Well, I guess I haven't been as faithful to mom's blog as I thought I would be.
Anyhow, she is doing very well. We went back to Dr. Crane (GR Gastro doc). He cut her food pump from 6 cans a day down to 3 for two weeks. We have to watch and see if she loses weight or if any significant pain comes back to her stomach. After two weeks, if she has not lost weight or had any major problems. We will stop the food pump all together and wait another two weeks. After that amount of time, if everything is going well, Dr. Crane will pull her feeding tube.
She is doing well, however, she still eats very little at any one time.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
9/5 - Sunday
Sorry about the lack of new posts on mom. I guess life got crazy when she got home.
Mom is doing very well. She is on her food pump for 16 hours a day. She is off it 6-8 hours a day, depending on Dad's schedule. He does a fantastic job with the pump and her meds. She couldn't have a better caregiver than Dad.
She had cortizone shots this last week in her back to help with her arthritis. It has helped with most of the pain in her back.
She is able to do small stuff around the house and is finally getting more interested in life again. Just the look on her face let's me know she is feeling so much better. I think the constant nutrition from her feeding tube has done wonders. She also eats soft, small meals - soups, egg salad, french toast, usually without any problems.
I'm knocking on wood as I type this - she has been home from U of M for 3 1/2 weeks and has not visited a hospital except for x-rays on her abdomen to check the feeding tube. Go MOM!
Hopefully, she is well on a road to a solid recovery.
We appreciate all of the thoughts, prayers, cards, and support. I will continue to post possibly every couple of weeks.
Mom is doing very well. She is on her food pump for 16 hours a day. She is off it 6-8 hours a day, depending on Dad's schedule. He does a fantastic job with the pump and her meds. She couldn't have a better caregiver than Dad.
She had cortizone shots this last week in her back to help with her arthritis. It has helped with most of the pain in her back.
She is able to do small stuff around the house and is finally getting more interested in life again. Just the look on her face let's me know she is feeling so much better. I think the constant nutrition from her feeding tube has done wonders. She also eats soft, small meals - soups, egg salad, french toast, usually without any problems.
I'm knocking on wood as I type this - she has been home from U of M for 3 1/2 weeks and has not visited a hospital except for x-rays on her abdomen to check the feeding tube. Go MOM!
Hopefully, she is well on a road to a solid recovery.
We appreciate all of the thoughts, prayers, cards, and support. I will continue to post possibly every couple of weeks.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
8/17 - Tuesday
Mom is doing really well. Back is still bothering her most of the time.
I don't if we ever really said what mom has been diagnosed with - gastroparesis. Basically, when she had the car accident her gastric symptom received a traumatic shock and was stunned - both stomach and small intestine (bowel). This could possibly take months, years, or maybe never to recover from. Let's hope for months.
She is taking medication to help with the motility of her gastric system.
I don't if we ever really said what mom has been diagnosed with - gastroparesis. Basically, when she had the car accident her gastric symptom received a traumatic shock and was stunned - both stomach and small intestine (bowel). This could possibly take months, years, or maybe never to recover from. Let's hope for months.
She is taking medication to help with the motility of her gastric system.
Monday, August 16, 2010
8/16 - Monday
12:35 pm - I spoke with my dad this morning. Mom had a very good night. We are looking at getting her shots for the arthritis in her back and a possible dilation of her esophagus again.
We did have a rough night and day over the weekend, but maybe better days ahead.
We did have a rough night and day over the weekend, but maybe better days ahead.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
8/15 - Sunday
11:30 am - Well, we made it home on Friday. Mom actually had a good ride home and a decent night Friday night.
Saturday was a good day for mom. She was mainly experiencing pain in her back.
Last night (sleeping) was a rough night. Her throat was bothering her quite a bit. We went through a few anxiety attacks and had difficulty breathing. She felt better this morning. However, we are now dealing with this issue off and on today.
Overall, I would say that she is doing very well. We just have to remember things that will help us and things that will not help us.
Saturday was a good day for mom. She was mainly experiencing pain in her back.
Last night (sleeping) was a rough night. Her throat was bothering her quite a bit. We went through a few anxiety attacks and had difficulty breathing. She felt better this morning. However, we are now dealing with this issue off and on today.
Overall, I would say that she is doing very well. We just have to remember things that will help us and things that will not help us.
Friday, August 13, 2010
8/13 - Friday
11:50 am - GREAT NEWS!. We are going home today. Mom has received her discharge papers. We are waiting for her PIC IV to be taken out of her arm. Dr. Hasvold is coming back to say goodbye. She is feeling really good today.
A person from the supply company came into to show us how to use the feeding pump. There will also be a nurse coming to the house tonight. This was confusing because the hospital did not know that the lady was delivering here; they thought it was supposed to be at their house.
Yeah, Faye.
A person from the supply company came into to show us how to use the feeding pump. There will also be a nurse coming to the house tonight. This was confusing because the hospital did not know that the lady was delivering here; they thought it was supposed to be at their house.
Yeah, Faye.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
8/12 - Thursday
9:00 pm - I'm sorry it has taken so long to post to the blog today. The internet was not working in the hospital; however, I was just able to connect.
Dad stayed last night with because she had a rough night two nights ago. She had a much better night last night. This morning when the group of doctors came in, everything was very positive. Yesterday, mom's feeding tube was replaced with a new one. The old one was kinked up in her stomach and pushing up into her esophagus. They also now have her feedings up to 60 ml / hr. This is a sustainable amount of nutrition for her - approximately 1500 calories. She has walked 7 times around the 6th floor of the hospital. It takes us about 10-12 minutes and equals about 1/4 mile each time from what a nurse tells me. So, she has walk 1.75 miles today at least. Go, Faye, Go!
Also, she has been having minimal stomach pain - her back is giving her more pain than her stomach but it is tolerable.
If mom has a good night and morning, we are going home tomorrow afternoon. Going home on a feeding tube for nutrition, but going home. We've come along way baby. Supplies will be delivered tomorrow and a nurse will come and show us how feed and medicate mom. We are very excited and mom is ready.
I think we all feel good about going home this time around. We don't plan on coming back.
Have a great night!
Dad stayed last night with because she had a rough night two nights ago. She had a much better night last night. This morning when the group of doctors came in, everything was very positive. Yesterday, mom's feeding tube was replaced with a new one. The old one was kinked up in her stomach and pushing up into her esophagus. They also now have her feedings up to 60 ml / hr. This is a sustainable amount of nutrition for her - approximately 1500 calories. She has walked 7 times around the 6th floor of the hospital. It takes us about 10-12 minutes and equals about 1/4 mile each time from what a nurse tells me. So, she has walk 1.75 miles today at least. Go, Faye, Go!
Also, she has been having minimal stomach pain - her back is giving her more pain than her stomach but it is tolerable.
If mom has a good night and morning, we are going home tomorrow afternoon. Going home on a feeding tube for nutrition, but going home. We've come along way baby. Supplies will be delivered tomorrow and a nurse will come and show us how feed and medicate mom. We are very excited and mom is ready.
I think we all feel good about going home this time around. We don't plan on coming back.
Have a great night!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
8-11 Wednesday
12:00 (noon) Mom had a rough early morning, she woke up and was confused where she was, could'nt find a light and she ended up pulling her PIC IV line out about 5:00am. They put in a regular IV line in. The group of doctors were in about 9:00am. The results of the Gastric Emptying Study done on Monday, showed her stomach moves at a very slow pace, they started her on medication to get it to move quicker. Her Small Intestine also moves very slowly. She was already on medication to get it moving quicker. They are still talking about possibly doing a BTM if needed in place of the Echocardiogram that was cancelled yesterday.
We currently are down getting the J Tube (Feeding Tube) looked at. They believe it is either feeding back around to the wrong place or is getting caught on top of the stomach when her sliding hiatel hernia moves. They are going to feed a wire through the tube to see if it can be repositioned, if that doesn't work, they replace the entire tube. Not a huge deal as this one has been in long enough to go back in the same opening.
She was up to 45cc's per hour on her feeding tube, and maintaining it well. The goal is to get her to 60cc for her age and size.
Let you know more later. Again posted by Sue
We currently are down getting the J Tube (Feeding Tube) looked at. They believe it is either feeding back around to the wrong place or is getting caught on top of the stomach when her sliding hiatel hernia moves. They are going to feed a wire through the tube to see if it can be repositioned, if that doesn't work, they replace the entire tube. Not a huge deal as this one has been in long enough to go back in the same opening.
She was up to 45cc's per hour on her feeding tube, and maintaining it well. The goal is to get her to 60cc for her age and size.
Let you know more later. Again posted by Sue
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
8-10 Tuesday
Mom had a decent night. Met with the group of doctors this morning, they did not have results from the Gastric Emptying Study done on Monday. We are supposed to have them on Wednesday morning. The ECHO test that was supposed to be done today was cancelled, Dr Higgins (Attending Dr) said that it is not warranted. He is looking at a BMI test (Blood test). Dr Jen said the neurologist has signed off after her test she completed and feels there is nothing neurological related in her stomach/abdomen/colon to make her have the problems she is experiencing. She did test positive for a bladder infection, because the strain of infection they have isolated her and we have moved to a private room. Nice to have a private room, but darn on the infection. Her pain has been less today than recently. While she was feeling better, we talked her into going for a wheelchair ride out to the gardens/court area. It is plenty warm out for her. She really enjoyed it, we even took a couple of pictures. Yes this is Sue updating today, as Patty started her new job. Yeah for Patty!!
Monday, August 9, 2010
6/9 - Monday
8:00 am - Mom had a fair night. At 8:00 pm last night the nurse increased her feeding tube from 30 ml / hour to 35 ml / hour. After an hour, mom started having increased abdomen pain, so the nurse back the tube back down to 30 ml. At 3:00 am, the nurse turned the pump off because mom has to be NPO for at least 4 hours before she has a test today - gastric emptying study - this test takes about 4 hours as they watch how things move through mom's digestive system.
The team of doctors was in about 7:15 am this morning. The group was much bigger today probably 8-10 interns/students/residents along with 2 attending physicians (the big guys). The report was pretty much unremarkable. They talked about mom's inability to thrive and receive enough nutrition. Also along with the gastric emptying study, they are scheduling an echocardiogram for her - probably tomorrow. This is where a technologist will take images of her heart with an ultrasound machine. I imagine this will be at rest, considering that she has very low energy.
Aside from these two tests, they are going to continue working on her feeding tube rate, and we are going to continue working on her walking time.
3:00 pm - Well, we have been down in radiology since 11:00 am. When we got down here they were talking about mom's test taking 30-60 minutes. We finally found out that it was a test where she was supposed to drink contrast. We mentioned that this did not sound like the correct test; the doctor mentioned the scrambled egg test and I described it to them. After check into it with the doctor, they switched tests that mom was going to be given.
She had to eat radioactive eggs so that the machine could pick up where they are located. The technologist takes one picture at the top of each hour for four hours. So, I fed her the radioactive eggs with gloves on so she could stay covered up and warm -- she is always so cold. If she vomited these up, then the test would be no good. We worked hard and she has kept them down thus far. Only one hour to go. We have also been walking back and forth to the bathroom to get in some exercise which is much needed. Her ankles are extremely swollen and look kind of like club feet.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment or give me a call on my phone.
The team of doctors was in about 7:15 am this morning. The group was much bigger today probably 8-10 interns/students/residents along with 2 attending physicians (the big guys). The report was pretty much unremarkable. They talked about mom's inability to thrive and receive enough nutrition. Also along with the gastric emptying study, they are scheduling an echocardiogram for her - probably tomorrow. This is where a technologist will take images of her heart with an ultrasound machine. I imagine this will be at rest, considering that she has very low energy.
Aside from these two tests, they are going to continue working on her feeding tube rate, and we are going to continue working on her walking time.
3:00 pm - Well, we have been down in radiology since 11:00 am. When we got down here they were talking about mom's test taking 30-60 minutes. We finally found out that it was a test where she was supposed to drink contrast. We mentioned that this did not sound like the correct test; the doctor mentioned the scrambled egg test and I described it to them. After check into it with the doctor, they switched tests that mom was going to be given.
She had to eat radioactive eggs so that the machine could pick up where they are located. The technologist takes one picture at the top of each hour for four hours. So, I fed her the radioactive eggs with gloves on so she could stay covered up and warm -- she is always so cold. If she vomited these up, then the test would be no good. We worked hard and she has kept them down thus far. Only one hour to go. We have also been walking back and forth to the bathroom to get in some exercise which is much needed. Her ankles are extremely swollen and look kind of like club feet.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment or give me a call on my phone.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
8/8 - Sunday
10:00 am - Mom looks good this morning.
Mom had a fair night; she has a difficult time getting to sleep. When we arrived this morning at 7:45, mom was having a procedure done. They were putting a PIC central line IV into her right arm. This will replace the one in her chest, and she also will not have to have regular IVs put in her anymore. This is good because it is extremely painful and her veins are difficult to find, especially a good one. This also has less susceptibility for infection with this central line.
The groups of doctors came in at 9:00 am. (This was quite interesting - kind of like Grey's Anatomy or ER, as this is a teaching hospital.) Anyhow, her doctor is a 1st year intern (Dr. Jenn Hasvold) with a 3rd year resident (Meghan Jankowski) and the attending is Dr. Higgins. There was also three or four more students that came in to learn.
Her x-ray and cat scans came back unremarkable for blood clots or arteries being pinched or stressed.
The game plan right now that they are looking at is as follows:
1. They have started her feeding tube in her abdomen - it is now running at 25 ml. / hour. We are going to take this slowly. They up the rate 5 ml. / hour every 8 hours as tolerated. At Gerber they increased the feedings by 10 ml / every 2 hours. Maybe the slower rate/pace will help her.
2. They are giving her an antibiotic (oral med this time) every other day. This med helps with motility of her digestive system. She was on this same med for 4 days at Gerber two weeks ago. Only it was by IV.
3. Walking, walking, walking - now that she is getting some nutrition and a bit of strength.
4. Neurological aspects - In GR at St. Mary's, a neurologist was consulted; however, he mainly looked at mom's brain - CT Scan. These doctors are going to consult neurology and do an expanded consult to include the neurological aspects that involve the stomach, spine, and lower abdomen area. Dr. Higgins mentioned that sometimes patients have an accident/injury and many times an injury with the nerves that involve eating/motility is overlooked.
5. Gastric Emptying Study - They are also going to run a digestive/releasing study to determine how well/quickly her digestive system moves/releases. This is a 4-hour study. She will have to eat something that Dr. Higgins called scrambled eggs (he said that's the closest thing it could be compared to.). They watch how quickly it moves through her system and take images with a detection/x-ray machine at 1/2/4 hours.
10:38 am - Mom just went for a 5-7 minute walk. She went further than yesterday. She is moving so much better today - Lifting her legs into bed, move with more ease. She is quicker to smile today and has even cut up a little bit with Dad, Sue, and I. Now, she is very tired from her walk and is going to rest.
3: 20 pm - Mom has been doing really well today. She has gone for 3 walks today. They are going to see if she can tolerate Jello and Ensure. Eating wise we are going to move very slowly.
Sue and I took a ride into downtown Ann Arbor - about 2 miles. We go a zip-up sweatshirt that is going to hang up in mom's room where she can see it. This is her goal - Wear it home from the hospital when she is better.
Mom had a fair night; she has a difficult time getting to sleep. When we arrived this morning at 7:45, mom was having a procedure done. They were putting a PIC central line IV into her right arm. This will replace the one in her chest, and she also will not have to have regular IVs put in her anymore. This is good because it is extremely painful and her veins are difficult to find, especially a good one. This also has less susceptibility for infection with this central line.
The groups of doctors came in at 9:00 am. (This was quite interesting - kind of like Grey's Anatomy or ER, as this is a teaching hospital.) Anyhow, her doctor is a 1st year intern (Dr. Jenn Hasvold) with a 3rd year resident (Meghan Jankowski) and the attending is Dr. Higgins. There was also three or four more students that came in to learn.
Her x-ray and cat scans came back unremarkable for blood clots or arteries being pinched or stressed.
The game plan right now that they are looking at is as follows:
1. They have started her feeding tube in her abdomen - it is now running at 25 ml. / hour. We are going to take this slowly. They up the rate 5 ml. / hour every 8 hours as tolerated. At Gerber they increased the feedings by 10 ml / every 2 hours. Maybe the slower rate/pace will help her.
2. They are giving her an antibiotic (oral med this time) every other day. This med helps with motility of her digestive system. She was on this same med for 4 days at Gerber two weeks ago. Only it was by IV.
3. Walking, walking, walking - now that she is getting some nutrition and a bit of strength.
4. Neurological aspects - In GR at St. Mary's, a neurologist was consulted; however, he mainly looked at mom's brain - CT Scan. These doctors are going to consult neurology and do an expanded consult to include the neurological aspects that involve the stomach, spine, and lower abdomen area. Dr. Higgins mentioned that sometimes patients have an accident/injury and many times an injury with the nerves that involve eating/motility is overlooked.
5. Gastric Emptying Study - They are also going to run a digestive/releasing study to determine how well/quickly her digestive system moves/releases. This is a 4-hour study. She will have to eat something that Dr. Higgins called scrambled eggs (he said that's the closest thing it could be compared to.). They watch how quickly it moves through her system and take images with a detection/x-ray machine at 1/2/4 hours.
10:38 am - Mom just went for a 5-7 minute walk. She went further than yesterday. She is moving so much better today - Lifting her legs into bed, move with more ease. She is quicker to smile today and has even cut up a little bit with Dad, Sue, and I. Now, she is very tired from her walk and is going to rest.
3: 20 pm - Mom has been doing really well today. She has gone for 3 walks today. They are going to see if she can tolerate Jello and Ensure. Eating wise we are going to move very slowly.
Sue and I took a ride into downtown Ann Arbor - about 2 miles. We go a zip-up sweatshirt that is going to hang up in mom's room where she can see it. This is her goal - Wear it home from the hospital when she is better.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
8/7 - Saturday
Good Morning,
7: 30 am - Well, we made it down to Ann Arbor yesterday. Mom arrived at U of M about 7:00 pm. She is sharing a room with another lady. She had a fair ride down. Everyone (nurses and doctors) were very compassionate last night with her. She seemed like she was very comfortable before we left - she was only having minimal abdomen pain at that time.
They were going to take an x-ray of her chest last night to make sure her central line IV was in the appropriate place. This is policy when an IV site comes from another hospital.
This weekend they may not be running many tests on Mom, but things should really get moving on Monday. The doctor last night said that they would probably begin with imaging today and and endoscopy might also be done over the weekend.
1:30 pm - Mom had a busy night. She was having a-fib (atrial fibrilation) and some chest pain. The doctors did a few EKGs and some bloodwork. They do not think mom is at risk for a heart attack. This afternoon she is scheduled to have a CT scan of the arteries and vessels in her abdomen. The doctors said sometimes this area acts like a person has had a heart attack.
To do this test, mom needs to have an IV in the arm. This is a hard thing to do because the veins in mom's arms are very thin. For the past few weeks, they have been blowing out or the nurses have been going through them. After repeated tries today by several people, a charge (head nurse) was able to get a good IV in. Thank goodness. This process is extremely painful for mom every time they poke her. Pain tolerance is at an extreme low right now.
The CT scan will be in a couple of hours. Mom is resting (so is dad right next to her - what a sight to see).
Bye for now.
7: 30 am - Well, we made it down to Ann Arbor yesterday. Mom arrived at U of M about 7:00 pm. She is sharing a room with another lady. She had a fair ride down. Everyone (nurses and doctors) were very compassionate last night with her. She seemed like she was very comfortable before we left - she was only having minimal abdomen pain at that time.
They were going to take an x-ray of her chest last night to make sure her central line IV was in the appropriate place. This is policy when an IV site comes from another hospital.
This weekend they may not be running many tests on Mom, but things should really get moving on Monday. The doctor last night said that they would probably begin with imaging today and and endoscopy might also be done over the weekend.
1:30 pm - Mom had a busy night. She was having a-fib (atrial fibrilation) and some chest pain. The doctors did a few EKGs and some bloodwork. They do not think mom is at risk for a heart attack. This afternoon she is scheduled to have a CT scan of the arteries and vessels in her abdomen. The doctors said sometimes this area acts like a person has had a heart attack.
To do this test, mom needs to have an IV in the arm. This is a hard thing to do because the veins in mom's arms are very thin. For the past few weeks, they have been blowing out or the nurses have been going through them. After repeated tries today by several people, a charge (head nurse) was able to get a good IV in. Thank goodness. This process is extremely painful for mom every time they poke her. Pain tolerance is at an extreme low right now.
The CT scan will be in a couple of hours. Mom is resting (so is dad right next to her - what a sight to see).
Bye for now.
Friday, August 6, 2010
8/6 - Friday
Today will be a good day.
9:30 am. - Mom had a fairly restful night. She feels pretty good this morning, with only a bit of abdomen pain (4-5 right now). They are going to stop her tube feeding as soon as this bag runs out in about an hour. Her central line feeding was stopped earlier. She is still on an IV going through her central line. The doctors are stopping the feedings now because they think that she may be going to U of M today. Keep your fingers crossed.
Dad and I will be following them down. Sue will be taking off from work as soon as we know. Our hope is that they can figure out what has been going on, but more importantly that they are able to get her to a point where she can eat and gain strength back.
2:00 pm - The ambulance will be here in half an hour to pick up mom and then we are outta here.
I'll be back. :) (My daughter tells me this is a smiley face.)
9:30 am. - Mom had a fairly restful night. She feels pretty good this morning, with only a bit of abdomen pain (4-5 right now). They are going to stop her tube feeding as soon as this bag runs out in about an hour. Her central line feeding was stopped earlier. She is still on an IV going through her central line. The doctors are stopping the feedings now because they think that she may be going to U of M today. Keep your fingers crossed.
Dad and I will be following them down. Sue will be taking off from work as soon as we know. Our hope is that they can figure out what has been going on, but more importantly that they are able to get her to a point where she can eat and gain strength back.
2:00 pm - The ambulance will be here in half an hour to pick up mom and then we are outta here.
I'll be back. :) (My daughter tells me this is a smiley face.)
Thursday, August 5, 2010
8/5 - Thursday
1:30 pm - Mom had a fair night. She was put on oxygen last night because she was short of breath. This morning she was put on a heart monitor because her heartbeat is going just a little bit too fast. They have also given her medicine to prevent blood clots. We went down for nuclear x-rays to check for blood clots for fluid in her lungs around 11:30 this morning. We are still awaiting these results. She is still receiving fluid with electrolytes through her central line, and her food pump is being used at 20 ml. / hour.
Dr. Johnson has mentioned again about getting her feedings up so she can go home. I love his optimism. It would be wonderful to take her home.
4:30 pm - Mom's x-rays and nuclear test came back okay so far. We are still waiting on the final read. She has had a fairly calm afternoon.
GREAT NEWS! Mom's doctors have been communicating with U of M. Finally, U of M has decided to take her as an inpatient. We will be going down in the next day or two. Yeah! Everybody claps here. It's not a diagnosis, but its finally something going in mom's favor.
I'll write to you all later.
Bye for now.
Dr. Johnson has mentioned again about getting her feedings up so she can go home. I love his optimism. It would be wonderful to take her home.
4:30 pm - Mom's x-rays and nuclear test came back okay so far. We are still waiting on the final read. She has had a fairly calm afternoon.
GREAT NEWS! Mom's doctors have been communicating with U of M. Finally, U of M has decided to take her as an inpatient. We will be going down in the next day or two. Yeah! Everybody claps here. It's not a diagnosis, but its finally something going in mom's favor.
I'll write to you all later.
Bye for now.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
8/4 - Wednesday
1:30 pm - Mom had a restful night. Breakfast was a little rough and didn't stay down. She is resting comfortably right now. The doctors started abdomen feeding tube about half an hour ago. She is at 20 ml. an hour - 70 ml / hour is our goal.
The doctors are considering moving her to a long-term acute care facility in Grand Rapids. This is not a nursing home. It is a Spectrum Health facility - Spectrum Health Special Care Hospital. They have specialists that are present at the facility and approach the patient with the team method - much like Mayo Clinic. We are thinking this will be a good move for mom, mainly because they cannot do any more for her up here at Gerber.
The doctors are considering moving her to a long-term acute care facility in Grand Rapids. This is not a nursing home. It is a Spectrum Health facility - Spectrum Health Special Care Hospital. They have specialists that are present at the facility and approach the patient with the team method - much like Mayo Clinic. We are thinking this will be a good move for mom, mainly because they cannot do any more for her up here at Gerber.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
8/3 - Tuesday
Hello again,
9:30 am - So here we are again. Mom had a fairly good night. However, this morning she is experiencing a great deal of pain this morning. Her feeding tube is not working; the doctors are wondering if there is a kink in it. I expect they may be doing an x-ray to investigate. Her IV site has gone bad, and her nurse is trying to find a vein that will sustain an IV. Mom is quite dry and her veins are not very good any more.
Dr. Johnson did hear from Mayo Clinic yesterday. They are refusing to see Mom because they believe that all diagnostic tests that they would do have been done; therefore, they feel there is nothing left for them to run. We still have U of M to go to on 8/17. Dr. Johnson mentioned yesterday that he may have to consider an inpatient transfer to U of M. She would get there faster - all for this.
11:30 am - Dr. Johnson just put an IV central line into a vein in mom's neck/chest. They are going to be taking an x-ray to make sure placement is good and then they can begin to feed her through this and give her pain medication.
5:00 pm - Mom has had an x-ray of her chest to check the IV put into the vein in chest/neck area. This is exactly where it needs to be and they are giving her fluids and an IV food. She has also had an x-ray of her abdomen to check and see if her feeding tube is kinked that goes into her small bowel. We are still waiting on the results of this x-ray. She is resting comfortably this evening. Hopefully, she will have a better day tomorrow.
9:30 am - So here we are again. Mom had a fairly good night. However, this morning she is experiencing a great deal of pain this morning. Her feeding tube is not working; the doctors are wondering if there is a kink in it. I expect they may be doing an x-ray to investigate. Her IV site has gone bad, and her nurse is trying to find a vein that will sustain an IV. Mom is quite dry and her veins are not very good any more.
Dr. Johnson did hear from Mayo Clinic yesterday. They are refusing to see Mom because they believe that all diagnostic tests that they would do have been done; therefore, they feel there is nothing left for them to run. We still have U of M to go to on 8/17. Dr. Johnson mentioned yesterday that he may have to consider an inpatient transfer to U of M. She would get there faster - all for this.
11:30 am - Dr. Johnson just put an IV central line into a vein in mom's neck/chest. They are going to be taking an x-ray to make sure placement is good and then they can begin to feed her through this and give her pain medication.
5:00 pm - Mom has had an x-ray of her chest to check the IV put into the vein in chest/neck area. This is exactly where it needs to be and they are giving her fluids and an IV food. She has also had an x-ray of her abdomen to check and see if her feeding tube is kinked that goes into her small bowel. We are still waiting on the results of this x-ray. She is resting comfortably this evening. Hopefully, she will have a better day tomorrow.
Monday, August 2, 2010
8/2 - Monday
9:30 am - Mom is having a difficult time today. She had a rough night -- vomiting up stomach acid. They have backed off on the feeding from 70 ml per hour down to 30 ml per hour. They will try increasing by 10's again every 2 hours. She is having a great deal of abdomen pain, especially getting in and out of bed.
1:00 - update: Dr. Johnson was in; he said that we are going to continue increasing the amount of food she is getting every 2 hours as tolerated. He also mentioned that he was heading back to his office and will check to see if Mayo Clinic has left him a message.
Second walk accomplish at 1:10 pm. Back to rest - exhausted again.
5:00 pm - Well mom has been able to move things through her digestive system a little bit this afternoon. However, she also started vomiting again. She is still dealing with a good amount of stomach pain this evening. We have not been able to increase the amount of food past 40 ml. because she is not feeling well.
We did go for a walk down the hall and made it all the way. Yeah Faye! She is now exhausted.
1:00 - update: Dr. Johnson was in; he said that we are going to continue increasing the amount of food she is getting every 2 hours as tolerated. He also mentioned that he was heading back to his office and will check to see if Mayo Clinic has left him a message.
Second walk accomplish at 1:10 pm. Back to rest - exhausted again.
5:00 pm - Well mom has been able to move things through her digestive system a little bit this afternoon. However, she also started vomiting again. She is still dealing with a good amount of stomach pain this evening. We have not been able to increase the amount of food past 40 ml. because she is not feeling well.
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