Daily Archives: August 2, 2006

gatorade and sippy cup

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That’s what’s keeping her going (or, rather, NOT going). I bought a sippy cup a while ago at a dollar store, just in case she might need it someday. That day has come, and she’s been sipping gatorade out of if all day. That’s all she’s allowed to ingest for two days — that and an a strong antibiotic, since so far they haven’t found anything apparent that is causing her diarrhea.
It was a bad morning, with her refusing to sit or lie down and insisting on walking, walking, walking. In desperation, I gave her some of my passionflower extract that I got from the health food store and that I use to calm myself down enough to fall asleep. Eventually, she actually relaxed enough so that we all could relax a little.
As for my toe, it’s better today — obviously just a bad bruise.
My garden’s not much for harvesting this year. I keep salvaging tomatoes, but unless I find the time and energy to water what’s there, the pickings will be even slimmer. My flower/planters are so dried out that I’m not sure I can save what’s in them. Too much sun, not enough water. Not enough time to do the watering.
It’s so hard to get all of those balances right.

8 1/2

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That’s eight and a half hours in the ER. We left at 5 p.m. It’s now almost 2 a.m. I haven’t eaten since lunch, and I’m sitting here eating baba ghannouj with a spoon and drinking V-8 Fusion because it hurts when I chew because I had a tooth extracted yesterday.

Mom was severely dehydrated and we couldn’t seem to stop the diarrhea. So they took all kinds of her fluids for testing, stuck a hydrating infusion in her arm, X-rayed her and did a CAT scan of her stomach and intestines. They didn’t find anything that we didn’t already know was there — nothing that would be causing her to spend so much time sitting on the commode. So, just in case, they gave her an antibiotic and we loaded up on gatorade on the way home.

And just to make the day complete, as I was rushing around making sure I had her health insurance info and stuffing extra clothes for her in a bag, along with a water bottle, kleenex etc. etc., my flip-flop caught on something sticking out of her wheelchair and I did some damage to my second toe on my left foot. No time to worry about that, right?

At the hospital, my toe started throbbing; turning purple. I had the option of signing myself into the ER too and have my toe X-rayed, but that would have left my sib to deal with my mother all by himself. My toe hurt and looked gross, but I could bend it and move it, so I figured it’s just a bad bruise. I opted to tend to the reason we were there in the first place.

She is supposed to consume nothing but ginger ale and gatorade for the next two days. If she refuses to drink — as she has been doing midst fits of dementia — it’s back to the hospital and back on the IV.
I’m wondering how they ever manage situations like this in nursing homes. It took two of us to manage the care of one of her.

I’m still hungry. But I’m also tired. I don’t know which need I’ll fill after I post this. Either way, it’s been a hell of a day.