Another month has come and gone, and I have not done a good job updating this blog. The past month has just been a blur. So, let me try to bring it into focus. The saga continues with mom. Mom continued to get weaker from the fluid build up in her legs and lungs, to the point where she was having trouble breathing so I took her back to the hospital. After a bad night she was having a panic attack, so she was given a sedative to calm her down. This calmed her to the point that she went to sleep, but her breathing was more like a dog panting extremely shallow and she was not breathing deep enough to get the correct gas exchange in her lungs. Mom breaths through her mouth so the oxygen she was hooked up to was not doing her any good and this caused the problem. Too much carbon dioxide and not enough oxygen and the doctor could not get her to wake up. She was put on a respirator to assist her breathing and bring her gas levels back to normal. Also to help remove the fluid built up in her lungs. Once she was breathing again normally the tubes were removed. She stayed in the hospital for a week. She was not strong enough to go home so she went back to rehab for 2 weeks.
Mom has Home Health that provides for therapy; physical, occupational, and speech. Mom has been home now for two weeks, which means that I have had to basically move in to care for her. I do have two people that assist with her care which gives me a 4 to 6 hour break each day. Yesterday she was told that she could start staying by herself some during the day, which is good news for me. She is now on a low sodium diet and yesterday she was told to watch her potassium intake also. There are no foods that are low in sodium, low in potassium and high in protein that she likes to eat. Grocery shopping is beginning to be a nightmare. Checking labels and all, quadruples the time spent in the store. She will just have to learn to eat foods that she doesn't like. Hopefully she will be able to stay by herself at night before long. Then I can get back to my normal retired life.
My wife's mother can not walk and she continues to drive to Birmingham two days a week to care for her. Here lately we just pass each other as we come and go. We hope one day that things can get back to normal for us.
During one of my 4 hour breaks I was able to plow my garden and get my turnip greens planted. I was waiting till Good Friday to plant the rest of my crops, but this week has been too wet to plow and plant. Maybe it will dry out by the first of next week. The drama continues....
