Thinking about it, Again??

I never know what to say, or how much to say. I just don't like this guessing game.

Nana appears to be doing much better on the outside, but apparently on the inside she is not doing so good....Here are some of her vitals and symptoms....

*higher heart rate, 120 to 170 beats per minute resting. Not all the time but more and more consistently.

*lower blood pressure, not only low for her, but low! 97/66 yesterday.

*She's struggling with heart burn, and nausea on a regular basis.

*More and more chest pain. comes and goes.

*She's on and off oxygen on a regular basis.

*She's talking about people who have passed away visiting her again.

*She's also talking about feeling like her days are numbered. When I asked her how that felt, she just said I want to see everyone I know and say goodbye!



What does all this mean?? I really can't say, but Hospice is preparing again. We've been here before, but I guess we just really never know. So...Take it how you want and act accordingly! :)

PS Her cataract surgery is rescheduled for Tuesday, Sept 7th. But we'll see how she's doing whether or not they'll actually do it!

Wow! What a Week!

Nana has been doing so good for so long, I guess it was time for something to happen.

She had the head hospice nurse come over on Thursday (Aug 19th) to talk to her and assess whether she should stay on hospice or move on until she needed the extra care. They decided that they were going to get some blood work done and see where her "numbers" were and go from there. She was just doing so good.

Well wouldn't you know it, as soon as we think this isn't going to happen, she has a set back. We think she had another TIA that very next day! She went to bed on Friday (Aug 20th) just fine. She woke up on Sat just whacked!! I couldn't believe the night and day difference! She was back on oxygen, sleeping most of the day, not really coherent when she was awake. She hardly ate anything that whole weekend.

When it came time to go in for her cataract surgery on her left eye (aug 24th), she was improving but not as much as I hoped, so I had to tell them what was going on. It of course, not only halted the procedure for that day, but I am currently still fighting for them to go ahead with it after she's feeling up to it again. They are saying they never would have done it in the first place had they known her "condition"! What!??? It's still undecided, I'm still working on it. Her surgeon doesn't have a problem, it's the anesthesiologist at this facility. We might have to wait until there's an opening at the hospital to get it done.

Anyway, her blood work came back as being very qualified to stay on hospice. So they did all the paperwork to keep her on.

She is doing much better only as of last night. She has had that look of "the lights are on, but nobody is home" in her eyes for over a week! Last night was the first time she actually looked like she was coherently "in there"! She got up this morning and took a shower and seems pretty with it. I don't think she's been on oxygen since Saturday!

All I can say is, Wow! What a Week!! :)

Post Op Appointment

We went to see Dr. Wilcox today.

They tested her eye and they said her eye sight at this point is phenomenal!! She's seeing 20/25 without her glasses!! They also said it would get better when the swelling from the surgery goes down!

She is a happy camper! Even with only one eye done, she's reporting being able to see so much better!! She was watching TV yesterday with out her glasses and could actually make out faces!

We have to continue the eye drops for another week, then go back for another follow up visit. By that time it will be time to start the drops for the other eye in preparation for the same surgery!

She can hardly wait until it's all over!! August is going to be over before we know it!

One Down, One to Go!

Nana had her cataract surgery on her right eye this morning! Everything went according to plan!! We had to get up at 6am! When I went in to get her, she seemed to have already been awake. She said she hadn't slept all night! She didn't feel anxious at this point but she said the dog kept her up most of the night. Maybe she was more anxious than she thought and the dog sensed it and couldn't settle down. I am so glad she kept her door closed so Lady didn't come bug me!!

Anyway, we got up at 6am, she had to come in all showered, so she showered and we were off. We got there at 6:45am. We checked in and waited for them to call us back. This is where she started getting more visibly anxious. The waiting and prepping is always the worst part!

They finally called her back. I had to wait for them to prep her. I went back after she was all prepped and ready to go. She had a cute cap on her head, oxygen, the dreaded IV (she couldn't wait to show me what they had done to her!) I forgot to take a picture at this point, I'll get one when we go back to do the other eye!

It was finally time to go back! I went back to the waiting room. It wasn't very long before they came back to get me. She was sitting up in a chair. The first thing she said was, "it was as easy as they said it would be!!!!" Yeah!! She was awake the whole time and she said there was no pain!!

She has to wear this eye guard when she is sleeping or napping so prevent her from accidentally rubbing or bumping her eye and knocking the lens out of her eye. There are no stitches to hold it in, so it can be knocked out for up to a week! She'll probably wear it more often with the dog around!

We got our instructions, got her dressed, and we were out the door! We came into the house and she bee-lined it for her room. She barely took the time to slip off her slippers and she was back in her bed all comfy, cozy by 9am!!

We have a follow up visit tomorrow morning and then we do it all again for her left eye in two weeks!!

Sorry for my neglect!

I haven't been very good at keeping the updates very accurate lately, sorry about that!

Nana is actually having a pretty good summer this year! She seems to be doing pretty good for now!

She decided not to spend the entire summer at Dee's like she did last year. But she has gone a couple times for a week or two at a time! That seems to suit her a little better.

She's been attending church a lot more regularly. She even attended our ward summer party and Jon's play at an outdoor theater last week! She still has a hard time getting around, but seems to be making an effort to do so.

Last week we decided to take her to get her eyes checked to see if we could renew her glasses prescription and get her seeing a bit better. The Doc said that renewing her glasses would only improve her eyesight by about 10%. What she really needed was cataract surgery! We talked it over and he called the surgeon and talked it over and we have all decided to go ahead with the surgery!

She saw the surgeon today, we go back to have another test tomorrow. Then her right eye is scheduled for Aug 10th and the left on Aug 24th! He said it is a very fast, very easy surgery and she will be able to see TONS better. She shouldn't need glasses for distance, just to read and see things up close!

She is so excited to be able to see again!

Nana's back at Dee's

Nana decided to pull a fast one on me this weekend. She announced saturday that she was headed to Dee's for the rest of May! Dee finished school and they started making plans!

Last year she went for the whole summer, this year she decided to break it up and go for a few weeks, then come home for a few weeks, then go back again.

She seems to be on an upswing right now, so I hope she does well!

Happy Mother's Day!!

More Awake!

Just a quick note to let you know she is doing better again. I don't know what that was all about, as usual.

She still sleeps a lot, but when she's awake she's much more alert than she was when I wrote last.

She spent Easter weekend with Dee, at her house. All went well, She had a great time, but she's always happy to be back in her bed!!