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 15^th 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. 

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.