Back to the Hospital
Late this afternoon, Mom's heart doctor called and asked that Mom be brought back to the hospital in Wichita. She has a PT count in the 70s (11 to 13.5 is normal, according to one online source) with an INR over 8, with 5 being at the upper threshold of acceptablility. This means that her blood has a very slow clotting time--critically thin, her doctor called it. Apparently, at the upper extremes, the count is not really considered accurate anymore, so the above number is probably not as informative as it might be.
As soon as this problem was discovered several days ago she was taken off Coumadin, the blood thinner she was getting, but the situation did not change satisfactorily since then. The doctor says she could start bleeding any time, and needs to be where she can be monitored. Her blood oxygen levels are also low while she is exerting (85% while walking), and she needs more nourishment.
Each day since Wednesday, the Home Health nurse has been taking blood samples to have tested according to the doctor's orders.
Today the nurse also checked her oxygen levels. Mom really liked what the supplemental oxygen did for her in the hospital and mentioned several times since she's home that she wished she had oxygen. It turns out that it wasn't all in her head.
Today's developments are disappointing, of course. I find it helpful to concentrate on our good fortune in having helping hands and knowledgeable decision makers involved in her care--more directly there than here. Knowing that she is never beyond the Father's care is comforting too.
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One of the things I did in preparation for Mom's coming home was move the bird feeder from the spot outside the bedroom window to a place outside the living room window where Mom could see it from her "day" bed. To get feeding birds into visible range I dragged a patio table over to the window and heaved the tray-on-a-stump feeder onto the table--a detached stump, obviously. All of us have been waiting this week for the birds to discover the feeder--something we knew could take some time.
I'll admit it looks tacky from the outside, but, from inside the living room, the feeder looks just fine.
Yesterday I spent several hours with Mom while Dad was gone and Linda needed a break. I kept an eye on the feeder, and, sure enough, I saw something. It was Mittens, the neighbors' mostly black cat, preening and probably purring in the bird feeder tray.
This looks like attracting birds will take even longer than I'd hoped.
The cat's true home was discovered one day last summer when the family that owns Mittens biked past Linda's house and saw Mittens relaxing on her porch. "That's our cat, Mittens," the children called out. Linda assured them that she wasn't trying to claim the cat, despite it having taken up residence in her yard.
Mittens seems to spend as much time in the Miller family neighborhood as with her owners. Last summer she even gave birth to kittens in Marvin's detached garage. Then she moved them elsewhere and disappeared for a time, but she came back later, probably when she decided to wean the kittens.
Marvins and Dads both feed birds and don't welcome the cat's interference with the efforts. Lois has taken to keeping a spray bottle handy, and the cat is smart enough now to run off any time she sees Lois with anything at all in her hand.
As soon as this problem was discovered several days ago she was taken off Coumadin, the blood thinner she was getting, but the situation did not change satisfactorily since then. The doctor says she could start bleeding any time, and needs to be where she can be monitored. Her blood oxygen levels are also low while she is exerting (85% while walking), and she needs more nourishment.
Each day since Wednesday, the Home Health nurse has been taking blood samples to have tested according to the doctor's orders.
Today the nurse also checked her oxygen levels. Mom really liked what the supplemental oxygen did for her in the hospital and mentioned several times since she's home that she wished she had oxygen. It turns out that it wasn't all in her head.
Today's developments are disappointing, of course. I find it helpful to concentrate on our good fortune in having helping hands and knowledgeable decision makers involved in her care--more directly there than here. Knowing that she is never beyond the Father's care is comforting too.
**************************
One of the things I did in preparation for Mom's coming home was move the bird feeder from the spot outside the bedroom window to a place outside the living room window where Mom could see it from her "day" bed. To get feeding birds into visible range I dragged a patio table over to the window and heaved the tray-on-a-stump feeder onto the table--a detached stump, obviously. All of us have been waiting this week for the birds to discover the feeder--something we knew could take some time.
I'll admit it looks tacky from the outside, but, from inside the living room, the feeder looks just fine.
Yesterday I spent several hours with Mom while Dad was gone and Linda needed a break. I kept an eye on the feeder, and, sure enough, I saw something. It was Mittens, the neighbors' mostly black cat, preening and probably purring in the bird feeder tray.
This looks like attracting birds will take even longer than I'd hoped.
The cat's true home was discovered one day last summer when the family that owns Mittens biked past Linda's house and saw Mittens relaxing on her porch. "That's our cat, Mittens," the children called out. Linda assured them that she wasn't trying to claim the cat, despite it having taken up residence in her yard.
Mittens seems to spend as much time in the Miller family neighborhood as with her owners. Last summer she even gave birth to kittens in Marvin's detached garage. Then she moved them elsewhere and disappeared for a time, but she came back later, probably when she decided to wean the kittens.
Marvins and Dads both feed birds and don't welcome the cat's interference with the efforts. Lois has taken to keeping a spray bottle handy, and the cat is smart enough now to run off any time she sees Lois with anything at all in her hand.
posted by Mrs. I at
4:33 PM
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