Further Update on Mom

Talk about ups and downs!

Mom was sleeping peacefully when I arrived this morning about 8:00. I found out later she’d been awake until about 6:30.

When she woke up a little later, she ate a bite of hash browns and started choking. She couldn’t stop so I called the nurse, who promptly told me to press the Code Blue button. A mass of different medical staff descended on the room and after a few minutes managed to get Mom breathing again. Her blood saturation level was 77 right after the incident. They hooked her up to oxygen again and she pretty much slept the rest of the day. They didn’t want her to try to eat until tonight.

She didn’t stir when my cousin Richard came to see her, but when her supper came in, I tried to wake her up, and after a while, she stirred enough to eat. You won’t believe it, but she ate:

1. All of her mashed potatoes
2. 3 teaspoons of pureed chicken
3. 2/3 of a bowl of pea soup (also pureed)
4. 2/3 of a carton of fortified strawberry shake
5. 1 1/2 cups of iced tea
6. 1 bite of pureed cord (she did not like that)

Granted, I fed her and was very careful to give her small amounts at once and made sure she swallowed it before giving her more. I also tried to see that followed the nurse’s advice and dipped her head down when she swallowed. Those of you have seen her eat lately know that she has a habit of storing food in her cheeks like a chipmunk then spitting it out once she’s gotten all of the flavor out.  She only coughed a little one time.

Once she was done eating, she was obviously getting tired so Richard and I left. I hope she has a peaceful sleep-filled night so she’ll be a little more alert tomorrow.

Thanks for your prayers.

Until next time…