A Fib
Until Mom was in the hospital, I thought "A Fib" was naughty, not nice. Now I know it's a medical problem, not a moral issue--if you're using it as an abbreviation for atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat), that is. It is actually written afib or AF, apparently, if the site I saw did it right.
Mom has had it for weeks, but today she didn't. Since the medication they were giving for that was the main culprit suspected with her nausea and difficulty with eating, this is very welcome news. She has actually not been given Amiodarone for almost a week, but the drug stays in a person's system for quite some time. Having reached this milestone makes possible taking her off Coumadin also. That blood-thinning medication was the one that was dangerously high when Mom needed to go back to the hospital.
Giving Vitamin K helps thicken blood, so they gave Mom a shot of that soon after she got to the hospital. They told her the entire amount would have to be given in several small doses to make sure it didn't form a clot that would lodge in some critical spot. That one shot proved to be all she needed to counteract the Coumadin "overdose." They had apparently also given her a very small initial dose of Coumadin, but, as we have thought all along, she seems to respond fairly dramatically to even small doses of medication.
Carol urged us to ask specifically that Mom be given the very smallest doses of medication that might do what is necessary. I wasn't there, but I think Lois did that. At any rate, she overheard an animated conversation in the hall between Dr. B's nurse (who has the skills and authority of a PA) and the doctor on duty for the weekend. The nurse was arguing that "This woman is over-medicated." Later she came back into the room and went down the list of medications and said about three times "We'll cut this in half. . . "
Mom gets to have salt on her food now, even though nothing arrives from the hospital kitchen with salt. It comes in packets from the nurse's station. That should help Mom get some food down. Can you imagine eating cooled-off scrambled eggs with no salt? Mom couldn't either.
Mom is really trying to eat--just in time. I was beginning to wonder if it was time to enforce with her the eating rules she used to enforce with us while we were growing up:
1. Eat some of everything.
2. If you spit it out, I stuff it back in. (This was during feeding-baby-with-a-spoon days.)
3. No dessert unless you've eaten good portions of nutritious food first.
4. No special orders accommodated.
5. No whining.
6. You don't have to like it; you just have to eat it. (See rule #1.)
As my sister-in-law Kara pointed out, this probably had a better chance of working with healthy children than ill adults. It does reiterate, however, the dilemma many caregivers experience when a patient is also a parent.
We note with amusement how Ella handles Mom. She is one of Mom's favorite nurses, partly because she has my mother's mother's name (Grandma Beachy). The other day Ella came in and brightly asked Mom, "Are you ready to walk?"
"No," Mom said.
"OK, let's get you up, and get started," Ella said, exactly as if Mom had said "Yes" instead of "No." Silly us, for thinking Mom means "No" when she says "No." Good for Ella.
Linda stayed with Mom on both Saturday and Monday night and noticed a huge difference in how well Mom was able to sleep. The first night Mom needed to have help almost every hour to change her sleeping position. Last night they agreed that Mom would call the nurse if she needed help to change positions, and Linda would be available if the nurse needed help or if it took too long for her to arrive. Mom never called either Linda or the nurse. The nurse reported that Mom was sleeping every time she checked on her, and she had changed her position on her own at least once.
Tonight our former neighbor boy, Steve, who lives in Wichita now, stopped in to see Mom. That was a pleasant surprise for her and Carol, who was there at the time.
Mom's doctor is talking about her staying at the hospital for several more days.
Last night and this morning we had 4 or 5 inches of powdery snow and it's still very cold. But in the next few days the weather is to moderate somewhat, so maybe Mom's homecoming can happen in that window of time before the next Arctic air mass moves in over the upcoming weekend.
My sister, Carol, who lives in the KC area, is here for the week. Her husband, Roberto, dropped her off on his way to OKC where he is conducting a week-long seminar. He'll stop by on his way home to pick her up again. This is fortuitous timing, since my sister Lois, and my two sisters-in-law, Rhoda and Judy, are all taking their turn with having the flu--not just taking care of children with the flu, although Judy is getting a turn at that too.
Sounds like we're a sickly bunch, doesn't it? Has anyone noticed that we haven't been sick at our house? I claim, probably obnoxiously, at every opportunity, that it must be due to the fact that we're taking some good food supplements faithfully. And that is not a fib.
Mom has had it for weeks, but today she didn't. Since the medication they were giving for that was the main culprit suspected with her nausea and difficulty with eating, this is very welcome news. She has actually not been given Amiodarone for almost a week, but the drug stays in a person's system for quite some time. Having reached this milestone makes possible taking her off Coumadin also. That blood-thinning medication was the one that was dangerously high when Mom needed to go back to the hospital.
Giving Vitamin K helps thicken blood, so they gave Mom a shot of that soon after she got to the hospital. They told her the entire amount would have to be given in several small doses to make sure it didn't form a clot that would lodge in some critical spot. That one shot proved to be all she needed to counteract the Coumadin "overdose." They had apparently also given her a very small initial dose of Coumadin, but, as we have thought all along, she seems to respond fairly dramatically to even small doses of medication.
Carol urged us to ask specifically that Mom be given the very smallest doses of medication that might do what is necessary. I wasn't there, but I think Lois did that. At any rate, she overheard an animated conversation in the hall between Dr. B's nurse (who has the skills and authority of a PA) and the doctor on duty for the weekend. The nurse was arguing that "This woman is over-medicated." Later she came back into the room and went down the list of medications and said about three times "We'll cut this in half. . . "
Mom gets to have salt on her food now, even though nothing arrives from the hospital kitchen with salt. It comes in packets from the nurse's station. That should help Mom get some food down. Can you imagine eating cooled-off scrambled eggs with no salt? Mom couldn't either.
Mom is really trying to eat--just in time. I was beginning to wonder if it was time to enforce with her the eating rules she used to enforce with us while we were growing up:
1. Eat some of everything.
2. If you spit it out, I stuff it back in. (This was during feeding-baby-with-a-spoon days.)
3. No dessert unless you've eaten good portions of nutritious food first.
4. No special orders accommodated.
5. No whining.
6. You don't have to like it; you just have to eat it. (See rule #1.)
As my sister-in-law Kara pointed out, this probably had a better chance of working with healthy children than ill adults. It does reiterate, however, the dilemma many caregivers experience when a patient is also a parent.
We note with amusement how Ella handles Mom. She is one of Mom's favorite nurses, partly because she has my mother's mother's name (Grandma Beachy). The other day Ella came in and brightly asked Mom, "Are you ready to walk?"
"No," Mom said.
"OK, let's get you up, and get started," Ella said, exactly as if Mom had said "Yes" instead of "No." Silly us, for thinking Mom means "No" when she says "No." Good for Ella.
Linda stayed with Mom on both Saturday and Monday night and noticed a huge difference in how well Mom was able to sleep. The first night Mom needed to have help almost every hour to change her sleeping position. Last night they agreed that Mom would call the nurse if she needed help to change positions, and Linda would be available if the nurse needed help or if it took too long for her to arrive. Mom never called either Linda or the nurse. The nurse reported that Mom was sleeping every time she checked on her, and she had changed her position on her own at least once.
Tonight our former neighbor boy, Steve, who lives in Wichita now, stopped in to see Mom. That was a pleasant surprise for her and Carol, who was there at the time.
Mom's doctor is talking about her staying at the hospital for several more days.
Last night and this morning we had 4 or 5 inches of powdery snow and it's still very cold. But in the next few days the weather is to moderate somewhat, so maybe Mom's homecoming can happen in that window of time before the next Arctic air mass moves in over the upcoming weekend.
My sister, Carol, who lives in the KC area, is here for the week. Her husband, Roberto, dropped her off on his way to OKC where he is conducting a week-long seminar. He'll stop by on his way home to pick her up again. This is fortuitous timing, since my sister Lois, and my two sisters-in-law, Rhoda and Judy, are all taking their turn with having the flu--not just taking care of children with the flu, although Judy is getting a turn at that too.
Sounds like we're a sickly bunch, doesn't it? Has anyone noticed that we haven't been sick at our house? I claim, probably obnoxiously, at every opportunity, that it must be due to the fact that we're taking some good food supplements faithfully. And that is not a fib.
posted by Mrs. I at
6:24 PM
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