So DH's mom is in the hospital (again) as of early this morning. She's been there 5 times in the past 2 months, 2 of those times were in the past 4 days. It's really getting bad. There is nothing they can do for her. She's down to about 92 pounds at 5'4" (and some of that is water weight from the swelling), her liver is at 30% function from the cirrhosis, she is blind in one eye from macular degeneration, she shakes horribly (likely just from fatigue, being underweight, and everything else that is going on in her system), has a terrible cough from her ongoing MAC lung disease she has had for over 5 years that is controlled by antibiotics but will never get better, and 5 days ago she found she was no longer able to stand up without help and she couldn't walk. She's in terrible pain.
DH's stepdad went and got her a walker yesterday and picked up the muscle relaxers the doctor prescribed for her. She ate pretty good last night apparently and the muscle relaxers took the edge off. Then this morning DH's stepdad was helping her get up to use the bathroom and on the way back to bed, her legs gave out on her and she collapsed, so another ambulance ride to the ER. At one point this morning while at the ER her BP was down to 50/30 from the pain meds they gave her so she can't be in a regular room, she is going to need constant monitored care. Hub's on his way down there shortly and they are going to transfer her to the main hospital ICU downtown.
DH and I think her system is shutting down. It's really time for hospice because she can't rest at the hospital and they keep poking and prodding her trying to get blood, moving her for scans and X-rays, and she bruises so easily that she's sore from the trip there a few days ago. And the kicker is that she has said repeatedly that she doesn't want to die in a hospital, yet apparently FIL doesn't want her to die in his house, though he hasn't said so, because every time she has some sort of episode he calls an ambulance. It's time for DH to intervene on his mom's behalf. Our house isn't setup for her to come here as our guest rooms are upstairs ( plus no bathroom up there even if we could get her moved up there), and we only have our bedroom and master bath, kitchen, dining room and a half-bath on the lower level (we have a wall up between my stepson's wing of the house and our side so it's inaccessible (except for going outside of our front entrance and entering his wing through his front entrance) and it's a wreck over on Jr's side anyway, we would have to hire a cleaning crew to come sort it out, and Jr works nights, too...).
And then there is DH's stepdad, who had quadruple bypass surgery over this past Christmas and also had shoulder replacement surgery in March. He went a few weeks back to his cardiologist and found out that 3 of the 4 bypasses have failed and they can't go back in and fix it. He has congestive heart failure and his heart is at 30%. He isn't supposed to drive (yet he stubbornly still does), he is supposed to avoid exertion and going up and downstairs--which he ignores, and he basically is a ticking time bomb, and we have offered to run errands and cook meals for them but he refuses (we did all that during the time he had his surgeries and after, while he was recuperating, because he simply wasn't capable physically) but now he thinks he is superman and is delusional, and there is just no talking sense into the old coot. Sigh.
So DH's on his way down to the ER shortly and I am going to eat and shower, then go downtown when they transport her and get her settled, which could be several hours. I guess I need to rearrange my work schedule for this week. No idea how long she will hold on, no idea if they will run tests and send her home (again) with the statement, "There is nothing we can do for her" (like they have said each time in the past few months).
And to top it all off, youngest stepdaugher and her fiance are getting married on August 4, which is MIL's birthday, so if she passes on or is too gravely ill to attend, it is going to be a very sad occasion instead of a joyous one.
