Medical Issues

Mom is currently in the hospital.

I received a call at 4 a.m. on Wednesday that they were sending Mother Dear to the hospital. On a bed check, they found her sitting on the edge of her bed and she'd been throwing up. When they tried to give her a shower to clean her up, she passed out several times. She was cold and clammy so they called the rescue squad.

The flu has been racing through her assisted living facility. It is a strain that isn't kept at bay by this year's preventative shot. The whole place is on Tamiflu to keep them from coming down with it and they are discouraging visitors.

She didn't have a fever, tested neg for the flu, and had an elevated white cell count indicating an infection. She was complaining of stomach pain so they did a CT scan. The diagnosis was a twist in her small intestine. Recommendation was to admit her, put her on IV only, and see if it would resolve itself with bed rest. Yesterday her KUB (Kidney Ureter, Bladder) x-ray looked good so they put her on clear liquids. She hasn't vomited since the first incident.

If it doesn't resolve itself, one option is surgery. However, this is VERY invasive, having to cut her open from side to side and possible resectioning the bowel.

We aren't sure if she'll be able to go back to her regular place or if they are going to move her to a nursing home. I'm thinking the nursing home based on how she looked last night. She's weak, and three days without food isn't going to help.

This incident comes after she was rushed to the hospital last week after falling down twice within an hour. I had left her from my regular visit just two hours before and she seemed fine.

Complaining of neck pain at the emergency room, they did a CT scan on her neck. They spotted a "mass" on her thyroid. I gave approval to do an ultrasound to determine what we are dealing with if any further decisions need to be made regarding her care. That has been done but I don't know the results yet.

Not good.

I go in for kidney surgery on Monday. I had stones removed from the left side last September and we're going after the right side this time around.