jerzgirl

Mom came home from the hospital on Sunday.  She was alert, although occasionally confused, all of Sunday and most of Monday.  Her clarity was improved by Monday night.  When she indicated she had some pain, I gave her a Percocet, as permitted, to ease the pain and help her sleep.  She was fully alert at that point.

Tuesday morning came and I made the dried beef gravy Mom and I had agreed on for the morning.  I went in to wake her and she was incoherent and far from alert.  I decided it was time to put her bipap mask on.  The entire time I was putting it on her, I was apologizing because I know it’s uncomfortable and I know her skin is tender, so any little pressure hurts.

I went to the kitchen and had my own breakfast since it was made and she wasn’t able to eat yet.  When I walked back down the hallway, I found that she had pushed the mask off her face.  I went back in and told her she’d have to put it back on, that it was the only thing that would help her if she wanted to get up to eat.  She didn’t fight me and this time it stayed.

The mask was back on again and I waited - and waited - and waited.  At one point, an alarm went off - I didn’t know what I was hearing at first.  But, it was the bipap machine beeping - reasons unknown because I hadn’t been told there was an alarm on the machine and none of the documents they left told me anything about the machine itself - just about the mask.   As I was checking her to make sure she was breathing, the alarm stopped.  I re-checked her and left the room.

I spent most of the time either working online posting discussions or reviews or in the livingroom watching television.  I periodically checked on Mom just to see what her level of alertness was.

Then, I heard the alarm again - I now knew it was the bipap machine, so I went into her room and found that she had again removed the mask, this time entirely.  So, I shut off the machine and re-connected her to her concentrator with the nasal cannula - the two pronged hose that inserts in each nostril.  I wasn’t going to fight with her about the mask.  I left her sleeping or whatever state it was that she was in - she was still unresponsive.

Several hours later, she felt very cold.  I covered her with several light weight blankets and shut the window (which I had only opened because her concentrator puts out a lot of heat and had made her room hot).  I decided to put the mask on her again - I dis-connected the cannula and connected the oxygen hose to the bipap machine and then placed the mask on her face.  I adjusted the velcro straps yet again all the while telling her how sorry I was, but that she needed oxygen and this was the only good way to increase her blood oxygen.  She kept it on this time for over three hours.

Around 7PM, I went in to check on Mom once more.  She opened her eyes and reached out for me.  She tried to speak, so I leaned down to lift her mask to be able to hear her.  The words she spoke?  “Is it time to eat yet?”

Hurrah!!  She was awake AND hungry!!  I told her she’d been asleep all day and all night, that I had made breakfast for her, but she never woke up.  She asked me what I had made and when I told her, she immediately said that’s what she wanted.

So, I got her pills she didn’t take that morning, gave them to her, opened a can of nutrition drink and mixed a little sugar-free chocolate syrup with it to change the taste, tasted a piece of bread and reheated the gravy.  She drank half of the nutrition drink and all of the toast and gravy.  But, she didn’t indicate any pain, so I didn’t offer any Percocet.  I want to avoid giving her too much of that kind of medicine.

She just now woke up (a good sign, for sure) and is ready for breakfast.  So, I’ll be ending this and going to make her pancakes and get her a little coffee.

Have a wonderful Holiday, everyone!

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