Dr. Alexander stopped in and told her to keep her chin up. I heard a nurse talking on the phone about Mom's case. I have contacted the lawyer, but we decided to do nothing until Mom is released so that we do not compromise her care in any way. They took X-rays of her wrist because her hand is really swollen. We thought she could have fractured a bone during the fall, but thankfully all is well bone-wise.
A nasty infection!
They also did an ultrasound to determine how deep the infection is. It is nasty looking - all red and purple and yellow. And it is painful to the touch so we have to keep her arm elevated. I have been reading about surgical wound infections and not liking what I read.
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/188988-clinical#a0218
Pat actually talked to Dr. Chan and she said he was not his normal joyful self, very distressed at the turn of events as we all are. Mom has to be kept immobolized or the pain shoots through her. Not the best way to heal after open heart surgery. Between the wound infection and the hip fracture, we are trying our best to get her to eat and keep up her nutritional requirements. We are afraid if she does not eat, her body will be unable to heal from the infection and trauma from the next surgery. The doctors are being very cautious. She has some strikes against her: age is a big factor, ability to fight infection is compromised, immune system has already taken a hit with the open heart surgery.
I have spent the night Monday night here in her room so now it is early Tuesday. The orthopedic surgeon wants to do the surgery today IF her INR is below 1.5, but not too highhly optimistic. More likely it will be tomorrow - that is a number that determines whether the blood thinner is out of her system enough for clotting to occur for the surgery.
Her night was more or less peaceful. She had to be moved during the night and they gave her some dilaudin before doing so. It is unbearable to hear her scream out in pain! She has some interesting dreams. At one point her eyes were wide open and she was looking around the room at people and said, "may I introduce myself? I'm Genie Polm." I had to laugh because I was the only one in the room. She had a dream she was falling and screamed out, "help me! I am falling." when I explained that she was in bed, she looked around her and said oh, but please believe me when I tell you I was falling and it made me want to laugh and cry simultaneously. That is a powerful drug!
Needless to say another day here and we won't know what the day will bring our mom. Please keep her in your prayers. She is a fighter, but the fight is not over yet. She is a super trouper, but I don't know how much strength this one person has!
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