It has been a long suffering bout this time. My mother was
in the hospital from May 25th until June 27 so I’ll start at the beginning.
On the 25th of June she went in for an endoscope to see
whether the ulcers they had discovered back in February had died. They hadn’t. And
unfortunately, the calamities started early. First, the doctor whose rotation
she was on wasn’t even there. She was on holiday. Second, they couldn’t find
the paperwork in her file of her recent Feb/March visits even though both times
were a weeklong stay. Third, she ended up staying in because they needed to put
a tube down her nose into her stomach to suck all of the shit out. Infection,
food that wasn’t digested, and just general stomach garbage.
Now it was fine for me. I had op shopped that day and
brought home 24 Jackie Collins books. I spent $66, but still, I’m currently on
a JC book binge. It was cold and pouring rain. The good part of the day, I had
gotten a free meal from a fast food outlet called Red Rooster because my
birthday was a few days before hand.
Mum spent the next week with a tube down her throat sucking
that garbage out. She wasn’t given solid food and was only allowed ice chips. When
I went to visit her on the following Thursday (one week in) she was being taken
off for a cat scan to see why her temperature had spiked. She was then admitted
to ICU because of a pick line infection and they had to change her IV needles. She
stayed there overnight and was back on the ward by Saturday, but when I rang
ICU they said they’d never heard of her (*snort* I reminded them she had been
rolled in from Ward 2b two days before). Anyway I had to go back to the switchboard
and found her back in ward 2b where she’s been since.
She was due to have another endoscope or surgery, we’re not
actually sure, on the Friday, but that had to be cancelled due to the high temp
and infection.
So, two weeks in and she’s still there.
During the third week she finally had her surgery. She had
her abdomen cut open and her stomach sliced so they could get the scarring
caused by the ulcers. The ulcers had created the scarring around the tube that
exits the stomach so it was preventing food from being digested which is why
she was bringing it back up. She had been vomiting since January.
She had the tubes in for another week then they were finally
removed and she was allowed soft food. On Monday the 20th of June she had been
told by a nurse, who came in from another hospital to work, that she would be
going home the following day and she told me when I called. So Tuesday I called
and the regular nurse told me she wasn’t going home and I said that mum had
told me she was.
I went down there to sort the shit out and it turns out
everyone had told her something different and confused her. This is how much
our hospital system sucks. The right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is
doing and everyone thinks they know what’s going on and have the authority to
do so. Which they don’t.
The woman in charge of the ward was back from holidays and
sorted it out. Sort of. She told me that everyone wanted to see mum before she
left, occupational health, the physio etc. Problem was, they had also put her
on a blood thinner called warfarin, and her wound split and spurted everywhere.
The ward nurse told me to call Wednesday morning to see whether mum was coming
home and she said not until Saturday.
On Friday morning the woman from the rehab centre that sets
everything up for the home rang and said mum was not coming home until Monday. I
told her we’d been told Saturday and it was getting ridiculous with all of the
time changes.
On Friday, mum was taken to another hospital to get filters taken out of her legs. They had been put in a few days before surgery to prevent blood clots, which she already had. But that's fairly pathetic, having to go to other hospitals to get something done so you can have your surgery.
I rang Saturday and mum was staying in.
She finally came home on the 27th, raring to go.
Guess what happened next!
Thanks to the fact she has an open wound from where her
stomach split we have nurses coming every day to clean and change the bandage. That’s
fine, but she couldn’t get blood out of mum on Tuesday, so what did we have to
do? I had to get mum dressed, get her into the car, back down to the hospital to
the pathology department for the blood test so we would know how much warfarin
to give mum that night. We also had to park in the shopping centre car park across the road because there was not enough car parks outside the lab. I had to push her over in her walker. For those that know about these things, mum was having
Clexane injections until her INR levels were correct and the warfarin would be
sustained. I got her home and everything was okay, thankfully.
Wednesday we had the pathology lady come for blood, it was
hard again, as mum went black and blue with the amount of blood they
continually got from her. Back in Feb, her right arm was black from her wrist
to her shoulder. Anyway, her INR levels were 2.1 so no injections Wednesday
night, Thursday or Friday at this stage. She needed two injections, twice a
day. Not a good thing for someone so battered and bruised.
We have nurses and in home rehab coming for 28 days. It’s a
service for people who have had surgery and don’t want to go into a rehab
clinic. We already had a few things for her and she now has a bed rail to help
get in and out of bed, along with a physio to help get her leg strength back.
Her weight was up and own all over the place. In hospital
she lost 25 kilos (1 kilo is 2.2 pound, 1 stone is 14 pound) then gained back
19. So overall she has only lost 6 kilos (1 stone) but still needs to lose
more, so it will be diet city for both of us for the next 6 months.
As for everything else…We’re doing okay emotionally…for now.
We had a big row a few months back where stuff finally got
said and it was like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I’d thought
those things for twenty years and they finally got said. What happens now I
have no bloody idea. My brother still owes her money after a year and we haven’t
heard from him since Feb, or seen them since xmas. No one wants to help, no one
gives a shit, and I still have no idea whether I’m going to get to have a life.
My physical health has been suffering a bit with sitting so much, but what else
is new, and we’re meandering along this path called life.
I wrote three and a half novellas during my last writing
break which I’ll concentrate on getting out, I’ve published a couple of
paperbacks, I’ll write more kids stories in a couple of weeks on my next writing
break while my novellas are edited. And I’m considering publishing the lyrics
to over 700 songs that I used to write. Poems are big business in publishing
apparently but I am wondering if I should just write poetry. Just one more
thing to think of writing about…along with all the other ideas I want to get
out of my brain. Like two more novels, and maybe another book or two about the
characters in my novellas. Ah, so many stories, not enough energy, or hands to write with, to spit them
all out.
No wonder so many big time authors farm their books out to
other people to write. James Patterson, anyone!
I’ve had a decent holiday for five weeks, but now it’s back
to the grind stone.
Below is a pic of mum's arms last week. Apparently the doctor jammed the needle into mum's elbow bone and that's the result. The next day the doctor asked who did that and mum said, 'you!' It was for a blood transfusion but it was also a week after her surgery. So a bit confused as to why blood was given after surgery. And yes, her right arm was far worse earlier this year.

Holy crap, Your poor mom! All of that sounds horrible. I hope she is now feeling better and recuperating nicely.
ReplyDeleteYou aren't kidding when you say the "left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing". I have never heard of so much confusion and miscommunication at a hospital as what you and your mom have had to deal with.
I am pleased to hear that you have had a chance to discuss your situation and hopefully something will change at some point so you can start having a life of your own. In the mean time, I think you are wonderful for being such a good carer for your mom. How you find the time and energy to do all your writing and reading is beyond me. I am so impressed with your strength and fortitude. Shame on your siblings for not helping you.
Holy crap is right Cheryl. They've stuffed her around a bit since being home, even in the last week as well.
DeleteAs for my siblings, mum excuses them with, "well they have a life and jobs..." As I've told her, if they can't take a couple of hours a fortnight or month out of their schedule to help their mother something is bloody wrong!
Oh my gosh, your mom's arms! Sounds like she was put through the wringer. It must have been terribly exhausting for her. Glad to hear that she is back home and I hope she fully recovers.
ReplyDeleteYour plate is always so full! Yes, James Patterson style...I know about that!
Martha, she was actually really good the day she came home because she was so hopped up on the drugs they'd given her, but in the last week her energy has gone a bit. It doesn't help that she's in so much pain and it's barely 12 degrees Celsius and just the beginning of winter.
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