Day 17 – Someone Got Feisty! – Saturday, April 22

Kim here…

I arrived a little later than usual this morning. I actually slept until after 8:00! Spent a little bit of time with Chad and Sam figuring out our game plan for the day. I plan on staying only until about 4 today. It feels a little weird and it’s hard to have to choose, but I know I can’t spend all of my time here at the hospital. We are all trying to find a balance in spending time with mom, work/school, and stuff around the house (it’s not good when the family is running out of underwear…).

I spoke with the morning nurse and she told me that the night was *fairly* uneventful. Apparently someone felt so good yesterday that she’s getting antsy to get out of here. I was told that she pulled out a couple of her IVs. These IVs weren’t being used for anything. If you’re in the hospital you have them put in in case they need to administer meds quickly. The nurse replaced one and it’s now wrapped in gauze. She was smart and put it on her right arm. Either it’s safe because she doesn’t have enough mobility in her left to bother with it or it’ll give her motivation to start using that side. If I hear that she pulled it off with her left hand I honestly won’t be mad in the least. 😉

I’m letting her nap for a little bit. She’s going to be getting a visit from a friend soon and I want her to be able to enjoy that.

OH! Yesterday after I left, her Pastors from her church came to see her. I got a text from them that mom was able to write well enough that they could read what she wrote! She wrote “pray for me”! I know that so many people are. Please continue to do so. I think it’s working!

It’s now 5:00PM. I just got home from another really good visit with mom. She wasn’t giving anyone a hard time when I was there. Her friend (and my 2nd mom) arrived this afternoon and we all had a nice visit. Apparently we were talking too much because mom got our attention and did the “yappity yap” sign with her hand. When we were talking with her she would give us certain looks that made us laugh. Some of her reactions are priceless. It’s so awesome to see her personality and sense of humor in there. I have been reading in a couple of support group sites that it’s not uncommon for someone to have a personality change. I really hope that’s not the case.

Her blood pressure was up today. I know that they are working on her heart meds and I was told that one of them does have some component that might affect her BP. It seems to be trending a little high today so the nurse was going to speak with the physician to see if they intend on making adjustments. Other than that, all of her numbers look really good today. Her heart rate is beautiful. Still afib-free and beating between 57-62 beats per minute.

She let me take a picture of her and I think she is looking GREAT!!

I told her I’d be back tomorrow after church. I left as she started to doze off. I know that another of her friends was on her way to see her. I really hope that visit went well. It’s a little hard for me when I am not there to monitor her visitors. I just have to trust that the nurses will kick out anyone that seems to be riling her up.