Monday, July 16, 2012
Tidbits
I nearly forgot: we're waiting on referrals to the urologist for her IC (interstitial cystitis) to help her stay asleep at night, and to the GI to see if we can't stretch her throat. She is having problems swallowing. We're also in the process of getting a bridge put in her mouth that will ease her pain when she eats - it's hard for someone to eat on decayed teeth and her meds wreak havoc on teeth and gums. Okay, now that's all. Have a great month!
July Update
There's a lot going on right now, but I don't have a whole lot of time to post, so here's a quickie. Call me or text me or - y'all know how to contact me - if you want more info.
Mom saw her doctor about two weeks ago. She has a small hernia near her belly button. The doctor knows its cause (I won't post it here as it's too personal), but she can stop it from getting worse or continuing and he said it's small. He does not want her operated on and it's too small for surgery anyway, so he said if she just stops the causal behavior, it will heal on its own (probably slowly since she's immunocompromised). Otherwise, she's doing about the same medically. Her ammonia levels remain too high - hovering around 100. Her body weight is steady, her ascites is steady (which is frustrating, but we're not quite sure why it's there, so we don't know how to get rid of it). We're researching alternative medications and treatments and focusing on her real issues: ammonia intake, salt intake/making food palatable, IC, and fibromyalgia.
We had extensive interviews and a few trials of caregivers and have settled on at least one. I'm hoping to have three trained and all of us work as a team (two on a regular basis and a third as a backup, but we would bring her in at least once a month to keep up on Mom's needs and make sure Mom's still comfortable with that person). I also started setting up the store. I'm trying to figure out how to promote it and how to get the font size increased, but the site I'm on (because it's free!) is working out the bugs to customize our stores, so that should be fixed soon. If anyone wants to support Mom's caregiving and not feel like you're donating, consider buying some of the stuff that was inherited from her mother. At least, in the end, her mother can support her in some small way. The store is called Fibered Life and is on facebook and has a link here:
That's all for today. We have our wonderful cousin down this week and it should be an enjoyable week. After last week (the whole we-might-lose-our-dogs fiasco, which was pure hell for both of us and thank GOD it worked out), and the week before (in which Mom had a complete breakdown and I thought she was bound for the psych ward), we both need a smooth week as a break from the adrenaline. I hope everyone is doing well.
Mom saw her doctor about two weeks ago. She has a small hernia near her belly button. The doctor knows its cause (I won't post it here as it's too personal), but she can stop it from getting worse or continuing and he said it's small. He does not want her operated on and it's too small for surgery anyway, so he said if she just stops the causal behavior, it will heal on its own (probably slowly since she's immunocompromised). Otherwise, she's doing about the same medically. Her ammonia levels remain too high - hovering around 100. Her body weight is steady, her ascites is steady (which is frustrating, but we're not quite sure why it's there, so we don't know how to get rid of it). We're researching alternative medications and treatments and focusing on her real issues: ammonia intake, salt intake/making food palatable, IC, and fibromyalgia.
We had extensive interviews and a few trials of caregivers and have settled on at least one. I'm hoping to have three trained and all of us work as a team (two on a regular basis and a third as a backup, but we would bring her in at least once a month to keep up on Mom's needs and make sure Mom's still comfortable with that person). I also started setting up the store. I'm trying to figure out how to promote it and how to get the font size increased, but the site I'm on (because it's free!) is working out the bugs to customize our stores, so that should be fixed soon. If anyone wants to support Mom's caregiving and not feel like you're donating, consider buying some of the stuff that was inherited from her mother. At least, in the end, her mother can support her in some small way. The store is called Fibered Life and is on facebook and has a link here:
That's all for today. We have our wonderful cousin down this week and it should be an enjoyable week. After last week (the whole we-might-lose-our-dogs fiasco, which was pure hell for both of us and thank GOD it worked out), and the week before (in which Mom had a complete breakdown and I thought she was bound for the psych ward), we both need a smooth week as a break from the adrenaline. I hope everyone is doing well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)