Sorry for the delay in posting...I was waiting until I had taken her to the podiatrist this morning, and gotten a diagnosis. She has what is called a foot ulcer that developed from a bedsore. It's possibly infected, so it is a good thing we came in now rather than later. They gave her a very nice boot to wear, all filled with padding and with a hole for the sore to cradle into. Aside from staying off of it, antibiotics, daily cleaning and bandaging, that's it.
She is concerned about what Conference Dresses go with her new boot. I suggested that we just keep a blanket on her lap. That way we can hide the container of hand sanitizer! I am most concerned about infections and any potential virus' coming her way from all the hugs and kisses next weekend. What a thing to be afraid of: Love.
We stopped for breakfast at Seven Hills and got there just under the wire @ 11:00. The cook turned away a party of nine because they were five minutes after. Imagine that! There goes money walking out the door.
Yesterday we had a most wonderful time. So many visitors from the North were here. Many were spending the week in the desert before Conference, so Bill & Becky decided to host a burrito lunch and got everybody involved. I think there were about 75 altogether. Brocks made the meats: pulled pork, and beef, and we all contributed the bits and pieces. They bought a large Tres Leche cake from the local Mexican market, I made flan (that was gluten free) Sue made nacho sauce, etc!
Besides all the Klassens: Ron & Tammy + Barry, Andy & Tracy + kids, Sharon Read & husband, there were Cheryl Brimlow, Daniel & Maureen Vison, Mel Rogers + kids, Mark and Jana Porter + kids, Steve & Beth Hall + kids, and some more, I think. Rose was still there even though they had gotten the sad news about her Dad. She and Doug will leave soon for Illinois. Someone commented on the great loss his death was, how he was such a pillar, a real heart for the brethren south-of-the-border, a father in the faith. Doug said that, as true as this was, he was still just, simply, her Dad. He will be missed.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Sunday, December 9, 2012
One Foot In Front Of The Other
We finally are getting somewhere with Mom's sore left foot. Several months ago she mentioned some heel pain...and I looked at her foot and saw what looked sorta like a bruise and sorta like a blister, then I went on-line to see what I could see. Aside from the standard issue info about warts, bed sores, and bruises, there wasn't much. Now, we need to be very careful with Mom's feet as diabetics lose feeling in their feet and then can't tell if something is wrong. If we should let things go too far she could have real trouble.
Making a long drawn out story short, after several weeks of trying to let Hospice deal with the situation, we decided to go our own route. They had said it was something they could do for Mom if we wanted, and we were willing to let them. So I cancelled the two appointments I had made with the Doctors only to find out that the Hospice Visiting Podiatrist charges $40.00. Mom has a zero co-pay with all doctors appointments, and she was liking the idea of getting out of the house anyway.
I called Dr. Adey and made another appointment and Becky took her in on Friday. The Doctor called it an ulcer and gave us a prescription for some salve, and a referral to a Podiatrist. Sadly, the Podiatrists in that particular office are switching off taking their Christmas Holidays right now and so appointments are hard to come by. We were able to get one for next Monday. I asked for her to be put on any waiting list, so they did.
P.S. Her arm is so much better! She is using it more and although it still causes her considerable pain, she is on the mend. We should be able to decrease the pain medicine this week. She was out to fellowship day today and stayed for the afternoon meeting. She was a bit shaky this morning, and short of breath, but is so much better now.
Making a long drawn out story short, after several weeks of trying to let Hospice deal with the situation, we decided to go our own route. They had said it was something they could do for Mom if we wanted, and we were willing to let them. So I cancelled the two appointments I had made with the Doctors only to find out that the Hospice Visiting Podiatrist charges $40.00. Mom has a zero co-pay with all doctors appointments, and she was liking the idea of getting out of the house anyway.
I called Dr. Adey and made another appointment and Becky took her in on Friday. The Doctor called it an ulcer and gave us a prescription for some salve, and a referral to a Podiatrist. Sadly, the Podiatrists in that particular office are switching off taking their Christmas Holidays right now and so appointments are hard to come by. We were able to get one for next Monday. I asked for her to be put on any waiting list, so they did.
P.S. Her arm is so much better! She is using it more and although it still causes her considerable pain, she is on the mend. We should be able to decrease the pain medicine this week. She was out to fellowship day today and stayed for the afternoon meeting. She was a bit shaky this morning, and short of breath, but is so much better now.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Our Own Parade
Every year on the first Saturday in December the City of Hemet has a Christmas Parade. It’s always a really big parade with around fifty floats, entries, and marching bands and thousands of spectators lining the street. (Ken Fournier & Co. faithfully pass out stacks of gospel tracts. Once, when attending the parade years ago, he handed me one and I said no thanks, I liked the fellowship I was attending, thank you. )
Since the staging area for the long journey down Florida Ave. begins on Palm Ave., the police dept needs to barricade all adjacent roads, including the block of Acacia Ave. between Palm and Lyon: my street. Most years I’ve forgotten all about it until I am sitting at work wondering where all my clients are. I usually go to work before the barricades are up, so it doesn‘t sink in. This year I was deliberating whether to go into work at all. I could get stuff done, I think. No pesky interruptions. So I did.
About an hour after I get there, Mom calls me to ask how things are going….”Oh, so-so,” I say, “It’s quiet, but that’s good. Some clients have called and some have made appointments.” I yap on about this and that and then finally ask her how she is doing. “Well, I am sitting on the kitchen floor where I fell about 30 minutes ago. I spilled some maple syrup and I was trying to wipe it up, when I fell.” ACK! She doesn’t sound too distressed, but I drive home as fast as I can. Sure enough, splat on the floor, holding her clip-on phone and in pain. Making sure that I am as calm as I possibly can, I get our neighbor to come help me lift her back to her walker, wheel her to her recliner, gave her some liquid morphine and then I called hospice. I wanted just to be sure that nothing was damaged or broken. The nurse came and checked her out and did some arm maneuvers and determined that Mom has seriously injured her right arm. Possibly broken her upper arm. She had limited lower arm rotation, very limited grip, and deep soreness all around the elbow area. There was no obvious signs of a fracture, but something was definitely damaged. Since she still had some use of the arm and the trip to the ER for X-rays would not be worth the trauma, and that all they could do was put it in a sling with an ice pack and give her pain medicine, the nurse suggested that we do that at home; immobilize the arm and increase her regular pain medicine, adding the morphine. The nurse would come back tomorrow (Sunday). We can always go to the hospital later, if we wanted.
I got up and got dressed for meeting. Mom had slept in her recliner. The nurse came at 10:30 L The arm was still sore, but her grip was better. She was retaining fluid in her legs, her lungs are not entirely clear, her blood sugar was up to 218, and she was really groggy. No fever or high blood pressure. The nurse stayed for more than hour. No meeting for me. When I asked for some guidelines about when it was safe to leave her home alone now, she said the rule of thumb is if she can get herself out of the house if it was on fire. Oh.
The rest of the day was very quiet. Sue and Tom came and brought lunch. Mom slept. I made her a turkey sandwich for supper. She slept some more. At 7:00 she asked to be put to bed. I helped her lie down but told her it was early for her bedtime pills just yet. Now she is asleep again. I very much felt your prayers for me today. The Lord was with us in a very real way. I felt an unusual calmness, and peacefulness amid all the turmoil.
Her regular nurse come tomorrow. We will decide then what to do next
Since the staging area for the long journey down Florida Ave. begins on Palm Ave., the police dept needs to barricade all adjacent roads, including the block of Acacia Ave. between Palm and Lyon: my street. Most years I’ve forgotten all about it until I am sitting at work wondering where all my clients are. I usually go to work before the barricades are up, so it doesn‘t sink in. This year I was deliberating whether to go into work at all. I could get stuff done, I think. No pesky interruptions. So I did.
About an hour after I get there, Mom calls me to ask how things are going….”Oh, so-so,” I say, “It’s quiet, but that’s good. Some clients have called and some have made appointments.” I yap on about this and that and then finally ask her how she is doing. “Well, I am sitting on the kitchen floor where I fell about 30 minutes ago. I spilled some maple syrup and I was trying to wipe it up, when I fell.” ACK! She doesn’t sound too distressed, but I drive home as fast as I can. Sure enough, splat on the floor, holding her clip-on phone and in pain. Making sure that I am as calm as I possibly can, I get our neighbor to come help me lift her back to her walker, wheel her to her recliner, gave her some liquid morphine and then I called hospice. I wanted just to be sure that nothing was damaged or broken. The nurse came and checked her out and did some arm maneuvers and determined that Mom has seriously injured her right arm. Possibly broken her upper arm. She had limited lower arm rotation, very limited grip, and deep soreness all around the elbow area. There was no obvious signs of a fracture, but something was definitely damaged. Since she still had some use of the arm and the trip to the ER for X-rays would not be worth the trauma, and that all they could do was put it in a sling with an ice pack and give her pain medicine, the nurse suggested that we do that at home; immobilize the arm and increase her regular pain medicine, adding the morphine. The nurse would come back tomorrow (Sunday). We can always go to the hospital later, if we wanted.
I got up and got dressed for meeting. Mom had slept in her recliner. The nurse came at 10:30 L The arm was still sore, but her grip was better. She was retaining fluid in her legs, her lungs are not entirely clear, her blood sugar was up to 218, and she was really groggy. No fever or high blood pressure. The nurse stayed for more than hour. No meeting for me. When I asked for some guidelines about when it was safe to leave her home alone now, she said the rule of thumb is if she can get herself out of the house if it was on fire. Oh.
The rest of the day was very quiet. Sue and Tom came and brought lunch. Mom slept. I made her a turkey sandwich for supper. She slept some more. At 7:00 she asked to be put to bed. I helped her lie down but told her it was early for her bedtime pills just yet. Now she is asleep again. I very much felt your prayers for me today. The Lord was with us in a very real way. I felt an unusual calmness, and peacefulness amid all the turmoil.
Her regular nurse come tomorrow. We will decide then what to do next
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Potassium Predicament
My ambitious aim is to bring you updates every Sunday.
I will start with just the latest of many, to get you up to date. On October 15th Mom had a doctor’s appointment with Dr. Adeyemo, her primary care physician. As was our necessary practice, I had her go to the lab for blood work the week before. (Sue took her this time) At the appointment with the doctor she told us she was concerned about mom’s potassium levels. ( A Potassium supplement is necessarily added to her pills to counter the leaching that is caused by her diuretics. ) Dr. asked me to remove her potassium supplement and be aware of the foods that are naturally high in the mineral; raisins, potatoes, tomatoes, bananas. Also she wanted me to stop her secondary diuretic as this particular one is also adding instead of subtracting potassium to her system, as well as get another blood test.
Because of the struggle in getting Mom to the lab for blood work I asked the hospice RN if there was a way to get them done at home. As it turns out, they will do blood draws at home. We were so grateful. We had the RN draw the blood and then I took it to the lab that morning: 10/29. October 30, while I was at prayer meeting, Dr called home to tell us that not only was the potassium not diminishing, it was higher, alarmingly so. She was going to call the pharmacy hotline and prescribe a solution for her to drink immediately, to purge her system. (I came home & found mom at the computer reading about how she could die from potassium poisoning.) I was to go to the pharmacy first thing in the morning and get the powder. The doctor was very concerned. We were very frightened and didn’t sleep well.
I went to the pharmacy @ 8:30am to pick it up, only to be told there was nothing submitted, nothing prescribed. I called the Dr’s office. They called the Doctor, who was at the hospital doing her rounds. She is certain that she did call, but would call again. I am sitting at the pharmacy freaking out…
We gave her the solution and then had hospice take another blood test on November 12. Mind you, they have a protocol, and this necessarily takes a few days: blood draw, delivery to the lab, results submitted back to hospice, someone calling me. This can take a while. Eventually the lab told hospice that the blood drawn was insufficient for tests and they wanted more…so more they took, on November 19 she had yet another blood draw. On Tuesday I called her from work to ask her what she wanted for supper. I told her she could have anything she wanted, we would disregard all diets tonight. “Chips and Guacamole!” she says. So we did.
This time the blood test showed that the potassium level was back to normal. I am contantly amazed at the process & I sometimes feel as if I am getting a medical degree bit by bit. Overall, Hospice has been a tremendous blessing. They have been terrifically informative, supportive, and a wonderful addition to the family. Another reminder that we have so much to be thankful for.
I depend on your prayers.
Here is a picture taken last year at this time. We went to the Hyatt hotel for tea with Marie and Wendy Woehl.
I will start with just the latest of many, to get you up to date. On October 15th Mom had a doctor’s appointment with Dr. Adeyemo, her primary care physician. As was our necessary practice, I had her go to the lab for blood work the week before. (Sue took her this time) At the appointment with the doctor she told us she was concerned about mom’s potassium levels. ( A Potassium supplement is necessarily added to her pills to counter the leaching that is caused by her diuretics. ) Dr. asked me to remove her potassium supplement and be aware of the foods that are naturally high in the mineral; raisins, potatoes, tomatoes, bananas. Also she wanted me to stop her secondary diuretic as this particular one is also adding instead of subtracting potassium to her system, as well as get another blood test.
Because of the struggle in getting Mom to the lab for blood work I asked the hospice RN if there was a way to get them done at home. As it turns out, they will do blood draws at home. We were so grateful. We had the RN draw the blood and then I took it to the lab that morning: 10/29. October 30, while I was at prayer meeting, Dr called home to tell us that not only was the potassium not diminishing, it was higher, alarmingly so. She was going to call the pharmacy hotline and prescribe a solution for her to drink immediately, to purge her system. (I came home & found mom at the computer reading about how she could die from potassium poisoning.) I was to go to the pharmacy first thing in the morning and get the powder. The doctor was very concerned. We were very frightened and didn’t sleep well.
I went to the pharmacy @ 8:30am to pick it up, only to be told there was nothing submitted, nothing prescribed. I called the Dr’s office. They called the Doctor, who was at the hospital doing her rounds. She is certain that she did call, but would call again. I am sitting at the pharmacy freaking out…
We gave her the solution and then had hospice take another blood test on November 12. Mind you, they have a protocol, and this necessarily takes a few days: blood draw, delivery to the lab, results submitted back to hospice, someone calling me. This can take a while. Eventually the lab told hospice that the blood drawn was insufficient for tests and they wanted more…so more they took, on November 19 she had yet another blood draw. On Tuesday I called her from work to ask her what she wanted for supper. I told her she could have anything she wanted, we would disregard all diets tonight. “Chips and Guacamole!” she says. So we did.
This time the blood test showed that the potassium level was back to normal. I am contantly amazed at the process & I sometimes feel as if I am getting a medical degree bit by bit. Overall, Hospice has been a tremendous blessing. They have been terrifically informative, supportive, and a wonderful addition to the family. Another reminder that we have so much to be thankful for.
I depend on your prayers.
Here is a picture taken last year at this time. We went to the Hyatt hotel for tea with Marie and Wendy Woehl.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Starting out
As the days go by and the incidents increase in number, and instead of repeating myself to each of you, I decided to start a new Blog with periodic updates about Gramma and her day to day issues, complications, and routine. To get all of you up to date I will list some things to help you understand just where we are so far.
She has several physical issues:
Congestive Heart Failure
Type II Diabetes
Coronary Artery Disease
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Spinal Arthritis
Hyper-Tension
High Cholesterol
IBS/Lactose Intolerance
Sleep Apnea
Each of these comes with a specific diet and the diets are not compatible, so you can imagine the fun we have at meal times.
She has been on the hospice/palliative care program since the end of March because of her CHF, and has just been re-confirmed that it is necessary. We opt to be with the program for her CHF only. All other maladies and concerns are still taken care of by her Primary Care Doctor , Dr. Adeyemo. It is a bit of a balancing act, keeping these things separate. Dr. Adey is not allowed to attend to anything pertaining to her heart. This is a new concept with the Hospice program, that we are allowed to use it for only part of her care.
The benefits far outweigh the annoyances. The annoyances being Hospice’s focus on Comfort Only and the end of life mind set, and my grasp of the difference between corrective and preventive. Her Congestive Heart Failure qualifies her for the Federally funded program since it is considered a terminal disease, and all that it includes and doesn’t necessarily mean that she is in departure mode. A person can legally be on Hospice for years. She has had a DNR in place for a long time so this is not a problem. She doesn't want any life-saving measures.
The benefits are that she receives weekly visits from a registered nurse who checks her vitals, refills her prescriptions, does a complete check-up, answers our questions, and discusses with us the changes that need to be made. The nurse also arranges for any additional services, medications, blood work or procedures needed. She has a home health aide come for bathing twice a week, a massage therapist once a month, a social worker who makes sure we are happy with the service, daily access to a Geriatric Dr., and 24 hour access to a medical professional. She has been provided with a hospital bed and electric gel-pac bed pad, an oxygen concentrator, several bottles of portable oxygen, an arbuterol vaporizer, unlimited diaper supply, and all medications relating to her CHF, comfort, depression, sleep, and pain management.
She has several physical issues:
Congestive Heart Failure
Type II Diabetes
Coronary Artery Disease
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Spinal Arthritis
Hyper-Tension
High Cholesterol
IBS/Lactose Intolerance
Sleep Apnea
Each of these comes with a specific diet and the diets are not compatible, so you can imagine the fun we have at meal times.
She has been on the hospice/palliative care program since the end of March because of her CHF, and has just been re-confirmed that it is necessary. We opt to be with the program for her CHF only. All other maladies and concerns are still taken care of by her Primary Care Doctor , Dr. Adeyemo. It is a bit of a balancing act, keeping these things separate. Dr. Adey is not allowed to attend to anything pertaining to her heart. This is a new concept with the Hospice program, that we are allowed to use it for only part of her care.
The benefits far outweigh the annoyances. The annoyances being Hospice’s focus on Comfort Only and the end of life mind set, and my grasp of the difference between corrective and preventive. Her Congestive Heart Failure qualifies her for the Federally funded program since it is considered a terminal disease, and all that it includes and doesn’t necessarily mean that she is in departure mode. A person can legally be on Hospice for years. She has had a DNR in place for a long time so this is not a problem. She doesn't want any life-saving measures.
The benefits are that she receives weekly visits from a registered nurse who checks her vitals, refills her prescriptions, does a complete check-up, answers our questions, and discusses with us the changes that need to be made. The nurse also arranges for any additional services, medications, blood work or procedures needed. She has a home health aide come for bathing twice a week, a massage therapist once a month, a social worker who makes sure we are happy with the service, daily access to a Geriatric Dr., and 24 hour access to a medical professional. She has been provided with a hospital bed and electric gel-pac bed pad, an oxygen concentrator, several bottles of portable oxygen, an arbuterol vaporizer, unlimited diaper supply, and all medications relating to her CHF, comfort, depression, sleep, and pain management.
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