Transfusion #21

We talked with Dr. Thaludi this morning. She is the floor doctor keeping tabs on Mom for today. She said Mom's platelet count had dropped to 7K so they gave her a transfusion of 2 units of platelets. She said Mom's red blood cell count, which is at 8.7 now, might also drop lower due to the infection; if it does she will get a transfusion of those as well. Today is Dr. Thaludi's last day of the week, tomorrow Dr. Kamai comes on duty & will be here for the next 5 days. (I think Dr. Kamai was the internist that saw Mom in September the day before we were leaving for Las Vegas.) Dr. Thaludi said if Mom has a lot of bacteria in her blood, the culture they are doing should begin showing signs tomorrow. If she has fewer organisms it may take until Friday to see anything. In the meanwhile, Mom stays in the hospital with an antibiotic drip to knock out whatever is causing the pneumonia. She will not be excited to hear she has to stay for a few more days.

 

Mom was very confused today when she was talking to Larry, the volunteer from the church. Larry asked where she lived and she couldn't remember; I told him Kaimuki. He asked what it was like and she began to describe where she grew up on the Big Island. As she started to tell him about a tunnel at the edge of the cane field she asked me if I knew about it; I didn't. She said she would show me when we got home after she got out of the hospital, so I thought she meant the Diamond Head tunnel. She said no, not Diamond Head, but at the edge of the cane field behind the chicken coop. She could not distinguish between things in Honolulu and things on the Big Island. She referred to both as "home" and appeared to think they were the same place.

When they came to get a signature for approval to do the transfusion Mom also could not remember why she came to the emergency room. In fact, she could not remember being in the emergency room at all. She did not remember about fracturing her rib either. So they had Curtis, who has medical power of attorney, sign the paperwork for her. We found out that I am second in line for the medical power of attorney, so if Curt is not around, I can sign for Mom.

Curt and I are taking turns sitting with Mom during her "waking" hours; though she sleeps most of the time during the day. He was at the hospital at about 8:30 this morning, which allowed me to feed Dad, do dishes, and a load of laundry. I also stopped by to check for Momo and got to the hospital around 11:30. Curt left about 12:30 to do errands and the Costco run. He brought the supplies back to the hospital and we did the transfer in the parking garage. I left at about 4:30 to get back to make dinner for Dad. Curt stayed until about 10 pm, similar to last night.

This morning I started cleaning up the used towels & sheets. I found only 4 items that Sarah, Kaia, David, & Randi forgot. Although they might have left the aerosol can on purpose.

I'm sure the little towel is Kaia's. Not sure who the others belong to.

I also found a stash of disposable Handi-Wipes that Mom apparently washed, dried, & neatly folded for future use. Many are stained, so I threw them out. Since it was at the back of the drawer I don't think she will miss them.


And I also found a stash of used masks; 22 to be exact. There were 16 in several bags in the bathroom closet, 4 are from Mom's purse (some were loose), and 2 were in her bedroom. I can tell that they are used because almost all have lipstick on them. Mom doesn't understand why keeping old masks around can be hazardous to her health; she thinks its a waste of money to get rid of a mask after one use. This bout with pneumonia has only reinforced how dangerous an infection can be for her.

Clockwise from L: saved in bathroom closet, from Mom's purse, & from Mom's bedroom.

I had lunch at the hospital. I decided to try the panini sandwich. It had smoked turkey, pepper jack, & avocado. The Sunshine Cafe is really close to Mom's room, probably about 100 feet down the hall; we can see the dining room portion from Mom's window. The prepared food portion is open from 7 am to 6:30 pm; the dining area is open 24/7 and has vending machines for food, juice, water, and coffee.


When the sun came out, the trees outside Mom's window looked fairly nice. I finally figured out what these trees are: Eucalyptus deglupta, aka rainbow eucalyptus.


Happy Birthday to Barbara, Jackson, Amelia, & Darwin! Happy Sticky Bun Day! Tomorrow get ready to celebrate Cook a Sweet Potato Day and Margarita Day.