Dr Fu gave Mom a good diagnosis. He doesn't think she'll
have to have kidney dialysis again. He said her kidneys are getting better
all the time. Such a relief & so sudden. Thank you
Lord.
Mom apparently ate a couple bites of oatmeal this
morning. I didn't get to her room until 9 (bad daughter) & in the next
few hours she had several bouts of feeling like she was going to get sick.
While sleeping, she suddenly became agitated; she was hot, then cold, then
hot. I do believe this is worse than the hot flashes she has been
experiencing over the last few years. Her nurse, Jana, gave her nausea
medicine. Eventually she becomes tired & falls back asleep. Her
stomach has continued to bother her all day, & I have asked for something
for gas.
With her skin peeling as it is, I try to keep the Sarna lotion
on it. There are 3 bottles in her room. It won't be enough.
Mom said I should ask Uncle Francis for some hand
cream.
Around noonish, her statistics are: blood sugar 127 -- good is
between 90 - 100, but 127 is good for mom. Blood pressure is up a
little bit. Temp 97.9.
Mom apparently lost two rings (both copper) through the accident.
Morgan had told me early on that Mom had more copper rings for her arthritis;
she knew because she'd given one of the to Mom.
Mom would like very much to get out of bed, and has made
several attempts physically, when her requests for help were not carried
out. When her bed is sitting up, she can actually lift her left shoulder a
good 4-5 inches off the bed & hold it there. She wasn't feeling well
when the physical therapist ladies came, so I didn't get to see her sit up,
balance herself, & dangle her legs off the bed.
Knowing that she will soon be leaving the privacy of her
room, I brought up the issue of a nightgown. I told her I thought
something loose & easy to get on, & asked her about color or
style. She said I need to ask Dora Titchener about what color of
nightgown. Mom hasn't seen Dora (that I know of) for a few years.
This tells me her memory is pretty good. But I don't remember Mom &
Dora ever shopping together or discussing fashion details!
Mom's lunch sounded unappetizing. Her roast beef & green beans
were pureed. I've never seen Mom eat apple sauce, & she's not real big
on chocolate pudding, which she said looked like s#*@ (sorry, there's bus
kids reading this ... ). I couldn't try to talk her into the soup, not
when I wouldn't eat it myself ... strained tomato.
Around 1, Mom left her room for a Doppler scan, looking for blood
clots. I went to lunch. Just because Mom refused to eat hers, I saw
no reason for me to try to lose precious weight. After all, I'm gonna need
all my body fat to keep warm down here in Oklahoma! All kidding aside, I
was pretty floored by ...
My lunch experience.
I'd like to read you the posting I wrote in Mom's
Journal during lunch. It speaks volumes ... at least it will to the folks
back home. It was prompted by the many conversations around me as I ate
... all concerned about the weather already in existence. The photo I took is of
the top window of the conservatory, where I eat most of my meals. When I
walked up to the table, the folks at the table next to mine were looking at
these windows, saying when they'd been here an hour before, there had been water
running off those windows. I looked up & thought it was an awesome
view. Unfortunately what I see as an awesome view rarely shows up as such
when captured on my cell phone camera, but ...
The leaves are now trapped under a film of ice on the
window.
My Journal posting begins:
"It is raining, with a promise of
ice for the weekend. Tulsa is shutting down! I went to the gift shop
to buy a new pen. Sign on the door reads 'The Gift Shop is closed due to
weather!'
"Whole departments are sending their
staff home. Nurses are making arrangements to stay at the St Francis Inn ~
an empty hospital room. Starbucks shut down @ 1:30.
"The road is WET!
"JR reports the temp is 9 below in
Cheyenne."
After lunch, I got lost. Very
lost. Trying to get back to Mom's room. I thought I knew my way
around this place. It's bigger now. Like driving around Texas.
After her ultrasound (aka Doppler scan), Mom got on the exercise
machine. More correctly, the nurses strapped her right leg into it, &
plugged it in. While she lies sleeping, her leg is being exercised.
Mom's dinner: all at the honey-thickness liquids.
Actually, I'd say just a tad thicker. Tonite's menu
1 6oz Iced Tea, unsweetened.
1 3oz Mashed Potato w/Gravy - 1 Carb
1 6oz Mdf (?) Blended Beef Noodle Soup (smelled good, like broth)
1 3oz Puree Turkey w/Gravy (the word Puree brings to mind the word
unappetizing)
1 3oz Pureed Carrots (cooked carrots - nuf said)
1 4oz Custard - 1 Carb (now we're talking)
1 Each Straberry/Bannana Flurry - 2 Carb (can we say school lunch)
1 Each Blue Kit (sugar, salt, pepper)
1 Each Lemon Package
Well, Mom likes her tea home brewed. I couldn't even begin to talk
her into trying anything, until I mentioned Custard. Finally, I
got to feed my Mom! About 5 slivers of Custard, a couple bites
of softened orange sherbet (from her earlier meds). Her tummy was
full & I was content. I wanted to show her how much they had made the
puree look like real food, right down to the carrots. I lifted the lid
& was tempted to try the potatoes, because they looked real. Um....I
guess I tried baby food too. Didn't help the kids eat it; didn't help
Mom. But it pretty much cured me. What I am really left with here,
is the knowledge that Tom & I got RIPPED! Mom made us eat our dinner
before we got to eat the desert! ALWAYS. But what happens when she
doesn't feel good ... she goes straight for the goodies! Humph!
It is 7 o'clock here; that's 6 o'clock Tom Time. Mom is sleeping
soundly. But I'd better wait to grab a bite to eat or go to the motorhome,
cause every time Mom gets good & asleep, somebody has to come do some
medical thing & wake her up. So I imagine she'll be up before too
long. But for now, I think I'm gonna send this too-long email. And I
thank you for the patience you've exhibited to read this far! Drive safe
wherever you are, for the weather truly is looking like it's gonna get
bad. ~ Val &
Tom