Monday Update

Mom had a sweet sleep after a highly unusual Sunday.


The convulsions Mom began to experience Saturday night continued through Sunday. It seemed every time she began to relax and drift into sleep the convulsions started again, often coupled with vertigo symptoms. She was an endless fountain of information, talking almost constantly about people she used to know, people in the room that weren't there, job duties from years ago at Traverse City State Bank, and the status of her house chores and equipment. Suzy likened her behavior to someone who hadn't slept for several days and had been guzzling Mountain Dew. She dialed up every complex word in her extensive vocabulary and used them in very creative ways. Her humor was Rose Mary snappy, hold the sweet. Bill, Pattie, Cody and Jessy came up for an Easter visit yesterday afternoon and had very interesting and memorable time with her (we're writing some of the conversations down this morning, to be filtered and shared with you later). She was very amusing and was amused by us, but we were anxious to have our sweet Mom back.

Dr. Dabney agreed to place her back on the catheter yesterday; Mom was spasm free for over 24 hours by that time. Part of her spasm issues may have been the size of the catheter balloon. Standardly, 10 cc's of fluid is in the balloon, but Mom had 30 cc's. This may have caused irritation to the bladder. Suzy wishes she had gone to medical school - you don't know the right questions to ask if you have no reason to question. Having the catheter back is good news. It keeps Mom clean and confident. Yesterday Mom told me, "A woman's confidence is key to her sense of security." She doesn't remember saying it, but she is so, so right. And so far, so good. No spasms.

Today Mom is feeling good. Her sweetness is back, as well as much of her coordination and her sense of reality. She had oatmeal, an orange, and Ensure for breakfast. Sometime today she'll eat the cake that Pattie made for her yesterday, and the chocolate Easter cow they brought for her. Yesterday Billy got Mom to eat just one of the ears, so there's a lot left for her to enjoy.

Dr. Galloway noticed yesterday that Mom's bilirubin level increased again - now at 2.9 - so she ordered an ultrasound of her liver. Mom went for the ultrasound this morning before breakfast. Dr. Galloway also wants to move Mom to rehab as soon as she is up to it so they can work on her mobility before she comes home. We love Dr. Galloway.

Thanks for your prayers. More later.