Good Friday, Good Dr. Visit

Today is Good Friday, and it really is a good Friday.

Things have been going pretty well this past week.  Although Nana's surgery recovery seems to be taking a very long time, we're having more good days than bad ones.  It is taking a long time for her to build up her stamina.

We had started looking into how much transport chairs cost, and requested one from the insurance company on Apr 18th. The transport chairs are small wheelchairs, so they are much lighter and easier to get in and out the trunk.This will be very useful for when Nana has to go visit Dr. M, Dr. W, or just going out in general.

When the company delivered the wheelchair on the 20th, it was a full size one. It's heavy and doesn't fit in Nana's trunk without taking off the feet pedals. It was quite a workout manipulating the thing, but it let Nana ride instead of walking for her doctors appointment!

Nana went to see Dr. M yesterday, and saw Dr. W today.  Both trips went very well.

Dr. M removed most of the bandaging on the hand Nana hurt when she fell in her bedroom.  Her poor hand looks like it's quite painful, but it doesn't seem to bother Nana.  It could still be a while before it fully heals up.

Dr. W is reducing the amount of sotalol from 2 pills to 1.5 pills a day.  He said it should help Nana with more energy since the medicine slows down her heart. Her next appointment with Dr. W will be in a couple of months, and it's likely that she'll go down to just one a day.

It was also a busy day for phone calls, with different care providers wanting to schedule a time to come out.  The visiting nurse, occupational therapist and physical therapist called, and even someone from Nana's insurance company.  The only one who managed to get time in today was the physical therapist, so I'm expecting Nana to be tired tonight.

Have a happy Easter!  Don't forget the real Reason for it.

He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.

Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

Matthew 28:6

A little forward, a little backwards

Wednesday was such a good day for Nana.  She was feeling better, had an appetite, and could taste her food.

However....  Laura and I were startled out of a deep sleep at 3am with Nana calling Laura's cell phone to say that she fell.  We got downstairs to find Nana sitting next to her bed, and daubing the back of her hand with some sort of gauze.  We got her on the edge of the bed easily enough, and were able to get a better look at her hand.  She managed to whack something while she was on her way down, and cut the back of her hand pretty badly.  Laura and Nana just left to go to the ER to get her hand checked out.

Edited to add:

Laura and Nana got home from the ER around 6am, so this was a quick trip.  The doctor decided that since Nana's skin is so thin on her hands, he wouldn't be able to use sutures.  So he used some skin tape to get things back together.  Nana's poor hand is just one massive bruise.  The doctor said that it will take a few weeks for her hand to heal.

Nana was on her way back to bed, and was within two steps of getting back in bed when she fell.  The problem was that her legs became wobbly.  She described it as she was staggering like a drunkard.  Laura reminded her again that when she feels this way, either lean up against the wall or sit down for a few minutes to catch her breath.  We might just have to locate another chair in Nana's hallway so she has a landing space between her bathroom and her bedroom.

It's the little things

One of the things that has been a bit of a downer is that all food seems to taste mushy and bland to Nana whenever her lungs are affected with the fluid retention.  Part of this might be attributed to her low salt diet, but even with fruit?

Yesterday was a busy day for Nana.  Both the home nurse and the physical therapist stopped by.  She did fine with both, but her pulse always seems to be on the low side and the nurse was worried about the increased swelling in the legs. She called Dr M. to tell him about the changes and he changed Nana's medicine.

Today, Nana's weight was down about 6 pounds from yesterday, and she's breathing a bit easier. We're thankful for that!  Laura says that her legs are still swollen, but when Nana ate a banana for breakfast, she was able to taste it!  For the first time in a long while, it didn't taste like mush. We're hoping that means her lungs are clearing up!

Long days

It seems that with the time change, the days truly are getting longer.  A feeling of ennui is starting to set in, and this isn't a particularly good thing.  Laura's days are a flutter of activity between school for the boys, running Mom's Taxi Service, the routine household chores and now caring for Nana, coordinating doctor and in-home health care visits, doling out medications, and a new one: working with the insurance company.  Laura really does deserve a gold star for doing all this, but I think she'd just settle for a good long nap.

One piece of good news is that the catheter incision on Nana's leg has stopped seeping, and has been dry for the last couple of days.  We had just gotten enough supplies to deal with this and that's when it stopped.  Even though that's a bit ironic, I'm happy that her leg healed up.

The down side is that Nana is having a harder time breathing, she's still swelling, and it's getting progressively more and more difficult for her to get around the house.  We've had to put one of our sturdy kitchen chairs in the hall way leading to Nana's room so that she has a good place to grab or sit if she starts feeling weak while moving in our out of her room.  Also, one of her medications has a side effect that causes her to feel itchy, and this is making it difficult for Nana to sleep at night.

A fairly rough night

Last night / this morning was pretty rough.  Nana was using her little walker to get into her bedroom when her legs decided to no longer support her.  She had a slow speed fall just at the door to her room.  Laura was there to keep her from hitting the sharp corner on a book case.  Nothing was broken, but she did bruise herself on her arm.  This all happened about midnight.

With some help from my son, we got Nana sitting on the seat of her larger walker.  She was pretty tired, and not terribly pleased that she fell.  Laura and I were very puzzled about why her legs gave out.  Laura thought of several culprits: a side effect from one of her medications, her low blood pressure, or a sodium imbalance due to the fluid that's still seeping from the dialysis catheter incision in her leg.

Laura and I were discussing what to do given that Nana has an appointment with Dr. M later today.  I thought that if it were an imbalance or side effect, that might clear up (or change) by the time the appointment rolls around.  Laura went to talk to Nana about going to the ER, and they decided to go.  So about 1:30 or so in the morning, Laura drove Nana over to the ER.

I haven't had much of a chance to speak with Laura about what transpired at the ER as they got home a little after 7am.  When I got downstairs today, Nana was sleeping and Laura was ready to go take a nap as she'd been up all night.  She did tell me they didn't find anything.

I guess they now have something to talk about with Dr. M...

Nana is Home!

Nana was released from the hospital today.  Laura brought her home this afternoon, and it was so much easier than the last time.  Nana had no trouble walking from her car to the house, as we still have the oxygen concentrator.  We had a good evening together.

Laura still has to get some of Nana's medication from The Pharmacy.  The pharmacy called because some of the medications were tagged as allergic, so we still have to figure that out.  The pharmacy spoke with Dr. M, and Nana will be seeing him next week.  There's a bit of confusion about when the appointment is, but that'll be easy to figure out Monday morning.

One thing that's a bit of a concern is one of Nana's incisions is seeping clear fluid.  It seems like walking around encourages this.  It's more of an annoyance than anything, but Laura's keeping an eye on things.

Nana's heart rhythm is still normal.  We're hoping that the a-fib rhythm is a thing of the past.