Mom saw the neurologist today. Claudia began mom’s day and found mom very alert and awake, focusing and responding to the head respiratory therapist (watching him, looking at him, smiling at him—not sure if she spoke to him or not). Claudia did mom’s full physical therapy/range of motion exercises but, by this time, mom had closed her eyes tightly, squinting and behaved as though she was asleep. Claudia told mom to open her eyes and stop being a “phoney baloney” but mom just clenched them closed tighter, so Claudia opened her eyes for her and mom stayed awake. Claudia and mom read through the, “All About Me” book and the “Getting Better” book (Claudia stressed going to the neurologist and following commands and focusing). Anthony came next and did mom’s full range of motion/physical therapy exercises. Carmine (John and Con’s cousin who is a speech therapist) came to see mom this morning, but the CNA was dressing mom and took a while so Carmine had to leave shortly after he saw mom. Anthony also worked on the nut and bolt with mom as well but mom fell back to sleep again. Dad, JoAnn and I came to see mom next in the early afternoon. Mom was asleep in the wheelchair. She slept for a bit then woke and smiled at us (slight smile not a big one). Flo and Maureen came to see mom while we were there. We all talked to mom and dad and I stretched her out a bit. Dad read the “Getting Better” book again with an “assist” from Maureen (she turned the pages and dad read). Mom kept falling asleep on and off.
Mom saw the neurologist this afternoon. Someone asked about how she gets there. Mom is taken to her doctor appointments by an ambulance service that takes mom off the facility vent and hooks her up to their portable vent and oxygen tanks. The service was 35 minutes late arriving at the facility to pick up mom. Then, after she was on the guerney and on her way out of the facility, we stopped at the nurse’s station for a complete set of paperwork to take to the doctor’s office (the EMT realized we didn’t have a complete set). At the nurse’s station, we were given a complete set with mom’s name on the top. Luckily, the EMT read through it and asked me why mom was being taken to the doctor and what doctor she was going to. I answered that she was going to the neurologist. The EMT then asked if I was sure and what she was going for. I told her for a neurological re-evaluation and the EMT said, “Well it says here that she is going for a fractured femur” UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I grabbed the chart and sure enough that’s what it said---but I realized by looking at the top of the page that the name on the page was MARIE someone!!!!!!!! IT WASN’T MOM’S REPORT!!! The nurse in charge of traveling to the doctor with mom quickly fixed the problem for us but was scolded by the head supervisory nurse (even though he was not the person who compiled the chart)!!!
The doctor checked mom and she responded really well! Better than she did back in early December. She gave him eye contact when he spoke to her, she tracked his finger up/down, side to side, she moved her calf and foot at the ankle (better on right then left side), she said, “Ow!” when he pinched her left foot, she squeezed his hand when he told her to. He told us her setback was due to her collapsed lung, and a bad case of sinusitis!! He ordered a visit to an ENT for a thorough evaluation, a CAT Scan, an EEG, a polysumnography (sleep apnea test), and a swallow test. He will see her again in the end of March. He said she was much better than she was in the hospital but not as good as she was in early December (alertness). He reiterated the importance of working with her aggressively at this time since she only has a window of another few months for rapid recovery. After that, recovery can happen but at a much slower pace. He also said that, in her current condition, she is much more susceptible to setbacks over things that are common to the average person (a cold, sinusitis…). Claudia asked the neurologist if it is possible for mom to have all her tests done in the same day (the sleep test is an overnighter). He didn’t see why not. John came up with a good thought about asking the Social Worker at the facility to find out if mom goes to the hospital for her tests and stays overnight, does it count toward her 14 day bed hold for Medicaid?? It doesn’t seem like it should count, but we should ask and then get the answer in writing. Otherwise, it is possible that the facility could move mom’s room AGAIN!! (a 4th time)!!! We gave some of our favorite staff members a “Don’t quit” T-shirt along with our Christmas note…some received the shirt today and others will receive theirs over the next few days.
Lenny went to tuck mom in tonight. When he arrived, mom was asleep though he was wishing that she was awake so he could talk to her. He took her hearing aids out, set the TV timer, dimmed the lights, and prayed over her.
"...my hope Lord, is in you." Psalm 25:22
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