Paul and I are back at the hospital at 8:45am- for a scheduled meeting with the doctor at 9:00. After 45 minutes, the nurse comes in and I ask about the doctor. Of course, he was in much earlier than 8:45- and the nurse said he could look at the orders and let us know what they are. Disappointing is not a strong enough word for not being able to see with the doctor at the appointed time. They are in high demand and very busy people- I get it, but…… The nurse told us what we needed to know. Dorothy has a broken femur- on her left leg and we are going to secure it with nails. The surgeon will be by later this afternoon to talk with us– we will be taking her down to the preop at 3:00.
It’s 10:15 and we decide to go to Brookdale where mom has been staying and do some “clean up” in her room- she likes to horde things that we would normally throw away (I don’t think she knows what to do with them, so she keeps them). She had at least 25 books sitting around- we took most of them back to the community library. She had a plastic spoon collection and a Styrofoam cup collection; I don’t think she will miss them. We also cleaned out her refrigerator and threw her collection of fresh (somewhat) fruit out. We gathered her laundry and organized her closet.
Before we left, we met with the director of nursing to see what steps we have to overcome in order for her to return to her apartment. They will have to evaluate her upon release of the hospital to see if she is able to return to her place. They do offer rehabilitation and physical therapy- which is happy news- we would prefer not to send her to another facility for rehab for a few weeks – then relocating her back to Brookdale.
As I type this- we are still in preop and it’s 6:22 pm. The confusion and restlessness that mom is experiencing is crazy- not to mention the patience that is wearing thin on Paul and me. But we find ways to lighten the situation with laughter. You have to laugh- or you’d go crazy. (-:
It’s 6:40 and we just met the doctor. This evening he informed us that they are putting a rod in her femur- not nails as the nurse stated this morning. His bedside manor was great- and he made sure he focused on mom with eye contact and her understanding what was about to happen. Not that she remembers- but it was good to see this connection with doctor/patient. He informed us that the surgery would be 1 ½ hours and then post op- so we are looking at a 10:00 Friday evening- leaving the hospital.
Hats off to the entire staff that has interacted with mom. They know she has dementia and are doing a great job of answering her questions time and time again.
8:41 and we got the text- mom is out of surgery and all went well, she is in pre op. Happy news! We will wait until she gets in her room, then go get a good night’s sleep and see what tomorrow brings.
Peace & Love,
Cheryl Doreen
Dorothy's Dementia 