A Heart Patient in the Family
My mother was admitted today to Galichia Heart Hospital in Wichita. She had gone to the clinic associated with the hospital for a previously scheduled appointment. The doctor's examination revealed problems with heart rhythm, blood flow, and fluid buildup in her lungs. He did not feel that it was safe for her to return home until she has undergone further treatment. Right now we don't know what all will be involved or how long she will be in the hospital.
This is the second time in 80 years that her heart condition has been a concern. The first time was right after she was born when the doctor detected a heart murmur. She had not breathed very promptly and was referred to then as a "blue" baby. Several years ago she saw a cardiologist who had her wear a wrist monitor for a week or so to check what he thought might be a problem, but after he looked at the data the monitor had collected, he did not believe any treatment was warranted. She routinely has lower-than-normal blood pressure.
About six weeks ago Mom had pneumonia and she has not been robust ever since then, with difficulty breathing being the main problem. Others in the family who are more alert to such matters than I, began to wonder if all that was going on could be passed off as seasonal allergies, pneumonia aftermath, etc., and my sister Lois, who is a nurse, finally got Mom's permission to make an appointment with a cardiologist that Dad had seen earlier and was very impressed with. That appointment was scheduled for Nov. 21.
As time went on and Mom did not improve much, a second phone call to Galichia secured an appointment one week earlier (for today), this time with a physician's assistant.
Earlier this week, Mom saw her family doctor again, after she could no longer sleep comfortably in her own bed. He diagnosed early-stage congestive heart failure on Tuesday, but assured all of us that it was not likely to worsen suddenly and did not constitute an emergency. However, he told her she should see a cardiologist and was happy to know that an appointment had already been scheduled.
On Wednesday of this week my sisters and sisters-in-law and I got together to do fall housecleaning for Mom, beginning in the kitchen. While we were there, Mom left to ride to Wichita with Dad where he went to a dental clinic. When they got back Dad reported that Mom had slept well almost all the way there and back, sitting up, and had almost no breathing problems. Something similar had happened the day before when they went to Sterling. Later that evening she noticed that she could breathe more easily in the garage than in her bedroom or the kitchen. The living room end of the house always seemed to be better for her than the kitchen/bedroom end. We began to wonder what all this meant. Was something in certain parts of the house affecting her breathing adversely? We still wonder.
On cleaning day, however, we discovered a small amount of mold under both the kitchen and bathroom sinks. Knowing how seriously some people react to molds, we made sure that was taken care of. Then we decided it was high time to tackle the bedroom. This room never gets the benefit of Marcus' regular Friday cleaning of all the other floors and the bathrooms, and Linda knew that Mom preferred that no one "mess with" her bedroom. But the time had come, so yesterday Lois and Linda, and today Linda and I scrubbed that room from the vaulted ceiling to the bricks on the hearth, and laundered and vacuumed whatever we couldn't scrub down. We had a hunch that until we banished the dust, she would not breathe freely in her bedroom.
For the last two nights Mom has slept next door at Marvin's house, and she could at least sleep lying down there. But she dearly loves her own bed, and was very eager to get back into it. We had it all ready for her too. Sigh. I wonder how the hospital bed feels.
Today when I talked to my sister-in-law Kara in PA, who has been the primary caregiver for her mother for the past number of years, she reminded me of several reasons why the elderly really need an advocate when they are in frail health and need to navigate the medical system. The most obvious reason is that their minds simply often work more slowly and they don't always follow what they are being told. So they miss important information and feel confused by it all. Someone with a younger mind can be a real help here in listening and interpreting. But I had never thought of the next thing Kara said--that, given the way people in our parents' generation were used to interacting with doctors (holding them in very high esteem and never ever questioning their judgement), it's good if there's someone around who is not afraid to ask a lot of questions, and bring up concerns that others may be overlooking.
I remembered then something I read that Dr. Lehman of Mt. Eaton, OH discovered early on in his practice--that you didn't take what an Amish person said at face value if they were describing their pain or talking about their medical problems. You assumed that the pain or the problems were being vastly understated, because of the habit these people had of being patient and stoic and not bothering others unnecessarily. An advocate can tell a doctor, even if the patient won't do so, when the patient needs more help than they're getting.
Kara told me too that she's glad that no one of us is alone here to make decisions about what needs to be done. That is indeed a blessing. Half of the twelve children in my parental family live in this area. Not only do we have a family member here who is a nurse, we also have Bill, my brother-in-law in NC.
Judy remembered that, if earlier plans had carried, she and Lowell would be in India right now. We're glad they're in Kansas instead.
Galichia is about 60 miles from here, and getting there and back takes a bit of effort. But we consider ourselves very fortunate to be this close to a really first-rate heart hospital. This institution has further endeared itself to our community recently by offering very reasonable rates for heart surgeries. Their website lists a $10,000 figure. Beyond that, for people on our church's aid plan for medical expenses, they offer further cost concessions.
My parents and Lois were very impressed with the doctor they saw today. I don't know how this conversation started, but he told my parents he knows about and is in favor of many alternative approaches to health care (I took him to be talking specifically about heart problems.). However, he finished by saying, regarding Mom's condition, "Now is not the time." We agree. That is, we agree that the service and interventions they can provide are probably exactly what is needed now.
Pray for my mother as you think of her. Her name is Mary.
This is the second time in 80 years that her heart condition has been a concern. The first time was right after she was born when the doctor detected a heart murmur. She had not breathed very promptly and was referred to then as a "blue" baby. Several years ago she saw a cardiologist who had her wear a wrist monitor for a week or so to check what he thought might be a problem, but after he looked at the data the monitor had collected, he did not believe any treatment was warranted. She routinely has lower-than-normal blood pressure.
About six weeks ago Mom had pneumonia and she has not been robust ever since then, with difficulty breathing being the main problem. Others in the family who are more alert to such matters than I, began to wonder if all that was going on could be passed off as seasonal allergies, pneumonia aftermath, etc., and my sister Lois, who is a nurse, finally got Mom's permission to make an appointment with a cardiologist that Dad had seen earlier and was very impressed with. That appointment was scheduled for Nov. 21.
As time went on and Mom did not improve much, a second phone call to Galichia secured an appointment one week earlier (for today), this time with a physician's assistant.
Earlier this week, Mom saw her family doctor again, after she could no longer sleep comfortably in her own bed. He diagnosed early-stage congestive heart failure on Tuesday, but assured all of us that it was not likely to worsen suddenly and did not constitute an emergency. However, he told her she should see a cardiologist and was happy to know that an appointment had already been scheduled.
On Wednesday of this week my sisters and sisters-in-law and I got together to do fall housecleaning for Mom, beginning in the kitchen. While we were there, Mom left to ride to Wichita with Dad where he went to a dental clinic. When they got back Dad reported that Mom had slept well almost all the way there and back, sitting up, and had almost no breathing problems. Something similar had happened the day before when they went to Sterling. Later that evening she noticed that she could breathe more easily in the garage than in her bedroom or the kitchen. The living room end of the house always seemed to be better for her than the kitchen/bedroom end. We began to wonder what all this meant. Was something in certain parts of the house affecting her breathing adversely? We still wonder.
On cleaning day, however, we discovered a small amount of mold under both the kitchen and bathroom sinks. Knowing how seriously some people react to molds, we made sure that was taken care of. Then we decided it was high time to tackle the bedroom. This room never gets the benefit of Marcus' regular Friday cleaning of all the other floors and the bathrooms, and Linda knew that Mom preferred that no one "mess with" her bedroom. But the time had come, so yesterday Lois and Linda, and today Linda and I scrubbed that room from the vaulted ceiling to the bricks on the hearth, and laundered and vacuumed whatever we couldn't scrub down. We had a hunch that until we banished the dust, she would not breathe freely in her bedroom.
For the last two nights Mom has slept next door at Marvin's house, and she could at least sleep lying down there. But she dearly loves her own bed, and was very eager to get back into it. We had it all ready for her too. Sigh. I wonder how the hospital bed feels.
Today when I talked to my sister-in-law Kara in PA, who has been the primary caregiver for her mother for the past number of years, she reminded me of several reasons why the elderly really need an advocate when they are in frail health and need to navigate the medical system. The most obvious reason is that their minds simply often work more slowly and they don't always follow what they are being told. So they miss important information and feel confused by it all. Someone with a younger mind can be a real help here in listening and interpreting. But I had never thought of the next thing Kara said--that, given the way people in our parents' generation were used to interacting with doctors (holding them in very high esteem and never ever questioning their judgement), it's good if there's someone around who is not afraid to ask a lot of questions, and bring up concerns that others may be overlooking.
I remembered then something I read that Dr. Lehman of Mt. Eaton, OH discovered early on in his practice--that you didn't take what an Amish person said at face value if they were describing their pain or talking about their medical problems. You assumed that the pain or the problems were being vastly understated, because of the habit these people had of being patient and stoic and not bothering others unnecessarily. An advocate can tell a doctor, even if the patient won't do so, when the patient needs more help than they're getting.
Kara told me too that she's glad that no one of us is alone here to make decisions about what needs to be done. That is indeed a blessing. Half of the twelve children in my parental family live in this area. Not only do we have a family member here who is a nurse, we also have Bill, my brother-in-law in NC.
Judy remembered that, if earlier plans had carried, she and Lowell would be in India right now. We're glad they're in Kansas instead.
Galichia is about 60 miles from here, and getting there and back takes a bit of effort. But we consider ourselves very fortunate to be this close to a really first-rate heart hospital. This institution has further endeared itself to our community recently by offering very reasonable rates for heart surgeries. Their website lists a $10,000 figure. Beyond that, for people on our church's aid plan for medical expenses, they offer further cost concessions.
My parents and Lois were very impressed with the doctor they saw today. I don't know how this conversation started, but he told my parents he knows about and is in favor of many alternative approaches to health care (I took him to be talking specifically about heart problems.). However, he finished by saying, regarding Mom's condition, "Now is not the time." We agree. That is, we agree that the service and interventions they can provide are probably exactly what is needed now.
Pray for my mother as you think of her. Her name is Mary.
posted by Mrs. I at
5:43 PM
1 Comments:
Hello Miriam, Thanks for sharing your mother's story. I will pray for her and her family. Having had numerous hospital experiences in the extended family, I know that it can be quite hectic and an upheaval to normal family living. Wishing you all the best, Frieda Yoder
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Anonymous, at 11/15/2008
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