Trip to Mesquite

4/14/10 10:20am

I think that I spoke to most of you yesterday but here is what happened.

At noon Nevada time I received a call from the RN at the hospital indicating that Mother would be transferred to the care center in Mesquite within the hour. I immediately jumped in the car and headed to St George to be with her. I arrived at 1:30.

Mother looked much better than when Greg and Bill were with her. The stroke that affected her facial muscles on her right side showed no evidence that she had a stroke. She looked good. Her pain and discomfort was a different story however. She was suffering beyond anything you could imagine.

I spoke with the nurse and requested something for pain. She was preparing a syringe to put into her IV. I wondered what she was thinking because they had removed her IV sometime before I arrived.

She said “oh I forgot she doesn’t have an IV anymore, I will get it in a pill form”.

This was at 1:45. At 2:00 I asked to find out where the pain med was and was told that she was waiting for a Dr’s order. I wondered how she was willing to give it to her in an IV but could not dispense it in a pill form without a Dr’s order.

Anyway at 2:45 she finally received a pain pill. Through all this the care center was about one hour late. At 3:00 they finally showed up. They tried to move her but Mother refused. She was still in too much pain. The care center had another patient to pick up so they when up to the second floor to retrieve that patient.

After they left, Mother needed her bed pan so I left the room while they helped her with that. Finally at 3:30 they had her loaded in a mobile chair (it looks like a recliner but with wheels).

I really don’t have words to describe how hard this all was. I wondered if Mother should be leaving the hospital. She would not respond to much when I spoke to her. She would just look off into space. She would cry out in pain when moved. Her will to live was gone or that is what It looked like to me. She didn’t want to face the trial that awaited her. It was so hard for me because I couldn’t do anything about it but just try to offer her comfort.

At 4:00 and after lots of pain getting her on the lift in the van, we were on the road headed to Mesquite. I followed the care center transport van home. It was by far the longest dive I took back to Mesquite. I’m not sure if it was the speed of the vehicle or just worrying about mother. I could see her in the large back window of the van. She appeared to be sleeping.

At the care center I had my doubts what to expect with the way mother was responding to this ordeal. I wonder if she would have the will to get better.

After getting her settled in and in her bed, things changed just like turning on a light. I met with her therapist who happens to be my neighbor, Ty Wakefield. He thinks she will recover from the effects of the stroke well and will regain the use of her right arm. Mother told him that she wants to get better, get out of bed and walk.

I fed mother some dinner. After that she perked up and was able to carry on conversations and smile. She seemed reasonably happy.

I don’t have a phone to her room but I will work on that today. She is in room 409. I will let you know more as I get her settled in..