I went to see my mom the next day, after the operation. My dad had gone to visit her earlier and then he came over to see us. He said that a nurse or someone told him that I needed to go down and sign some papers so that she could have a procedure done. (I am the main contact when they make decisions about stuff like this if she is incoherent). So I got down there just a little past 12pm and a couple of her friends were there. Right before they left, they told me that the nurse wanted her to drink and entire big bottle of yellow contrast liquid. Now it was up to me to make her drink it. It was nasty stuff, but she did well.
I was very surprised that I was able to get her to drink it all. At this point, she was STILL not eating, saying she could not taste the food and was not hungry. As a result, she was malnourished and somewhat dehydrated, though she did drink a good amount of water.
I was going to leave around 1pm or so and went up to the nurses station to sign the papers. They asked me if I could wait for about 20mins. before the procedure so I could be informed of the risks and benefits and sign a consent form. She then had a sponge bath, and the nurse said I'd be notified when she was done. But no one did. I went back to check and she was in her bed, telling me she had already had the bath. Then she drank the rest of the yucky stuff. Her RN came in put some morphine, ativan, and an antibiotic into her IV. I let the nurse know that she finished the yellow stuff. As for the meds, she was trying to make sure my mom would relax and be in no pain because in about 20 minutes she was going to change my mom's dressing.
About that time my dad came back. So 20 minutes seemed to turn into almost an hour. Finally, one of the guys who worked at the hospital took her down to the x-ray department and they were going to do a CT scan on her stomach, intestines, and kidney area. However, the woman who worked in that department said they had a trauma coming in and we might have to wait. She asked if we wanted to wait for my mom after she came out, which would be about 15-20mins. By then my mom was very incoherent from the drugs and it was coming up on 4pm (so I had been there for about 5 hours). So my dad and I said we would leave and come check on her the next day.
So back at home, at almost 10pm, we were wondering how the CT scan went and what my mom was thinking and feeling. She's always been such a healthy person...NEVER got sick. And it feels so weird to not been able to call up and her up and talk to her every day, or go for a trip to the mall, which she hadn't been able to do in quite some time. This just all happened so suddenly. She is not the same person. I dont feel like she's my mom. She doesnt look the same, and she certainly doesn't ACT the same. Although she was pretty helpless, frail, and weak when her leg was hurting before she went into the hospital, she looks even more so now. Even though she is alive and in stable condition, I feel like Ive already lost my mom.
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