Family

Mama spent a week in the hospital. Her kidney function is back to 100% and her blood pressure is stabilized.  While she is well enough to not be in the hospital, she is not well enough to go home by herself.  We have moved her to a rehab/ assisted living facility to regain her strength, so that eventually she will be able to go home.

While she was in the hospital, we found out she was taking one of her med incorrectly, which meant she was talking too much. She is now on the correct dose. The doctors also reduced the amount of blood pressure medications she is to take, and in all, she is now only on four medications total, instead of about 11 or 12, four of which were blood pressure meds.

She will stay at the rehab facility until she meets the goals given to her by the physical therapy staff. How long that takes is going to be up to her. Her medicare and insurance pays 100%, but we are not sure for how long.  Until she goes home, I will be going to visit twice a week. I am hoping she has a really quick recovery.

My Mama is the best cook that ever lived. When I was growing up I never wanted to eat at anyone else’s house because no one could cook like my Mama could. She is the one who taught me to cook, and over the years since I became an adult, I called her so many times to ask her “how do you make” whatever. So when she called me a week or so ago, and asked me how to cook fried eggplant, it was a shock. She has been cooking fried eggplant since before I was born.

A day or two later, my sister, Linda, called me to tell that they had taken Mama to the ER. When she arrived her blood pressure was 220/110, or thereabouts. She was dizzy and felt sick to her stomach, and had a headache. The doctors ran all kinds of tests, but did not find any sign of a stroke or bleeding on the brain, and no sign of a heart attack. They kept her in the hospital for four days, and sent her home when her blood pressure was stabilized.
That was Saturday.

On Sunday, Linda went to check on Mama. She was feeling ill again, and couldn’t get up out or her chair and could not walk. She hadn’t bathed in quite some time, so my sister and brother-in-law carried her to the  bathroom and helped her get cleaned up. Then they called 911  and took her back to the ER.

Upon arrival this time, her blood pressure was 88/45, too low this time. They took her off of all her blood pressure medications, and ran a zillion more tests. These test showed that she has acute renal failure, with only 17% kidney function. They also found signs of congestive heart failure and diagnosed her with Parkinson’s Disease. She is still in the hospital. Her renal function has increased to 33% since Sunday. She was seen by a physical therapist today, who recommended that she go to a rehab facility when she is discharged from the hospital.

Linda has been handling getting the rehab facility set up, and has found her a bed in a local place not far from the hospital. Mama doesn’t want to go, but we have no other choice at this time. Linda has to work. She just started a new job at the beginning of the summer, and they have been very good about letting her take time off. But since Mama needs someone with her 24 hours a day, Linda is not able to do that. I am not able to take care of Mama either, with the shape I am in physically. I will be going to sit with her two days a week, though, so she won’t be alone.  We are working together as a family to work out a schedule.

We have known this day would come, but even with that knowledge, it is still hard. Hard to accept that our mother, who has always been a strong, independent woman, can not longer live alone. It’s going to be so hard to do this. I know we are not the first family to do it, nor will we be the last, but this is MY MAMA. I still need her to tell me how to cook.