Month: March 2018

The first full day in the rehab center began with a chat with the Doc, Jane. Dagmar suggested beginning the weaning process from the Narco, so she is down to one pill every four hours plus Tylenol as needed in between for breakthrough pain. Mom’s spirits have been relatively high, and the folks here seem very nice, if a bit more haphazard than the hospital.  She’s going to the bathroom all on her own now, and sitting up quite a bit! She deserved a treat…

And we had a surprise visitor! What a great(ers) first day!!

So, what a difference a day makes!!

Yesterday, momma was itchy and uncomfortable the night before and all morning.

But around noon they seem to have found a happy place in her medication regimen. Yay! She seemed very well rested this morning. She didn’t scratch once all day. And she has been in and out of sleep most of the day, so her pain seems to be well managed. She walked about 50-60 feet in her PT today, and she had most of a burger for lunch. Also, she is off of all the IV medications and weaned down to half the pill count they started her with. Tylenol is her drug of choice, but they are being careful not to overdo it to protect her liver.

She is off of all IV meds, but still on oxygen, so they will transport her to the rehab facility, rather than making her ride with me. That way, she can stay reclined, on oxygen, and hooked up to her leg pumps on the way. I will meet her there this afternoon with all her stuff and get her settled. Off to the races!! ?

Dagmar’s resting on and off. Her vitals are good, she’s started using her spirometer 10 times an hour, and she even mumbled that the muscle relaxer was working. We’ve got her hooked up with fresh ice and her own breathing machine. So now it’s quiet til physical therapy arrives to bring on the pain.

Mom was in good spirits this morning. I told her the snow would end when her long winter of knee surgeries was complete. Her vitals were strong in pre-op though she was grumpy because it took two pokes to get the IV set. But she laughed when we shared all the ways it could be worse. By the way she mentioned smelling a strange new odor over the last couple weeks, a slight sweet vanilla smell. I figure definitely could be worse things than vanilla scented skin, but she mentioned it several times. So I smelled her and can honestly report there is no vanilla that I can detect.

More to come when we get to recovery.