My mom's first few days home from the hospital...

My mom got home around 7pm on the 4^th and I stayed over through Friday (the 5^th) until about 6pm. I slept in their soon-to-be guest room on an airbed on the floor with one ear and one eye open so that I could hear if anything was wrong. So I slept pretty light and ended up taking a nap in the afternoon, which was difficult because my dad does not know the meaning of the phrase, "be quiet, someone is sleeping." The airbed wasn't too uncomfortable actually, but I was pretty tired the whole time because of the little amount of sleep I got.

When she first got home she was in a lot of pain …mostly she said it hurt to swallow and she had a sharp pain in her throat. She pretty much fell asleep as soon as she lied down, and was sort of in and out of sleep. I was a bit worried because she didn't seem to be feeling good AT ALL and I thought she didn't seem like she was in any shape to be home from the hospital. But her blood tests came back fine…she was maintaining a calcium level of 8, which is right where you want to be…8 is normal and 10.1 is when you're starting to get too high (she's been close to if not at 12!). While she rested, I went to pick up her meds and some soft foods. The only thing she was able to eat that first night was some pudding.

I think I am becoming used to being a "nurse" of sorts. Around midnight Thurs/early Fri I heard her coughing just as I was dozing off and I got up to see if she was okay. She said she was just coughing up some phlegm. I asked her if it was red, and she said it was kind of pink. She had spit it into a Kleenex and I actually ASKED to look at it. This worried me a lot, but it only happened once and since then it has been clear.

Then on Fri. I changed her bandage for the first time since they did it in the hospital the day before. I was nervous that it would be gross or bloody or that there would be yucky stuff on the gauze. But I was happy to see nothing on the gauze and the wound was clean; this was after 24 hours. She looks kinda like Frankenstein…you know how he has black stitches along his neck? Anyone wanna see pics? I took some! Really I did! It's not gross at all…it actually looks pretty cool! I can't believe how much "yucky" stuff I've been able to do over the past almost 3 years since she's been sick. You have no idea what I've had to do.

So on Friday she was still in pain but that is much expected I'm sure. She has Vicodin and was also taking an antibiotic. They just got her in and out so quickly and I was really nervous about that, but I guess she was okay enough to come home. I am such a worrier (no, REALLY Jess? We hadn't noticed!).

The thing I most worry about is her pushing herself too hard; she tends to do that. She doesn't like to inconvenience others, and my dad can be a lazy ass and she'll just get fed up with him and do something herself that she should have done for him because of her doctor's orders to limit her activities for a week. I often caught her doing things that I thought was too strenuous and had to jump in tell her "No! Don't do that," and do it for her. She is just SO stubborn!

Overall she was feeling much better though, so I decided that she would be okay on her own and didn't stay another night. She was able to have an ice cream bar (the kind recommended for patients with high cholesterol) but couldn't get any soup down because it burned her throat. She DID sneak off and do the dishes while I was the back room packing up to leave. Grr.

Of course before I left I made sure to tell her about ten times to call me if she felt any odd symptoms, got a fever, etc. And about another 10 times to take it easy and not push herself. And of course I called her several times to see if she was okay, but I didn't want to talk too much because of her throat hurting.

When I called her today (Sat the 6^th) she sounded MUCH better…pretty much like herself. Her voice wasn't raspy anymore. She said she felt much better too. She said that everything was fine, she was able to eat some scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast, she felt better, and had only taken one pain med (that was by 2pm; of course I'd called her before that).

I called her a little later to check on her and she said, "Oh, by the way, I think I may be allergic to one of my medications. I'm breaking out in a rash and itching all over." I was like "MOM! Why didn't you call me and TELL ME THIS???" She said it started Friday night but she thought she was just itchy, but by this afternoon she started breaking out in little hives. Then she doesn't tell me until I call HER??? OHHHH MOM!

So I called the doctor on call, who was a bit of an ass, and he said for her to just discontinue the antibiotics because she wasn't on them for infection, just as a precaution. He said it could be her pain med that was causing the rash, but she is already on Lortab for pain, and Vicodin is the same thing with a different name, so I doubt it. I asked him if she needed a prescription for a new antibiotic and he said, "No, I don't even put my patients on antibiotics after parathyroid surgery unless they have an infection" in a kind of snooty voice. Sheesh.

I just got off the phone with her and she said the itching is a bit better and she put some lotion on it to help. She was also able to change her bandage by herself and everything looked fine.

So that's where things stand now. She has an appointment with the surgeon on Wed. the 10^th and he will probably take her stitches out and check her calcium levels. So all seems to have gone well! I am SO SO SO relieved, I cannot tell you how much. I hope she doesn't have to visit the hospital again for a VERY long time. Thank you again everyone for your support!