Mother in Hospital for 35 Days

Mother has been in the hospital for 35 days. It seems that every time they get one problem taken care of, another one appears. The Kaifoplasty worked on her back and she seems to have no pain there.

3:00 p.m.
Today was a really long one for me because I went to the hospital early, determined to get some lunch in her and to try to be sure the physical therapists came. It started out well because she took all her pills without any trouble.

The physical therapist and her assistant came. I was hoping for a bit of progress because she had called me this morning and said she wanted to walk down the hallway today. They moved her legs and feet in bed. Then they sat her up on the edge of the bed. She went into a frenzied panic mode, hyperventilated and said she was falling. Even with the three of us, we couldn't get her to calm down and after about a minute with her begging, they helped her lie back down.

Ed brought her a cheeseburger (the doctor said she can eat anything she wants to) and her eyes lighted up. She took a tiny bite. Then her lunch tray came and she took 2 sips of coffee, after which she started retching. Nothing came up but clear "spit". The only thing I could get in her was 3 bites of jello.

I feared that things might change without all the family around all day long. I'm not sure what to think at this point but I have to remind myself that each day is different and maybe tomorrow will be better. I don't know how in the world the nurses, assistants, specialists, and doctors can do their demanding and often "icky" jobs. God bless them each and every one!

9:30 p.m.

Faith returned my call to tell me about her time with Mother this evening. When she got there, Mother was paranoid and said everyone was laughing at her. She said there was a little boy there who was laughing at her. She said Ed was supposed to come get her but he hadn't shown up. Faith tried to get the subject changed.

Dr. Roussel came in just about the time her supper did. She said he was really good with her and said he hoped that tomorrow she'd try a little more with the therapists tomorrow, even if it hurt a little, because he doesn't want to keep her in there forever. Her supper was steak (that's another story) and he said, "When your kids were little didn't you tell them to eat all their meat? Well, that's what I want you to do."

I think my conversation with him last evening on the phone might have gotten through. She had told me that Dr. Roussel was mad at her and she knows she didn't lose weight and exercise like he told her all those years. But that was in the past and she needed him to encourage her, not scold her. I took a chance and told it as a quote from Mother.

The STEAK Story

Mother had said she was getting steak on Monday. I saw the man (His name is Ed and he's a ray of sunshine) who brings the meals in the hallway and asked if she was getting steak. He said no......then said he had seen the chef making steak for some conference and he'd try to see if he could get one. Well, I guess he did!! Faith was able to get every bite of that steak in her!!!

Ah, I'm going to sleep better knowing that her day got better. And thank God for Faith - she's worth every penny!