Hi, All!
Mom had a good night after a 'maintenance' dose of morphine. Supposedly one should not wait until a patient is consciously complaining about pain before administering a fresh dose because subsequent doses generally have to be bigger. When Mom started to moan while claiming not to be in any pain we should ask for a fresh dose, without the increase in dosage.
Nurse Amelia did a superb turning of Mom on to the left side. After she fed Mom her usual meds, no BP meds yet, Mom finished the applesauce and wanted more, a third of a new container. The nurse included a tablet of Lortab, another painkiller. The IV drip now has less sodium, .045 % sodium chloride, and 5% dextrose. The nurse just hung a smaller bag with 5% dextrose and potassium. Mom's groans became less pronounced.
Pastor Alan dropped by. Mom was quite alert. When I asked her to thank Pastor Alan for saying a prayer she started counting in Malay. She then blurted out, "God bless you" very clearly. When I asked her who taught her that she said she heard it. She then said, "Goodbye" to Pastor Alan.
Dr Palacio came with his team. Dr Vu said he changed the med in Mom's breathing treatment. It looks like the thoracic surgeon didn't use up all the bleomycin which means that there is a possibility of a repeat of the peurodesis procedure instead of a pigtail catheter to continue draining the fluid build up. When I asked about food intake they said to feed her as much as she wants.
I decided to let Mom sip some of the chicken broth in her breakfast tray. Unfortunately, she started coughing after her fourth sip. Dr Reisfield came by about then and advised that we should sit Mom up a little more when we feed her. He said that Mom's breathing was a little more difficult but admit that the slight gurgling sound could be from swallowing the chicken broth the wrong way. We asked him about taking Mom to Houston. He said Mom is not in a stable enough condition for a plane ride because the plane cabin needs to be pressurized at 7000 feet and above. He would not expect Mom to survive such a long journey, and said that moving her would be a grave error. He stopped the order for Lortab and said the morphine has to be injected for more efficient delivery - the alimentary canal is not optimal and the kidney may be too stressed.
Nurse came with a Benadryl tablet because Mom had been complaining of itching, It took several spoonfuls of applesauce before she swallowed all the Benadryl powder. I asked Mom she she wanted more she nodded. She finished up the second container!
I helped the nurse turn Mom to her right side. She slept calmly for a while, but then she started to moan a little more. The nurse said it may be because the chest tube is on her right side. She gave Mom a 2 mg shot of morphine saying that if that doesn't calm her down after 30 minutes she will give her another 2 mg.
Take care. Love,
jonah
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