Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Tucson Update: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back -- UPDATED


Many thanks to friends, family and readers who have reached out for updates on my family situation. The good news is my stepfather, Gary, had a successful triple bypass on Monday, and it slated to leave the ICU for a regular room this afternoon. The bad news is he will be out of commission for many weeks to come, and my mom -- who had been moved to the rehab facility to recover from her 10-hour spinal surgery two weeks ago -- had a major setback over the weekend and was readmitted to the hospital, after (possibility) attempting to "escape" in the middle of the night and being found on the floor of her room. They were afraid she'd fallen out of bed, but they keep it low to the ground with little cushions on the floor (just in case), and the fact that she hadn't injured her spine or head (according to tests we did in the ER) and actually was sleeping WITH her pillow makes me think it was somewhat of an intentional act, however executed. My brother Bill came to relieve me, and now Mom remains in the hospital, with ongoing signs of either ICU psychosis, side effects of a UTI or perhaps just the cumulative effects of anesthesia (which she is extremely sensitive to), morphine (which she is extremely sensitive to) and not eating or moving for two weeks. (You may recall she made phone calls to dozens of people the other night saying she'd been kidnapped.) From what we're hearing, she could "snap out" of this at any given moment -- her neurologist says there's nothing permanent going on -- so we are just waiting for the old Molly to reappear. When she does, I'm sure she'll find this item in the Tucson Medical Center history case as delightful and non-creepy as I do!


UPDATE:

No sooner did I post this my brother wrote:
All indications are that she suddenly snapped out of the "dementia" and the old Molly is back. After a very scary morning. Attempt to get out of bed failed, but hospital PT is going to try. She's thrilled with the baby step. 
When I asked if he was sure it was "for real" this time -- because there was a strong glimmer of hope Sunday before she then completely lost it -- and he replied:
She has ordered me to get her a Smashburger shake. Complete with driving directions.
Here's hoping this is the "turn" was have been waiting for.

3 comments:

edmcan said...

Happy to hear all this Kenneth, as I had been wondering. Stay strong. I had an accident years ago and I broke both my legs. The Morphine made me think I could walk and dance and I stole the crutches from my roommate. This happened a few times before I was tied down to the bed and eventually 'snapped out of it' myself. That Morphine is scary stuff.

das buut said...

Wonderful! I hope all the best for you and your family.

SFRowGuy said...

Driving instructions with the shake order... Is that because she thinks your brother needs them, or knows your brother needs them?