A Somewhat Better Day

Mom is still sleepy most of the day.  She did eat so that makes today a better day.  The doctor persuaded us to find any food in the hospital cafeteria that would be appealing to her just to get her to eat. She ate a few spoons of sinigang broth with a little rice.  She also ate a few chunks of cantaloup.  At night, when dad ate his Big Mac, he gave mom a few of his fries.  She actually fed herself a couple of them.  That was a cute moment.

Still, mom is not showing much improvement towards recuperation.  Perhaps, her medications are masking any progress made.  I'm not sure.  

Mom is up to ten "drips" and it seems as though her medications are piling up.  Here is a picture of them all (since Josep likes to know exactly what she's taking).  

These are given via IV or IJ.

I couldn't get a good shot of this one.

Following are the oral meds.  Mom usually refuses to take these.  We have the hardest time getting her to swallow these.  We don't have a good success rate.

Since she is on so many medications, they have put a heart monitor on mom.  This is the first thing I saw when I walked in this morning.  

Her doctors have been asking her lots of questions to test her cognition.  They have attributed her lowered mentation to the pain killers and/or her age in combination with how long she's been an inpatient.  They are monitoring her carefully.  They have asked dad if they could do a brain scan but dad would not give them permission.  He thinks they are wasting his money.  Please let me know how to advise dad about this.  Tell me how I should explain if and why this test is important.  

While I was taking my dinner break, a nurse came into the room to ask if mom could be put in an isolation room.  Dad was not present so nothing happened.  When I returned, Auntie Ne could only explain that a doctor wanted to take mom to another room but she could not explain why.  I stayed until almost 10pm to wait for the doctor to come back but to no avail.  The nurse tried to contact the doctor but I'm assuming he/she was already off shift.  I am hoping to find out more about this in the morning.  

It is frustrating when I miss an important doctor's visit.  I stay for almost 12 hours a day at the hospital but I have to leave to eat and take a break once in a while.  Anyhow, I'm sure I'll find what I need to know tomorrow.  

Josep, how does this all look to you?  Should I be worried?  

I'll have another update tomorrow.