Family dinner in the hospital caffeteria
What gods/fate did I piss off to have parents in such bad health?
We had to put my mother in the hospital yesterday afternoon. Right now, even though I went home to sleep myself, I'm tired and worried.
We're not sure if it’s an (accidental) overdose, insulin shock (her blood sugar was very high... dad took that while still at the house... but that might have been missing other meds while sleeping and out of it), or stroke.
***Time Line of Events***
So I come for family dinner and mom was 'asleep'. Dad had tried to wake her but he didn't think anything of it, she sleeps a lot anyways.
She'd taken her medicine (per farther) at 4am and started falling asleep with her glasses/reading flashlight on. He got her to at least put her glasses on the nightstand. And there she lay for about 10 hours.
Its only when we went in to get her up did we start realizing something was wrong. I had to practically yank her to get her upright. Then I looked at her eyes... my father told me the puffiness around them was normal when she first woke up... but it wasn't just that. Vapid is the word I'm using to describe it. There was something wrong was her vapid unblinking stare. She didn't blink either... she'd force close her eyes then open them wide... otherwise it was the empty stare.
My father, lord and lady love him, tried playing it off. I'm actually glad my sister and I hounded him a bit into action. She and I both realized there was something amiss.
We started trying to talk to her. She was only partially responsive to questions. She asked for a sip of water so we gave her a sip from her covered mug she uses. She dribbled most of it. We got her to the bathroom because she needed to pee she said. Had a hell of a time getting her on and off the toilet. I tried asking her question for a response. I had asked her things like 'count to 10' and 'can you see me.' I think it was at this point we started getting her ready because we knew she wasn't going to stay there. We asked her specifically: Did she want Urgent Care (hospital but waiting in line) or the Emergency Room.
"mer-gen-see". I think she even realized that the shit was hitting the fan here.
Let me break away from the story for a second: I work in IT helpdesk, which is basically customer service. 911 operators are a higher level of customer service and, god and goddess bless them, they have an ability to talk people into a calm like no other.
And when I called into 911 I sure as shit needed the help. I started giving info to the lady on the other end who was very helpful. (Odd side-note: Apparently there was a fire alarm pulled in their complex and they emt/fire truck was pulling back into the station when they got my call). So they came, I moved out of the room to tell Crystal's two sons what was going on (poor Evan was at the computer and had no idea what was going on until I opened the door for the emt that arrived). They had to initially wheel our outside in the wheelchair we put mom in because the hallway was too narrow for a gurney.
So let’s place shift the story now to at the hospital. And here the story is going to slow down. We really had a waiting game on our hands. Crystal was kind of elected to be the sole person going back since only one person could. The rest was a waiting game of us sitting out in the waiting room of Irvine Regional... and waiting... some times Crys would come back out and give a small update. But it was mostly waiting.
They did give her some counter-agent to the painkillers she takes, just in case it was that. She apparently went through withdrawals almost immediately. Based on what my sister told us, I'm likening it to Linda Blair on the bed, head spinning spewing out equal measure of demonic insults and split pea soup. Not a fun time.
We did get to see my mother hours later. Out cold but doing something she wasn't doing hours earlier: Snoring. I have a feeling this is a good sign.
So from there, Crystal (since she's currently unemployed) decided to stay most of the night but not overnight. I talked to her before (trying) to get some sleep. Mom had by then been transferred from ER to the hospital. She was up talking during the move, but was herself moving between fully knowing what was going on to nigh amnesia about everyone and everything. From that last description my boss (a diabetic himself) thinks it may have been insulin shock, though this doesn't fully jive with the fact that her blood sugar went closer to normal after being admitted to ER.
We just don't know right now, at all, what happened. I'm still worried. I've let my boss/coworkers know I may have to leave if things get bad. Even my other sister up north in Bakersfield has two suitcases for her 4 children (1 actual son, 3 lovely foster children) at the ready if she needs to rush down here. That's how in limbo this thing is right now.
So I'm working on little sleep, and mental fatigue. Trying to work, write this post, call Crys for updates, and keep my head together at the same time. Doing well, but still so very tired. Monster + 2 cups of coffee and I'm still acting tired.
[update] Ok so over lunch I got word from Crys that she's doing better. they still, as of 1pm, hadn't seen a doctor to find out exactly what the cause was. However, she was more alert and more 'there' than she had be when admitted. I am very much relieved to hear that at least. I'm going to try to get over there but I'm sooooooooo sleepy I need a nap
[update 2] Mom's being released. Probable cause is a one-two combo of bad drug interaction and over medication. Both of which stem from new prescription she just got filled on Friday. It explains the suddenness of all of this.
We had to put my mother in the hospital yesterday afternoon. Right now, even though I went home to sleep myself, I'm tired and worried.
We're not sure if it’s an (accidental) overdose, insulin shock (her blood sugar was very high... dad took that while still at the house... but that might have been missing other meds while sleeping and out of it), or stroke.
***Time Line of Events***
So I come for family dinner and mom was 'asleep'. Dad had tried to wake her but he didn't think anything of it, she sleeps a lot anyways.
She'd taken her medicine (per farther) at 4am and started falling asleep with her glasses/reading flashlight on. He got her to at least put her glasses on the nightstand. And there she lay for about 10 hours.
Its only when we went in to get her up did we start realizing something was wrong. I had to practically yank her to get her upright. Then I looked at her eyes... my father told me the puffiness around them was normal when she first woke up... but it wasn't just that. Vapid is the word I'm using to describe it. There was something wrong was her vapid unblinking stare. She didn't blink either... she'd force close her eyes then open them wide... otherwise it was the empty stare.
My father, lord and lady love him, tried playing it off. I'm actually glad my sister and I hounded him a bit into action. She and I both realized there was something amiss.
We started trying to talk to her. She was only partially responsive to questions. She asked for a sip of water so we gave her a sip from her covered mug she uses. She dribbled most of it. We got her to the bathroom because she needed to pee she said. Had a hell of a time getting her on and off the toilet. I tried asking her question for a response. I had asked her things like 'count to 10' and 'can you see me.' I think it was at this point we started getting her ready because we knew she wasn't going to stay there. We asked her specifically: Did she want Urgent Care (hospital but waiting in line) or the Emergency Room.
"mer-gen-see". I think she even realized that the shit was hitting the fan here.
Let me break away from the story for a second: I work in IT helpdesk, which is basically customer service. 911 operators are a higher level of customer service and, god and goddess bless them, they have an ability to talk people into a calm like no other.
And when I called into 911 I sure as shit needed the help. I started giving info to the lady on the other end who was very helpful. (Odd side-note: Apparently there was a fire alarm pulled in their complex and they emt/fire truck was pulling back into the station when they got my call). So they came, I moved out of the room to tell Crystal's two sons what was going on (poor Evan was at the computer and had no idea what was going on until I opened the door for the emt that arrived). They had to initially wheel our outside in the wheelchair we put mom in because the hallway was too narrow for a gurney.
So let’s place shift the story now to at the hospital. And here the story is going to slow down. We really had a waiting game on our hands. Crystal was kind of elected to be the sole person going back since only one person could. The rest was a waiting game of us sitting out in the waiting room of Irvine Regional... and waiting... some times Crys would come back out and give a small update. But it was mostly waiting.
They did give her some counter-agent to the painkillers she takes, just in case it was that. She apparently went through withdrawals almost immediately. Based on what my sister told us, I'm likening it to Linda Blair on the bed, head spinning spewing out equal measure of demonic insults and split pea soup. Not a fun time.
We did get to see my mother hours later. Out cold but doing something she wasn't doing hours earlier: Snoring. I have a feeling this is a good sign.
So from there, Crystal (since she's currently unemployed) decided to stay most of the night but not overnight. I talked to her before (trying) to get some sleep. Mom had by then been transferred from ER to the hospital. She was up talking during the move, but was herself moving between fully knowing what was going on to nigh amnesia about everyone and everything. From that last description my boss (a diabetic himself) thinks it may have been insulin shock, though this doesn't fully jive with the fact that her blood sugar went closer to normal after being admitted to ER.
We just don't know right now, at all, what happened. I'm still worried. I've let my boss/coworkers know I may have to leave if things get bad. Even my other sister up north in Bakersfield has two suitcases for her 4 children (1 actual son, 3 lovely foster children) at the ready if she needs to rush down here. That's how in limbo this thing is right now.
So I'm working on little sleep, and mental fatigue. Trying to work, write this post, call Crys for updates, and keep my head together at the same time. Doing well, but still so very tired. Monster + 2 cups of coffee and I'm still acting tired.
[update] Ok so over lunch I got word from Crys that she's doing better. they still, as of 1pm, hadn't seen a doctor to find out exactly what the cause was. However, she was more alert and more 'there' than she had be when admitted. I am very much relieved to hear that at least. I'm going to try to get over there but I'm sooooooooo sleepy I need a nap
[update 2] Mom's being released. Probable cause is a one-two combo of bad drug interaction and over medication. Both of which stem from new prescription she just got filled on Friday. It explains the suddenness of all of this.