Mom was moved to the hospital around 1:20 p.m. and arrived there at 3:00 p.m. She was in good spirits and wide awake. Looking all around outside (before getting into the ambulance)… Once she was there, the team assessed her thoroughly (hours long). The PA (physician’s assistant) recognized mom from last year. They pulled up her file from last year too. They interviewed us regarding mom’s health/medical history… We told the PA about mom having been eating a mechanical soft diet and the PA commented that mom is not on the proper trach cuff for that and that the cuff she has can increase the chance of aspiration! The PA said the cuff could be changed while mom is here. The PA said the intermittent awake/alert/asleep/out cycle mom has shown is not indicative of fluid on the brain….fluid on the brain shows a more subtle, but steady decline. The PA said blood work will show what the underlying cause could be for the cycle we are seeing (a urinary tract infection was mentioned). The PA said getting mom off the G-tube (feeding tube) doesn’t seem like it will be a problem but that will be determined after the shunt surgery. The PA took the CD of mom’s CAT Scans for the team to view. We told the PA to send all information to mom’s neurologist in addition to the facility. We also asked the PA about getting mom off the vent. The PA said mom looks very alert today and with it and seemed to be breathing really well on her own---so getting her off the vent is a possibility!!!!! The PA said that mom’s volume as she breathed looked great! The PA said that mom’s abilities would be assessed after the surgery. The review of the CAT Scan would determine how soon mom needs the shunt.
At the facility earlier, the building administrator came to see mom off. It was like a party. So many CNAs, therapists, nurses…came to kiss mom goodbye, say a prayer, wish us well. There were many hugs and kisses and cheers of joy that mom was finally on her way to the hospital. The building administrator said that there is a 2 day bed hold for mom currently but that he’d hold it until Friday and then he said he’d “work with us.” This means that mom’s bed and room would only be held a few days…after that, it’s another room change… The administrator also said, “Hopefully, she will be able to come back here.” This means that if there aren’t any beds open/empty when mom is ready to return to the facility, then she would have to go to another facility! If mom comes off the trach/vent…she won’t go back there anyway. We would move her to an aggressive rehabilitation center.
Mom was quiet while we visited her at the hospital. She coughed a lot and needed a lot of suctioning. She was sleepy but wanted to be awake with us because she would try to stay awake or to keep her eyes open but couldn’t always do that. After dad, Anthony and I left, Claudia and John came to see mom tonight. Mom was the same. They were told that mom’s surgery will probably be tomorrow but that they won’t know for sure until tomorrow. Mom’s surgery will be between other people’s surgeries---an emergency patient came in tonight which threw the schedule off a bit. There is a chance that mom’s surgery won’t be until Thursday. However, our neurosurgeon goes on vacation on Thursday so his associate will do the procedure if it takes place on Thursday. If the surgery is on Wednesday, tomorrow, the head neurosurgeon will perform it. I will be at the hospital tomorrow at 9 a.m. to find everything out.
For information about visiting mom, e-mail me at kgranelli@aol.com.
"My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth." Psalm 121:2
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