JKT
09-14-2002, 07:02 AM
A few forum members are aware of some of the problems my Mother has had over the last few months, but I need to get this off my chest, and here seemed to be the place....
I had a bad feeling when I received a call from the Nursing/Rehab facility my Mother has been in and out of for the last few months on Friday morning. They were sending her back to the Emergency Room because of a slight fever, difficulty breathing and a bad Urinary Tract Infection, which she has had, off and on for several months.
A little background....
In May, my Mother had hip replacement surgery, to correct a bad repair she had done when she broke her hip 6 years ago.
Ever since then, she has been in and out of the hospital and a nursing/rehab center. Everything started out great after the initial surgery. Rehab was progressing, then her electrolytes were off, she developed a urinary tract infection and she had a heart arrythmia, and was admitted to the Cardiac Intermediate Care unit for a few days, then back to rehab.
Due to Medicare's policies, she was transferred to a nursing/rehab facility, where she did very well and was discharged home, for home physical therapy. After a couple of weeks, another UTI developed, she fell at home, and was rushed to ER. They wound up treating the UTI, and basically forgot about her sore (injured) knee that she had fallen on.
After a week or so in the hospital, she was transferred back to the rehab facility. From there, she did OK, but wound up with yet another UTI and back into the hospital, where she got better, then back to the rehab center last Saturday, September 7th.
On Friday, September 13th, she was taken back to the ER from the rehab center due to a slight fever, difficulty breathing and another UTI. The difficulty breathing was diagnosed as a combination of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and CHF (congestive heart failure), both of which can be treated, but not cured.
The time line is a little jumbled.
When I saw her in ER on Friday, I had bad feeling about the situation. In all this, we (the family) learned that UTI's, in older folks, show themselves in various ways, such as disorientation and confusion. Mom was not even aware of who I was, where she was, or what was going on.
I received a call from her Doctor at about 0430 this morning (Saturday), saying that during the night, her blood pressure had dropped, she became unresponsive, had vomited and aspirated, and is now in CICU (again) and on a ventilator.
My brother is driving up today (he lives 500+ miles away). I need to call him before he leaves, because of her change in condition, but I don't want to call quite this early (it's now 0545 here).
She does not want any heroic measures taken, and the Doc gave her condition as critical andfrankly does not expect her to survive. Each time she has gone into the hospital, she has been worse and responded slower to treatment. The Doc also said that she has an infection in her blood, as well as her bladder, and both are very resistant to antibiotics.
So, here I sit, awaiting a semi-decent hour, to tell my big brother that our Mom might not survive the day.
Thanks for listening......
I had a bad feeling when I received a call from the Nursing/Rehab facility my Mother has been in and out of for the last few months on Friday morning. They were sending her back to the Emergency Room because of a slight fever, difficulty breathing and a bad Urinary Tract Infection, which she has had, off and on for several months.
A little background....
In May, my Mother had hip replacement surgery, to correct a bad repair she had done when she broke her hip 6 years ago.
Ever since then, she has been in and out of the hospital and a nursing/rehab center. Everything started out great after the initial surgery. Rehab was progressing, then her electrolytes were off, she developed a urinary tract infection and she had a heart arrythmia, and was admitted to the Cardiac Intermediate Care unit for a few days, then back to rehab.
Due to Medicare's policies, she was transferred to a nursing/rehab facility, where she did very well and was discharged home, for home physical therapy. After a couple of weeks, another UTI developed, she fell at home, and was rushed to ER. They wound up treating the UTI, and basically forgot about her sore (injured) knee that she had fallen on.
After a week or so in the hospital, she was transferred back to the rehab facility. From there, she did OK, but wound up with yet another UTI and back into the hospital, where she got better, then back to the rehab center last Saturday, September 7th.
On Friday, September 13th, she was taken back to the ER from the rehab center due to a slight fever, difficulty breathing and another UTI. The difficulty breathing was diagnosed as a combination of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and CHF (congestive heart failure), both of which can be treated, but not cured.
The time line is a little jumbled.
When I saw her in ER on Friday, I had bad feeling about the situation. In all this, we (the family) learned that UTI's, in older folks, show themselves in various ways, such as disorientation and confusion. Mom was not even aware of who I was, where she was, or what was going on.
I received a call from her Doctor at about 0430 this morning (Saturday), saying that during the night, her blood pressure had dropped, she became unresponsive, had vomited and aspirated, and is now in CICU (again) and on a ventilator.
My brother is driving up today (he lives 500+ miles away). I need to call him before he leaves, because of her change in condition, but I don't want to call quite this early (it's now 0545 here).
She does not want any heroic measures taken, and the Doc gave her condition as critical andfrankly does not expect her to survive. Each time she has gone into the hospital, she has been worse and responded slower to treatment. The Doc also said that she has an infection in her blood, as well as her bladder, and both are very resistant to antibiotics.
So, here I sit, awaiting a semi-decent hour, to tell my big brother that our Mom might not survive the day.
Thanks for listening......