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Spent about 10 hours in the hospital with my mom last night. Apparently she fell and smacked her back against the night table in her bedroom sometime during Sunday night/Monday morning. Did I know about it? No.
Monday morning before work I gave my mom her breathing treatment, as well as moving her nebulizer from the bedroom into the living room as has been my practice so she can do her daytime treatments there. She sat on the edge of her bed and spoke to me. I called home halfway through the day and she didn't mention anything. "Everything is fine."
When I got home from work Monday at about 5:30 - she was in her bed in a ton of pain.
Hospital did x-rays and took a ton of blood, I think they were more worried about why she fell as opposed to the actual fall that caused the hospital visit. They didn't say so but I think they thought she had had a stroke. Cat scan on her brain was good - blood tests good - but she has a small fracture of one of her vertebra in her back. Doc says it's stable, not really treatable, kind of like when someone breaks their tailbone. But - she is still in a lot of pain so they decided to keep her overnight. Or maybe it was the fact that she kept saying "Percocet. Percocet works really well." Sounded like a drug seeker, I swear.
Neurologist saw her today - ordered an MRI on her back, we will see what that shows. Off to shower and get back to the hospital.
Good news? This may fast track her placement in a nursing home since Illinois requires an evaluation for care, first. Not the way I wanted it to happen, however.
**Update - They are keeping her for another day for sure, MRI is not until about 8:30 tonight. Pain management is a big concern and they may do some kind of "plasty" - okay I forgot what it's called, don't judge. It would be a minor procedure to fuse the bone that is fractured but that's a maybe. Long days here!
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I hope this all works out for you family. It is so hard to help someone that won't let you know they need help. I know many older people won't say when something is wrong for fear of being sent to a nursing home. They don't realize the stress they are putting on their children. Sometimes it is like dealing with a giant 2 year old, that you can't punish when they are bad. Mostly just frustrating but stressful none the less. Hang on and know that there are a lot of us out here that are rooting you on.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you the fact is it may help to an earlier placement for your mother.She is a danger to herself safety wise when alone.
ReplyDeleteTerrible that she hurt herself during the night and didn't say anything to you.
My MIL falls occasionally her eye sight is really bad so is her balance, she has fallen once or twice but we heard it and ran to help her right away ,once she was covered in poop from head to foot, my son found her like that...
Tonya is right it is like having a 2 year old in an 89 year old body, you can't punish them, and its so stressful on the family involved.
We all understand ...
Diane
I hope your mom's okay.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely needs to be on the fast track to placement. Diane is right - she really needs a more secure environment. I'm praying for that for you.
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