The steroid they had been giving her was not, it turns out, to treat swelling in the mass. It was to treat the possibility of sepsis. Dr. Acosta discontinued the order as mom's blood tests came back negative.
Her blood sugar has been high and they have started to give her insulin when it reaches a certain point. They did say that the food they feed her through the PEG is high in sugar, so it's not unusual. I think I may have already mentioned this.
The pain medication they gave her seemed to ease her into a nice rest. When Mondo and Kelly came in she seemed in much better spirits. Around noon, Jess and Nikkita stopped by. I was telling them how she wiggled her toes for Dr. Acosta (first time) and lifted her right hand. Jess asked "grandma, can you lift your arm" and she almost flew away. She lifted both arms to show him, in a kind of flapping up and down way. She lifted both up past her shoulders. First time for that too. We were all very excited and she was excited to show us. When the nurses came in to check on her and asked her how she was doing - she did it again. Show off! :) She looked at Nikkita and said "ya ya ya". I said "I think she might be asking about the kids". Nikkita told her that they went back to Alamosa and mom made a sad face and said "Ohhhh".
Anyhow, she felt so good that she let us know she wanted to get up and out of bed and sit on her chair. We talked to her and she laughed a lot with us. She seemed to comprehend a lot of what we were saying. However, she tried to join in the conversation, and all she could say was "ya ya ya" and it made her a bit sad. We told her that she would get her words back, it's just going to take time.
She stayed in her chair for over an hour and got pretty tired out. And then of course, the Speech Therapist came in and wanted to work with her. I didn't stay in the room, but was told they hooked up electronic stimulation "thingamabobs" to work with her muscles in her face and throat. Also;
- she noted that mom was recognizing and understanding a lot more of what was going on and being said to her
- she was able to make the "ah" and "oh" vowel sounds
- the way she "smacks" her lips is good
- they worked on making "clicking" sounds with her tongue
- she brushed her teeth on her own
and during the session, she got up and walked to the bathroom using her own strength. Huge accomplishment as she has only been able to stand up for minutes at a time with assistance. She ended with a swallow test having some ice cream.
The Occupational Therapist came in afterwards and worked on arm and hand excercises with her, mostly having her reach for her (the OT's) hand. She also stood up with her.Mom slept through the night pretty well. So did I thanks to Lindsey (her nurse) who brought in a cot. Dad and I each got up a couple of times to suction her mouth after a few good coughs, but all seemed well until about 5:45am.
Even though she can only say "ya ya ya" clearly at this point, she says it at different tones and speeds, and it could totally be my imagination, but she seems to indicate a level of urgency. I got up as soon as I heard her, wondering if she had been stirring prior to that, and if so, for how long. She looked uncomfortable and her pleading eyes told me she was in pain. The stomach pains she was experiencing a few days ago returned.
Lindsey worked over two hours with her, way past her shift time. She did give her pain killers which helped a bit. She recommended the doctor order a CT of her abdomen to find the source of pain. He did. He said it could be caused by a number of reasons, but he did not think it was a complication of the surgery of the PEG. Just to be sure, the nurses swabbed the area of the incision and sent it in for labs. Better safe than sorry. In addition to all that, her bloodpressure was up to 220/? and her temp was over 102 so they ordered more blood labs to test for sepsis once again.
Mom went down for her CT scan at 8am. She got back close to 9 and was still not feeling well. The painkillers wearing off sooner than I had thought they would. Her new shift nurse gave her some more (she really needed them). In the mix of it all, during an IV change, she bled on her bed. Lindsey told us about it so that we wouldn't freak out, but she didn't tell Shelly (the new nurse). Shelly kinda freaked out. It was a little funny, but not so much just because of the way the day was going. Well, mom got a good bath and her hair washed out of it. She was so much more relaxed after it.
Okay, just took break to comb mom's hair and stuff kept coming up...
- CT was inconclusive so they've ordered an ultrasound
- her fever has broke and her bloodpressure is back to normal
- when she wakes, she smiles and responds to people
- she had a session with the Speech Therapist and she was pretty groggy through it, but did "ok"
- the nutritionist will start her feeding again after the ultrasound. (she thinks that her current food Osmolite is probably not causing her pain).
She's sleeping well right now. Thank God.
xox,
Tommy
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