Mother
Linda, what a tough situation. Try to hang on–your mom needs you.
I have two small suggestions. First, she definitely should see a neurologist. Sometimes medications last longer in elderly people, but if she is still not feeling her legs or able to move them, she probably should have an MRI of the spinal cord as well. The trouble with bladder and bowels might be situational, but these are always also a concern for the spinal cord especially if there is weakness or feeling changes as well. Are her arms and hands normal in feeling and strength? I hope so, but if so, that also makes one wonder about something in the lower spinal cord that would affect legs and not feeling and strength in the arms.
Second, you said that her blood pressure “bottomed out” after she got morphine. Kidneys are very sensitive to blood pressure. The good thing about kidney failure from low blood pressure is that it can reverse itself as the kidneys heal. It is an acute renal failure often with return to or almost to previous function especially since the blood pressure was not low for long.
A number of medications have to be changed when the kidneys are not working well. Ask the kidney doctor to double check that all your mother’s medications are being adjusted appropriately.
I pray for your mother and family in these times of stress.
WithHope
mother
Hello family,
We think my mother would qualify for hospice as well as having the caregiver. We’ve talked to hospice and they will bend their rules and take on someone who has no quality of life from an illness or injury, as long as they are not overwhelmed with terminal patients. We can also get a medical homecare agency. Both hospice and medical agency will provide a nurse, social worker and PT/OT, but they come for a minimum of 2 hours a day. The live-in caregiver is essential, my mother could not be cared for at home without that. I live with my mother in her house, an extension was built on to make an accessible (wheelchair) apartment for me.
My mother is on neuronton 800mgs, three times a day and viciden (spel?) as needed. My brother went to see my mother’s doctor yesterday to talk about her care and medications. We are hoping her doctor will agree to make home visits.
I want to have hospice or the medical agency come in so that we have the services of a nurse and it will relieve the live-in caregiver and give him some free time. MY BROTHER DOES NOT THINK WE NEED A NURSE, he thinks the caregiver is enough and until he sees that it’s necessary, nothing will be done.
mother
Hello Family,
I hope tears can’t leak through a computer because I am crying. It hurt me so much to see my precious mother in a nursing home. They get her up in a “geri chair” (that’s what they called them when I worked in a VA hospital) and she’s miserable because it hurts her back and her body. She had her hands over her face, the way she does when something is bothering her terribly. Three things now I’ll never forget, her first fall when there was a trail of blood all over the house, the fall that broke her leg and now her misery. As much as it hurts, I know the nurses have to get her up, so I’ll come to terms with that. She will be in the nursing home for anywhere from three months to six months because she needs time to heal and we need to know what her abilities and care will now be. We also need to fix up the house some more and find a good live-in caregiver.
I hope I don’t sound like I am whining too much because I know many of you spent months in a nursing home or hospital for rehab, but this is my first time seeing someone I love there. I’ve never been on that end because even from the first day of CIDP, I’ve never been hospitalized.
Mother
Surgery On My Mother’s Leg To Put A Rod In Could Not Be Done. Doctor’s Are Doubtful That It Would Be Successful And They Feel The Odds Are Too Much Against Her Surviving The Surgery. The Broken Bone Will Be Left To Heal The Best It Can On It’s Own. Doctors Have Told Us That With Time, The Pain Will Go Away And They Think She’ll Be Able To At Least Stand On It Very Briefly. She’ll Be A Lot More Bed- Ridden Now Though And We Have To Have 24 Hour Seven Day A Week Care For Her.
My Mother Has Her Favorite Teddy Bear With Her And Her Mind Isn’t All That Clear, She Thinks She’s At Home And That I Am In The House With Her. She Told My Brother I Wouldn’t Give Her Her Tylenol. I Have Not Been To The Hospital To See Her, Orders From My Brother To Take Care Of Myself Because She Doesn’t Even Know That I Haven’t Been There. A Foggy Mind Can Be A Blessing!
She Is Being Transferred To A Nursing Home Today, The One Of Our Choice, Thanks To My Brother Who Raged At The Doctor That He’d Better Do It. It’s The Nursing Home Where My Mother’s Family Doctor Is Staffed.
I Am Feeling A Lot Better. I Have Come To Terms With Things Because I Have Realized That Out Of A Traumatic Accident That You Wished Didn’t Happen, Blessings Can Happen. I Can Take Care Of Myself Now. I Can Go To Bed Now Knowing That Someone Is In The House To Take Care Of My Mother. I Think My Mind Now Knows That It Doesn’t Have To Respond To The Medical Alert.
mother
Hello Family,
The news is now not good about my mother. She did have a heart attack while in the hospital and the surgery to repair her leg cannot be done. The doctors told us that even if they had been able to do the surgery, it would give her no quality of life, she would not be able to use the leg. The doctors told us that the pain will become less, but I am afraid to believe this. I am afraid that she will be screaming in agony when the morphine is stopped.
We are going to try to care for her at home. We will have to get a live-in-aide to take care of her and we should be able to get hospice care for her, which will include a nurse, as well as the live-in help. In a case like my mothers, where she will now be bedridden, has no quality of life, can never get better and can not take care of herself, hospices will take them.
Please pray for my mother that she will not suffer too much. I think this fall has shortened her life. She loved my father so very much, she wants to go home to heaven to be with him and she needs her mamma and daddy.
I’m crying.
mother
Hello family,
Just an update on my mother. She has not had the surgery yet. The doctors thought she had a heart attack while she’s been in the hospital and they don’t think her kidneys are fully functioning. They won’t do the surgery until she is stable and strong enough. They are keeping her pretty well doped up with morphine. She sleeps almost all the time and it’s difficult to rouse her. After the surgery she will go to a nursing home for rehab and if my brother and I can find full time help (a live-in aide), she can come home. My cousin who took such good care of his mother, has advised us that my mother would qualify for hospice care (like his mother had) and medicare covers and they would help us find people who would come in at night. If my mother is able to come home, we must have someone from about 10:00pm to 2:00am. If my brother will listen to me, I need the live-in aide, so that I can take care of myself.
Mother
My Mother Hasn’t Had Surgery Yet. They Are Concerned About Her Heart Being Strong Enough And They Want To Monitor Her Today. If All Is Well, The Surgery Will Be Done Thursday And They Will Put A Rod In. It Was A Bad Break, The Knob On The End Of The Bone That Goes Into The Hip Socket Cracked Off. Doctor Said It Caused Her To Bleed Inside. Even If She’s Able To Bare Weight On The Leg And Walk A Little, I Think She’s Going To Be Terrified To Try.
Mother
Sandeep,
Our prayers and our thoughts are with you at this sad time. I know the care you gave your mother comes from a loving and willing heart. I too care for my mother. If you close your eyes, you will feel a hug from each one of us.