Day 6 in the Hospital

Image via WikipediaDay 6 in the Hospital: My mother is doing better... but she sure isn't doing very well. The staff is now looking into nursing home options. I have done quite a bit of crying today. I have also been getting considerably more firm with the staff, when I see things that appear to be going wrong (or going undone) with mother's care.

Today I was surprised when a speech pathologist arrived in mother's room. It turns out that her pulmonary doctor was thinking that maybe this ongoing gurgling cough is related to swallowing difficulties. They did some tests. Sure enough, there's another big problem: her dysphagia is "moderate to severe," and now she can't drink liquids unless they have been thickened, and she can't eat solid foods unless they are already soft, or ground up. No more steak, or chicken. Fish is OK. And mashed potatoes. And I guess overcooked vegetables would be just fine. Probably soup, too.

Next, the hospitalist took her off of her usual "nose drops," to which she has been addicted for at least 40 years, that I know of. And that has her nearly frantic.

And, today, she's been showing some intermittent paranoid psychosis. And she still can't walk or stand up on her own.

The social worker says that a lot of nursing homes won't consider her, because of her history of getting agitated and hostile with the staff during this hospitalization.

Back at the home front: Tracy, my mother's un-housebroken wire-hair fox terrier, escaped from my yard today; fortunately, I was at home when it happened, and found him and brought him back. So he and I got in the car and went to Petco and got him a wire cage thing, with a nice bed and water dish. He seems to like it OK, so far. When he goes out in the yard, he now has to be escorted, and taken on a leash through the house, back to his box.

I'm pretty tired this afternoon.

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