Size 6

So you know how they say be careful what you wish for...

Christmas Day
So on Christmas Day, we headed over to the hospital. Nicole couldn't come in, so Chris waited with her in the family room while lil Christopher and I went to see Mom first. Mom was back to asking to get out of bed. Christopher and I tried to distract her, but she would not budge. This time, she wanted to take a shower. After about 10 minutes of us arguing, Mom said to me, "If you are not going to help, then you should just leave." She kicked me out!! On Christmas Day!! So I switched with Chris and he had a nice visit.

Friday, December 26
Chris picked up Victoria this morning, and we all headed over to the hospital. Physical therapy had already been in for the day, but she came back to give us some good news. Earlier that day, Mom told her about kicking me out the day before. Mom had said, "I feel bad about it, but I had to tell her how it was." First impression - YAY, she accurately remembered the day before! Then the therapist told me that Mom was able to sit on the side of the bed and hold herself up for about 15 minutes. Mom wanted to try to stand, so the therapist got the Med Surg shoes and socks and they tried. It was a no-go, but at least she was able to try! Mom is still insistent on taking a shower, so the therapist is going to try to get her into a special shower next week. Since Mom had such a great therapy day, she was wiped out, so it was another short visit.

It was either this day, or the day before, that the tech taking care of Mom told me her hair was so matted that she thought it would need to be cut out. Excuse me??

Saturday, December 27
Chris and the kids started for home early that morning. Dianne and I went to visit Mom that afternoon. When we got there, Mom was asleep. The nurse told us she was anxious that morning, so they gave her Ativan and Morphine. This was not my favorite news of the week. She was confused, and she was sleepy. Interesting things Mom said today:
"I think our squirrel is missing."
"The doctor told me I should be walking more each day."
"Wasn't I just holding the baby?"
"I think I am going to rename the baby."

She did however finally let me cut her nails (or claws as the nurses called them). For the last few days, her left arm had been hurting her, so she was not able to move it as much so this was fun (insert sarcastic facial expression here).

Sunday, December 28
Good news, the first thing I noticed when I entered the room was that the traych tube was green (had been white since day one). I checked, and it was size 6. Let the tube reduction begin! Also, the nurse corrected me - they would not go to size 2. We go size 6, size 4, then none!

However, Mom was not happy. Her arm was really hurting. If you were in the room with her, you would think her arm was on fire. Enter more pain medicine. Enter more confusion. Shortly after they gave her the meds, she was asleep.

Monday, December 29
Once again, her arm was really hurting. They had done a doppler to confirm there were no clots, and I believe they also x-rayed it. The doctor decided to give her a muscle relaxant in addition to pain meds. When I walked into the room, she would not talk to me at first. She was soooo mad because "I have been trying to call everyone today, and no one answers!" I tried to tell her that she does not have a phone, so she could not have called, but she didn't believe me. So I asked her who she wanted to call. At first she said Grandma, but then she decided she was in too much pain. Enter more pain medicine, and once again she fell asleep.

I spoke with the case manager. I told her about the hair conversation last week, and she agreed that they need to fix it, sans cutting. We discussed Mom's arm and she said therapy will be working on it with her. She also confirmed that Mom will be with them another 2 weeks or so, most likely until the tube is out all together.

Postnote - this picture is from our trip to Hoonah, Alaska, after a native american show.