Virgil
Update On Mom
by , 03-05-2008 at 09:14 AM (2181 Views)
Well she had the operation Monday. Sunday night when I went over, she was still busy doing things around the house and she was packing a suitcase, which I thought was very odd. It was like she was going away, which she was I guess. Between the hip replacement operation and the rehab she may be gone almost a month. Nonetheless, it's not like she's going miles away. I could get stuff at the house and bring it over. But it's packed and it's in the trunk of my car.
She was fairly calm the morning of the operation. I was probably more nervous. We had a couple of hours waiting before the operation, where they went over stuff, which i can't remember any more. She couldn't get her wedding ring off. New rules, even wedding rings have to come off, at least at this hospital. Her knuckle is somewhat arthritic and a good deal larger than the stem of her finger. They said they would have to cut it off and that sent her into a panic. The used vaseline and and ice and she worked it for a good half hour and finally it came off. Her knuckle was red and raw and almost bleeding, but she did it.
I was allowed to be with her while she lay in a stretcher waiting to be taken to an operating room. Ahead of her was an old man, really old and frail, and I wondered what knind of operation he was getting. He had his daughter by him and they spoke in Yiddish (this is New Yorkand I was speaking to my mother in Italian) so I couldn't understand. But he was a testy old guy, getting petulant at his daughter for whatever, and she did her best to calm him down. She would smile over, as I glanced over, as if to say, old age is but a second childhood and these old guys need to be treated as children.
I guess there's a few years to go before that.
I do hope the old guy made it out ok.
Then my mother went in and I joined a few others from my family in a waiting area. After three hours finally the doctor called and he said it went "beautifully." That was his word. They said she would be in recovery until they found a room for her and after a few more hours they told me i could go see her in recovery. She looked pretty decent, was in decent spirits but groggy, and they said she was doiing well. No room was available yet. And since it might be a bit and I wasn't really allowed to stay in the recovery I went home.
After going into work for a few hours in the morning, I treked over (hospital is a good hour and a half from work) I asked at the information desk what room she was in. They had this senile old lady at information, and she slowly typed my mother's name into the computer. First she says there's no record of her and then she says she's in ICU - Intensive Care Unit. What!!! My jaw just dropped and after explaining she was only in for a hip relpacement, she insisted ICU - go to the fourth floor. Ok, the elevator ride was not pleasant, my stomach was dropping and I buckled up and braced myself for the worst. I stumbled around looking for ICU and finding it, went in, asked, and they said there was no one here by that name. At least that was a relief. I guess the old hag at information didn't know what she was doing. They said to try somewhere else around the next hall (it's a maze inside there). And as I step outr, low and behold I see my uncle, my mother's brother with a sort of glazed look on his face. "What are you doing here?" I asked. And then he suddenly recognizes me and his face just awakens, "I'm trying to find your mother." He holds out his hand with a piece of paper with a room number. "I can't find it." He tells me he's been wondering the halls for two hours looking.
Finally at 2 o'clock they tell me (my uncle is gone by then) she's in a room, over 24 hours after her surgery began. Rediculous. So I get to the room and there she is sitting in a chair, which I find remarkable. But she's out of it. Groggy with moments of elucidation. So I go to the nurse to ask how's she's doing. Good, but she's got some fever. Oh? How high? 102.9F. (39.4C) What! Yeah it's high but we're watching it. That's pretty high. And as I wait with my mother, she starts getting antsy in the chair, and says she wants to lay down. And as the nurse and an attendant get her out of the chair I hear from out side my mother screaming in pain at the top of her lungs. Oh God. This isn't going to be smooth, is it. So I'm worried about the fever, I'm worried that she's still very groggy, I try to get her to drink fluids (she hasn't eaten now in over 36 hours) and she's resistant, so i call the doctor's office. And he's surprised the fever's as high as it is. He says it's too early for an infection so it must be the blood transfusion. Oh dear. My sister warned me about blood transfusions. She's obssessed with it and that's the first thing she asked was whether they had to give her one. Anyway the whole afternoon and into the evening, I forced my mother to drink as much as possible, made her do this blow tube exercise to expand the lungs (apparently standard after an operation), and tried to not let her sleep that much. Towards the evening her fever came down to 101F (38.3C) and by 7 PM I decided to go home and let her rest.
So that's it and I have no idea if the fever broke or how she spent the night. I was exhausted last night.
Go to Profile
Mark as Read
