Medical Update: Mom's ammonia levels were completely out of control (nearly 200, when they should be under ~80), but the Rifaximin FINALLY kicked in. Last test showed her at 50, and we lowered the dose of the Lactulose (the syrupy liquid that she hates so much...it fills her up so she can't eat food and makes her stomach hurt). We're playing with the dose now; trying to see how little she can take, or if she can completely cut it out, and still keep her ammonia levels low with the new pill. We'll keep lowering the lactulose and testing her ammonia levels and crossing our fingers. In related news, her hepatologist is leaving for another opportunity, so we'll get another one. I say good riddance; his ego barely fit in the room with him. He was a good doctor and very intelligent, but his inflated sense of self stopped him from becoming a great doctor, and most of his notes were written in partial english by residents and were not proofed by him before he signed off on them. Whatever new doctor we get will have one hell of a first appointment, because we'll have to correct him on nearly everything ever written by the past residents. He had a hard time listening and often confused what she said and the residents often wrote the exact opposite of what we told them was happening. I see this as a blessing in disguise. Lose an idiot, gain a mystery. How much worse could a new liver doctor be?
Otherwise, she's generally distressed. It's Christmas time, and she misses her sister, her dog, and our family isn't what one would call "close". We learned today that we can't spend Christmas with any of her grandkids, and the holidays are stressing her out so much that she just wants them over with. We're all having a hard time lately, myself included (I got my own ride in an ambulance and was in the ER twice within 24 hours and racked up another 7 grand bill that I can't pay), and the stress is wearing on us all. She keeps wanting to drive, and she's broken hearted that her PCP would lie to her and tell her she could drive when everyone else tells her she can't (the other doctor in the office laughed when Mom mentioned it, which really hurt her feelings). We're trying to get help in various ways - getting help cleaning/organizing the house, getting myself medical/bill help, and getting us both some mental relief. If someone offered you a way to handle stress better so you can enjoy your life more and be upset less, wouldn't you do it? Nobody's offering, but we really need the help, so we're trying to find it. Just a few more days, and this Christmas business will be over with and things will be a little smoother and we can make the calls we need to make to get the help we need. I haven't been updating this blog because of the stress and lack of time/energy/will to do it, but I'm making the effort. Let's see how long it takes me to update again.
