Thursday's Troubles

Another day begins....

When I got here, Mom was sleeping so deeply it was hard to wake her up. Vickie, her CNA today, said she's been up and awake since 6:30 this morning. Buddy came in and he says she is retaining fluids and she's dehydrated. But then she's not eating. So they are going to give her some fluids today to get her hydrated, being careful not to push her kidneys into renal failure. Her INR is still too high to do the peg procedure and so we are in a balancing act at the moment. They are scheduling it for tomorrow afternoon and working to get her INR at the right level with some more FFP.

I have to admit I lost it today. That nurse that did not take care of Mom on Christmas day (who I thought was named Cheryl but it's Jennifer) was her nurse again today. She tried to lift Mom out of the bed by herself without getting help. I told her she needed assistance because normally it takes two people to lift Mom out of the bed. She simply ignored me. She picked Mom's arm up and that caused her to scream in a lot of pain. When I told her that Mom can lift her own arm, she ignored me on that count as well. Then she had the audacity to say she was trying to care for my mom and had to deal with me. I couldn't take it anymore!

I left the room and went to the desk to ask them to get another nurse. When I returned to Mom's room, she was still trying to get Mom out of bed and I asked her to leave the room. Buddy spoke to me and said it was part me and I said, you know I agree and take responsiblity that it might be a personality conflict more than anything. He says he's had twenty years with her and she is a good nurse. Be that as it may, I told him that I watched her with my mom over the holiday weekend and she just did not interact well with my mom and did very little in the way of nursing care that day. And my mom told me she was rough.

So I stand by my reaction - maybe I'm overtired and sick of being here, or maybe it's just her personality. But she acts like she's doing a job rather than caring for a person. So I won't retract my request for another nurse. As Mom's primary advocate here, I feel she needs more than someone simply doing a job. She's been here a long time not to be cared for in the best possible way. Too long thanks to this hospital and another nurse neglecting her duty!!

I am calm now. I got upset seeing someone acting less than careful with my mother. Mom is resting comfortably in her bed now. She had a little oatmeal and banana around 10am and she is just wiped out. She's talking in her sleep and I know she is exhausted and just cannot take anymore. I sorta feel the same way. I'm sick of this room. Sick of seeing her in pain. Sick of this hospital. I just want her well. I want her in rehab because she usually thrives when she is getting physical therapy. 

And so it goes....