Joni Update

Joni's estimated time of departure is Wednesday! She's very excited. Cleo and I went to visit for a couple hours on Friday and Cleo was a hit! I dressed her up in her pumpkin costume and you should have heard those residents! They loved her! She even performed a few tricks for some of them. I went to PT with Joni and it's obvious how much stronger she's getting. She is still getting pretty exhausted from the PT but she says that's getting better too. She had to get to bingo by 2:15 so I headed out then.

Camilia Rose

My mom has worked there forever it seems but I've never been close to a client that was there until now. It's very strange. Anyway...

Joni is doing really well. I went to see her on Thursday and she was in really good spirits. She was so upbeat and positive and happy she's there. She is loving the food, the staff, her room with a view, and all the activities offered. She said that during her physical therapy it's exhausting so she's glad she's there getting the help she needs. It really is a relief that she's doing so well and has such a positive attitude.

Friday she had high blood pressure and high blood sugar so they weren't able to do the morning physical therapy.

Today (Sat.) we stopped in and she's doing ok but I think she wasn't having the best day. We went to her physical therapy with her so she enjoyed that and then we took her outside for some fresh air. I guess her roomie snores! We have to get her some ear plugs! She told us that her sister Kathy and niece Shawn stopped by Thursday and hung out with her for quite awhile. She really enjoyed that. I think the company and phone calls are really whats helping her get through this. She talked about wanting to get home to her gardens. It must be so frustrating to want to do so many things but knowing you can't due to physical limitations. She is ready to be back to normal!

Update

Well, it's been a few days now and Joni is on the mend. It took them a while to control her allergic reaction to whatever medication they gave her. She ended up with a bright red face, redness around her eyes, and a rash under her nose. That is slowly but surely clearing up. Sunday they took her temp and it was high and they discovered that she got E. Coli in her bladder from the foley cathedar they placed in the ER. They thought that she would go home Monday but because of the new infection with her temp they decided to keep her a few more days. The staff there are also experiencing her extremely hard to control blood pressure which hovers around 200 (systolic). That is too high. They are also wanting to control that before she goes home.

There was also another development. My mom recommended that she enter the nursing home where she works in there short stay therapy and rehab program. It is for people just like Joni that are on the mend and just have to get their strength back. She was hesitant at first but after discussing it with her she agreed that it would be the best choice before going home. This is a load off for Troy and I. We like the idea that she is going to a place that will get her up walking and that will teach her exercises that she can do at home.

I didn't talk to the doctor directly but heard through Sandy that Joni can't even get the chills. Her immune system is really low and weak so if she does she has to go straight to the ER. That is a big deal.

Tomorrow Todd will bring her to Camilla Rose and I hope she finds it helpful and worth while.

Scary Day!

Thursday, October 8th

Well, where do I even start? I was home in the afternoon because I had no patients. I was doing laundry and vacuuming when I finally heard the phone. Troy called to let me know that Joni-Troy's mom-was unable to stand up and walk on her own. What???!!! Well, she has a very complex medical history which I won't go into but she was taking a new medication and having this weird side effect from it. She had last taken the medicine at 7:30 am and was unable to walk by 11 am. Anyway, Troy asked if I could call Joni and check on her. I called her and she sounded tired, hungry, and scared. I called Troy back and said that we needed to get over there to get her something to eat and make sure she didn't need to go to the bathroom. It was about 4:15 or so when I got there and Troy was already there in her drive way searching for a key to her house. He couldn't find it so I went to ask Joni if she could try letting us in and she said no that she couldn't walk. Oh boy. So, Troy went to Steve's-his bro's-and got a key and came right back. Well, we got in and asked if she had called the doctor to tell him what was happening. She said yes but he hasn't called back yet. Ok...so we had her call him again and his secretary said that she would have him call us. So, we sat around, had dinner, I cleaned her kitchen, and still no phone call by 8:30 PM. Well, then Joni tried to walk and assisted she could make it to the bathroon but she was still VERY shaky and VERY weak. Troy checked her BP and it was fine. She and I then played cards until about 9:30 when we had her walk again. We thought this muscle weakness was a side effect from the new medication and that since she had taken it so early that it was just starting to wear off. We talked to Sandy-Troy's sister-and she said that she wanted Joni to spend the night at her house. Well, I don't work Friday's so I said that she could just come stay for the night at our house until she gets more stable on her feet. So, we packed up some things and headed to our house. We gave her a cow bell to ring in case she needed anything then it was off to bed.

Friday morning

Troy left at about 7:30 after he helped Joni to the bathroom. I woke up, showered, and went downstairs for breakfast. When I got downstairs Joni was sitting in the rocking chair freezing. She said that she woke up in the middle of the night because she was cold and I asked her why she didn't use her cowbell and she said she didn't want to bother us. I turned the heat up and got her some more blankets. I fixed us up some Cheerios and pears and she came to breakfast. She hardly needed any help up the stairs so I thought that she was on the mend. We ate our breakfast and toward the end she started shaking very noticeably. I asked her what the deal was and she said she was really cold. I turned up the heat again and got her a blanket to put around her shoulders. She then said she wanted to go sit back in the chair so I helped her down and I put my big down comforter over her. She then asked me if I had a hat that she could wear so I went and got her that. She looked pretty funny so I was going to get her picture-she ok'd it-but then she started moaning a bit and I thought this is just crazy. I need to call up that doctor and give him a piece of my mind. Well, I FINALLY got through to him and he sounded like I complete snob, but he helped me so I can't say the bad things about him that I would like to say. He told me that what her side effects were did NOT sound like side effects from that drug. I explained she reacts strangely to most medications and he said that no this sounds different. He said to get her to the ER or regular MD right away. He also told me to take her temp.

I ran upstairs to get the thermometer and took her temp. 104.1 no kidding. I took it again 105.8 no kidding. I told her, "Joni, I need to take you to the ER can you walk to my car?"

J: "Yes, yes, ...yes" She did not make an effort to get up so I told her again.
B: "Joni, I need to get you to the ER. Should I call 911 or can you get to my car?"
J: "Where am I?" (looking dazed and confused)
B: "You're at my house, you need to get to the ER. We need to go now. Can you walk?
J: "Yes, I can." She tries to get up and when she does she pukes all over herself and the blankets. I ran to get a bucket but that was it for the vomitting.
I pause. I can't seem to think straight. I ask her again.
B: "Joni, can you try again to walk to my car?"
J: "Yes, I can. Where is your car?"
B: "It's in the garage. Come on, we have to go now."

I help her back up and we make it to the laundry room and she stops. She's swaying and moaning and she says that she can't walk anymore. I tell her that I have to go get a chair and that she has to hold on to the laundry tub, but she doesn't move. I moved her so that she was leaning on the sink and ran to get the rocking chair-hoping she wouldn't fall. I get her seated, grabbed my purse, and ran out to get the car started. When I got out to my car I realized that I couldn't get her down the garage steps and that I needed help. I called my dad to see if he was still home-sometimes he doesn't go in to the shop until late morning-to see if he could come and help me get her in the car. As soon as he answered the phone I burst into tears! He told me to call 911 because he was already at the shop. So, I called 911 and through my sobbing was able to tell them our address. The guy transferred my call to a lovely woman who was so helpful in calming me down. I told Joni that I called 911 and she said, "OK" almost like, "oh that's nice dear" she still seemed out of it. A couple firemen showed up and then a few minutes later the ambulance. The nice lady stayed on the phone with me until the firemen got there. Luckily, the night before I had gone through all of her meds and made sure they were in their cases so I knew exactly what she was taking. Then they took her off to Mercy hospital. Whoa. When they left I called Todd and Troy to let them know. Todd had called twice while the paramedics were there and Karyn had called twice too. Todd is a worrier so when Joni left I called him first. I told Todd to call Karyn and Troy to call Sandy.

I got to the hospital about 25 minutes later and they were getting a chest x-ray and an EKG. The staff I talked to-not the MD-were thinking it could be pneumonia. In the hospital her temp was 103 so it had gone down. The doctor came in about an hour later and said that she had a severe urinary tract infection. He thought she had probably had it for a few days and explained that sometimes older women just don't know that they have them until they spike a fever. Whoa. Sandy showed up about 20 minutes later and sat with us. It was nice to have her there.

I had an appointment to get to so Sandy stayed with her and I headed out. What a morning! Whoa!

Later that night Sandy told me that the MD had talked to her and said that had she not been brought to the hospital that she would have probably died. Died. Within an hour or so. The infection had gone into her blood which they call sepsis. That is major.

Honestly, I know that all is well and she's safe and sound in the hospital but I feel all this anxiousness about the whole situation. I keep going over all the what if's. What if I wouldn't have called the doctor to give him a piece of my mind? What if I wouldn't have taken her temp? It's so SCARY and FREAKY to me!

Most of all I am so thankful to God! I'm thankful for the doctor for answering my call and I'm thankful to my dad that he told me to call 911. I'm so thankful that my husband's-my sweet husband-mother did not die on my watch. Oh, you all have no idea how thankful I am for that!

Today---Joni had an allergic reaction to an anti-nausea drug and her throat closed up. She was given some Benadryl and is fine now. She's on the mend. She is being given MEGA antibiotics and she's getting rest. I warned the nurse that she gets strange side effects from medications but she said that they have to use this particular antibiotic because it's the best one for sepsis.

Once again-thank God she's ok!