Shit, shit, shit ....

[Pixelated]

Just got a call from the nursing home; staff member heard choking sounds coming from Mom's room and rushed in, thinking she might be choking on her dentures (sometimes she refuses to let them put her dentures in, other times she refuses to let them take her dentures out ...)

Turns out Mom has had a seizure, possibly a stroke as well. I got the call about 5 minutes after she left the message; Mom's BP is 200+ and they were asking whether we wanted her to go to hospital (she is a Level 3, which means do not take to hospital without family's permission). I had no clue what to do so I said yes, take her, and then frantically called my siblings. Got my sis who is a nurse practitioner, who is going to call the nursing home and get the lowdown and let the rest of us know what's happening.

Not surprising, alas.

[MoonCat]

I'm sorry to hear that. Please keep us updated. Blessings to you and your family!

[Pixelated]

Thanks, MoonCat. She is stable, still in EI, they want to have a neurologist take a look at her. Her BP is within normal range, incidentally; don't know if it spiked for some unknown reason, or whether perhaps the nursing home staff made an error. No indications of a stroke (brother said she could've had a "mini-stroke" which apparently leaves no damage). They are thinking about prescribing anti-seizure meds -- yeah, good luck in getting her to take them, unless they have some version that's injectable. AND unless they have somebody in the nursing home with a blowdart kit.

Hospital staff are aware she is a DNR, so if worst comes to worst, she will be allowed to go in peace. Otherwise, they have no plans to do any really invasive stuff on her, and will ship her back to her room at the nursing home as soon as they consider it feasible -- could be tonight, could be sometime early this week.

I, meanwhile, have just come back from a local restaurant where I had dinner ... and a glass of red wine. I'd have been happy to have more than one glass, but of course I had to drive myself home.

I was planning to go visit her tomorrow anyway; will just have to see where she is at that point.

[Pixelated]

Mom's back at the nursing home ... I think they might have sent her back sometime late Sunday.

There seems to be some dispute over exactly what happened. One opinion is that she never actually had a seizure; she simply "aspirated" something (could've even been just saliva) and started to choke. She's pretty weak but that's not surprising.

Her #1 Fan at the nursing home (one of the staff) actually called me at home tonight to talk about how things were going.

My sister is flying in Wednesday night; don't yet know how long she can stay. Brother & family were just here a week or two ago, so they have no plans to return at this time.

[MoonCat]

OK, so take a breath, see how things are. I know how very stressful it can be. Hope your mom is doing ok for now. {{hugs!}}

[Pixelated]

Thanks, MoonCat. Sis is flying in tomorrow -- not sure of her arrival time -- and will stay until Saturday.

Mom seems to have rebounded rather amazingly from ... whatever. No. 1 Fan phoned around 6 p.m. to let Mom speak to me on the phone (!) -- alas, I was late getting home as I went for groceries after work. N1F says Mom ate a ton of stuff today, a drastic change from most of the time, when she seems to not want to eat at all. (What she ate is another issue but at this point, the fact she's eating at all is good to hear.)

Then, around 9 p.m., N1F calls again ... Mom is wide awake and wants to chat. N1F put the phone on speakerphone so Mom didn't have to hold the headset and we chatted for 30 to 45 minutes. Occasionally Mom would go off in a ramble, but most of the time she was startlingly coherent. I've been ordered to show up tomorrow with coffee and donuts ...

So, for the moment, things aren't too bad.

Of course, as N1F says, every day is different. I could go tomorrow with my offering of junk food and find her back in a slump. But all we can do is take each day as it comes.