Showing posts with label bed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bed. Show all posts
Friday, May 2, 2014
1 May 2014: Thursday (May Day) ...
A short post because I was too lazy to do any blogging or writing at close of the first day of May ... a memorable moment was watching the Bruins-Canadians playoff game while Saint-Saens' Organ Symphony #3 (mom's favorite) played on the iPad on her hospital bed. It really sounded OK as the teams battled into the first OT (Montreal won the game in the 2nd OT, 4-3).
Friday, February 7, 2014
Thursday, January 9, 2014
8 January 2014: Wednesday ... it's been a month since dad's passing ... Linda comes for a visit ... the hospital bed is "Nirvana" ... Mark & Sarah celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary ... Elvis Presley's birthday ...
"One month of an eternity gone, at least the portion that will take up my life, since the
snowy day my father passed. Days, weeks, months, years ... time is that ever-present
marker and all we can do is wonder about that brown fur collar and how it matches, so
invitingly, the hair of a young mother. Thinking of you dad on this chill day with warm
thoughts." My Facebook post this morning.
So nice to have Linda Lucero come over to visit. She brought flowers and a radiating smile and mom truly enjoyed her visit this mid-morning, after her workout in the gym up by Hockessin. Yesterday, according to a rare FB post of hers, she enjoyed a Zumba class. I asked, rather amusingly, that we needed to see the video. Mom shares a lot with people she has just met and she did the same with Linda. She can be forthright with her questions -- how did your husband die? (he had frontal lobe dementia which went quickly and caused a lost of speech but he recognized his wife until the end -- he was a longtime professor of geology at University of Delaware.).
snowy day my father passed. Days, weeks, months, years ... time is that ever-present
marker and all we can do is wonder about that brown fur collar and how it matches, so
invitingly, the hair of a young mother. Thinking of you dad on this chill day with warm
thoughts." My Facebook post this morning.
So nice to have Linda Lucero come over to visit. She brought flowers and a radiating smile and mom truly enjoyed her visit this mid-morning, after her workout in the gym up by Hockessin. Yesterday, according to a rare FB post of hers, she enjoyed a Zumba class. I asked, rather amusingly, that we needed to see the video. Mom shares a lot with people she has just met and she did the same with Linda. She can be forthright with her questions -- how did your husband die? (he had frontal lobe dementia which went quickly and caused a lost of speech but he recognized his wife until the end -- he was a longtime professor of geology at University of Delaware.).
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
7 January 2014: Tuesday ... eventful day in the care of mom ... her hospital bed arrives ... visit from her case manager, Beth Kincaid ...
Mom resting on her longtime mattress and bed while Dan from the hospital supply company and a Steelers fan, puts together her hospital bed so ably and efficiently. It came in parts and he assembled them readily and they all fit together, thankfully. Superb work.
The bed arrived today, on this Polar Vortex day that began in the low single digits (3 degrees by my weather app in Limestone Gardens), and Dan, wearing his Steelers hoodie brought in the pieces and assembled them flawlessly and moved, against company policy, the box spring and mattress (with my assistance) up against the wall. I later took them downstairs and found they would not make it down the steps into dad's office and placed them in the additional room up against the closets (they partially block the view from the kitchen). Mom called him Franco after I showed him the photo I took from years ago of the football icon in Pittsburgh sitting on the bench.
Monday, January 6, 2014
6 January 2014: Monday,
- I should be noting all the events of this important day for my mother. Have contacted her primary care physician, Dr. David Maged, and spoke to his triage nurse, Donna, who is so invested in her care and she will advise the doctor and have him call later about possible interventions to relieve her shortness of breath and more importantly, deal with her water retention.
- At this typing, Kim, the nurse who was on call over the night of dad's passing and who pronounced him later that afternoon (after just a few hours of sleep), is with her and has been so good. She is such a kind and empathetic person. Taken her BP and says her color is good. She is now attending a possible bed sore on her rear end (I did not want to be present), but more importantly, Kim brought up two critical needs that mom as agreed to. The first is a hospital bed, which she will order, and the second is a CNA, who can assist her in bathing, particularly in the bed, a skill set that I don't even claim to possess.
- I made this post just minutes earlier on Facebook concerning Kim's visit:"Sometimes you don't know where to turn. Mom's in hospice and has had a few rough days. I will forsake the details other than to say she does not have a terminal illness but has chronic health problems that necessitate her being on oxygen 24/7. She is in a delicate state. Well, once again, a savior arrived at our doorstep. She listened to her heart and lungs (clear), took her blood pressure (normal), recommended some steps in her care (both ok'ed by my mother -- a hospital bed and a CNA to help her with bathing), but most and supremely important to her bedraggled spirit was her special gift of time and sincere compassion. It is not easy to listen without giving off the feeling that one has to be somewhere else. As a third party, I listen to a remarkable dialogue between my mother, who I have known most of my life, and a young RN, who she has met her once before (she attended my father the morning of the day he died). This person, whose name is Kim, has gifted us this late morning with more than her time and her medical knowledge, for she left her patient, my mother, fortified in body and spirit.
Thank you so much for this precious sharing." - Like · · Share · Stop Notifications · PromoteKim, who has four boys ages 9 to 2 and two brothers (she's extremely close to her mother), was the RN on duty the last night of dad's life. She came over in the early morning to try to care for him and then, later in the day, was called to pronounce him. Mom met her only at that time and shared amazing stories with this compassionate, empathetic, highly skilled nurse with listening skills to die for, literally. She is in the right profession. Just look at her face, total focus on her patient, my mother. Thank you Kim for your attention, your love and concern.
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