This past month we have been dealing with the aftermath of a very bad fall my 87 year old mother had. She is hospitalized with an extensive internal bruising all down the side of her face and into her neck. she is frail but spunky. She has been living alone in her apartment with five hours of care split through the day. She has always wanted to stay in her little place and grow old there and eventually die there. We all wanted that for her too.
During her stay in the hospital she was not only recovering but dealing with a new doctor and there was a quest to find out why exactly she was falling and why her red blood cell count was continuously dropping. Mom just wanted to go home. That's all we wanted for her too. Much effort went into preparing her apartment. Large pieces of furniture was removed in case of a further fall. She was set up not to have to leave her bedroom at night and there were clear paths throughout the apartment to make it as safe as possible.
It was looking like Mom might be able to finish her days as she had planned, and we all felt happy about that.
That was until her new doctor decided he wanted to change her medication. We had been down this road before. She had seen two different pain specialists and took years to get her pain medication right. You see Mom was not only elderly she is a chronic pain sufferer. She has spinal stenosis and severe osteoarthritis. With a stomach bleed many years ago from a anti-inflammatory she was left managing pain with pain medications and anti convulsive medication. With help of a pain specialist it was managed well for the most part.
It was managed well, that is, until she got a new medical doctor who always felt she was an overmedicated senior citizen and started changing things. This happened a lot to my mother as she was in a small town where doctors come and go constantly.
Unfortunately for her this was one of those times. Her fall literally happened as she was changing doctors once again, and you guessed it, he thought the fall was due to her being over medicated. Once again her medication was changed.
It didn't happen immediately, but it did happen. My mother who was recovering nicely began to have tremendous pain. It was then treated on a case by case, or pain, by pain method. Sometimes she was given Tylenol sometimes she was given nothing to finally being given shots of morphine. it really just depended on how much knowledge and empathy the nurse looking after her had whether that made that call to the doctor once again for an order for pain medication.
One thing I know for sure about pain is it weakens your resolve and given weaken your will to live. My mother jokingly asked "Where is Dr. Kevorkian when you need him" . I knew it wasn't much of a joke. I also knew she was tired of fighting for peace within her body and trying to convince doctors that the pain was real.
The call came one day after I arrived home. She had agreed to go into a seniors home. She had seen yet another doctor and he had talked to her about the dangers of living alone, she was no longer able to disagree, she conceded.
I sincerely hope that her decision is a good one. I do know that if pain wasn't a factor she would be going home to her apartment today.
During her stay in the hospital she was not only recovering but dealing with a new doctor and there was a quest to find out why exactly she was falling and why her red blood cell count was continuously dropping. Mom just wanted to go home. That's all we wanted for her too. Much effort went into preparing her apartment. Large pieces of furniture was removed in case of a further fall. She was set up not to have to leave her bedroom at night and there were clear paths throughout the apartment to make it as safe as possible.
It was looking like Mom might be able to finish her days as she had planned, and we all felt happy about that.
That was until her new doctor decided he wanted to change her medication. We had been down this road before. She had seen two different pain specialists and took years to get her pain medication right. You see Mom was not only elderly she is a chronic pain sufferer. She has spinal stenosis and severe osteoarthritis. With a stomach bleed many years ago from a anti-inflammatory she was left managing pain with pain medications and anti convulsive medication. With help of a pain specialist it was managed well for the most part.
It was managed well, that is, until she got a new medical doctor who always felt she was an overmedicated senior citizen and started changing things. This happened a lot to my mother as she was in a small town where doctors come and go constantly.
Unfortunately for her this was one of those times. Her fall literally happened as she was changing doctors once again, and you guessed it, he thought the fall was due to her being over medicated. Once again her medication was changed.
It didn't happen immediately, but it did happen. My mother who was recovering nicely began to have tremendous pain. It was then treated on a case by case, or pain, by pain method. Sometimes she was given Tylenol sometimes she was given nothing to finally being given shots of morphine. it really just depended on how much knowledge and empathy the nurse looking after her had whether that made that call to the doctor once again for an order for pain medication.
One thing I know for sure about pain is it weakens your resolve and given weaken your will to live. My mother jokingly asked "Where is Dr. Kevorkian when you need him" . I knew it wasn't much of a joke. I also knew she was tired of fighting for peace within her body and trying to convince doctors that the pain was real.
The call came one day after I arrived home. She had agreed to go into a seniors home. She had seen yet another doctor and he had talked to her about the dangers of living alone, she was no longer able to disagree, she conceded.
I sincerely hope that her decision is a good one. I do know that if pain wasn't a factor she would be going home to her apartment today.
