Saw Mom Today; No Big Change

[KarenC]

We visited Mom again today. It's now been 2 weeks since she was last released from the hospital. For that 2 weeks she's had the one-on-one caregiver 10 hours a day to try to get her to eat and drink more. The nursing supervisor at Silverado (the Alzheimer's home) says (a) Mom's condition has not changed much over the past 2 weeks, maybe a slight improvement; and (b) the one-on-one is maybe doing a little good but not much. That's about the impression we get, too.

Today she was a little less tired / more alert than last week. I'm not sure that was an improvement from her point of view, as she seemed kind of distressed, saying things like "I need to get out of here" several times.

She goes to her GP on Monday, so we'll see what he has to say. The issues at this point are whether it is time to get her into hospice care, and how much longer to continue the one-on-one caregive (at $210 per day in addition to her normal fees at the home). Still waiting and seeing....

Karen

 

[KarenC]

GP Sees Improvement

Mom's GP called me yesterday shortly after seeing her. He said she seemed much improved from her last visit (which was just prior to her most recent hospitalization). He said "Good morning, Kathleen," and she replied "Good morning, doctor," indicating she knew he was a doctor, was awake/alert enough to talk somewhat coherently. He did blood tests (no results yet) to check on nutrition, etc.

We are still looking at getting her into hospice care (which is a Medicare benefit for those eligible here in the US). I'll be meeting with someone from Silverado Hospice this Thursday. I have a few questions, but I'm getting the impression there is no real down side to this -- it does not mean we are giving up efforts to get Mom better as far as reasonably possible.

I think it is unlikely that she'll recover to where she was 2 months ago, but it's anyone's guess at this point as to how much she can recover. I hope it will be to a point where she is enjoying life again to some extent, not just suffering through each day.

Karen

 

[Ruthie]

Dear Karen

I hope that everything works out for the best for the comfort of your mum and for your peace of mind, and that she will at least be able to get a little pleasure out of life for as long as possible, and will not be in any distress or suffering.

Will be thinking about you.

Ruthie