I am Here!
Jun. 10th, 2017 11:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chochiyo_samaIt was very easy to transfer my LiveJournal over here. I haven't deleted it there yet, but I will get to it.
My life has been quite hectic--so much involved in moving and getting things organized and put away. And last weekend, Memorial Day weekend, we had tons of "fun" at the ER as my mother had another episode of kidney stones.
She called me on Thursday afternoon telling me she felt rotten. I asked if she needed to go to the doctor. She said, "I need to do something." She said she thought it might be kidney stones again. She had called my brother's house first, but he wasn't there, and my sister-in-law's charming response was, "What am I supposed to do about it? Cora has a softball game!"
This pissed me off as Mom has done so much of them and treats them like gods--and this is how she responds in an emergency when Mom is sick and in agony?? Sigh!
So, I told her I would be right over--I had to put on my bra and shoes, which I never wear when I am just hanging around my house. I called my sister Kim and told her what was going on. She said she would finish what she was doing at work, clock out and come straight to Mom's so I wouldn't have to deal with it by myself. I gathered up my stuff and headed over to her house. When I got there, she was in agony and her complexion was gray. She is 83, so I was alarmed by her coloring. I told her I thought we should call the ambulance as they were better equipped to handle it in transit if this turned out to be something more life threatening than kidney stones.
She didn't want me to call the ambulance until I called Kari and asked for her opinion on the matter. So I called Kari who immediately went on a little tirade about how she absolutely COULD NOT go with. I said, "I am not asking you to do anything. Mom will not let me call the ambulance unless I get your opinion first."
"Go ahead and call the ambulance if you think it's necessary." Then she went on to say that she had to take Cora to the game because she had all her equipment and blah blah blah. I kinda cut her off and told her I needed to call the ambulance because Mom was gray.
She told me to keep her posted and I called the ambulance.
They got there pretty quickly and took her to Albert Lea. Kim got there before the ambulance left, and we drove to the ER together. We were at the ER until nearly 9 pm. They gave Mom pain medication and something to relax the tube that runs from the kidney to the bladder and gave her a CAT scan. She had infection in her kidneys and her bladder, so they gave her an IV antibiotic. They also gave her pills for pain and more antibiotics in pill form. They told her to strain her urine and bring the stone in if she passed it so it could be analyzed.
My brother showed up at the hospital about an hour before they released her--we'd been there since 5 pm. He had been at Caleb's track meet. The doctors decided to send Mom home, and Jack drove her home in his car. Kim and I had not had supper, so we stopped at the McDonald's drive through to get something to eat on the way home. We waited for EVER at the drive through--I think there were only two people working, and they were SLOOOOOW.
I started singing a little song about how we were going to starve to death and turn into skeletons in the drive through of McDonald's. Kim got the giggles and we both were in hysterics half way home. A deer leapt out of the ditch right in front of us as we were driving on the on ramp to I35, but I didn't hit it. Thank God.
Kim went straight home--it was raining of course, so it was hard to see and I was paranoid of deer all the way home.
I had kept the rest of the family as well as my aunt and uncle informed of what was going on through all this, and Tammy called and said that she was going to cancel her horse show plans and come down to stay with Mom on Friday and Saturday. I stayed overnight at Mom's because I didn't want her to be alone.
I slept in the upstairs bedroom so I could hear her if she needed me in the night. Mojo was delighted as I left the bedroom door open and he came in to alternately snuggle and sleep with me and attack me throughout the night.
Mom took her pills and did pretty good on Friday--she was tired and sore, but figured she had already passed the stone. Tammy arrived in the afternoon and we all hung out and had a quiet day on Friday. Since Tammy was there, I went home to feed my cats, get my pills, and stay in my own house.
Before 7 am on Friday morning, Mom called me. She was in agony again. I asked when it had started and she said about 2 am. I was aghast. "Why didn't you call me sooner?"
"I didn't want to wake you up."
"Good GRIEF! If you are suffering that badly, CALL ME. Why didn't you wake up Tammy?"
"I didn't want to bother her. She was tired."
So, I called Tammy on her cell phone, told her we were going to have to take Mom back to the ER and that Mom would probably need help getting dressed. I would be there as soon as I was dressed.
I hurriedly got dressed and pack a book to read, grabbed my pills and a couple of diet Cokes, and headed to Mom's. They were ready and waiting. We loaded Mom into my car and headed back to the ER in Albert Lea. We were there before 8 am. I let Kim and Joni and Jack know what was going on. He was going to Rochester for some game tournament that he is involved in and asked if we needed him to go with us. I told him I didn't think it was necessary--there was nothing to be done except sit there and wait. Tammy was with me so I didn't have to be alone. Kim and Joni said they would come when Joni was done at the Farmer's Market if we wanted them. I said we'd wait and see what happened. No sense in everyone sitting around being bored and uncomfortable.
They hooked her up with IVs and gave her pain meds again. We were there until noon--they didn't do much besides keep track of her pain and give her drugs and fluids. Then they decided that they need to send her to Rochester by ambulance as they did not have a urologist on staff.
They loaded her up and took her away, and Tammy and I went to Dairy Queen and got hot dogs and malts which we ate on the way to Rochester. We had to park in the underground ramp and I had to walk a long way to get to the elevators and up to the entrance. Tammy found me a wheel chair and pushed me to the ER where they gave us a sticker with mom's cubical number and escorted us back to her.
Again, we waited around for hours. They rarely checked in on her, and the tiny cubical was dark and uncomfortable. Sitting in the wheel chair for hours made my back, hip, and legs hurt. Mom was uncomfortable on the rock hard, narrow bed too. When the nurse finally came in, he said that the stone was so large that it was unlikely she could pass it, and also that the infection was an issue as well as her age. They said they would probably admit her and give her surgery in the morning to put a shunt between her kidney and bladder to allow the urine and infection to drain and then in two weeks, when the infection was gone, they would do another surgery to break up and remove the stone.
I said I was surprised they hadn't given her another CAT scan to see where the stone was and whether it had possibly passed as she hadn't had any more pain since she left Albert Lea. He said that there was a lot of radiation involved in a CAT scan, and since she had just had one on Thursday, they didn't want to give her another. So we sat around for a few more hours. All our phones were dying as we had been texting everyone all day, keeping them informed, and playing on the phones to amuse ourselves.
Jack's tournament ended and he came to the ER for a couple of hours. Mom had to pee, so the nurse took her to the bathroom--when she returned, there were three other people with her and they were all hooting and laughing. She had passed the stone which was as big as a medium sized raisin. I was shocked at the size of it. I took a picture which is on my phone. I don't know how to get it off my phone and onto this journal or I would post it.
Once the stone was out, they decided they would give her another CAT scan after all, just to be sure no fragments remained. Once that was done, they let us go home. Tammy wheeled me out to the parking ramp, and Jack wheeled Mom out. He left alone. I was glad he was there so that Tammy didn't have to wheel us both. I am so tired of being a cripple.
Mom was starving--she hadn't eaten anything all day as they were not sure if they'd have to do surgery on her or not. So we stopped at the DQ in Byron. She and Tammy got burgers, but I got a barbecue--which was disgusting. I couldn't eat it. So, I stopped in Owatonna and got a tuna sub at Jimmy Johns.
I stayed overnight at Mom's that night and again the following night after Tammy went home. When I left at about noon they following day, Mom cried and thanked me for always being there for her. "You are the only one I can always count on," she said.
Unexpected.
She has been weak and tired ever since--and her back and hip and legs have been hurting her. I told her it was probably due to the discomfort of the ER beds and suggested she make an appointment with her chiropractor. She finally decided to call for an appointment on Monday this week. I took her to that appointment and then through the drive through of Culvers were we bought fish dinners. I stayed overnight at her house on Monday night because I had to take her to a follow up appointment with her regular doctor on Tuesday at 8:30 am--he told her she didn't need to go back to Rochester for the three appointments they had set up for her there. We went to Perkins On Wednesday, I had to take her back to the chiropractor, and we went to the Kernal and had chef salads for lunch. They were huge and not the best I ever ate. Instead of chunks of chicken and ham, there were slices of cut up sandwich meat. Gross.
On Thursday, I stayed home and did very little.
On Friday, I had to take her to the chiropractor again. We ate clam chowder at the Kernal for lunch. They have the best clam chowder around. We took home slices of raspberry cream cheese pie. Mine is still in the refrigerator. Then we got groceries. When I called to see if Caleb or Cora could carry in my groceries, they were on their way to Mankato to visit the college as Caleb will be a senior next year and has to start making plans. I called Mom's minister to see if his oldest boy would like to make $5 carrying in groceries. He said he didn't need $5, and he'd be glad to carry in groceries for me. So, I went through the drive through of DQ and bought two packs of Dilly bars--one chocolate and one cherry, so I could give them treats--there are three little boys, and I didn't know if all of them would come or just one.
I dropped mom off at her house with her groceries, then I went home, got my mail, and discovered Jack, Finn, and Alethia were already at my house. They carried everything in and were thrilled to get the Dilly bars. Jack wanted chocolate, the other two took cherry. It was well worth it for me!
I put away all my groceries and didn't do much else. It was very hot. It is supposed to be worse today. Mom and I are supposed to go over to my aunt and uncle's house today to watch movies. Not really feeling the desire to do so, but I suppose it will be okay once we get there.
My life has been quite hectic--so much involved in moving and getting things organized and put away. And last weekend, Memorial Day weekend, we had tons of "fun" at the ER as my mother had another episode of kidney stones.
She called me on Thursday afternoon telling me she felt rotten. I asked if she needed to go to the doctor. She said, "I need to do something." She said she thought it might be kidney stones again. She had called my brother's house first, but he wasn't there, and my sister-in-law's charming response was, "What am I supposed to do about it? Cora has a softball game!"
This pissed me off as Mom has done so much of them and treats them like gods--and this is how she responds in an emergency when Mom is sick and in agony?? Sigh!
So, I told her I would be right over--I had to put on my bra and shoes, which I never wear when I am just hanging around my house. I called my sister Kim and told her what was going on. She said she would finish what she was doing at work, clock out and come straight to Mom's so I wouldn't have to deal with it by myself. I gathered up my stuff and headed over to her house. When I got there, she was in agony and her complexion was gray. She is 83, so I was alarmed by her coloring. I told her I thought we should call the ambulance as they were better equipped to handle it in transit if this turned out to be something more life threatening than kidney stones.
She didn't want me to call the ambulance until I called Kari and asked for her opinion on the matter. So I called Kari who immediately went on a little tirade about how she absolutely COULD NOT go with. I said, "I am not asking you to do anything. Mom will not let me call the ambulance unless I get your opinion first."
"Go ahead and call the ambulance if you think it's necessary." Then she went on to say that she had to take Cora to the game because she had all her equipment and blah blah blah. I kinda cut her off and told her I needed to call the ambulance because Mom was gray.
She told me to keep her posted and I called the ambulance.
They got there pretty quickly and took her to Albert Lea. Kim got there before the ambulance left, and we drove to the ER together. We were at the ER until nearly 9 pm. They gave Mom pain medication and something to relax the tube that runs from the kidney to the bladder and gave her a CAT scan. She had infection in her kidneys and her bladder, so they gave her an IV antibiotic. They also gave her pills for pain and more antibiotics in pill form. They told her to strain her urine and bring the stone in if she passed it so it could be analyzed.
My brother showed up at the hospital about an hour before they released her--we'd been there since 5 pm. He had been at Caleb's track meet. The doctors decided to send Mom home, and Jack drove her home in his car. Kim and I had not had supper, so we stopped at the McDonald's drive through to get something to eat on the way home. We waited for EVER at the drive through--I think there were only two people working, and they were SLOOOOOW.
I started singing a little song about how we were going to starve to death and turn into skeletons in the drive through of McDonald's. Kim got the giggles and we both were in hysterics half way home. A deer leapt out of the ditch right in front of us as we were driving on the on ramp to I35, but I didn't hit it. Thank God.
Kim went straight home--it was raining of course, so it was hard to see and I was paranoid of deer all the way home.
I had kept the rest of the family as well as my aunt and uncle informed of what was going on through all this, and Tammy called and said that she was going to cancel her horse show plans and come down to stay with Mom on Friday and Saturday. I stayed overnight at Mom's because I didn't want her to be alone.
I slept in the upstairs bedroom so I could hear her if she needed me in the night. Mojo was delighted as I left the bedroom door open and he came in to alternately snuggle and sleep with me and attack me throughout the night.
Mom took her pills and did pretty good on Friday--she was tired and sore, but figured she had already passed the stone. Tammy arrived in the afternoon and we all hung out and had a quiet day on Friday. Since Tammy was there, I went home to feed my cats, get my pills, and stay in my own house.
Before 7 am on Friday morning, Mom called me. She was in agony again. I asked when it had started and she said about 2 am. I was aghast. "Why didn't you call me sooner?"
"I didn't want to wake you up."
"Good GRIEF! If you are suffering that badly, CALL ME. Why didn't you wake up Tammy?"
"I didn't want to bother her. She was tired."
So, I called Tammy on her cell phone, told her we were going to have to take Mom back to the ER and that Mom would probably need help getting dressed. I would be there as soon as I was dressed.
I hurriedly got dressed and pack a book to read, grabbed my pills and a couple of diet Cokes, and headed to Mom's. They were ready and waiting. We loaded Mom into my car and headed back to the ER in Albert Lea. We were there before 8 am. I let Kim and Joni and Jack know what was going on. He was going to Rochester for some game tournament that he is involved in and asked if we needed him to go with us. I told him I didn't think it was necessary--there was nothing to be done except sit there and wait. Tammy was with me so I didn't have to be alone. Kim and Joni said they would come when Joni was done at the Farmer's Market if we wanted them. I said we'd wait and see what happened. No sense in everyone sitting around being bored and uncomfortable.
They hooked her up with IVs and gave her pain meds again. We were there until noon--they didn't do much besides keep track of her pain and give her drugs and fluids. Then they decided that they need to send her to Rochester by ambulance as they did not have a urologist on staff.
They loaded her up and took her away, and Tammy and I went to Dairy Queen and got hot dogs and malts which we ate on the way to Rochester. We had to park in the underground ramp and I had to walk a long way to get to the elevators and up to the entrance. Tammy found me a wheel chair and pushed me to the ER where they gave us a sticker with mom's cubical number and escorted us back to her.
Again, we waited around for hours. They rarely checked in on her, and the tiny cubical was dark and uncomfortable. Sitting in the wheel chair for hours made my back, hip, and legs hurt. Mom was uncomfortable on the rock hard, narrow bed too. When the nurse finally came in, he said that the stone was so large that it was unlikely she could pass it, and also that the infection was an issue as well as her age. They said they would probably admit her and give her surgery in the morning to put a shunt between her kidney and bladder to allow the urine and infection to drain and then in two weeks, when the infection was gone, they would do another surgery to break up and remove the stone.
I said I was surprised they hadn't given her another CAT scan to see where the stone was and whether it had possibly passed as she hadn't had any more pain since she left Albert Lea. He said that there was a lot of radiation involved in a CAT scan, and since she had just had one on Thursday, they didn't want to give her another. So we sat around for a few more hours. All our phones were dying as we had been texting everyone all day, keeping them informed, and playing on the phones to amuse ourselves.
Jack's tournament ended and he came to the ER for a couple of hours. Mom had to pee, so the nurse took her to the bathroom--when she returned, there were three other people with her and they were all hooting and laughing. She had passed the stone which was as big as a medium sized raisin. I was shocked at the size of it. I took a picture which is on my phone. I don't know how to get it off my phone and onto this journal or I would post it.
Once the stone was out, they decided they would give her another CAT scan after all, just to be sure no fragments remained. Once that was done, they let us go home. Tammy wheeled me out to the parking ramp, and Jack wheeled Mom out. He left alone. I was glad he was there so that Tammy didn't have to wheel us both. I am so tired of being a cripple.
Mom was starving--she hadn't eaten anything all day as they were not sure if they'd have to do surgery on her or not. So we stopped at the DQ in Byron. She and Tammy got burgers, but I got a barbecue--which was disgusting. I couldn't eat it. So, I stopped in Owatonna and got a tuna sub at Jimmy Johns.
I stayed overnight at Mom's that night and again the following night after Tammy went home. When I left at about noon they following day, Mom cried and thanked me for always being there for her. "You are the only one I can always count on," she said.
Unexpected.
She has been weak and tired ever since--and her back and hip and legs have been hurting her. I told her it was probably due to the discomfort of the ER beds and suggested she make an appointment with her chiropractor. She finally decided to call for an appointment on Monday this week. I took her to that appointment and then through the drive through of Culvers were we bought fish dinners. I stayed overnight at her house on Monday night because I had to take her to a follow up appointment with her regular doctor on Tuesday at 8:30 am--he told her she didn't need to go back to Rochester for the three appointments they had set up for her there. We went to Perkins On Wednesday, I had to take her back to the chiropractor, and we went to the Kernal and had chef salads for lunch. They were huge and not the best I ever ate. Instead of chunks of chicken and ham, there were slices of cut up sandwich meat. Gross.
On Thursday, I stayed home and did very little.
On Friday, I had to take her to the chiropractor again. We ate clam chowder at the Kernal for lunch. They have the best clam chowder around. We took home slices of raspberry cream cheese pie. Mine is still in the refrigerator. Then we got groceries. When I called to see if Caleb or Cora could carry in my groceries, they were on their way to Mankato to visit the college as Caleb will be a senior next year and has to start making plans. I called Mom's minister to see if his oldest boy would like to make $5 carrying in groceries. He said he didn't need $5, and he'd be glad to carry in groceries for me. So, I went through the drive through of DQ and bought two packs of Dilly bars--one chocolate and one cherry, so I could give them treats--there are three little boys, and I didn't know if all of them would come or just one.
I dropped mom off at her house with her groceries, then I went home, got my mail, and discovered Jack, Finn, and Alethia were already at my house. They carried everything in and were thrilled to get the Dilly bars. Jack wanted chocolate, the other two took cherry. It was well worth it for me!
I put away all my groceries and didn't do much else. It was very hot. It is supposed to be worse today. Mom and I are supposed to go over to my aunt and uncle's house today to watch movies. Not really feeling the desire to do so, but I suppose it will be okay once we get there.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-10 11:32 pm (UTC)Kari is a bitch and Jack is an asshole. But I think I've said that already. It's reflected in their children although Caleb may have lost some of it as he's matured. Possibly your influence. But he should still never own a pet.
Albert Lea probably didn't admit her on the first trip because if they do, then the insurance pays for the emergency room and the ambulance. As is, she'll probably be billed for it. Fuckers. She might fight the insurance company since she did have to return to the ER for the exact same thing and was eventually admitted at Rochester.
So glad you finally made it over.
The only way I have figured out how to post photos is to upload them to my own website and then link them to display here. I'm not sure how CMCMCK does it.
Dreamwidth might have some sort of deal with flickr or imagr or one of those website things but I don't do those so I'm stuck uploading and linking from my own site.
Congrats for making it over.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-11 10:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-11 09:31 am (UTC)Welcome along!
I had to go from the other place for reasons I'm sure you'll understand. I couldn't sign up to that!
no subject
Date: 2017-06-13 04:13 pm (UTC)