I may or may not get to Logos in this entry -- it was a
pretty boring day at the book store. But it started with a day at Kaiser.
Actually the "day at Kaiser" really started the previous morning.
I had gone to have lunch with her and she complained that she had
what looked like bug bites on her left arm. She said it itched badly and she kept
hitting her arm and saying "stupid! stupid! stupid!" because she didn't know how
to make it feel better. I thought some critter must have bit her in bed and figured it
would be OK the next day because they had changed her sheets that day.
That night someone from Atria called me to say she was in a lot of
discomfort and should go to Urgent Care NOW. I explained that we would have to take her to
Kaiser ER in Sacramento and asked if they thought it could wait until she could see her
own doctor this morning. The LVN said that she really needed to be seen that night.
I called the Kaiser advice nurse and she said she would set up a telephone consult with an ER doctor for 6:50. I got there at 6:25 and he had already called. My mother didn't know why he was calling, and said I would be there shortly. She told me he would call back. 45 minutes later, he still had not called, so I called the advice nurse again. He said that the doctor made no notes about calling back, and the Advice guy talked to Momma to get her permission for him to read me the doctor's notes. Apparently she told the doctor she had no problems except she was a little dizzy. Never mentioned her itching. (arrrggghhhhh!)
The upshot, after I talked with the advice person for awhile is that he made an appointment with her doctor for this morning.
Well, I missed the time and had to call my mother and hope she would figure out how to meet me outside. Thank God she did. We had less than 15 minutes to get to Kaiser (thank God, we made it!) She got in the car and, with all the anticipation of a kid going to Disneyland, she said "well, where are we going and what are we doing there?" I told her that she had a doctor appointment. She asked what for. I said for the bumps and itching. She said "I don't have any itching" and said she didn't want to see any doctor. I checked her arms and you could barely see what was so violent yesterday. I nearly cried. But then she decided that she DID feel a bit itchy. I checked her more closely and where the raised, flesh-colored patches weren't there, what replaced them were red patches that she finally admitted were itchy.
But she still didn't want to go to the doctor. ("You know I hate doctors.") However, thank God she has the retention of a sieve. It probably took 13 minutes to get to Kaiser and as many times in 13 minutes that you can say "where are we going and why are we going there?" is how many times she said it. It's like taking a little kid somewhere.
We finally got into the office, though she still didn't remember why she was there, but when she took off her shirt, I could see that she has several places where she has red sections and she admitted that her back was very itchy, so I'm glad that we went.
Because she lives in a facility, the doctor decided to give her a scabies treatment (which involves lathering her all over with cream, leaving it on for 8 hours, then showering it off and starting benadryl cream), though she didn't think there was any sign of scables. We went to the lab to get blood work and to the pharmacy to pick up $30 worth of meds and then home. :"Where are we going and what are we going to do next?" she asked as we got in the car.
Interspersed with where are we going were profound apologies for putting me out and letting me know that she is so stupid she should be able to do this herself and she feels SO BAD that I have to do it for her. I love my mother and as frustrating as this is, I feel honored to be able to do it for her and profoundly glad we made the choice to move her to Davis instead of leaving her in Marin county. There are days when I can put up with her constant repeated questions just fine, other times my patience is a bit less and it drives me crazy, but I am glad I can be here.
She was still complaining about itching, asking what it was and how
she got it, and slapping her arms to say "stupid, stupid, stupid" when we
got back to Atria. I pointed out to her that Walt's mother had whole body itching for years
and managed to put up with it. She had to have lotion applied all over her body a
few times daily. That actually kind of shut her up for a bit.I called the Kaiser advice nurse and she said she would set up a telephone consult with an ER doctor for 6:50. I got there at 6:25 and he had already called. My mother didn't know why he was calling, and said I would be there shortly. She told me he would call back. 45 minutes later, he still had not called, so I called the advice nurse again. He said that the doctor made no notes about calling back, and the Advice guy talked to Momma to get her permission for him to read me the doctor's notes. Apparently she told the doctor she had no problems except she was a little dizzy. Never mentioned her itching. (arrrggghhhhh!)
The upshot, after I talked with the advice person for awhile is that he made an appointment with her doctor for this morning.
Well, I missed the time and had to call my mother and hope she would figure out how to meet me outside. Thank God she did. We had less than 15 minutes to get to Kaiser (thank God, we made it!) She got in the car and, with all the anticipation of a kid going to Disneyland, she said "well, where are we going and what are we doing there?" I told her that she had a doctor appointment. She asked what for. I said for the bumps and itching. She said "I don't have any itching" and said she didn't want to see any doctor. I checked her arms and you could barely see what was so violent yesterday. I nearly cried. But then she decided that she DID feel a bit itchy. I checked her more closely and where the raised, flesh-colored patches weren't there, what replaced them were red patches that she finally admitted were itchy.
But she still didn't want to go to the doctor. ("You know I hate doctors.") However, thank God she has the retention of a sieve. It probably took 13 minutes to get to Kaiser and as many times in 13 minutes that you can say "where are we going and why are we going there?" is how many times she said it. It's like taking a little kid somewhere.
We finally got into the office, though she still didn't remember why she was there, but when she took off her shirt, I could see that she has several places where she has red sections and she admitted that her back was very itchy, so I'm glad that we went.
Because she lives in a facility, the doctor decided to give her a scabies treatment (which involves lathering her all over with cream, leaving it on for 8 hours, then showering it off and starting benadryl cream), though she didn't think there was any sign of scables. We went to the lab to get blood work and to the pharmacy to pick up $30 worth of meds and then home. :"Where are we going and what are we going to do next?" she asked as we got in the car.
Interspersed with where are we going were profound apologies for putting me out and letting me know that she is so stupid she should be able to do this herself and she feels SO BAD that I have to do it for her. I love my mother and as frustrating as this is, I feel honored to be able to do it for her and profoundly glad we made the choice to move her to Davis instead of leaving her in Marin county. There are days when I can put up with her constant repeated questions just fine, other times my patience is a bit less and it drives me crazy, but I am glad I can be here.
I got her home and lathered up with scabies cream and I added benadryl too since she was so itchy and the pharmacist said that would be OK. I told her I'd be back at 8 after she took her shower (she was supposed to wash the cream off after several hours) and would put benadryl on again. She forgot to take her shower, I called to remind her and gave her 15 minutes to do it, since she said she was getting in the shower "right then" but while I was on the way to Atria, she called Walt to tell him she was just getting into the shower. I arrived while she was in the shower and when she got out she asked "now why was I supposed to take a shower?" I told her why and then said I would put cream on her. She asked what the cream was for. I told her it was for her bumps. She said she didn't have any and had forgotten that she was ever itchy.
I have to put benadryl on her 2x/day for the next 5 days. I may go crazy by then.
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| Day 46: Happiness is finding little gems like this |
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