Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Another Update
Things are coming along.
My grandmother's situation has been challenging. Since the kids have been in school the past two days (1/2 day kindergarten, a whopping 3 hours and 20 minutes) I haven't had enough time to spend at the hospital to make sure everything is running smoothly with her recovery. Perhaps I am a bit of a control freak... but I think you have to be when you're an advocate for someone being hospitalized. Particularly if that person is so sick they can't understand their care decisions. In my grandmother's case, she is not that sick, but she trusts the medical staff and doesn't pay any attention to what medication she gets or why. You can't do that in a hospital these days when doctors only think about you for 1/2 hour each day, and every 4-6 hours a new set of nurses and therapists come on shift. There is no continuity of care. Also, my grandmother's regular doctor, who knows all of her history, has been unable to come at all because his office is transitioning him and the other staff to a paperless system. It's absolutely ridiculous, and I am going to write the clinic a letter. Their process for transitioning their staff to computers SHOULD NOT AFFECT PATIENT CARE to this EXTREME.
All that said, my grandmother continues to struggle with her breathing. Monday she backslid a bit, with her needing more oxygen and the leg getting redder. But yesterday, after getting a call from her that they were taking her down for a CAT scan to look for a blood clot in her lungs I became a bit unnerved. I had Kevin come home from work to pick up the kids and I marched into the hospital and started the 3rd degree on yet another unfamiliar nurse. Her face was so funny, because she was trying to read me to find out if I was going to flip out, or who knows what. She kept pausing and studying my eyes, and I kept thinking 'Well? Get on with it!" The CAT scan was just precautionary. And her sats had been good that day. Her leg was less swollen. And the nurses changed shifts and I met yet another nurse we hadn't seen before. They lowered my grandmother's oxygen from 8 to 4 liters, and hopefully they found a good less-gnarled finger to get a consistent reading from. My other AHA moment was that she was eating the regular meals from the cafeteria where every meal is full of cheesy salt or laden with salty gravy. Duh. We had them change her to a low-sodium diet and the dietician came by to evaluate her needs. She'll be getting smaller, more frequent meals now, and she needs to concentrate on eating more protein. All these helpful tips for patients with congestive heart failure... where was she all weekend when I was there? And here's my last beef: the doctor called me last night to tell me how she was doing and the plans to transition her to a rehab facility either today or tomorrow, aiming to do it before we leave, if all goes well. And her lungs were clear of a blood clot. All good things to hear. So I called my grandmother to tell her, and they hadn't TOLD her! She was so relieved to hear there was no blood clot. POOR THING!
You can see what has been occupying my mind. The poor kids were supposed to go on a class field trip yesterday morning and I had to pass on it because our airline tickets were going to arrive and required a signature. They were SO SAD. I felt bad... I have been ignoring them and haven't spent much time with them this week. And then we will be gone for 8 days. I love them so much! They were excited that Daddy picked them up from school yesterday. Riding in Daddy's car with two brand new booster seats, they went to get ice cream and go to the park. They really needed that.
I'm slowly ticking stuff off my list getting ready to leave. I had everything all written down that I needed to do, from back in October. Now I'm just checking it off. Cats are arranged for. Kids are taken care of. House is being cleaned today, and is moderately picked up. Laundry in progress. Bills paid. Plane tickets received. House/kid instructions written. Will drafted. Friends and family emailed. Checks sent. And best of all, last night I got my hair done and made a quick trip to the mall for wool pants and noise-cancelling headphones for Kevin. What a nice break!
Kids are up and the phone's starting ringing... I'm off.
My grandmother's situation has been challenging. Since the kids have been in school the past two days (1/2 day kindergarten, a whopping 3 hours and 20 minutes) I haven't had enough time to spend at the hospital to make sure everything is running smoothly with her recovery. Perhaps I am a bit of a control freak... but I think you have to be when you're an advocate for someone being hospitalized. Particularly if that person is so sick they can't understand their care decisions. In my grandmother's case, she is not that sick, but she trusts the medical staff and doesn't pay any attention to what medication she gets or why. You can't do that in a hospital these days when doctors only think about you for 1/2 hour each day, and every 4-6 hours a new set of nurses and therapists come on shift. There is no continuity of care. Also, my grandmother's regular doctor, who knows all of her history, has been unable to come at all because his office is transitioning him and the other staff to a paperless system. It's absolutely ridiculous, and I am going to write the clinic a letter. Their process for transitioning their staff to computers SHOULD NOT AFFECT PATIENT CARE to this EXTREME.
All that said, my grandmother continues to struggle with her breathing. Monday she backslid a bit, with her needing more oxygen and the leg getting redder. But yesterday, after getting a call from her that they were taking her down for a CAT scan to look for a blood clot in her lungs I became a bit unnerved. I had Kevin come home from work to pick up the kids and I marched into the hospital and started the 3rd degree on yet another unfamiliar nurse. Her face was so funny, because she was trying to read me to find out if I was going to flip out, or who knows what. She kept pausing and studying my eyes, and I kept thinking 'Well? Get on with it!" The CAT scan was just precautionary. And her sats had been good that day. Her leg was less swollen. And the nurses changed shifts and I met yet another nurse we hadn't seen before. They lowered my grandmother's oxygen from 8 to 4 liters, and hopefully they found a good less-gnarled finger to get a consistent reading from. My other AHA moment was that she was eating the regular meals from the cafeteria where every meal is full of cheesy salt or laden with salty gravy. Duh. We had them change her to a low-sodium diet and the dietician came by to evaluate her needs. She'll be getting smaller, more frequent meals now, and she needs to concentrate on eating more protein. All these helpful tips for patients with congestive heart failure... where was she all weekend when I was there? And here's my last beef: the doctor called me last night to tell me how she was doing and the plans to transition her to a rehab facility either today or tomorrow, aiming to do it before we leave, if all goes well. And her lungs were clear of a blood clot. All good things to hear. So I called my grandmother to tell her, and they hadn't TOLD her! She was so relieved to hear there was no blood clot. POOR THING!
You can see what has been occupying my mind. The poor kids were supposed to go on a class field trip yesterday morning and I had to pass on it because our airline tickets were going to arrive and required a signature. They were SO SAD. I felt bad... I have been ignoring them and haven't spent much time with them this week. And then we will be gone for 8 days. I love them so much! They were excited that Daddy picked them up from school yesterday. Riding in Daddy's car with two brand new booster seats, they went to get ice cream and go to the park. They really needed that.
I'm slowly ticking stuff off my list getting ready to leave. I had everything all written down that I needed to do, from back in October. Now I'm just checking it off. Cats are arranged for. Kids are taken care of. House is being cleaned today, and is moderately picked up. Laundry in progress. Bills paid. Plane tickets received. House/kid instructions written. Will drafted. Friends and family emailed. Checks sent. And best of all, last night I got my hair done and made a quick trip to the mall for wool pants and noise-cancelling headphones for Kevin. What a nice break!
Kids are up and the phone's starting ringing... I'm off.
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6 comments:
Sounds like things are looking up. It also sounds like you are very organized and about ready to go. Take it from someone who has had to leave 4 behind for 3 weeks: it is so hard, but the reunion is so sweet. Everyone survives and everyone is better off with many lessons learned in the end. I'm so excited you are going.
thinking of you and sending love and prayers...
I'm sorry your grandma's care isn't exactly stellar. I'm glad she has you to fight for her!
You are so right that you have to be involved with hospital care. Being married to a resident doctor I hear horror stories all the time. However, that is great news that she is well enough to be transitioned to a rehab center. Just in time for you guys to be off.
We had the same issue with my grandmother last Fall. The nurses would come & go - all nice - but no continuity as you said about care, medications, etc. It took us a week to get her a shower!!! Some would say she didn't need, others would arrange it... Plus she had a doctor that made rounds between 5PM and midnight. Made for really long days. I'm sure your grandmother really appreciates all of the love and support you are giving her now.
Wow, can't believe you are leaving for Russia sooooo soon. Best of luck. We'll be rooting for you!
I am relieved to hear there is no clot in her leg. I know you must feel pulled in so many different directions right now. Take deep breaths and take time to be excited for your family. Your trip is coming up soon. Yay!
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