Sunday, September 12, 2010

In and out of Glens Falls hospital .... the ambulance is here almost every other day....

First mom went, which I had told you about...stayed two days, came home.

Then Dad was having chest pains and had been really confused for a week or so, so I called 911 yet again. Right before I called although I asked my mom to take Brian and Rex up to the school so Bri didn't have to sit around and watch my Dad get loaded into the ambulance yet again. While they were up there at the playground, mom fell - it took her a long time to just get herself up, Brian was a tough dude and acted like it didn't bother him at all - I'm sure it scared him though. The next two days Dad was in the hospital, Mom was here in agony - could barely get up off the couch, fell off at one point, she was a MESS - Brian was kept out of the house as much as possible and then it was Dad's days anyhow.

Dad came home. Mom saw her primary over here at the health center and he told her to go to the ER the next morning, he'd be on rounds and would admit her and figure out what was going on with the shoulder - which is what she landed on.

Dad was home - I gave Dad his night time meds, and suggested he tried doing something a little differently because he was in a lot of pain and was having a bad day - his pain was stemming from just being in bed for 4 days so his back, which is broken, was killing him. About an hour later her asked me to go to the store for him and get pepsi. I came home - mom was on her couch sleeping, dad was on his bed sleeping - or so I thought. I told him I was back, no answer...I was louder, no answer. He was 100% unresponsive and barely breathing. THANK GOD BRIAN WAS AT JIM'S. So 911 I call again, this time much more scared then I've ever been in the past, saying unresponsive has never been something I've had to say. The EMTS got there a hell of a lot quicker then normal also hearing that word. His Pulse was ok, his oxygen level was 70% - at his worst I've never seen it below 85%, and he was breathing probably 5 times per minute. They got him on the ambulance and gave him a shot, antidote actually because at that point we were guessing at what could be wrong - but since he's on so many different meds they thought an accidental overdose could have been it, and the antidote wouldn't have hurt him if they had been wrong. As soon as it was pushed into his veins his eyes opened, he gasped and was compeltely alert.

So I almost killed my father. For years I've been in charge of reminding them both about meds, putting their pills in little pill boxes, talking to Dr.s, taking care of oxygen stuff, whatever - pretending I was a little nurse...doing the best I could.

Well this time the 1 little thing I suggested he do differently, mixed with his other meds caused him to go into Respitory Failure. If I had taken 5 more minutes at the store, he probably would have died....talk about guilt. But he was well enough that a few hours later they sent him home from the hospital.

The next morning mom went to the hospital as was planned. An X-Ray showed that her shoulder was fractured in 4 places, and she will be having surgery either today or tomorrow. Plus she's had to have 4 bags of blood in the 2 days she's been there because her blood levels once again keep going down.

Dad's doing well - no long term affect from what happened - just a huge scare for us both - mom wasn't lucid enough to really have been scared or at least really realized how close we were to really loosing him after so many years of him fighting to live, my mistake almost was what took him out.

On a different note, Brian has started school and he likes it a lot so far, his teacher wrote me a glowing e-mail saying that he's doing so very well, in the top of his class already :-) So I'm very proud, and think school will be just what he needs to keep things on a schedule, keep him occupied, give him as much normalcy as possible. Jim's been really good about keeping him the same nights every week so that's good too and Brian is getting really comfortable with that situation. Jim's out of town for the next two weeks though, training for a new posistion at Gore, so the schedule will be switched up a little, but for the most part things have been consistant as far as that stuff is concerned...and luckily for 90% of the scary stuff that has happened these last few weeks he's been at Dad's for, so that's great.

We don't know if mom will even come home after all is said and done - she needs more care right now then Dad - and I proved very well that I am no nurse, and that I'm just incapable of taking care of too terminally ill parents anymore....plus Brian can't be around it - so things will be changing 1 way or another, just not sure how yet. We're trying to get the trailor paid off, we already own the land, so when both of them finally do end up in the Nursing home I'll have a place to live with Brian, a nice place, that will be in my name and all paid off - so all I'd have to worry about would be utilities and taxes...so at least that's an option down the road. But for now i'm gonna go - i just felt like I had a lot to fill everyone in on. So no this wasn't at all an eloquent post - just very matter of fact, which is exactly what I wanted - just the facts to be known.

No comments: