Thursday October 5th 2023

[Joe NightingMale, MSN, RN]

Stars it is good to hear that he is doing better and that you are finally getting support, even from his family

Tweety glad you're feeling better

Hi TMB and Abbnurse 

Dianah sounds like a nice day

Ado thanks for sharing the pictures, glad you finally made it home

Yesterday was another good day at work,  hoping the trend continues until today, then I'm off

Had some calling and emailing to do with the credit union at the end of the workday, to get the car loan preauthorized.  Not sure why they were so slow, but at least it's done.  Now to find a car

After work exercised and ran an errand or two.  And worked on getting my backup  cell phone ready, as my aunt lives where my regular cell  phone does not get service

Heard from my sister last night that my aunt had died, was expecting that it would be coming fairly soon.  Hopefully the family will  be better informed as to the funeral plans than they were about the illness

Was a bit edgy last night and woke up a few times, although eventually I stayed asleep

Not much to do after work except exercise, and text the cat sitter, the packing is almost entirely done

Will be a rainy day here, cooler too in the low 70s

[No Stars In My Eyes]

Got a call from the nurse this morning. She said hubby was restless all night, pulling at his lines and his gown, etc. He has had his days and nights scrambled for quite some time, but of course, not spacey like he is and has been at the hospital. I wonder if he's had some kind of brain damage or something, like, I was wondering if he had early onset dementia.

Anyway, I have to get Nannie up and see about getting someone to sit with MOMO, and Nannie....because Momo needs more attention and comforting while I am gone than Nannie does... and I will go see hubby again once that is all in place.

Loved the photos Ado! I hope to get the photo my friend's niece took of me and the dog, so I can send it to dianah to post here, but not sure how long that is going to take!

Anyway, I still have to hunt down the Ford's whatchacallit....oh heck, my brain feels more elusive right now than usual. Oh, the word I was trying to think of is TITLE ( I could only come up with the word DEED, and I knew that wasn't right!) . Need to turn in the plate  and then probably call someone or someplace to donate or sell the junker and get it gone; it will not be driven anymore, and we don't want to pay for a useless registration!

I have to get busy as time is passing by and I want to get to the hospital, so....as usual, MORE LATER!

[nursej22, MSN, RN]

Good morning, all.

Condolences  on the passing of your aunt, Joe. I know I am private about my health to people beyond my immediate family. If I say anything to my MIL, she thinks I am on death's door and half the county knows. I have a chronic issue, but frankly, I don't care to talk about it. Except here, sometimes, to vent. 

Tweety, I am glad you are feeling better. I wonder if you had a little touch of flu that wasn't covered by the shot. 

Thank you for the pictures, Annie. What a crazy plane journey. I picked my oldest sister up late last night(MN) at the local airport, returning from Denver. Surprisingly, the only hiccup she had was a delay in Seattle, about an hour. 

Gosh NSIME, you are have quite a rollercoaster ride. ETOH on top of a bad liver is no picnic. I wouldn't be surprised if he experienced a brain injury after his many falls. And many people become confused in the hospital : lack of sleep, noise, lots of drugs, infection. Looking forward to pictures of Momo. That was really nice of hubby's family to do some cleaning for your home. 

I went to the demo garden yesterday. Next week will be the last day for the season. Dh and I took the dogs to the feed store to find a coat for Jozie for when it turns cold. I have one left from Angus that will fit Punch. I got a bale of wood shavings to spread on my blueberries and roses. And we stopped by sis's house to intro the dogs to her. I cut my hand gardening yesterday, so Im not sure how much I'll get done today, but will try, as rain is forecast for tomorrow. Dh has hobbled himself by falling on his knee, which is a little swollen and purple. What a couple of klutzes. 

[toomuchbaloney]

No Stars In My Eyes said:

Got a call from the nurse this morning. She said hubby was restless all night, pulling at his lines and his gown, etc. He has had his days and nights scrambled for quite some time, but of course, not spacey like he is and has been at the hospital. I wonder if he's had some kind of brain damage or something, like, I was wondering if he had early onset dementia.

Anyway, I have to get Nannie up and see about getting someone to sit with MOMO, and Nannie....because Momo needs more attention and comforting while I am gone than Nannie does... and I will go see hubby again once that is all in place.

Loved the photos Ado! I hope to get the photo my friend's niece took of me and the dog, so I can send it to dianah to post here, but not sure how long that is going to take!

Anyway, I still have to hunt down the Ford's whatchacallit....oh heck, my brain feels more elusive right now than usual. Oh, the word I was trying to think of is TITLE ( I could only come up with the word DEED, and I knew that wasn't right!) . Need to turn in the plate  and then probably call someone or someplace to donate or sell the junker and get it gone; it will not be driven anymore, and we don't want to pay for a useless registration!

I have to get busy as time is passing by and I want to get to the hospital, so....as usual, MORE LATER!

What a whirlwind.  

Does Momo have a kennel or crate in the house?  My dogs each have a crate in this tiny cabin that they stay in when we are gone.  It is their safe place with a bed and a toy.  

Hepatic encephalitis is reversible but you are practical to plan for the worst.  You are also wise to identify potential future regrets and address them right away.  Hang in there.  I continue to pray that you are supported and in peace.  

[No Stars In My Eyes]

Joe, I am sorry to hear about your aunt. The first time I was on line earlier today, reading posts, it didn't even sink in that she had passed.

Well, I just spent two hours at the hospital and I feel more worn out and sad now than I did the other day when he was barely responsive. I have to say (and this sounds terrible) if I was sent on a case to do private duty with someone who was like hubby is at present, I would tell the agency, "Don't assign me this patient again!"

He is SOOOOO restless, picking at the tubes and wires and monitor stickers (wouldn't even know that I used to be a nurse. I KNOW they are not stickers, but my mind is not retrieving info too easily right now.) He was constantly reaching for the ceiling, flinging his legs off the side of the bed, OMG it was exhausting. I know he is on meds, and he is a senior citizen and all, but WHEW! I got an aide (they don't call them aides or techs, they call them "Care Partners" .....SNORT!) to come in about 25 minutes after I rang the call light, I said he was wet and I would be glad to help change him. I told that aide I would like to talk with his nurse before I left, and eventually the nurse came in and I asked if he had something for his restlessness. I was told he could have some Ativan and "I'll be back in a minute" ....but 30 minutes later, still no nurse. I think this floor he is on now is less well staffed than the floor he was previously on. Anyway, a nurse did come in....with 3 students and she said they were "going to learn about giving a lactulose (sp?) enema and we are going to do that NOW." I said, "That's my cue to leave!" So hopefully after the ordeal of the enema he will either be too worn out to be restless or he will have been given the Ativan. They will also have to put back on the 'new' (to me) version of a Texas or Condom catheter. While we were changing him, I didn't even realize until right now, that, when I saw his privates that there was nothing on there! But I imagine, after the enema, the students will be made to replace the one that was off. I sure hope so. 

Anyway, he could talk to me, but it was more like answering questions and sometimes commenting on a remark here and there, but not actual conversing.

tmb, Momo becomes freaked and screams "Awoooooo's"  if she is in a crate. I guess at the animal hoarder's house, when she was just there to be bred so they could sell her puppies, they kept her in a cage. So it is traumatic for her. And she just hates to be alone! But everyone loves her and doesn't mind 'dog-sitting'. so that's good. Other than that she is a very mellow tempered dog.

 I have also been wondering about the possibility of hubby having sustained some brain damage. Which reminds me .... there was a famous cartoonist Jules Pfieffer (sp?) who did a very funny strip where two people were talking and trying to think what a condition's name was......they came up 6 or 7 variations, like:  "grain bandage'" and "strained antlers", and then some other character said, "Do you mean 'brain damage'?" and the first guy said, "God, I hope so." Well it was funny at the time.

Anyway, we still have leftovers from the suppers the neighbor made for us, so that's what Nannie and I will have tonight. I have to go out to feed my deer kids and does.

I need to take some deep breaths and cool my jets, because I am still rattled by Hubby's situation. 

[toomuchbaloney]

NSIME, you are wise to use your routines to help you keep some calm and peace in this very difficult time.  You've seen this coming, and have shared that with us. You've been preparing yourself in a fashion, right? Don't be hard on yourself for not being a nurse right now.  Just be you. This is a huge departure from your quiet routine, but you'll get through. 

I'm sorry to hear that Momo is so crate averse. It's nice that she accommodates having other people interact with her in your absence. 

Joe, we're you close with your aunt?

[nursej22, MSN, RN]

NSIME, it must be upsetting seeing to see hubby so confused, but he is certainly going through a lot. My dad got a UTI once (before his dementia) and he was confused to time and situation for weeks, until one day he just "woke up" and was able to go home for another 5 years. Hospital care has certainly changed and so much of it is documentation. And the powers that discourage meds to agitation, because of fall risk. SMH. Actually, the lactulose enema may help ammonia levels, and students need to learn. As TMB, hepatic encephalitis is tricky. Please take care of yourself. 

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

My late dog Billy would go into panic mode in a crate.  I picked him up after a dental cleaning and he had blood on his paw from his panic attack.  Waffles doesn't mind being in a crate and often goes in there on her own.  Slowbro is compliant but has never been crate trained.  I think you have to catch them when they are puppies and then they feel safe and secure.

Stars, you husband as expected is having some wicked DT's.  I guess to he has some encephalopathy going on if they are still giving lactulose enemas.  I feel sorry for the nurses, those patients are a HUGE challenge, even for 1:1 but with a full assignment it's torture.  They do need to medicate him around the clock.

What his mentation will be is anyone's guess when he's through with the DT's.  Some might be permanent, or he could be more with it as he comes out of the DTs and his ammonia level stabilizes.   Time will tell.  He's in the right place.

We are so short staffed these days that three call off through the entire hospital night shift into being short staffed.  We called two nurses in to cover ourselves and they pulled two nurses to another unit.  

I'm being asked to work Sunday.  We have a nurse out with covid and another on bereavement.  

[Ado Annie, ASN, RN]

Condolences to you, Joe, on the loss of your aunt.

I probably would have reminded the nurse about the ativan, Stars. I hope they're keeping him medicated appropriately. 

[No Stars In My Eyes]

I am going to try to catch up with our PCP when he does his weekend hospital duty. He has expressed to me more than once about how the company that 'umbrellas' the multi-doc practice he is in, just really makes him p.o'd  by diverting patients to make appointments that are too many weeks away, ie, not SOON enough, and that he should be allowed to speak with his patients if they need to talk with him. He would like to be his own boss in that aspect, because he feels it cheats his patients to be kept away from contacting him in a timely manner. I can't leave a message on the patient portal because he probably wouldn't see it until Tuesday. I'm not sure how I will pull this off, but I'm going to try. I'd like to talk face-to-face, but I'll do it by phone if that ends up being my only option. It's a possibility he will call ME like he did this past weekend, I think it was on Sunday night. Here's hoping.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Stars, any way that you can have whoever sees him in patient call you.  It's always a crap shoot but you can ask the nursing staff to have the doctor call you when he/she rounds.  A physician sees him every day and you can ask for a call for the plan of care, an update on his condition and what they are thinking.

I request doctors to call family all the time.  We have a case of a husband that works and can't see his wife during the day so we ask the doctor to call him.  (He's a piece work though and not nice).

His withdrawal is why I was saying he needed a medically supervised detox rather than the in-home treatment.  I hope it goes well for him.

I used to have my old doctor's cell phone, but my new doctor obviously didn't give me her number.  It was nice to be able to talk to my doctor.