I Need Some Rest!!
After about two weeks of non-stop work (except for the time-out for the surgery) my daughter's room is now freshly painted. The carpet is somewhat cleaned (what was done before the belt on the shampooer broke about 1:30 a.m. Sunday night (oh, wait - that was Monday morning!) and the furniture has now been moved in. She is happy with the results. The room looks fresh and we both are pleased with the robin egg blue paint coating the walls. She is anxious to get out and get some new curtains, but since we have to wait for her dad to return home (he is out of town due to work)to hang the curtain rods, shopping is waiting also. So, this morning I dragged myself out of bed, thinking I would go to work and get some rest!!
I was catching up on several days worth of e-mail, being amazed at what was "high priority" (do it yesterday)and trying to get ready to go out of town tomorrow. About 10:00 a.m. the phone call came. My father-in-law was calling to let me know he had carried my husband's mom to the emergency room last night. She hadn't been feeling well all day yesterday, but didn't tell him and so about 7:00 p.m. he decided he was taking her to the E.R. When he got her there and described her symptoms she was immediately moved to the top of the list, and after much testing, a cardiologist was called in and she was admitted to the hospital. I asked why he had not called when he took her in. He said he didn't have anything to tell me at that time (I pointed out, he could have told me he was taking her to the emergency room). He still didn't know anything to tell, except that she was being seen by a cardiologist, they were trying to stabilize her blood pressure and heart rate and would be doing a test on her heart tomorrow afternoon, once she was stable. Nothing much to tell about this 87 year old woman with a previous history of a heart attack and four stents in her heart. He wasn't going to call the other family members until he had something to tell them.
So, when we hung up, I called to check on my daughter, who is still at home recovering from knee surgery. She told me she had talked with her grandfather, and had called her dad to let him know about his mother. I then started calling the siblings. One was at work, not accessible, but I did manage to reach her husband. Another and her husband are at church camp this week, planning to leave for Belize on Friday. Finally got one brother. They had a lot of questions I didn't have answers to. So, I decided to go to the hospital and see if I could learn anything. Didn't get a lot of information from Mom, although she did keep talking about how low her blood pressure was. Then her minister came in, and she told him she had not been feeling well since Sunday, and she knew it was her heart, because she had the same symptoms as when she had the last heart attack, but didn't want to admit it was her heart, so she just ignored the symptoms. Wise. I went by the house and fixed lunch for my daughter, then back to the office and tried to work.
I decided that the best one to answer questions as to whether my husband needed to come home and others needed to come in would be the doctor or his assistant. So I called his office and asked that someone call me. When I got a response, I posed this question: I am the daughter-in-law, my husband is out of town, and family members are asking me if they need to come. What do I tell them? The answer I was given: Your mother-in-law has had a heart attack. The doctor will be performing an angiogram to determine how much blockage there is and how much damage has been done to the heart muscle. There is some risk with the procedure. Your mother-in-law needs as much family support as possible. More phone calls to relay this information. There had been no mention to this point of a heart attack.
After work, I came home and picked up my daughter and we went to the hospital. Mom mentioned that she had been taking medicine and her heart rhythm was better. Hmmmm... no one mentioned a problem with the heart rhythm. So, I told my daughter to talk to her grandmother while I stepped out to speak with her nurse. I did not know it was almost shift change. Someone had just brought a tray of "goodies" for the nurses. Not the best time to try to get information, but I was persistent. I asked about the blood pressure. I was told there was no problem with the blood pressure and asked rather bluntly, "who told you she had a problem with her blood pressure?" Only herself and her husband. I asked about the heart rhythm and learned there had been arithymia, but medication had gotten the rhythm under control. The heart rate had also slowed down. I asked if they knew what time she would be having the heart test. The nurse informed me the schedule had not come over yet. I asked what that meant - were they still waiting to get it scheduled? was that because they didn't know when the room would be available? She informed me the test had already been scheduled, but the schedule had not been sent to the nurses desk. I persisted - I told her that usually when I had a test scheduled there was somewhere I could call to find out what time the test was scheduled for, and since I had family out of town who needed to come in, I needed to tell them what time to be here. She finally went to check (it took maybe one minute before she came back). The nursing staff at this hospital is usually much more helpful than this. Did I mention it was time for shift change? Guess she was tired or something. Anyway, I found out the test is set for 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. I went back to the room and visited a bit more. An aide came in to check the vitals, and that's when I learned it was shift change time, so I thought I would stick around a few minutes to visit with the next nurse. When she came in, I asked her about the blood pressure. She explained that when it was checked with the machine by the bed, it always read low, but when they checked it manually, it was normal. I think Mom and Dad only saw the reading on the machine, and never heard the nurse when she checked it manually.
Just as we were ready to leave, Mom's doctor came in. He told her she had had a slight heart attack. Mom didn't seem too concerned, because it was only a "slight" attack. The doctor explained he would be doing a heart cath tomorrow to look at the stents and see if there is more blockage. He said his schedule is pretty full, so it would be late in the day. He told her she would not get a lot to eat, but would have a "yummy" liquid diet - great coffee, yummy broth and jello. She kept focusing on the "slight" and totally ignored the "attack."
In the morning, I will get up and drive to San Angelo, testify before a Grand Jury, and come back to Abilene. I cancelled the appointments I had scheduled there for the afternoon. Then, I will either go back to the office and try to work for a while, or give it up and go to the hospital or to the house. Whatever, it does not promise to be a restful day.
After the time with my parents, and the time on my daughter's room, and my daughter's surgery, and now my mother-in-law's heart attack - I need a rest!! Let's see - Mom's bed will be empty while she has her test!!
I was catching up on several days worth of e-mail, being amazed at what was "high priority" (do it yesterday)and trying to get ready to go out of town tomorrow. About 10:00 a.m. the phone call came. My father-in-law was calling to let me know he had carried my husband's mom to the emergency room last night. She hadn't been feeling well all day yesterday, but didn't tell him and so about 7:00 p.m. he decided he was taking her to the E.R. When he got her there and described her symptoms she was immediately moved to the top of the list, and after much testing, a cardiologist was called in and she was admitted to the hospital. I asked why he had not called when he took her in. He said he didn't have anything to tell me at that time (I pointed out, he could have told me he was taking her to the emergency room). He still didn't know anything to tell, except that she was being seen by a cardiologist, they were trying to stabilize her blood pressure and heart rate and would be doing a test on her heart tomorrow afternoon, once she was stable. Nothing much to tell about this 87 year old woman with a previous history of a heart attack and four stents in her heart. He wasn't going to call the other family members until he had something to tell them.
So, when we hung up, I called to check on my daughter, who is still at home recovering from knee surgery. She told me she had talked with her grandfather, and had called her dad to let him know about his mother. I then started calling the siblings. One was at work, not accessible, but I did manage to reach her husband. Another and her husband are at church camp this week, planning to leave for Belize on Friday. Finally got one brother. They had a lot of questions I didn't have answers to. So, I decided to go to the hospital and see if I could learn anything. Didn't get a lot of information from Mom, although she did keep talking about how low her blood pressure was. Then her minister came in, and she told him she had not been feeling well since Sunday, and she knew it was her heart, because she had the same symptoms as when she had the last heart attack, but didn't want to admit it was her heart, so she just ignored the symptoms. Wise. I went by the house and fixed lunch for my daughter, then back to the office and tried to work.
I decided that the best one to answer questions as to whether my husband needed to come home and others needed to come in would be the doctor or his assistant. So I called his office and asked that someone call me. When I got a response, I posed this question: I am the daughter-in-law, my husband is out of town, and family members are asking me if they need to come. What do I tell them? The answer I was given: Your mother-in-law has had a heart attack. The doctor will be performing an angiogram to determine how much blockage there is and how much damage has been done to the heart muscle. There is some risk with the procedure. Your mother-in-law needs as much family support as possible. More phone calls to relay this information. There had been no mention to this point of a heart attack.
After work, I came home and picked up my daughter and we went to the hospital. Mom mentioned that she had been taking medicine and her heart rhythm was better. Hmmmm... no one mentioned a problem with the heart rhythm. So, I told my daughter to talk to her grandmother while I stepped out to speak with her nurse. I did not know it was almost shift change. Someone had just brought a tray of "goodies" for the nurses. Not the best time to try to get information, but I was persistent. I asked about the blood pressure. I was told there was no problem with the blood pressure and asked rather bluntly, "who told you she had a problem with her blood pressure?" Only herself and her husband. I asked about the heart rhythm and learned there had been arithymia, but medication had gotten the rhythm under control. The heart rate had also slowed down. I asked if they knew what time she would be having the heart test. The nurse informed me the schedule had not come over yet. I asked what that meant - were they still waiting to get it scheduled? was that because they didn't know when the room would be available? She informed me the test had already been scheduled, but the schedule had not been sent to the nurses desk. I persisted - I told her that usually when I had a test scheduled there was somewhere I could call to find out what time the test was scheduled for, and since I had family out of town who needed to come in, I needed to tell them what time to be here. She finally went to check (it took maybe one minute before she came back). The nursing staff at this hospital is usually much more helpful than this. Did I mention it was time for shift change? Guess she was tired or something. Anyway, I found out the test is set for 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. I went back to the room and visited a bit more. An aide came in to check the vitals, and that's when I learned it was shift change time, so I thought I would stick around a few minutes to visit with the next nurse. When she came in, I asked her about the blood pressure. She explained that when it was checked with the machine by the bed, it always read low, but when they checked it manually, it was normal. I think Mom and Dad only saw the reading on the machine, and never heard the nurse when she checked it manually.
Just as we were ready to leave, Mom's doctor came in. He told her she had had a slight heart attack. Mom didn't seem too concerned, because it was only a "slight" attack. The doctor explained he would be doing a heart cath tomorrow to look at the stents and see if there is more blockage. He said his schedule is pretty full, so it would be late in the day. He told her she would not get a lot to eat, but would have a "yummy" liquid diet - great coffee, yummy broth and jello. She kept focusing on the "slight" and totally ignored the "attack."
In the morning, I will get up and drive to San Angelo, testify before a Grand Jury, and come back to Abilene. I cancelled the appointments I had scheduled there for the afternoon. Then, I will either go back to the office and try to work for a while, or give it up and go to the hospital or to the house. Whatever, it does not promise to be a restful day.
After the time with my parents, and the time on my daughter's room, and my daughter's surgery, and now my mother-in-law's heart attack - I need a rest!! Let's see - Mom's bed will be empty while she has her test!!
posted by pawatson at
7/11/2006 10:45:00 PM
