OT: waiting on a call... hoping for the best...

Glad to hear of her progress. The service we utilized was LifeLine. My mother wore the necklace style alarm and was never without it. I agree that the hospital social worker is an excellent resource, and most communities have a Council On Aging type organization that can provide a resource list. If her laundry is in the basement, it may be time to invest in moving it upstairs. One apartment I lived in I paid to have the pantry converted to a space for a stackable washer and dryer. Now that was money well spent. Best wishes as you sort thru how to make her return home as safe as possible.
Kathy

Oh Paul, that's wonderful news.

wrenn wrote:I hope you remember to take care of yourself. Caring for people is very draining and helpers often forget to help themselves.

Good point - as wrenn said, don't forget to take care of yourself, though.

A small update...

The staples holding the incision are coming out tomorrow. I have no first hand experience with staples but I would imagine she might be able to move a little better with them gone considering the skin would have less give and flexibility with the staples in.

Mom continues to report the pain is less and less as the days pass. Today she walked down to the end of the corridor and back... with less pain than the last time she did this.

She will be sent to a rehabilitation place for a week after release from the hospital. I suspect this will all happen after she gets the all-clear from the surgeon in a week or two.

As for me... I am busy catching up on rest and feeling happy about mom's progress. My thanks to all of you who offered prayers and support... last week was so stressful.

Mom continues to do well...

-They removed 32 staples that have held the incision today. Apparently she hardly felt that and is more comfortable now.

-They have also moved her from the 3rd floor up to the 6th floor which I'm assuming is because she is not considered as serious as those patients on the 3rd. She says it is much quieter on the 6th floor so that will be more restful.

Small update...

Mom continues to progress well. She spoke with the Doctor today who says she is in really good overall health. They have had a chance to monitor her diabetes very closely for the last couple of weeks given she is in the hospital and have decided to switch her over to insulin from medication to get it better controlled.

Apparently there is a long waiting list for the therapy place... which also doubles as a seniors home... so as the Doc was saying by the time she is ready to move on to that place there may not be a spot available. At that point depending on how she is doing they may keep her another week in hospital and then just send her straight home.

Apparently there was a lot of activity in the room last night... one patient was transported to Montreal at 4am this morning. Another patient spent the night throwing up... mom says she didn't get much sleep... but she sounded really good about an hour ago on the phone.

I think she is doing better than I am right now... I still seem to be tired out from all this.

Great news Paul! Yeah, I bet you're tired! Too much to do, too much to think about, too much to learn...just too much! Hang in there and try to get enough sleep

Good to hear the news Paul. Your mother is one lucky woman - not only has a son who cares, but one who is willing to show her he cares both in words and action.

Not surprised you're tired!

I'm glad your mom is doing so well, Paul. I'm sorry it's so stressful for you though!

An update...

-Going up to see mom again on the weekend. It has been a coupla weeks.
-She is now able to get in/out of bed by herself. The therapy continues and she is walking on her own with the walker.
-They checked the incision site this morning... healing up very nicely.
-They have decided to put her on insulin for the diabetes to get it better controlled.

She is now in a room with 4 beds and has some noisy hospital mates that she is not enjoying much... but taking it all in stride. One fellow has diabetes... his wife brought him a box of chocolates yesterday morning. He spent the whole afternoon and evening eating the chocolates... then was sicker than a dog last night. This morning his glucose level was sky high so the nurses were wondering what was going on... uhm... take a look at the box of chocolates!

Oh good! Thanks for the good news update!!!

Hey, in hunting for a retractable extension cord I just found this. Thought of your mom. It's a seat that can be put on a traditional style walker:

http://www.fulloflife.com/website/store ... .svl=71428

Wish I'd seen this a couple of years ago. Might have to get one for my Grandpa.

Hugs to you and your mom!!!!
B.

I hope I'm wrong on this, but the fellow in the room with your mom may have a wife who is not too happy with him "her man" coming back home. Surely the wife would know that one doesn't give chocolates to a diabetic. You sure she doesn't have another waiting in the wings. I wish my mind wouldn't think of things like this. I think I've watching too many detective and doctor shows on T.V.

Anyway, I'm glad your mom is doing great. Just hope she will help the man with the diabetes.
Good luck and best wishes as your mom gets back home and back to normal

Jay C. (not the other "Jay C", who I'm sure is a terrific fellow)

You're Jay C.

I'm JayC

You're a fellow (or so you say...)

I'm not....

We are both terriffic!!

Somehow, I don't think we are ever confused...!

Warm regards,
J

A minor issue...

It seems during all this mom has developed a pressure sore. Suspect the conditions were set for that to develop in the early days of all this... when she was laying only on her back in bed AND the head of the bed was tilted up most of the time... thus putting pressure on a particular point.

The therapist took note of it yesterday... today the doctor took a look at it.

I say minor issue because the reason for the pressure sore to have developed in the first place was the extreme lack of mobility for the first two weeks. She is now getting out of bed herself, sitting up for meals, spending time sitting up, going to the washroom herself, having therapy once/day during the week, going for walks in the morning and afternoon by herself... and is now starting to sleep on her side again (something she always did before this issue, but had been sleeping on her back since the break)... and the bed is kept flat rather than having the head tilted.

If she was still having major mobility issues I would be very concerned about this... but I think that pressure sore will start to mend now. In any case, now that they are aware of it the hospital staff will keep an eye on it.

I am back after a very good and very very busy weekend with mom.

She is doing extremely well. All the nurses and doctors I spoke with said she is doing very well... could not ask for better results at this point.

The break occurred in the femur just after the ball portion of the joint. The surgeon felt her own socket was still in great condition so only the ball and small portion of the upper femur was replaced with a prosthetic appliance. Before the break she used to have pain in that hip and in her back... she tells me that is gone now. There is some debate as to how the break happened. The doc said it was impossible for the bone to have broken and that to have caused the fault... feeling that it was the fall that caused the break. My mom thinks the bone broke first and that is what caused the fall. I don't know... there is some evidence to support both sides... and who the heck am I to argue with what the doc says. Perhaps this is a question for the surgeon during the consultation the 2nd week of August.

She was offered the option to either go home or go over to the rehabilitation place for a week or less for more therapy. She decided on the rehab for a few more days thinking it would be beneficial. They are transporting her tomorrow morning. They will be able to assist her more with the day-to-day things at that place... like getting dressed, etc.

A side benefit of all this is that while she has been in the hospital they have been monitoring her diabetes and blood sugar... and have decided to modify her medications to get it better under control. She will be starting on 2 insulin injections/day. The doc gave me a prescription yesterday to get filed for a couple of injection pens and the insulin. So I run over and get it filled... only realizing when I get back to the hospital that the pharmacy screwed up... they did not provide any of the needles. The nurses and the hospital called the pharmacy who then delivered the missing items to the hospital.

So, it looks like I will be heading back up there next week for when they release her to come home. Thanks for all your prayers, good thoughts and supportive comments folks!

Thanks for the updates, Paul.

Glad to hear she's doing so well.


Den