As I walked into Englewood Hospital tonight at about 8:30, the skies were clearing. The brooding clouds were shifting, passing right before my eyes like slides in a slide show, the fast way they do. All evening, I'd heard on the radio that there was a "severe thunderstorm watch" until 9 o'clock. We were threatened--the dark sky was brewing up what looked to be a menacing storm on the Garden State Parkway North near the Route 4 exit. But, amazing grace, we were spared.
And Dad is doing better tonight, too. His kidney function hasn't improved, and he has a burning, painful rash and another infection, but he is much more himself, in much better humor. And almost completely lucid. Sis also found out when she visited today that his regular doctors will be back tomorrow. She said the woman doctor in charge has been acting like we're just waiting for Dad to die or something--writing him off.
Monday night in the ER and last night in the hospital, it was scary. He was saying really strange things, like:
Did you tell Anthony? Does Anthony know? [Anthony was his oldest brother, who died in New Haven in September 2001. He was very close to his two older brothers.]
Where are we? Who are those people out there? [The people beyond the curtain were the bustling ER nurses and doctors.]
You can sleep over. It's okay. I can sleep on the couch and you can sleep here. No, really, Al. And Maureen can call Ted and tell him she's sleeping over.
Do you have scissors? Did you bring a pair of scissors so I can cut this thing off? [Referring to his hospital bracelet and the catheter. He did manage to pull his IV out the first night.]
What about Jim and Gloria? Did you call them? Why not? At any rate, I haven't seen Jim yet. [Jim is the oldest of my mother's three younger brothers; he and my godmother, Aunt Gloria, live up in Connecticut, and we don't call them regularly. But for many, many years, they and my five cousins lived right down Bedford Road from us, and my Dad and Uncle Jim shared a tall ladder instead of each buying his own. When one needed it, the other would walk it over.]
Last night I was at Jim and Gloria's house. So....what else....Jim wasn't there. Gloria cleaned my pants. I couldn't believe it. Who ever does that? But they said Ernie was living there. He's somebody from my old neighborhood.
But tonight, it was so much better. Everything made sense. My Papa came back. Sleep well, Papa. We all love you.
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Hi Alice. That must have been so frightening for you to see your dad like that. Thank goodness it was a temporary state. I can tell you that my husband’s mother has had a difficult couple of years with infections (where she needed hospitalization) and a similar thing usually happens to her. When the infection starts to clear, she becomes herself again. I don’t know why that happens but thank God Uncle J is bouncing back.
ReplyDeleteLove, Linda
Thank you, Linda. it is so strange that that happens, where the body affects the mind. how is your mom? please send her my love. love, alice
ReplyDeleteIt's called ICU psychosis (I think that's the name) and both my parents experienced it -- one on just a regular floor (mom in for pneumonia 10 years ago and within days was swearing that drug dealers had captured her and took her on a boat), and one in the ICU (dad thought he was in a casino, among many other delusions).
ReplyDeleteHospitals are very disorienting places -- no sense of day or night, strange sounds and people. Couple that with pain and fear. Older people are very prone to losing touch with reality in hospitals, but even younger people can experience it. My cousin was in the ICU for cancer-related surgery and he was in his 40s and was very delusional there.
Good news, it almost always resolves when the patient leaves the hospital (and sometimes when they leave ICU for a regular floor, though with my parents and cousin, it only got better when they got home). It's really scary, not well explained to families and often misunderstood by healthcare professionals themselves.
We found it helpful for dad's extended hospital stay to put up a posterboard with words saying, "You're in the hospital. It's Tuesday. You're getting better and will be leaving soon." We also included pictures of the family to keep him oriented. Not for nothing, it shows staff that you care and reminds them who the vital, real, breathing patient is in the bed in front of them.
Also, don't know what his expenses/insurance is like, but both times, we ended up hiring a visiting nurses' aide to stay with our folks at night so we could sleep in peace, knowing that the staff wouldn't resort to unnecessary restraints -- a real risk with older, delusional patients, which of course, makes the delusions worse. It was money worth spending. We didn't do this on ICU since there is 24-hour coverage, but we did on the regular floors.
ReplyDeleteKim, thank you for the info! yes, the first night they put these big mitten things on him to restrain him after he pulled the IV out. that was scary to us too. i really like the posterboard idea. love, alice
ReplyDeletepulled IVs -- been there, done that. Not making light of the seriousness of the situation or how upsetting it is, just want you to know, you're not alone in this experience, something staff does not convey enough, I feel.
ReplyDelete