• entries
    10
  • comments
    18
  • views
    4,177

Continued from first blog.


Bethanni

435 views

Sorry I ended my last blog so abruptly. I had gotten into typing and forgot I was expecting the nurse, whom was coming to change mom's cath. SO I believe I left off the last one talking about the crummy care and treatment mom and the family got while she was in the hospital.

 

They were so NOT supportive of us taking her home it made the day she was discharged very stressful. We had mom home for two weeks when she became ill with kidney infection and had to go into the hospital for two days on IV antibiotics. You can bet we did not take her to the same hospital. We in fact took her to one closer to home. They took better care of her and treated the family a lot better. We were even able to sleep in her room instead of having to camp out in the waiting room all night.

 

Mom is doing so much better at home. The progress is slow, but she is making progress so I think that's all that counts. She has been home for almost a month in a half now. She seems to know where she is now. She gets confused at times, but we just keep reminding her and she comes around and starts to remember where she is. I think I explained the strict schedule we try to keep her on, so her days are very structured, witch she seems to do well with.

 

When we first brought her home she was pretty confused on where she was. She slept a lot and we had to force her to listen to us or respond. Now she is fully aware of her surroundings and she is communicating better all the time. We bought a baby monitor that we keep in her room so when she calls out we can hear her through out the house. We have to remind her daily, but she is getting better about asking for help or telling us when she needs something. She has gotten very good about calling out for help at night when she is in pain or needs repositioned. She sleeps ok. The RA causes a lot of pain so I have to get up 2 to 3 times to give pain meds and reposition her. Some nights she sleeps better than others.

 

When she was in the first hospital, they sat her up all the time because of her lungs and her breathing issues, so she ended up with a bed sore on her tail bone. We got her a special air mattress with a memory foam mattress cover on it and that sore is almost completely healed and cleared up. To those of you who were wondering, yes the memory foam works perfectly for pressure points.

 

We do physical therapy twice a day with mom. Right now it consist of range of motion exercises to help her stretch and then we sit her up on the side of the bed and work on her trunk muscles. Our goal is to get her sitting up by her self so we can start working on getting her to transfer over to her commode so I can get rid of the cath and the briefs. The cath right now is a godsend. I'm already spending most of my time changing her briefs do to the constant diarrhea from the feeding formula we have to feed her. When we first brought her home I was changing her sometimes every 30 minutes cause it was so bad. It has gotten a lot better though since I added a few things to her diet. I give her yogurt, bananas, 100% cranberry and prune juice. I also give her vitamins including vitamin,c, b complex and d with calcium. As soon as I get the ok I'm going to start giving her ginkobiloba to help her memory and brain function.

 

I have studied herbal medicines for a long time so I use herbal teas as well. They are safe to use with all of her medications and I believe they help and are better than some of the medicines they have. I use mint tea for up set stomach,camomile when she can't sleep, and cranberry tea to help her kidney function. She seems to do well with all of them and they think they help.

 

Her left side is starting move a little here and there. She has gained a lot more feeling in it too. When we do range of motion with her she will move some fingers and she is moving her hip. She is also moving her left foot on command now too. Hopeful we get even more progress in the following months.

 

Over all, mom is thriving at home. I will remain positive in every way and look forward to the progress I know she will make in the months to follow. I hope to stay strong and sane with the help of this blog I have created. I will update as often as I can. Please comment with your tips and tricks as my main goal on here is to avoid caregiver burnout. Thank you all for your kindness and help so far. I feel very welcome to stroke net.

 

Will update ya'll soon. Thanks.

1 Comment


Recommended Comments

Wow Beth, your Mom is doing so well with your help. I was very interested in your use of herbal teas for various problems as a friend of mine does that for her mum too. Anything to avoid a whole lot more medications!

 

I think caregiving seems overwhelming to begin with but if you can find a routine that suits both parties that seems to help so much.

 

I have been caregiving for eleven years and while the routine has varied over the years on the whole I use it to give us both security, like I mostly shop on Thursdays so Ray knows he needs his shoes on and be ready to go when I am ready. Sure saves arguments that way.

 

I commend you on your blogging skills. Blogging has helped me so much especially in sorting out my thoughts and emotions.

 

Sue.

Link to comment
Guest
Add a comment...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.