Tuesday, January 28, 2014

the good and the bad

Yesterday was ANOTHER hard day.

On the positive side...

  • cath is out
  • she is off all blood pressure meds
  • she got her central line out
  • she stepped down to a regular cardiac room
  • she was able to walk around the floor a couple of times

Mom spent most of the day sleeping off and on but when she was awake she was not very alert.  She seems to refuse to wake and talk to my dad or the nurses but when Dr. Ball, her surgeon, comes in she is wide awake and talking to him.  When she talks to my dad or the nurses she doesn't seem to make sense, she seems to stay in a confused state of mind.

It is hard to see her progress physically but be so confused mentally.  There are a couple of possibilities.  The pain medication, Percoset, can cause this or a syndrome called ICU Psychosis and it is what it sounds like. When you spend time in ICU and hear all alarms, get pricked repeatedly, have blood drawn constantly and deal with all that goes on in ICU it can cause you to go into a state of confusion.  

They are leaving her on Percoset for fear of pain returning but they are experimenting with dosage today.  Dr. Ball says what she is dealing with is not unusual.

Pray where you feel led.  My dad is very tired so remember him too!

1 comment:

miranda said...

Praying for you all Elizabeth! How hard! I do know from my grandparents having lots of times in the hospital, especially heart related, that confusion is common and hard to diagnose at times. Probably is from the pain meds, praying it is resolved quickly and her progress continues, Praising the Lord for keeping her safe and bringing her out of ICU!!