On Friday when I wrote the last update, she was very much out of it and I didn't think she'd make it to Saturday.  However, by Saturday morning she was a bit more alert.  She knew who I was and responded when I said, "Good Morning" by repeating that and saying, "Kevin" as well.  So that is a good sign in terms of where she should be mentally and where she actually is.

Things are confusing because she has "any minute death" symptoms like muscle wasting (Her arms and legs are loose…

  We're at the end of the line.  She's not expected to make it past the weekend at this rate.  Her decline from semi-alert but confused, to completely out of it was rapid.   She can still eat and drink but no longer has any conversation and does not really know much else about what is happening. Though she is generally comfortable when on medication and continues to breath normally.  

At this point, I'm waiting for "labored breathing" which is apparently what is the last stage…

  So, after coming home from work on Tuesday, Mom was laying flat resting and they had installed the catheter.  While this relieved a lot of the stomach pain she was having (Most pain, unless she moved around and then got shots of back pain.) she appeared very much lethargic and tired.

Since then, she's been unable to eat and drink on her own.  I have to give her one pill at a time, and feed her, but she doesn't eat much.  I believe this is because she has to concentrate to…

  Well, this weekend I changed my first diaper.  Except instead of a little baby, I have a 150 pound woman who is in pain as I try to move her around.  

She didn't eat almost anything the last twenty four hours.  She complains of stomach pain, however I'm almost certain this is because she is not going pee.  I don't know why she is resistant to peeing in the diaper, as I've told her time and again that she should pee in the diaper.  She wants to get up and sit on the poo poo…

  Brian is only here for one day, which is Friday.  He is not good in situations like this, but he does the best he can.  Though he practically ran out of here last Saturday, left his food behind.  It's difficult to deal with when someone is in a lot of pain and requires a lot of care.

I try to stay focused on one day at a time.  I've basically been imprisoned in my Mom's house now for about two months.  I figure she has less than a month left.  That is very difficult to say,…

Not too much has changed.  Morning back pain has gotten too severe, so started to give her 2.5mg of morphine in the morning.  This stuff works right away since it's a liquid and in a dropper.  She reacts really well to it.  Unlike movies where you see someone smile and pass-out, she is functional as it's not that big of a dose, but completely kills her pain.  At which point, the rest of the day we give her a vicodin 5mg every six hours, and some 800mg Ibuprofen.  That seems to be…

Yesterday was a busy day.

First, the Social Worker came by the house and talked to Mom.  She got up and sat in her wheelchair and ate breakfast.  Unusual considering she's been in bed mostly the whole time for the past week or so.

That was then followed up with the care worker, who helped her get a shower in.  It was decided that this was the last shower she would be able to take because it was VERY difficult to get her back up the stairs and into her wheelchair.  Spongebath…

So after a week, Mom continues to sleep almost the entire day and eats very little.  She is still lucid and not suffering too much pain except her back which is mitigated with the drugs for the most part.

Because her appetite is poor, I have started to give her V8 juice and other beverages with calories to keep her going.  She seems to tolerate this well and I'm hopeful it will keep her strength up.  I intend to augment this with some shakes or something depending on what she…

  Today was the first day where Mom didn't want to get out of bed and pretty much slept the entire day.  She did get out of bed to take a shower at one point when her aid came to help her, but then went back to bed afterwards.  I'm going to evaluate how she feels tomorrow as her diminishing appetite and increase in sleep could mean she's shutting down.  Her mental faculties seem to be still about the same, although when she's taking Vicodin (For when the pain is especially bad) she…

There hasn't been too much going on recently to really mention so the updates have been slow, which I think is good.

My Mom is experiencing a lot of pain in her lower spine and in her breast area where the lump was originally removed.  She is now taking 800mg of Ibuprofen every six hours for the pain.  That seems to be mostly effective, but when she wakes up it's particularly bad.  

She is fatigued easily, but continues to try and cook and do light things.  Use of the computer…

I moved in with Mom on Saturday.  So far so good.  Cleaning out her poop bucket is the fucking worst and I want to gag whenever I pour it down the toilet.  Gross.  I hope she doesn't start shitting her pants because I'm going to have to hire someone then.  No way can I clean that shit up.  Nasty.  

Larry is watching her a couple days a week while I go into the office.  Brian will watch her on Fridays.  And I'll work from home the other days.  

Right now, my Mom isn't much of a…

So I went over to visit Mom yesterday.  She wasn't feeling too well.  She's lost most of the vision in her right eye.  She asked the nurse for stronger pain medication.  They gave her Ibuprofen 400mg pills for free.  Which I was like, "This is hardly any better than what you have now."  but my Mom was happy since she didn't have to pay for them.

I have some Percocet and Vicodin that I can always give her if she starts having real problems and the Nurse doesn't help.  I don't have an…

  Not much has happened since the last update.  My one Aunt (Rosie) went back to Germany.  My other Aunt informed me that she's going to stay about another two weeks.  However she hasn't scheduled her flight yet.  I think she wants to wait a while longer and see how rapidly my Mom's condition deteriorates.  It's something where she doesn't want to stay if my Mom will live for six months or more.  But if she's going to die in a few weeks, she'll stay.  Which makes sense.

If she…

  So this is interesting...

  When my Mom went to see the Oncologist she had recommended that my Aunt and my Mom go see the Neurologist.  The Neurologist would discuss performing chemo into the spinal fluid.  This would not be a cure, but could potentially lengthen her life but at the risk of some harmful side effects.

We discussed this with my Mom, and after some thought, she determined that she didn't want to get a port installed in her head (For the chemo) and that…

On Thursday a company called Apria delivered a bed and wheelchair to the house.  

On Friday, Mom came home.  We put the bed in the dining room and bought her a portable toilet.  She needs assistance walking and getting around, but not too bad.

Saturday, we had everyone in the family over for pizza.  I spent $75 on five pizza's.  So I hope Brian's family is happy because it was mainly them.

Our Mom sat Brian and I down to discuss the fact that she's going to die.  She is…

General

So, my life has been pretty much the same for a while.



Over Christmas Break I played lots of video games, watched lots of anime, and enjoyed my rest.

College



Sadly, I made all C's and one F in my first semester of College. This was due to what I've written about before in how I had issues with studying and doing homework.…

  Tonight my Mom's sisters arrive from Germany.  I will be picking them up and taking them to my Mom's house and getting them squared away with whatever they need.

The team at the rehab center is working on discharging her.  First, I will get a visit from "Home Care" which will inspect her house and make sure it is setup in such a way that she can be taken care of properly.  They look to see if she needs handles on the shower and that kind of stuff.  

In the meantime,…

So the Parma Hospital won't take her.  We're looking at the Old Folks Home now.  Waiting to find out if her insurance will allow her to go there.  Either way, we're going to get her on Monday or Tuesday and bring her home.  This moving to rehab thing is mostly just an exercise to put her somewhere while we wait for her sisters to arrive and take her.

Some talk about getting Hospice, Wheelchair, Bedpans, Hospital Bed for her at home.  As it is, right now, I'm not the Medical Power of…

Here's what's new...

My two Aunt's (Herta and Rosemarie) are flying in from Germany on February 4th.  Rosemarie is staying for two weeks, and Herta will stay the duration, we're assuming.  This is good news for all concerned because it means my Mom can come home as someone will be there to watch and care for her.

As it stands right now, my Mom is mostly normal.  She can have a conversation and has no real confusion and the bulk of her memory.  She forgets small things, like she…

I figured I would continue to update this blog so that people can understand some of the difficulties faced when a parent passes and you are stuck dealing with the Estate.  And I'll update on Mom's status as things progress.

So, we went to her house and cleaned out her refrigerator of anything spoiled.  We anticipate that she is still going to be coming home for awhile.  We're not sure when or how long, but we're leaving everything in the house, for the most part.  I took the…