General Update #29

11:16 a.m. - Nurse's aides arrived to take Joyce's vitals. The student aide was given the lead in collecting the information from Joyce as she needed the training experience. Senior nurse's aide oversaw work done. Oxygen level at 94%. Temperature was 98.5 degrees. Blood pressure reading was at 121/74. Pulse was 75. Joyce resumed sleeping in her recliner following their departure.

11:47 a.m. - Nurse's aides arrived to collect Joyce's blood sugar levels. Reading was 220. Joyce asked if that was bad. Nurse's aides stated that it was better it was a little high than a little low because Joyce was currently in "NPO" (sp?) status.

12:40 p.m. - Becky arrived and asked Joyce how she was feeling, Joyce reported her back is feeling pretty good, but that her neck was twisted in an awkward position from napping (sleeping since blood sugar levels were taken at 11:47 a.m.). Joyce adjusted herself under her own power (the pillows behind her hampered her movements, though, so she still needed help). Joyce's ability to move and adjust on her own surprised Becky as Joyce expressed little visible pain on her face or verbal outcry as she shifted herself about. Becky asked Joyce if she wanted to return to the bed. Joyce wanted to remain in the chair. Joyce requested blanket and Becky had one of her nurse's aides bring in a pre-warmed blanket from their storage area. Becky reminded Joyce she is in a recliner and can have her feet propped up. Joyce expressed that would be nice to use. Nurse's aide made Joyce comfortable in reclined position with heated blanket and Joyce was highly pleased, stating "Oh, that feels so good!"

12:45 p.m. - Nurse's aide brought in mouth swabs, as Joyce is under NPO (no water intake permitted at this time), so mom can dip it into a small cup of water and re-hydrate her mouth and lips. Joyce did not realize she was having water witheld from her for the NPO (Dusty assumes that must have gone into effect when Dr. Brown came through earlier and he was absent using the bathroom).  

12:57 p.m. - Karen arrived to visit with Dusty. She said that she had visited with Cassandra over at the Good Samaritan regarding Joyce's current condition according to Dr. Brown (not likely to be fit for discharge from Gritman until tomorrow). Cassandra said that Good Samaritan would not be able to bring Joyce over tomorrow, if Joyce is cleared to depart Gritman at that time, as they won't have the staff to facilitate. Current plan now is for Joyce to be moved to Good Samaritan on Monday (assuming Joyce's bowel issues are resolved by that time). 

Message(s) from Joyce:
None.

Participant observation:
Joyce might benefit from using a travel pillow/"U-shape" pillow in the future when returning to the farm as she frequently sleeps upright in her chair in the kitchen (assuming she does not already have one and just has not been using it). Joyce expressed that when she often falls asleep in her chair at home her head stays at awkward angles and then is painful as she straightens out upon waking.

Current location:
Gritman Medical Center, Room 202.

Current pain level:
Unknown. 

Visiting information:
Confirmed with nurse's station shift leader at 11:05 a.m. (on 6/6/2020) - currently only 1 visitor per day for Joyce, no exceptions. Once current visitor departs Joyce's room, no further visits for the rest of the day. No swapping out visitors (example, Dusty cannot remain on hospital grounds while Craig goes to sit with Joyce for an hour and then Dusty returns to room).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

General Update #92

07/24/2020 Dusty missed calling Joyce due to personal schedule conflicts. 07/25/2020 Dusty called in to check with Joyce at 1 p.m. following a training session he attended for Scouts BSA. Lunch today was spaghetti "with a delicious meat sauce," a side of veggies and dessert was vanilla pudding. Joyce confessed that she might not have remembered it had the tray not still been sitting beside her with the remnants of the meal. She had today off from physical therapy but did have speech/mental therapy. She said that some of the questions that the speech therapists ask her are "laughable" because they ask her if she has lived in rural areas and then ask her about what she thinks living in the rural areas are like after already verifying she lives in the country. Dusty suggested that the therapists are trying to use something basic, like knowledge of Joyce living in the country, to then ask questions about living in the country to see how Joyce recalls information or rela...
Read more

General Update #95

07/27/2020 Dusty called Joyce to check in and wish her a good night while he was preparing dinner for Jess. Joyce was alert and quite talkative. Dusty reviewed the plan for the telehealth appointment scheduled for tomorrow and Joyce stated that no one had told her that was occurring. Dusty suggested to Joyce that they were going to visit with her tomorrow morning ahead of the appointment based on what Rachael had told him and Joyce concurred. Dusty questioned Joyce about her decline of participating in the urinary incontinence therapy as well as her reported lack of performance with physical therapy. Joyce stated that she had been looking forward to the urinary incontinence therapy work but according to her they only spoke to her once about it and then never again approached her about it.  Joyce felt like they don't do enough PT with her even though she wants to do more PT. She cited today that they only had her walk back and forth using parallel bars for a few minutes before givin...
Read more

General Update #85

Dusty and Jess called Joyce in the evening on July 4 to wish her a happy Independence Day.  Joyce reported that her pain levels were fairly low, even after doing upper body physical therapy work earlier in the day. She was a little disappointed with her meals served. She had been hoping that they would serve hot dogs and potato salad for lunch or dinner but none were to be had. Joyce could not recall what she ate for any of her three meals she was served. At the time of the phone call Joyce had not seen any fireworks out her north facing window but she could hear several concussive blasts of fireworks being set off near Dusty and Jess' apartment.  Joyce said that she did not see or hear the Let Freedom Ring Tour (a B-25 Mitchell, a F-7F Tigercat, a P-47 Thunderbolt, a P40N Warhawk, and a P51D Mustang), which was sponsored by Hangar180 , fly overhead around 5:45 p.m. but she might've missed it most likely owing to having been napping at the time. She stated that she was excited...
Read more