A SAD, SAD Day

Thursday, July 31, 2008 was a very hard day for my sister, my brother, and me. Mother has been in the hospital for 3 weeks and this week had refused her meds, food, and liquids. Anita (from Ohio), Phil (from Texas), and I spend a lot of time by her bed and she was lucid some of the time. We all had a chance to talk to her and listen to her wise and loving words, although it was hard to understand her. She made it clear that she was ready to go and that she wanted to go” today”! She did not seem to be in pain but she was miserable and suffering. Anita asked her if she was afraid and she said she wasn’t. It really felt like she would go at any minute.

We met as a family and decided to stop all the meds and IV’s, except for her pain patch. The plan was to move her to the skilled nursing section of VMRC (Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community) the next morning and Hospice would be involved with her care there.

BUT……the puzzling and frustrating thing for her doctor was that her vitals were all good, her back Kyphoplasty worked and her back pain is gone, her kidneys are fine, etc. so physically, there was no reason for her to die. He attributed it to a deep depression and tried his best to encourage and motivate her, telling her that if she would try, she could be walking out of there one of these days. She didn’t respond. (Yes, he had put her on an anti-depressant.)

Hospital Stay for Mother

Mother was in Assisted Living for about a month. A week ago Saturday, she was not able to get up, even with the help of two assistants. She went to the Emergency Room, was admitted and she's been there 9 days.

After more MRIs, CAT scans, etc. they found she had a lumbar compression fracture on L-4 (yes, that means she has a broken back). There was no fall but sometimes when older bones are so fragile, even a turn or twist can cause a break.

Friday morning they did a procedure called a Kyphoplasty, where they go into the broken vertebrae and inflate a balloon to press the fracture back in place. Then they fill that space with a special cement. This has helped many people get relief from pain. Click the words for more info: 1.Kyphoplasty definition 2. Kyphoplasty is.. 3. Kyphoplasty video

She slept the whole day Friday and looked peaceful. Yesterday, she was confused but was upset because she knew she was confused. That's a result of the pain meds building up in her system and they're already cutting back on those. It appears they'll leave the pain patch but will be using Tylenol for additional pain if that will do the job.

I feel relieved that they DID something. I was afraid they'd go the "brace/therapy" routine again. Things are set up for her to return to the retirement center to their Skilled Nursing section for a while. We don't yet know when that will be.

Assisted Living for Mother

I forgot to mention that Mother is in an assisted living facility in VMRC (Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community). It's a wonderful place and the therapists come right to her room and take her to therapy.

She's had a lot of pain and thanks to Phil, my brother who visited last week from Texas, she has better pain meds that are helping some. He also got her into an orthopedic doctor for evaluation. She has so many things wrong in her lower back that even I could see it on the MRI. They're going to try an epidural steroid injection on July 9th, in hopes that she'll get some relief. We'll be back from bringing the RV home before that.

Mother's goal is to get stronger so that she can return to her beautiful view and her "stuff" on the farm near Singers Glen. We all hope this will happen.

Mom's Diagnosis

Mother saw the doctor today and it was a relief to learn that they found out what's wrong. She has two problems.

1. Polymyalgia rheumatica (meaning “pain in many muscles” in Greek), or PMR, is an inflammatory condition of the muscles, which causes pain or stiffness, usually in the neck, shoulders, and hips. She will be treated with cortizone (pill form Prednisone) and will probably need to take it for a year.

2. Bulging disks in her lower back. The doctor has prescribed specific physical therapy that will, hopefully, relieve the back pain. If not, surgery might be a possibility in the future.

I'll be on the phone tomorrow trying to set up caregivers to come in during the day and to find a place where this particular therapy is done.....hopefully on this side of town.

The RV shelter is coming along. It's turned out that Ed is building it himself and Mike Stroop, a friend from church, has helped quite a bit. One of these days, we'll be flying to Florida to get our dear motorhome and tow car.

Flat-out Like a Lizard Drinking Caring for Mom

.......that's what they say in Australia when someone's super busy! In this case, I'm referring me being busy and to Mother (age 82) being flat-out.

(I'm prejudiced because she's MY mom but, isn't she pretty?)

Mother had gotten along pretty well after her sprained hip ordeal in late March. Her doctor sent home health therapists who really helped her. She had even driven herself to the Wellness Center for her water aerobics class.

But, last Saturday this pain started in her lower back. Her doctor sent her for bloodwork and an MRI. He says it's not sciatica. He mentioned a pinched nerve but I am wondering if it could be a hernitated disc......this is her 9th day in pain. If she stays still, flat in bed, she feels OK but the slighted movement brings on such pain and those type spasms that "grab" you and are so strong they take your breath away.

We'll call the doctor first thing tomorrow and hopefully the MRI will show something! She can't keep on this way.

Anyway, one of the purposes of this post is to explain why I've gotten behind on my email responses. Ed's making some progress on the RV shelter.....got siding on the large wall and a small section of roof installed yesterday. I'm busy with Mother's care and sneaking out to garden as much as possible!

More later.....

Mother's Mishap - The Rescue Squad...

The Rescue Squad took Mother to the Emergency Room Sunday night, March 30th, with severe hip pain. They did an X-ray and a CAT scan but found no fracture. Her doctor saw her Monday afternoon. He agreed with the ER doctors that it appeared to be a hip sprain/strain and prescribed bed rest.

Mother could not think of anything specific she did to bring on such pain. It is my sister, Anita, who saved the day. About 9 p.m. that evening, Anita called from Ohio, having just talked to Mother, and asked us to go check on her. Maybe Anita's motherly instincts sensed the pain in Mother's voice. And, sure enough, we called the rescue squad. Thank you, Anita!

Her doctor is sending Home Health nurses in for several weeks. One is an Occupational Therapist who helps with life skills such as bathing and gives her exercises. The other one is a Physical Therapist who focuses on exercises to build leg and arm strength.

For me to manage all her meals, meds, and sleep at her house was taking its toll. We were blessed to find a lady to come in to help out with various household needs. Ed has been a Godsend through all this.

I think there is light at the end of the tunnel......Mother started feeling a bit better yesterday. She has "graduated" to a cane and has put her bedside potty chair into storage. We're in the process of adding grab rails in the shower and bathroom for added safety.

Tomorrow, the therapist plans to start working on getting up and down the outside back porch stairs. Mother's looking forward to going back to her Wellness Center for her water aerobics class three times a week and for just getting out in general.

Pelicans, Pelicans

Ed, Mother, Phil (my bro), and I went to a restaurant on Cape Canaveral called Grill's, which is on the water. The pelicans hanging around gave us a free show. They were everywhere and we happened to be there in the afternoon when fishermen were coming in to clean their catch for the day. As they worked, they flipped scraps off the table into the water below. It was hilarious to see about 25 pelicans fight and go after each bite. One would get it and others would sometimes take it right out of their beak!

We went back to Grill's another day for lunch and once again enjoyed our food but enjoyed the pelicans even more! Ed and I were ready to go and Mother was still on the dock watching the pelicans.

"Houston, we have NO problem!"

Mother, Ed, and I have been house-sitting for one of my scuba diving buddies in Rockledge, a town near Cape Canaveral, Florida. We came the first week of January and plan to return to Virginia in the middle of March - yes, we're "snowbirds" this year.

My brother, Phil, came from Texas for a long weekend. Mother, in her usual curious manner, said, "Let's go to Kennedy Space Center." It turned out to be a fantastic day. We got a wheelchair for Mother, which worked well for all. It was one of those blue-sky-fluffy-cloud days,in the 70's, and they were there the whole day!

We first saw an IMAX 3-D movie - the kind where you wear those funny glasses so you feel like you're in the movie - of walking on the moon. We took a bus tour, which included 3 different stops. We saw two of the modules that were to be added to the space station in the next two launches. Lastly, we went through some of the displays and saw another remarkable IMAX movie about life inside the space station. One of our questions was answered - yes, they do shave, exercise, etc. The guy would shave a bit, then release his razor and it would just hang right there in midair.

It's hard to really perceive how humongus these shuttles are! We saw Europe's $2 billion science lab, Columbus, which was anchored to the space station on February 12.

This is a great animation showing all the segments of the Space Station, the modules and the international partners that have helped create it.
Click here: SPACE STATION MODULES