I went into Drill Sergeant mode on the ward, today...
...and was immediately and gently reprimanded, as, considering that Drill Sergeant mode implies my usual outdoor voice in triple volume, apparently it upset some people. I apologized and I'll try very hard not to do that again on the ward. The incident, though, initiated a conversation of understanding between myself and the Day Floor Nurse, a fellow who has been extremely helpful toward me in my dealings, there. We both came out of it understanding each other's positions and made a pact to somehow contrive a situation, before Mom leaves, in which he is able to explain to my mother how honored she is to have me accompanying her at this time in her life and how important it is for her to afford me as much respect as she does strangers, medical personnel, etc; his idea. I'm not sure that this will work, of course, but it's the first time I've had someone volunteer to do this on my behalf. I've explained these things to her but, of course, I'm her daughter, The Know It All Who [Supposedly] Knows Nothing, thus, I don't get very far with her on this score.
    I also got her CBC/BMP results back from last Thursday. She's looking great. Although her kidney functions are beginning to inch back to where they were before the test a few weeks ago in which everything was normal, they are still looking amazingly good...only her BUN was high, and then only 29. That's great, for her. Also, her hemoglobin was 11.3 with a hematocrit of 37.7. Spectacular! Her RDW continues high, which is unusual for her, but not out of the way. All other CBC indicators are falling in line appropriately.
    She's definitely reached a stage in her stay where she believes she is living at a resort, so she and I had a talk about this again, today, and about how important it is for her to return home. I've also decided that, from here on out, she and I are going to do as much of her care as possible, i.e., changing her briefs (which includes bathroom duty) off the bed, continuing with our off-PT exercises, having her stand as much as possible when moving her from place to place and generally getting her re-acclimated to what she used to be able to do at home. We're already doing her daily bathing and other grooming activities as we used to at home; we have been since she arrived at the facility. I don't know if she'll return to exactly where she was on the morning of 5/15/08, but I think she has the strength and stamina, now, for us to test how much she'll be able to operate on her own with minor-major assistance around the house.
    Late PT today, but time to get back to the facility.
    Later.
- posted by Gail Rae @ 15:54   email  this post