my mom

[King Bob]

Luckily no fracture. Dodged a bullet there.

[Drunk Monk]

Hopefully. Because she has osteoporosis, there might still be something that the X-ray doesn't show. 

We went down this road already when she broke her back. The X-rays didn't show anything and they sent her home with lidocaine patches and ibuprofen/acetaminophen. Her pain kept getting worse and worse and we kept going back for more exams until they finally found the broken vertebrae. Then the first ER doc botched the operation - made it worse - so she had to have another surgery. 

We'll see how she does tonight.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Fingers crossed that nothing bad emerges.

[Drunk Monk]

She’s doing much better today. Still in pain but much more manageable.

[Greg]

Very good!

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Good. Hope this trend continues.

[Drunk Monk]

Mom called to tell me her caretaking bill went up. Then she called again to say she was mistaken and got confused. She says she’s doing better each day but is still using the walker. We shall see. We have a doctor’s follow up tomorrow.

[Drunk Monk]

Yesterday's follow up appointment went okay. My mom's doc is on sabbatical so there was a substitute. She felt my mom was improving so we should stay the course.

My mom's reports were scattered. Sometimes she said she was feeling better with each day. Other times she said she was really sore everywhere. 

Our old neighbor visited Tuesday afternoon from FL - she's dying of cancer and this is her farewell tour. My mom said she looked good all things considered. My mom also lost her hearing aid again which I found buried in her chair after a prolonged search.

This morning, just prior to my first meeting, her neighbor (the one who has been picking up her newspaper since the fall) said my mom called him over for help. She was in too much pain to get out of bed. He got her set up. Stacy called to check in while I was in my first meeting and she said she felt ok until her caretaker gets there this afternoon. My mom called me between meetings, wondering what to do. She doesn't feel the need to go back to the ER but is still in pain when she gets up. 

This is triggering memories of when she broke her back. She says this feels different, but I'm wondering...

[Greg]

Sending you my best thoughts. But ugh.

[Drunk Monk]

Not much improvement today. I talked to her caregiver and she thought it was muscular. My mom is confused. If it’s as bad tomorrow, I’ll cancel my day and take her back to the ER. The substitute doc advised an appt today which I couldn’t sort because it was too close or the ER. She wouldn’t book something for next week. 

Spent a large chunk of the day dealing with this and her taxes. Didn’t get much work done and now I’m way behind. Couldn’t focus. 

Decided to escape to the Rio for a show hoping to soothe my soul, or at least be distracted. Prolly will catch Covid because of it…

[Drunk Monk]

My mom called upset that I planned to add another caretaker. She doesn’t want anything to change and says she’s doing better every day (not what she said the last two days). So we’ll belay that trip to the ER, although I’m waiting to hear if her neighbor has a conflicting report (he’s been so kind to bring her the newspaper and check in with her every day -  her newspaper shows how stubborn she is with resisting change)

I didn’t hear from my mom all day, nor from her caretaker or neighbor and assumed she went to bed at 8ish like usual so I put my phone down (I’ve been neurotically checking it all day). She called after and left a scattered message saying she’ll need help on Monday which was why I was trying to get another caretaker, but it was too late to call her back. I’ll call tomorrow. Her Monday caretaker had to cancel because her husband is having an operation - a substitute is coming Sunday when she usually doesn’t have someone. I’ll probably go on Monday and stay until Wednesday. 

I reread some of the beginning of this thread - details about when she broke her back in 2019 - there was a lot of things I’d intentionally forgotten. This is starting to feel like the reprise.

[Drunk Monk]

Just talked to my mom. She says she’s feeling a little better but still not walking on her own. She’s using the wheelchair to get to the bathroom. Not sure how she’s doing that because it’s not a chair designed for the user to push, but she says it’s working. That’s encouraging. 

Her neighbor has been helping out a lot. He’s been a guardian angel. So grateful for him.

I’ll go over tomorrow and stay until Wednesday.

[King Bob]

FYI, I learned (when I went to Bischoff's Medical and bought one) they call that a transport chair.

[Drunk Monk]

Correct. I had forgotten that term when I was posting this. At least there were no spelling errors.

[Drunk Monk]

Another night in urgent care. She was in way too much pain for this to be muscular. The doc is thinking blood clots so we’re in ultrasound now. I’m still worried it’s spinal.