Did I think I would be starting off 2016 with a new blog? No. But it's the easiest way to update rather than emailing, texting or calling. I'll leave someone out and everything will snowball. I'm sure this will be -- scratch that. I hope this to be a short-termed blog. Just to update anyone on mom on a day-to-day basis.
Mom is in the hospital as of today. She's okay. She's not feeling her best, but she's okay.
Since June or July Mom has been dealing with sciatica. I don't know the exact location but according to the ER resident, the MRI shows it around L4 to L5. He didn't speak about the specific herniation because the MRI was done to rule out fractures (and there were none), but he said that he could clearly see a herniation. He also said at mom's age this is not uncommon. But mom is also overweight (Sorry, mom, if you read this). That contributes to matters.
Her orthopedic doctor has been treating her with steroid injections and they generally work. She had an injection at least around Thanksgiving and was doing okay. Every since the sciatica came on board, she has been slower to move. But she also has asthma so she's slowed down more than usual.
During or just before the new year the weather has gotten colder and she was definitely feeling it. On New Year's Day at Curtis' house, she sat in one chair and hardly moved. She was definitely sore. She was NOT sore enough NOT to get up for a second plate of food (Again, sorry, mom, must state facts).
Scottie and the girls visited after Christmas and through New Year's and they were a breath of fresh air. It was good to have them around. But New Year's evening mom was much too sore to travel so the girls stayed back to keep her company. The next morning, mom got up at 5:30 to use the restroom and decided since she was so sore to try a cane that was in the house. Not a four-prong cane or anything stable, just a cane. This was a poor decision. The cane came out from beneath her and she ended up falling to the floor. Scottie and Kiki came rushing out and helped her. She said she was fine. In hindsight, I truly believe that adrenaline was at play and while she felt okay, she had jarred her body.
I came over to see her and she was in a chair and could get up and moved about as normally as she had been.
Sunday I called and again, she said she was okay. We were mostly worried about her left index finger, as when she fell, she must have twisted it because the lower joint of her index finger had a bruise around it. A bit of swelling was evident too, but she could bend it. I just reminded her to tell her doctor about it Monday morning. She also had a bruise on her left knee, but just a spot.
Monday morning at 6:00 a.m. she called me to tell me she was going to call 911 because the pain was unbearable. She tried to get to the restroom and got stuck there and needed dad's help. Together they were able to get her to a rolling chair and move her around that way, but she was far too weak and in far too much pain to get around herself.
The paramedics got her to the hospital and when dad and I got there we could tell she was in the "low priority" area, which was fine. The nurses and doctors were very helpful. But they gave her Dilaudid for pain and mom has an allergy to some opioids -- Codeine for sure. They ended up giving her some Zofran for the nausea cause she was terribly nauseous. They told me and dad to leave cause they would be running tests (blood tests, x-rays, an MRI and an EKG) so that would take a while. We left and went back to make some meals for dad just in case.
I won't tell you all the story that dad made some ramen for himself and then I made some yakisoba and when I went to put the laundry away and came back, he was just putting the last bite of the yakisoba in his mouth. I said, "Dad! That was supposed to be for your dinner!" And he said, "I know, but it looked WAY better than ramen for lunch!" Whoops, I told you the story.
When I got back to the hospital at 12:30 mom was back in the ER bay and resting. She said they had given her pain meds again and this time she got sick. So she was tired and wiped out. The ER orthopedic resident came in and evaluated the MRI and said that he would admit her because she can't stand or walk. They would try physical therapy and take it from there. If that didn't work, then we'd have t move on to other options.
Eventually mom was admitted and placed on the Physical Therapy floor (4th floor) and she remains there in Room 4482 for the time being. We left her with her cell phone but no charger. Dad was going to bring it to her but he can't because I won't let him go out in the rain. For historical purposes, this week's storms are slated to be the beginning of the monstrous El Nino of 2016. Yesterday we had a torrential downpour -- literally -- around noon and today a bit earlier, same rain, just a dousing. So I can't have dad drive in this rain. He WOULD and he COULD, but no.
Poor mom has nothing but a hospital phone and a TV. I am under a work deadline and need to finish by Friday. I type fast so this little blip of a blog entry is really a 10-minute break for me. But I need to get to mom and bring her a magazine and some books. I need to bring her the charger for her phone. I know she wants these things, but so many things are preventing us from helping her right now.
The two latest updates have been that YESTERDAY (Tuesday) she was much better in the morning and by afternoon she was having more pain. In the morning they talked about releasing her today. Not a chance. By the afternoon, talk had switched to maybe sending her to a rehabilitation center so she could get to standing and walking again.
I'll find out more once I arrive home tonight and will update.
