Mom Update 12-23-12
Sounds like a tough road ahead, but I am wishing and hoping for the best for you and your family.
Mom Update 12-23-12
Thanks, Angelo. I appreciate it. :-$
I'll stop posting updates for now...I don't wanna bore you guys. B-)
Mom Update 12-23-12
Merry Christmas!
(I was up and saw your post!)
Mom Update 12-23-12
Bore us, hell!! Girl, you are talking about "THE FORUM MOM"!! :-O You keep those updates coming so we will know to keep the prayers flowing!! B-)
Mom Update 12-24-12
> Bore us, hell!! Girl, you are talking about "THE FORUM MOM"!! :-O You keep those updates coming so we will know to keep the prayers flowing!! B-)
Well...ok. I just usually post them on FB and copy it over to here anyhow... :-$
Mom Update 12/24/12:
Well, this is the first time I've ever had to spend the holidays in the hospital with ANY of my loved ones and I can tell you it really puts life and things in perspective. The things we take for granted, even small everyday things, my mother has not been able to do. I truly appreciate being able to just take a warm shower and brush my teeth.
Mom is doing OK. I got there today at Noon cause my stepdad did the morning shift. Not much has changed from yesterday lung wise. Still fluids on the lungs but they dialized her today and got 3 kilos of it off. She is doing breathing treatments, but she still has congestion and some tightness. When she takes the oxygen thing off of her nose, she starts to change skin color and wheeze. Fast. Crazy how that works. Now she has some sort of rash that is spreading; I hope it is nothing serious. I had noticed it a few days ago but I thought it was just a boo boo...now it's almost the length of her entire side of her abdomen and looks like someone pulverized her with a meat cleaver! Will have to keep an eye on it. I told the nurse and they are going to let the doctor know. Fortunately it has no openings or oozings.
She has been eating a little more and walking the hall back and forth 3x a day. She really, REALLY needs a shower. I told her she stinks!! Her girl parts are probably getting moldy! She just laughs... We've been having a lot of good talks and laughs...and I am so glad it is cheering her up. Like she said, it is just nice that I am there. My cousin Wendy called her tonight and she lit up like a Christmas tree! (Thanks, Cuz!)
So, for now mom still has to stay in the hospital. None of her doctors will sign off to release her and for good reasons. No complaints here! I figure the longer she stays, the better it is for her. Plus once she gets out of this hospital, we head to Glendale to put her in another hospital to address the problems associated with her dialysis shunts, kidneys, etc...
Well, I have had my glass of milk and my 2 shell cookies for the night (ok...I cheated I had 3 tonight!) so I am going to bed. I was going to go to Midnight Mass but my foot is swollen and throbbing from that damn spur, my head hurts, and I am just plain exhausted!!! So until tomorrow... Good night!!! O:)
Mom Update 12-24-12
Thanks for the updates Kiddo.
Please keep 'em coming.
Us lurkers are staying tuned, even if we don't post.
Most of us probably do not have words that we feel are any good to say in times like these.
Just know that many, many of us are quietly pulling for you and yours.
Brad
Mom Update 12-24-12
:good: :good: :good:
Mom Update 12-24-12
Could not have been said better,
all the best,
Chr.
Mom Update 12-26-12
Sorry for no Christmas update guys...I was too tired!!!
Mom got out of the one hospital yesterday. She promised to go to the next hospital after she ate her Christmas dinner and showered. Well, that didn't happen. She went home, smoked, ate her dinner, showered, and procrastinated. Then she went to bed. *sigh*
SO now here we are, at the next hospital today and mom is in surgery. I stayed with her until they wheeled her back. Just talked to other doctor and he said her surgery is just now starting. She has 18 pounds of water on her, though...and looks like a hippo. We're waiting for her vascular doctor to do his thing and then come out and talk to us and I should know more after that. Her BP was 169/88 with 89% oxygen saturation so I sure hope they keep her here after she's done cause she is still wheezing and in a lot of pain from the cysts pushing into her ribs and lungs. Plus all the other crap going on. Stepdad and I are realizing it is not going to get better...and we're going to have to make some decisions soon. :'(
This hospital we're at now...free wifi but man everything else is expensive!! Costs $$ to park, the food is expensive and I am going broke!! I guess that is how it is with these fancy hospitals out in the richy rich areas of Los Angeles but dang!! I'm not rich!! 😐
All of this just plain sucks. :-/ On a good note, we did not hit any traffic driving out here this morning. That is a RARE event when driving on the 210 freeway in Southern California at 8:30 am.
I'll post more later, maybe. Depends on my energy and stress level. 😐
Update 2:38 PM:
Moms surgery is done she had a fistula shunt clogged and it backed up into her chest and clogged up there so they got it unclogged and she will get to go home today but then we're headed to another hospital where her kidney doctor and nurse is...sheesh!!
Mom Update 12-26-12
Thanks for the updates, Angel. You've got a lot of friends around here sending prayers, good vibes, healing thoughts, good energy - heck, whatever their flavor of support is, to you and your Mom. Take care.
Mom Update 12-26-12
Your mom has good people(you) pulling for her. Being there is 90% of it, hang in there Angel.........
And don't worry about us; there's bigger things than somebody offending somebody else on the internet....
Mom Update 12-26-12
Good Lord Girl.
We are lifting you up kiddo.
Thank you for keeping us updated.
Mom Update 12-26-12 - Part Two...(Long read!)
Mom Update Part 2: 12/26/12
Well mom is back in the hospital. We got her to hospital #1. They didn't have her in the system so we had to wait until her nurse called to get her in the system. So...she had her surgery and they released her but something still wasn't "right". I have been trying to tell these doctors and nurses for 5 days now that this "thing" she has is not a bruise but they all disagreed and said nothing to worry about. Fortunately her dialysis nurse and center was 5 minutes away and her nurse wanted to take a look at this "bruise" that keeps growing and check her surgery site. So...we went over there. Moms nurse took one look at her and said "Oh this is not good...this is not a rash or bruise, it's a bleed somewhere!" plus her breathing was bad again and she was losing her color and in extreme pain. Moms nurse called moms kidney doctor. Moms kidney doctor told us to take her to his hospital and she would be admitted.
So, we go to McDonalds first cause mom was hungry, then we get to the next hospital and go through E/R and go through it all over again. Mom is getting really bitchy and irritated. They get mom in and to a bed and she REALLY starts to get worse...cussing me out, screaming and crying from the pain, begging for pain medication. Her BP is 190/80. She calls her doctor and he personally answers and talks to her. Then, finally they bring some pain meds in!! Then, all be damned, it started to work. They took her to CT Scan.
While they did that, stepdad, kid and I went to grab dinner. We found some hole in the wall chicken dinner place 2 blocks from the hospital that had a lot of people so we figured it must be good and it was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!! There was a Mexican bakery next door so I popped in and grabbed a cookie and a banana nut muffin. 🙂
We get back to hospital, mom is finally doped up and in a better mood. Her kidney doctor ACTUALLY came to the hospital and showed up to take care of her!! I was impressed!! He smelled so good, too! 😛
Anyhow, moms CT scan came back and turns out all the pain under her ribs is from a GIANT burst cyst (think size of a preemie baby) that cant heal and is bleeding, plus there is another bleed somewhere and THAT is what is causing the "rash" she has that keeps spreading (that *I* first discovered 5 days ago!). Also her blood counts were way low and wont come up and she lost quite a bit of blood so that's why she's getting some more blood. Plus she still has her other issues with her lungs and heart. Her BP when I left was 190/88!! Egads!!!!
So, now the game plan is they are going to give her a blood transfusion and dialyze her tonight, and then tomorrow do a CT Scan with the dye to see where exactly the bleeds are so they can see if she can have them fixed with the imbolizer(sp?) or have to get surgery. They may do surgery to remove the cysts/possibly the kidney(s); we wont know until after CT scan with dye. Then the cardiologist is going to do his thing. Then the lung doctor will do his. Then we'll go from there. Fortunately her doctor ordered pain meds every 3 hours so she doesn't have to suffer anymore.
So, if I do not get back to you guys right away and you do not see me moderating on here at much if at all lately, now you know why. I left the hotel at 8:45 am and got back at 10:45 PM. I am freaking BEAT. Wendell may or may not come now; depends on many factors so we'll see....I have my hotel until Saturday then I gotta find new lodging and my pocketbook is starting to suffer. The hospitals in Glendale charge for everything and that don't help either!! Everyone says "Wow, you are holding up well, you handle stress well..." I do...but even I have to scream sometimes. :-O :-/
SO for now, I AM GOING TO BED!!! Good night all. More tomorrow.
Paul in PA...Thank You!!
Thank you so very much for the card!! I didn't get to see it personally but Wendell scanned it for me both front and back and I got to read it. It's been hell for me and that small gesture took a bit of the hell out of my hell. I truly appreciate it and am truly grateful that you sent that to me. :-$
Mom Update 12-27-12
Mom Update 12/27/12:
(Sure hope I am not boring you guys to pieces with the mom posts!!) :-/
I did not get to see mom today but I did call three times. Stepdad took todays shift so I could stay back in town and run errands & do "mom" stuff for her; wash clothes, get cat food, feed cats, pay bills, etc... Ok and I snuck in a trip to the local Italian deli for some clamshell cookies, salami, turkey breast and cheese. B-)
(Mom likes to bum some of these cookies and meats off of me so I figure the more she eats, the better she will be.)
I talked to moms nurse in the AM and they said she was in pain but just gave her meds, and the surgeons and heart doc came in. Nurse didn't know much more.
I talked to mom at about 2:30PM to find out if she wanted me to go out there and what was going on. She sounded OK...just very tired
She said they moved her to a new room, and have been keeping her pain at a "tolerable" level. I told her ask for more if it gets worse; do NOT hesitate!! She said her doctor came in at 9 am and caught her sneaking out to get coffee, so he grabbed a hold of her and walked her back to her room and went and got her coffee. Awww!!! So for now she is stable and said it doesn't do me any good to drive all the way out there. Today/tonight they are waiting to see what her blood counts do before they can decide on surgery. Right now she is too weak for surgery. She did perk up, though, after her blood transfusion and dialysis and even ate some food today so that is good.
Tomorrow I will go out there and spend the day/evening with her... and beat some ass if she is still suffering. :/
I talked to mom again at 8:15 PM to check on her before I left to pick up Wendell. She was nagging me to not talk long or else I would be late picking up Wendell. She said she was feeling a tiny bit better and the pain was "tolerable" IF she didn't move. I told her to tell those nurses she is having pain and ask for something and she said she would, but I think it went in one ear and out the other. She was relieved I got all her errands done and cats fed. She is glad Wendell is here and that we're going to see her tomorrow. She said if anything changes from now until tomorrow, she will call or have the nurses call me. But as of right now, she is still a bit too weak for ANY surgery. :-/
SO, that's all for now. My hubby is flying in tonight thank GOD!!!!! I really, REALLY need him right now. And I found a new motel to stay in thank GOD!!! A cute little place about 2 miles from moms house in a nice area. I think it has like 16 rooms total. VERY clean and tidy. The owner let me look at each room and test the WiFi to make sure it would work for Wendell, and wants to talk to Wendell about a website and hosting!! How about that!!! He felt so sorry for me so he gave me a weekly rate cheaper than the rest. He told me he doesn't let any riff raff in, he sends them to the hotel I am at now. LOL figures...
Well that is one less stressful thing off of my chest (lodging)...now I just hope God drops a $10,000 check in my hands.. hahaha!! And...I ran out of clamshell cookies so I am headed over to the Deli to get me some more and some salami and cheese and spaghetti salad. Figure I deserve it after all I been through.
Until tomorrow, stay safe and hug your loved ones close and tell them you love them bunches. :love: :star: :cat:
Mom Update 12-27-12
> Mom Update 12/27/12:
> (Sure hope I am not boring you guys to pieces with the mom posts!!) :-/
> your loved ones close and tell them you love them bunches. :love: :star: :cat:
Keep your spitits up!
A trip to an Italian deli helps.:-)
Our thoughts are with you.
R
Mom Update 12-27-12
our prayers are with your Mom and your family.
Mom Update 12-27-12
I am glad that Wendell is able to join you down there kiddo.
Gentlemen (& Ladies), I asked W & A to stick this post to the top, but Angel is afraid that we are getting "sick of it".
So we are just going to have to keep it TTT ourselves.
I sure am hoping that things keep getting better, as it sounds like they are...
... baby steps.
Mom Update 12-28-12
> Thank you for keeping us posted, we went through similar heart wrenching timnes with both parents... best wishes, thoughts and prayers...
Thanks, guys...I appreciate it. I really do. :-$
Mom Update #1: 12/28/12
Just talked to mom. I called her room and could not get a hold of her and so I called the nurses station and they connected me to her. She was walking the halls and told me to "chill out Angel." Easy for her to say... :/
They can't do surgery. Too dangerous. The bleed is still there, but its a small bleed so they are hoping it will go away on it's own. Apparently it was a HUGE cyst that ruptured and sometimes these cysts do this and bleed out for days. The blood transfusion helped her a lot with bringing up hemoglobin and iron and other bloody stuff. She said they are going to wean her off of the morphine and send her home in a day or two with pain pills and then just "see how she does". They told her there's "Nothing else they can do." GOOD LORD!!! I am ready to scream!!! 🙁
On a good note she has no bronchitis anymore. Lungs are clear. Waiting for the echo cardiogram to see how the heart is doing but her BP has went back down so that is good.
More later...My cell phone stopped charging and it's gonna die and the Verizon store was worthless as far as helping us so we're on the hunt for a phone now!!! Good Lord!!! :-O
Mom Update 12-28-12
> Mom Update #1: 12/28/12
>
> Just talked to mom. I called her room and could not get a hold of her and so I called the nurses station and they connected me to her. She was walking the halls and told me to "chill out Angel." Easy for her to say... :/
>
> They can't do surgery. Too dangerous. The bleed is still there, but its a small bleed so they are hoping it will go away on it's own. Apparently it was a HUGE cyst that ruptured and sometimes these cysts do this and bleed out for days. The blood transfusion helped her a lot with bringing up hemoglobin and iron and other bloody stuff. She said they are going to wean her off of the morphine and send her home in a day or two with pain pills and then just "see how she does". They told her there's "Nothing else they can do." GOOD LORD!!! I am ready to scream!!! 🙁
>
You know, they are only "practicing" medicine after all.
