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Oyyyyyyyyyyyyyy VEY!

Hospitals and Alzheimer's do NOT belong together!!! It is 8:30 PM and Mom has not even had her MORNING medications yet. I just asked for her NIGHT time meds and they won't give them to her until 10:00 tonight. She is a nervous Nelly -- I haven't been able to give her any of her calming medications or ANYTHING!!! She doesn't know where she is, she doesn't understand WHY they've put a pamper on her. She has to stay in the bed and she wants to get UP to use the bathroom! Ohhhhhhh let me start at the beginning...

I found her in her room, face down on the floor, she had fallen out of bed sometime during the night or morning. It was NOON when I found her. She often sleeps until 11:00 so I didn't really get concerned until around noon... so she's face down on the floor -- I don't know how long she's been there. She's soaking wet. She appears to NOT be able to move her legs or her right arm. Fortunately my resident EMT was at home and I went and got Krysti. She came up and was able to roll her over and do a preliminary evaluation, but we didn't think it wise to try to pick her up and get her onto the bed. We called 911 and Krys rode in the ambulance with her to the hospital -- I followed in my car. I WISH I had been able to give her some medications BEFORE we got here - but that would have been impossible with her laying on the floor!

So we get to the hospital and I explain that she has Alzheimer's, high blood pressure, and diabetes - all of which she is medicated for, but that she has had NO medications today. I also explain that she has had NOTHING to eat - not even coffee. As I've stated, she has STILL had no medications and it took until 5:00 pm before I was allowed to give her a BITE to eat! I'm surprised she hadn't passed out! By that time we had been at the hospital for a little more than 4 hours and all they had done was take blood and a urine test. They DID know that she did not have any broken bones. And about that time they discovered she had a UTI. Then they did an EKG and found her heart rhythms to be abnormal. Needless to say she has been admitted, and I am spending the night at the hospital with her because NOBODY understands (or cares) that she will RIP that IV out in a heart beat! Nor do they care that she is CONFUSED and doesn't understand for one minute what is going on -- or even where she is! I left the hospital for an hour when Dennis arrived. I've been back since 6:30, it's now 9:00 pm and her nurse has not been in to see her YET! Not even while Dennis was here. THIS IS CRAZY!!! And y'all wonder why we don't put her in a NURSING HOME??? Wonder noooo more! Just PRAY for her...

posted by Melli at 8:35 PM