As the author writes this piece he literally just told the hospital doctor that Mother is going to in-house hospice. Mom’s last journey is underway. It is a gut-wrenching experience that has been shared by other humans since the beginning of humanity.
Mom’s Amazing Journey is intended to be a chronicle of a month long journey the author took with Mom in 2014 across America. The product is one last journey with Mom juxtaposed against the life of both Helen Louise Muser Poje as well as the relationship of the mother and son…as well as son and the rest of the family.
One of the purposes of the product is to bring to readers the human side of the Author. The Author is well aware that in today’s world he will be tarred and feathered with labels. The story is the rebuttal. Mom’s Amazing Journey is not only about Mom but it is also about who the Author is.
Unintendedly the story grew into a second part of the 7 years post journey. This story includes a descent into UTI induced dementia madness but also an unheard of recovery from the madness.
Time the Avenger catches us all. A brutal climax of events this last week has unfortunately led to the denouement. There is only one way out of hospice.
The following text is a copy and paste from an e-mail sent to a friend during the utter stupidity of the climax of the Last Journey section of the story. While writing this the nurses are now changing Mom’s bandages. The brutal recent events have her wrapped like a mummy because now the whole body is breaking down due to a lack of good sustenance.
Thank you…I have been with a great deal of lack of Common Sense the last 48 hours.
Wednesday at the hospital Mom did not get food or drink because they didn’t know if they wanted to perform a surgical medical procedure.
Thursday she didn’t get food or drink.
When I left at Noon the surgeon still had not come by.
I stressed to the doctor that she needs food and drink ASAP after inspection
My brother told me they came by and said no surgery in the afternoon.
I came in Friday…no food or drink had been given.
The restriction being lifted had not been noticed.
The doctor said we will release her to go home at about 10:30 AM…usually discharge is about a 3 hour process.
I got water and medicine for the infected wounds in her via applesauce.
No food came to the room but I figured “OK, she will be home in a couple hours”
She didn’t get home until 8:30 PM.
So…by the time she got home she was looking bad…but she looked bad when she came in December and we nursed her back.
Nursing her back takes time…you can’t just dump food and drink in…it takes time to rebuild.
Along the way I have been urged to switch to hospice care not because she is end-of-life but because a co-therapy with home medical can be worked out that will get better wound treatment and start physical therapy.
The initial evaluation by a nurse visit was Saturday but she didn’t arrive until 5 PM.
The nurse got a blood pressure reading of 80\40…declared in significant pain…wanted to give her MORPHINE!
Declared me a person “in-denial” that Mom is near death and refused to do anything with her wounds.
That meant I had to involve the grand daughter in the L.A. area who is a full fledged MD who handles elderly care.
No one would listen to me that all she needs is food and drink and good rest because she hasn’t had any.
So…the grand daughter says so low a BP means bringing her back in to the hospital.
Meanwhile in the less than 24 hours I have barely gotten food and drink in her…I was in the ER getting Gatorade in her Saturday night.
The every half hour Blood pressure reading? 130\100!
I get there Sunday and what do I find?
No food
No drink
No IV getting fluids in her.
Her legs bent up in a painful position.
No antibiotics for her wounds.
Her mouth is bone dry!
Doctor [NAME REMOVED} who says…”I don’t care what her vitals are…I’m going off the notes from hospice that says you are a person in denial and she is about dead!”
I started getting her Gatorade in her which perked her up and told my brother to bring food when he came down.
Then I went to the nurses station to ask the nurse about anti-biotics being administered for known infected wounds…and the nurse said she would check into that…and I told her that i had my brother bringing food…she said Mom is on a no food restriction I literally told her in front of like 30 people “I don’t see how starving a 96 year old is beneficial!”
Suddenly they at least hooked up an IV for fluids…and eventually started antibiotics.
I got some more Gatorade in her and went home til a night session.
I was literally feeding her applesauce in front of the night nurse who is telling me she is on a no-food restriction because she might get some fluid in her lungs and get pneumonia!
But she saw mom and visitors needed to leave and she lied to me and said she would finish giving the applesauce!
I got there this AM…still no food or drink!
I had to fight to get the speech evaluation moved up to get the food and drink restriction off.
I finally got it done.
Where the F is the Common Sense that if you starve and don’t get water into the mouth of a 96 year old for days that she will have bad physical things happen!
What…is she now only going to get sustenance off an IV?
That’s NOT what she was released on by the doctor just 48 f’ing hours ago!
OH…I’m just a person “in-denial!”
This was then followed up by a call from Protective Services. The author was accused of parental abuse! The jaw of the Protective Services agent could be heard dropping through the phone as he realized what had happened in the last week.
The Author was not in denial. It didn’t have to end like this. But that is all “water under the bridge now.” There is only one way out of hospice.
