They moved my Aunt Kath to the 7th floor today. The 7th floor is the Palliative Care Unit. It's where all the cancer patients are. She's been sent here for "end of life" care. Grief, this isn't right! She's too darn young to be going through this! She's too good of a person to be going through this! This just isn't right! It isn't fair! It just makes me so dang mad!!!
I am a Believer, but I would be telling a lie if I said this doesn't make me mad at Him. I know He's in control and He has a reason for all He does, but darn - is this necessary? Really? She's got a heart of gold. She's a faithful person. She's a good person. She'd never do anything to hurt another. She loves her family and they've always come first in her life - even now - they still continue to come first with her...
I just don't understand...
She's no longer communicating with us. Her fever seems to be really high, her body is so hot. The nurses are so compassionate on this floor. We were worried that they would not have the time to give her the attention she would need for the pain medications she requires [she gets one shot every 15 minutes, one every hour and another every 4 hours], but they have been wonderful.
Atleast we're not being run out of her room like we were in ICU, and can stay in here around the clock and do not have to pick up a phone and be let in the door like we were in ICU. We are able to come and go much easier and be with her so much better. I think this is going to be easier for Grama to sit with her. She's had to do so much standing and walking while Kath has been in ICU...
Showing posts with label nurse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nurse. Show all posts
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
DAY 1 - WEDNESDAY, 13 JANUARY 2010
Grama asked Kath if she’d go to the hospital and Kath said, “Not yet, Mom.” Kath was hoping if she waited just a few more minutes the pain would go away. She hates going to the hospital. Though she is a retired nurse and spent many, many days, nites and hours in a hospital caring for the sick and injured she has always hated the idea of being the one in need of care. She’s independent like that. So in hopes that just 5 more minutes of waiting would bring comfort and release from the gripping pain, instead her blood pressure continued to drop unbeknownst to all.
Finally, she told my grama she was ready to go. So my grama asked her if she needed to call me from work or if she should call my son who happens to be home from work next door. My aunt Kath said call the squad (the ambulance), because she couldn’t stand up on her own. Grama knew she was even in worse trouble than 5 seconds before!
The ambulance arrived and true enough Kathey cannot stand up on her own. It took the paramedics picking her up, (she’s dehydrated down to not much over 100-pounds [our assessment is about 112]) and carried her outdoors to the stretcher where they began to take her vitals. The paramedic that took her blood pressure, was not happy at all and called it out 3 times to the one writing them down to assure he heard him. Her bp was 70-something over 40-something. They wasted no time getting her rolling down the road to ER. She was VERY dehydrated. I’m sure that by evening she would have been dead. She struggled to keep consciousness.
Dehydration is to be expected when one cannot keep anything down after several days of vomiting! Which was only a repeat of several episodes back to back week after week. She could never recover before she was repeating it all over again. Nourishment was a luxury she just didn’t seem to be afforded. She was withering away…
Day One found Kathey in the ER and eventually into surgery, where the Surgeon finds her small intestines riddled with scleroderma and necrosis. The scleroderma has been the root of the problem all along. All this time that she’s been having severe stomach pain -- it has been the scleroderma. With all the necrosis, the surgeon had no choice but to remove it -- infection had set in. Kathey had been running a fever. She took all of the diseased small intestine she could and left as little of it as she had to keep Kath alive. The risk is that the scleroderma could still be lurking around in there, as well as necrosis could still be residual in the fringes of what is remaining…. But no more could be taken. To take more was a death sentence. As it is, she only has a 50/50 chance of survival at this time. The first 24-48 hours were the most crucial for her….
Prayers are very appreciated!
Finally, she told my grama she was ready to go. So my grama asked her if she needed to call me from work or if she should call my son who happens to be home from work next door. My aunt Kath said call the squad (the ambulance), because she couldn’t stand up on her own. Grama knew she was even in worse trouble than 5 seconds before!
The ambulance arrived and true enough Kathey cannot stand up on her own. It took the paramedics picking her up, (she’s dehydrated down to not much over 100-pounds [our assessment is about 112]) and carried her outdoors to the stretcher where they began to take her vitals. The paramedic that took her blood pressure, was not happy at all and called it out 3 times to the one writing them down to assure he heard him. Her bp was 70-something over 40-something. They wasted no time getting her rolling down the road to ER. She was VERY dehydrated. I’m sure that by evening she would have been dead. She struggled to keep consciousness.
Dehydration is to be expected when one cannot keep anything down after several days of vomiting! Which was only a repeat of several episodes back to back week after week. She could never recover before she was repeating it all over again. Nourishment was a luxury she just didn’t seem to be afforded. She was withering away…
Day One found Kathey in the ER and eventually into surgery, where the Surgeon finds her small intestines riddled with scleroderma and necrosis. The scleroderma has been the root of the problem all along. All this time that she’s been having severe stomach pain -- it has been the scleroderma. With all the necrosis, the surgeon had no choice but to remove it -- infection had set in. Kathey had been running a fever. She took all of the diseased small intestine she could and left as little of it as she had to keep Kath alive. The risk is that the scleroderma could still be lurking around in there, as well as necrosis could still be residual in the fringes of what is remaining…. But no more could be taken. To take more was a death sentence. As it is, she only has a 50/50 chance of survival at this time. The first 24-48 hours were the most crucial for her….
Prayers are very appreciated!
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