1. I arrived to be with Mom at 9:00. I made a brief trip to Mom's house late in the morning and ate a bowl of cereal, but returned quickly because Christy was going to work and Carol had errands to run. Today, Mom didn't moan or groan, but her face was often pinched, her forehead and brow wrinkled. The nurses continued to give her morphine. The medicine brought her some relief.
Mom has not been out of bed since August 11th, the last time the staff tried to have her eat in the dining room and she mostly slept. Aides come from time to time to reposition her, change her gown, change her diapers, and run a damp washcloth over her and it is painful for Mom. She's not only frail, but tender.
I tried to comfort Mom by holding her hand and stroking her forehead and talk with her some. Often she opened her eyes and she tried to talk, but either no sound came out or her utterances were unintelligible. April Lee talked with Mom in private and the Deke visited and also talked with her. Christy and Carol both comforted Mom and spoke with her and Carol swabbed out Mom's dry mouth with wet, small sponges that come on a stick.
2. Both the hospice CNA and nurse were scheduled to visit Mom today and, as it turned out, they both arrived mid-afternoon at about the same time. Nurse Andrea immediately determined that Mom's heart failure was worse than ever and that fluid was collecting throughout her body below her heart. Mom's hands are very puffy. Her breathing is often rattly, wheezy. Andrea expressed concern that Mom was at risk to develop pulmonary edema. Her immediate course of treatment was to try to help Mom flush fluids out of her system. She also ordered an increase in Mom's dosages of morphine.
She ordered an IV of lasix, a diuretic, and fitted Mom with a catheter to accelerate Mom's voiding of fluids. She also ordered a couple other medicines to help dry the secretions that caused the rattling and wheezing. She worked efficiently and gently to minimize the strain that putting the IV port in Mom's wrist and inserting the catheter caused Mom.
Andrea told me, and then I relayed this news to Christy, Carol, and the Deke that Mom's life is drawing very near to its end.
We siblings were all with Mom late in afternoon. So was Everett. At the right time, Christy left to fix us all dinner and I left a little later to get some rest and to eat.
3. Much of our delicious dinner came directly out of Christy's garden. After I ate, I returned to be with Mom. Carol was there, singing softly to Mom. I sat and listened and when she had finished a song, asked her if she wanted to go to Christy's and eat. She did. I stayed with Mom for about another hour and a half, trying to comfort her, praying silently.
No comments:
Post a Comment