Mom has been out of the hospital for several weeks now, but has never really recovered back to her previous state of strength and health. Some days have been better than others but she's not been in her wheelchair for at least a month, and her speech comes and goes.
This past Monday and Tuesday were good days, strength seemed to be on the strong side, spirits were high, and plans were to work towards a wheelchair attempt on Friday with physical therapy. However, this persistent infection she cannot get rid of had other plans. On Wednesday her speech declined significantly, her blood pressure was up, and her right hand wasn't moving well - and she slept almost all day. Thursday, her speech was 90% garbled, other symptoms worse as well, plus she had a headache and swelling of her right arm, hand and face. Enough of a decline to require a trip back to the emergency room.
Good people work at St. Paul's and while it's tiring to be in the ER for 6 hours, they take excellent care of mom. She had an several tests run, and none indicated significant problems. She was given IV antibiotics which she responded well to, and by the time she was admitted to a room, with Dad on a reclining chair, she was speaking much better and moving her arm a bit.
One bad thing - they can't put an IV in her swollen arm, so it's in her left (stronger) arm, right at the elbow crease, so she can't move that arm either! It might work out well enough because she's very motivated to feed herself, and she tried hard to eat a roll by herself last night. (It's the tiny little successes that make us all feel better.) The chicken fried steak, green beans, and potatoes from Texas Roadhouse take out were so appreciated - thank you to Scott and Mary Claire for being the cross-town delivery service. :)
This past Monday and Tuesday were good days, strength seemed to be on the strong side, spirits were high, and plans were to work towards a wheelchair attempt on Friday with physical therapy. However, this persistent infection she cannot get rid of had other plans. On Wednesday her speech declined significantly, her blood pressure was up, and her right hand wasn't moving well - and she slept almost all day. Thursday, her speech was 90% garbled, other symptoms worse as well, plus she had a headache and swelling of her right arm, hand and face. Enough of a decline to require a trip back to the emergency room.
Good people work at St. Paul's and while it's tiring to be in the ER for 6 hours, they take excellent care of mom. She had an several tests run, and none indicated significant problems. She was given IV antibiotics which she responded well to, and by the time she was admitted to a room, with Dad on a reclining chair, she was speaking much better and moving her arm a bit.
One bad thing - they can't put an IV in her swollen arm, so it's in her left (stronger) arm, right at the elbow crease, so she can't move that arm either! It might work out well enough because she's very motivated to feed herself, and she tried hard to eat a roll by herself last night. (It's the tiny little successes that make us all feel better.) The chicken fried steak, green beans, and potatoes from Texas Roadhouse take out were so appreciated - thank you to Scott and Mary Claire for being the cross-town delivery service. :)
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