MIL
Late Tuesday, my MIL had to be taken to the hospital.
After visiting my MIL with my wife Monday, we had a urine sample taken so that it could be assessed for potential infection (she often gets UTIs (urinary tract infections)). We had been awaiting results (which are slower than they should be, IMO). My wife called my MIL to talk with her in the late afternoon, and she did not answer, and her video monitor also was not turned on properly. This made my wife nervous and she headed over there as I worked on finishing dinner.
My wife called and said that my MIL had fallen in the bathroom and could not get herself back up. This is unfortunately not unusual. She uses a walker because does not move around much lately and unfortunately her muscles have atrophied as a result. She used to be extremely active and would walk around everywhere before the dementia changed her mindset to NOT wanting to socialize. In these last few years, the atrophy has made it harder for her to walk, and she does not walk far from her apartment room most days other than to the dining room and sometimes if she is dementia-cranky she refuses to go to the dining room as well.
Unfortunately, she did not think to press here help button on her necklace, so she was sitting on the floor to her bathroom for some indeterminate time before my wife arrived. She and a few workers helped Mom back onto her feet and she (using her walker) walked back to her chair to rest.
All seemed "ok" at that point, but my wife stayed with her for a while. Unfortunately, within about 1/2 hour, my MIL suddenly vomited. THIS IS UNUSUAL for her. And, it can sometimes occur if a person hits their head. So, this really frightened us, and my wife decided to take my MIL to the hospital.
After several hours into the early morning, my MIL had been examined, received an MRI and was discharged from the emergency room. We still are unsure about an infection, but we believe it to be the case.
She is now resting back at her apartment, but my wife and I are both exhausted. We are not sure what may next happen. Will Mom remain stable and potentially get antibiotics for a UTI? Will other hallucinations occur? Will she fall again? We just do not know.
* * * * *
I forced myself to do 13.1 miles (~21 km) this morning, even though exhausted, so I could stay on track for the week.
PipeTobacco
3 Comments:
John's late mother's dementia was worsened whenever she had one of her frequent UTIs. I hope your MIL gets better soon, at least well enough to get out of the hospital.
Is your MIL lucid enough that in lieu of walking she might be able to use a stationary bicycle, or even one of those feet-only pedaling gizmos that she could use while seated on a sofa or in a chair, which would at least get her blood circulating a bit?
Oh, and June 6 is just eight days away. I do hope you'll be able to visit your treasured Iwan Ries. But if that doesn't work out, I suppose you can anticipate a July visit to the cigar-or-pipe club. As much as you enjoy your pipes, you do seem to be able to derive quite a bit of enjoyment simply from the anticipation, and that's surely a mood-lifter in light of the many stresses with which you must cope.
It seems like a very difficult situation with your MIL. How do you resolve things with a mentally compromised person? It's tough.
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