery Intensive Care Unit - which means of course she is hooked up to all sorts of equipment.
Well her heart decided to go into some kind of rapid type heart beat, and of course all the different equipment was not showing good numbers.
Made several people rush to her room. They were actually considering using paddles on her, to get her heart back to a normal rate. But I guess they did not have to. Dad said the paddle equipment sat in her room most of the day, just in case.
She is getting pain medicine on demand, where she pushes a button to get a dose. Dad says she keeps getting these intense pains due to all the stuff that they did to her. And she still has the hose down her nose, keeping her stomach drained. (Her only nutrition is though her IV).
Dad did say they might get her up out of bed for the first time tomorrow. No word as to how long she will be in the S-ICU or how long she will be in the hospital.
Dad also said that she has the q-tip type things that she can use on her lips and teeth. (sounded like they might be flavored some how ??). So Mom goes to use one of these, and then falls asleep - mouth open, q-tip in hand.
It's hard not being able to visit her and see how she is doing. This distance thing just ------ is not fun. (okay I cleaned up my language on that one)
Ohiocat,
Thanks for the updates.
I'm glad to hear the surgery is over and hope your mom gets on the mend soon. Sounds like a scary night though...sure hope that doesn't happen again! Slowly but surely the tubes, IVs, and all that stuff will start to disappear as she feels better....that will be nice for your dad to see.
Still keeping you all in my thoughts!
Ohiocat - I'm glad your moms heart situation cleared up on its own and they didn't have to paddle her. (sounds like she's been a bad girl and needs a paddling . . ::))
The times I've seen those swabs they use for the mouth they are lemon flavored.
I've been in your shoes with the distance thing when my mom was in the hospital following a heart attack and I was 480 miles away. The updates by phone just aren't the same as being there in person.
As Lynnmarie said - slowly all the tubes your mom has right now will come out. Once they get a patient up and moving things seem to happen quicker. Wishing your mom a speedy recovery.
Hugs,
Bucky
I'm so sorry to read about all you mother had to go through and still is going through, and I'm sorry that the distance between you is long.
I also believe that when the tubes and all the "stuff" comes off her, it will be moving in the right direction.
You'll all be in my prayers.
Ohiocat, you and your family are in my thoughts.
I can only imagine how hard it is to be so far away.
So yesterday they had mom sitting in a chair for a few hours.
She still has tube down nose. No food, just getting stuff through the IV.
Tonight however Dad was already at home when I called. It seems Mom was sleeping in the afternoon when he came back from lunch and the nurse told him just to let her sleep since she has had a few rough nights.
After watching her sleep a bit, he headed home to do grocery shopping and laundry (just to try and catch up to things)
At least I did not have to yell on the phone today (or yesterday). Still no hearing aids, but he happen to remember that he had gotten this one piece of equipment. It is advertised as something you can use to listen to what your neighbors are saying about you from across the street. So it has a head set and an amplifier.
So Dad is using this for now, until the Dr gets his hearing aids fixed. It was nice be able to talk at a more regular voice instead of half-shouting to make sure that he could hear me.
Dad seems to think that Mom is feeling less pain. Doctors are not giving him any ideas of how long she might be in the hospital. He had mention yesterday that she seemed to be having some hallucinations, but they thought that was left over from some medicine.
It frightens me to think that she is not completely clear headed. Not sure why that bothers me so much. But I do know that grandmother (her mom) had some hallucinations the week prior to her death. Maybe that is why it scares me some.
So please continue to keep her in your prayers. This seems like it is going to be a very long process.
Ohiocat, I live thousands of miles from where my mother does and know how frustrating and worrying it is to be far away. My nephew lives in the same community and is very good at helping her through various health crises -- she's 89. But it's not the same as being there myself.
The hallucinations you mention may be an aftereffect of anesthesia; my Dad had that problem after his surgeries and really scared my mother. He was in his late 70s, so age may be a factor. Her brother had surgery at age 83 and said some really weird things that scared his wife. She said it sounded like he was out of his head. In both cases, it took a while for them to get back to normal. I've read that older patients react differently to drugs.
I hope this finds your mother doing a little bit better each day so you can worry a bit less. Take care.
Thanks for the update Ohiocat.
I agree, from what I hear, anesthesia for the older generation is harder for their bodies to handle and clear from their system.
I'm glad your conversation with dad went better with him using that hearing amplifier and you didn't have to shout at him for him to hear you.
I hope with each new day your mom is feeling better and better.
((Ohiocat))
Bucky
Ohio
Has your mum had morphine? My uncle had hallucinations when he was on that.
Hugs for you and your mum.
Kathyx
This evening actually got to talk to Mom for a little bit. She sounded a bit weak and tired but mostly rational. She said that she had a "bath" today, which as about a two hour process.
Still no food and still have tube down her nose. It seems that they want her to pass some gas, before they will look at removing the tube and then they will talk about her having some kind of liquid diet. But her system needs to pass gas to prove that it is working before she can get to that next step.
Ohiocat, do they let your mother chew gum? I remember reading about a study that showed post-surgical patients got their gut "up and running" a bit faster if they did. It's a thought...
they just started to allow her to have ice chips but I think that is all.
Good news- Mom finally passed some gas - so now they are going to take the tube out of her nose and then start her on a liquid diet maybe tomorrow. No word as to when she might leave the the ICU for a regular room yet.
But this is a real sign of improvement.
Wonderful news! :)
These are all small steps to recovery! I'll keep hoping for more small steps each day! That's the way to do it!
Ohiocat,
I hope your Mom is still improving! Keep us updated when you can, ok? Prayers continuing to come your way...
Melinda
They had delayed taking the tube out - but now it really has been removed. Mom is now a liquid diet - soon to be a soft diet.
They have been giving her physical theropy as well as getting her up to walk. There has been some talk about having her move out of ICU to a regular hospital room (not sure if that will get done soon).
And the real nice part is that I don't need to "yell" at my Dad any more. He has his hearing aids back and they are working again. Making communication a bit easier!
It is going to be a very long process getting Mom back on her feet and back home.
Im glad to hear things are looking better! ;)
Ohio, that's good news. Seems our prayers have been answered.
Kathyx
Ohio, Glad to hear that things seem to be progressing steadily and positively. Just a little note!!!As scary as all this has been for you, I remember being in nurses training many, many, many years ago and the elderly did not do well with surgery. They did not live through surgery much of the time and if they did the recovery period was really hard.
Thanks to all the new anesthesia drugs and surgical techniques the elderly do so much better post operatively these days. The fact does remain though that the anesthesia and pain medications are metabolized and excreted much slower as we age---thus some hallucinations and interesting conversations at times. Sounds like she is doing well. Also sounds like your dad is pretty active and helpful. Great thing for you Mom to have him. Irish ;D
As of late morning today, Mom has now been moved into a regular hospital room.
Getting to the room, was quite a deal. They took her up to the room to discover that the bed was not made. Then after a bit, they made the bed and then determined that the bed was really broken. So that they had to go and get another bed for her. Turns out she was out in the hallway for about an hour, before the bed situation got resolved.
Then they served her lunch in the new room. Meanwhile there were two other people in her room (the lady who was ill and her husband). So while mom had her food there, they were there talking about how the lady was bleeding and how lady was going to have colonoscopy to try and track down the bleeding. Of course all of this additional noise and talk, upset Mom and she found it very difficult to eat.
Then also from what I understand, they were playing the TV sound very loud. The TV in the room, has the sound coming out of the remote that controls the TV. But my impression is that the sound was quite loud. Then mom also said that their telephone sounded like an alarm clock.
Then to top things off, Mom was cold and ask for extra blankets. And initially they just did not bring her any. Once they moved the lady out of the room (for her procedure), Dad went hunting for blankets and was able to find some. To say the least, all of the stuff was placing Mom on edge and she just wants to go home!
They are now feeding her real food. Her dinner had just arrived when I was talking to Dad and it sound like she had some kind of beef tips, and pasta with vegetables and a few other items I can't think of right now. At least she was having some peace and relative calm to eat since her roommate is getting her colonosopy done at the moment. They figure her roommate (and her husband) will be gone for at least an hour.
No idea yet how long it will take for her to be able to head home. She needs to be well enough to take care of herself. They are still doing some physical therapy and having her walk.
Hi Ohiocat...
I'm happy to hear that your mom is doing better.
As far as the room goes, consider asking for a private room...
It never hurts to ask...
Ohiocat, I've heard from several friends that hospitals are the worst places in which to get any rest. If somebody wasn't trundling a noisy cart in the hallway right outside your room, a nurse was waking you up to take a sleeping pill -- true story! There's nothing quite like sleeping in your own bed, either, so I hope your mother can soon go home to get some much-needed rest.
Talked with Mom today. She sounds lots better.
She also thinks she have figured out why she has been getting these painful stomach craps. It seems to be happening everytime they give her a IV of antibiotics. She is due to get it again at 6:00 PM but she is going to refuse it this time.
Also she is hoping to talk to the one doctor to let him know that everytime she gets this set of antibiotics that it makes her stomach cramp.
Both her and Dad are hoping that Mom might be release tomorrow. But the surgeran is going to have to check in before she will able to be released.
But Mom is walking well now. (As long as she has not recently been given the IV.) Even the people who have been "walking" her, say she does not really need anyone to walk her now.
The church dropped by some flowers, which I guess include a few roses and is very pretty. And Mom's spirits seem very high especially after she has figured out what is causing her so much pain (and she plans on stopping it but stopping the IV). Mom has reactions to some many things, I am not surprise that she has found another drug she can not tolerate.
Thats all for this update.
Ohiocat - so good to hear that your Mom is coming along so well. I know this is a relief to you and your Dad.
I hope she gets to come home this week as she will feel so much better being back home in her own surroundings.
Hopefully, she is eating well too - that could cause her stomach to be upset if she's taking medicine on an empty stomach.
Have a great week . . . things are looking up for your family. ;D
Bucky
Hi Ohiocat :)
Obviously I don't know what antibiotics your Mom is on but I do know that Erithromycin can cause awful stomach cramps - and indeed vomitting.
I could never take it in tablet form when I was young because it made me feel so bad and I'd throw up too. I always tyold people I was allergic to it.
When my daughter was six she nearly developed scepticemia because of a splinter of wood in one toe that she neglected to mention to us. When we spotten a 'poison line' heading up her leg we got the doctor who called an ambulance. When she got to the hospital she was given penicillin. By the following morning she was covered in a rash and they decided it was a penicillin allergy so they decided to give her intravenous erithromycin.
This gave her stomach cramps and made her throw up. I pointed this out to the nurses and to the doctors and I was told that it was a side effect and not an allergy. It was pretty darn horrible whatever it was!
I hope your Mom feels better soon.
Take care - Scottie :)
So good to hear of your moms progress! I sure hope she gets to go home soon! You always do soooooo much better in your own home...your own bed...your own bathroom...well you get the picture. ;) And your dad will be happier too!
Send some extra prayers for mom tonight and tomorrow morning.
Mom has been having these heart issues. I guess it is something called an a-fib. I guess it is a deal where part of your heart is beating at a different rate then the other half does. Her heart acted up this morning when she was walking.
So they have decided that the only way to get her heart to get back into the right rhythm is to shock her heart. So tomorrow morning they are going to shock her at about 7:00 am (eastern time)
I know this scares mom but the doctors think this is the best thing and they say they have not lost anyone yet in doing this.
I really don't know much about a-fibs or this kind of shock deal. But all the good wishes we can send her way would be welcomed.
PRAYERS ARE FOR YOUR MOM < YOUR DAD & FAMILY!!
Hi Ohiocat :)
My best friend's husband had to have his heart stopped and restarted recently because it wouldn't beat rhythmically. He was scared too - but found the procedure wasn't as bad as he'd feared and better still - it sorted things out! He's abck at work now after about 5 months off.
Best wishes winging towards your Mom.
Take care - Scottie :)
More prayers for your mum. I too have heard of people having this, and they have all come through it fine.
Hugs
Kathyx
Thanks for your answers and good wishes.
This latest issue had me worried since I really did not understand the process, only knew that my mom was really scared. And that of course frighen me.
According to Dad- "Mom is Stubborn" (Yes that is Stubborn with a capital S"), because they had to shock her heart 3 times before it decided to cooperate and get back to a completely normal rhythm.
At any rate Mom is doing very well this evening now. Everything fell into place this morning, since it turned out she had to get both a heart scan (to verify that there were no clots) and the shock treatment. They would not have done the shock, if they had found any clots.
And things fell in place doctor wise also. One doctor did the scan and then Moms regular heart doctor did the shocks. At first they thought that the shock would be done hours after the scan (because of the heart doctors schedule). But everything came together so everything was done as a single operation.
So now Mom is trying to convince her doctors to allow her to go home tomorrow. She said that she would agree to home care - where a nurse comes in daily to check up on things (how she is healing and verifying all her vitals, etc.). Her hope is with that, she might be out of the hospital sooner vs later.
Dad told me that Mom said to call the home number tomorrow instead of the cell number (I have been calling the cell phone nightly since more often dad was at the hospital). Mom is that hopeful that she will be home.
Thanks for all your prayers and explanations of this latest operation.
Ohiocat - glad to hear that Mom is back in rhythm again. ;D I keep hearing this song, "she's got the beat" in my head . . . LOL :D
Keeping my fingers crossed that Mom WILL be released tomorrow. I'm sure both she and Dad are anxious for her to be back home.
I'm sure you breathing a sigh of relief tonight too.
Bucky
Whewwwww!
Glad for the good news! I can only imagine the relief you all must feel...especially mom!
Mom is now home and out of the hospital. She is happy to be home. But she is tired and obviously has lots more healing to do. She says she has spots on her where she is burned - sort of like the level of a sunburn. That is due to where they had shocked her.
And her throat is hurting a bit, since that last procedure - checking for clots, involved placing something down her throat.
But now that she is home, she figures that she will be able to sleep and rest a lot better. It is peaceful and quiet at home --which is not what the hospital is. (if dad makes too much noise - she can kick him out of the room. She could not do that with her hospital room mate.)
They have agreed to have home care. Which means a nurse will be coming in daily to check on Mom. She will take her vitals and check the surgery incision. Don't know how long that will be going on. But having home care, means Mom is limited in being able to go places outside the house. (There is some set of rules that have to be followed)
Thanks for all the good wishes.
Yay . . . glad your Mom is home.
There's no place like home! ;D
I don't know if this will be the case with your Mom, but with my Mom when she came home from the hospital and home health care came to the house they wanted to show us (family) how to change the bandages, check for infection, etc.
In my opinion, I don't think they should expect those who are untrained to take on these responsibilities. My Mom ended up developing an infection in her incision cut even though I followed the instructions that were given. (The nurse only came a few times a week and family tended to Mom the other days.) Like everything else, the agencies are looking to cut costs and this is one of the areas where they do that.
I hope in your Mom's case, that the home health person will handle all that and not expect your Dad to take on those responsibilities.
Wishing your Mom a speedy recovery.
Bucky
So glad to hear that your mom is home! You are right...she will be able to rest more and heal faster! Hugs to you all!
Ohio
Thanks for your update. You must be so elieved that your mum is well enough to be back home, een if she will need care for a while.
HUgs
Kathyx
Good News that mom and 'dad' are home... its been a long couple of weeks for all of you...