Home Pass

Well, one of the days mom has been looking forward to finally got here and almost didn't happen. I get to the hospital early to make sure we have time to get mom ready and fill out the paperwork for the home visit, and the nurse tells me there are orders from the doctor stating no home visit. Mom became very upset, I'm confused, and so are the regular nurses (mom had a sub today). The nursing staff and I have been talking about this visit for days. I had the nurse page the doctor, and he called within a few minutes. I had the nurse pass the phone to me and doc and I had a discussion. He stated that Friday they had a meeting and decided mom was too weak for a home visit, and he wanted her to rest. My reply to that was one, where else would be better to rest than her own bed, and two some communication would be nice. I had planned the whole day, with family coming down and all. I also expressed that I though I was just as capable as the hospital,to providing all the care she needed for the day. With some reluctance he wrote orders for the nurse to allow a 2-4 hour home visit. This made mom a little happier.

So we pack up and go home. Moms sister and niece, came down and stayed for the whole visit. As usual mom really enjoyed the visit from family. Time with her sister is the best medicine she can get. I realized today that when they are together, its one of the few times I get to see her smile. Smiles are few and far between, and I cherish them every time I get to see them. We ran out and got mom some fast food. I bet it really tasted good after 2 weeks of hospital food from the dysphagia menu. I kept her out for a little longer than I was supposed to, so she got to hang out at home for almost 5 hours. Not near long enough.

One of the negative points of the visit, was the realization that moms PSP symptoms are worse and she's going to require a lot more care than before. Bottom line is before the fall she could walk anywhere in her room without help, and now shes going to need help to move anywhere. This scares the crap out of me, but we'll just have to take it one day at a time.