Mom slept for most of today. She may have opened her eyes once or twice for a few seconds...but that's it. She slept. I saw mom first this morning and found her in a pool of liquid from her feeding tube--it sometimes disconnects. I asked to have her checked out though because the liquid was not the usual color... The aides at the hospital are very attentive and kind. The nurse on duty today was so aggravating. Mom is in a small ward-type of room---4 beds in a small room (picture a hospital ward from 1967 or so). There are 3 women and 1 man in the room!!! Very awkward and uncomfortable. There is a woman in the bed right next to mom who appears to be very old and fragile. She can barely move or make a sound. I noticed, at one point, that she was trying to get the nurse's attention...when I told the nurse she needed him, he ignored both of us. I asked again and again until he finally turned and said, "I know how to deal with her!" How? I wondered, by ignoring her??? She is a human being with tubes all over in her body...at least acknowledge her. This same nurse wouldn't acknowledge that the liquid coming out of mom's feeding tube was unusual and kept telling me it was just the formula---believe me, we've seen leaky formula and this was not it. So frustrating. Anthony, Con and Sammy came to see mom next and then Dad and Aunt Sophie...I left to go cook dinner for Lenny, Dad and Aunt Sophie. Terry and Claudia saw mom while we others left to go eat. I returned with Lenny after dinner and Claudia and then Terry left to go home. Mom just slept. Claudia put the head phones on her and had her listen to old "Bob Newhart" reruns on the IPOD. Mom's fingers are curled whenever we arrive...we are still trying to do range of motion exercises with her but it's hard to in the hospital. The woman in the bed next to mom began to cry at one point (before her family came) so I sat with her and comforted her until she fell asleep. Lenny and I went to the facility tonight just to check things out. We saw 4 of the wonderful nurses and CNAs when we arrived and they all offered their prayers and support to our family. It seems that no one knows exactly what went on that morning with mom. There is a man who is a patient there in that vent wing. He never had a vent nor does he have one now. He does have mental retardation though. He sits at the nurses station all day. He knows everyone's name, their comings and goings, everybody's business (staff and visitors alike)...I am planning to chat with him to see if he knows anything about what happened to mom that morning almost 2 weeks ago. I bet he knows something. One of the nurses gave Lenny and I a kiss and a hug...he's the one who began to call mom "Nonny." These staff members there tonight are the best. The ladies say that mom is "one of the girls." It is so sad that this had to happen because it could have been avoided and everyone knows that too. So far, mom's room is in tact and still hers. Tomorrow is day 13. Mom is supposed to get checked out by the hospital doctor tomorrow as a formality and then deemed ready to go back to the facility. The facility then sends a representative to check mom out and deem her OK to come back to the facility. Then the hospital and the facility exchange paperwork and then someone calls for transportation back to the facility. This all takes up to 5-8 hours to happen if all goes smoothly. Unfortunately, when we were at the facility tonight, we checked to see if the woman in the bed next to mom in the hospital (also from the facility) still has her bed at the facility...and she doesn't....!!!!!!!!!! Her bed was vacated and all of her belongings were boxed and put in the basement of the facility and all unbeknownst to the family members!!!!! Can you imagine? As though the families don't have enough to worry about. I had to tell the woman's daughter when I returned to the hospital because she had asked me to check for her. She was so lost looking when I told her. She said she wants to band together and form an alliance on behalf of our sick loved ones. Not a bad idea...
"We live by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7
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