A Few Days In The Hospital

Last month we had to put Gladys in the hospital.  I went to check on her shortly after breakfast and she was listless, skin clammy and nauseous.  I called her doctor who said to take her directly to the hospital.  Several tests were taken and blood work done but with no definitive answers.  So they wanted to keep her overnight.

Of course by the time they decided they needed to keep Gladys overnight, we had been at the hospital for five hours.  We were taken to  a room where a nurse came to input Gladys’ information into their records.  Everything was computerized and it was the nurses first day on the job.  It took another hour to put in the same information that I had given the emergency room personnel.  I really didn’t understand why it had to be done again.

She’s So Sweet

After getting Gladys settled in, both the nurse and the doctor on duty came by to get acquainted with me and Gladys.  When they were leaving both of them looked at me and remarked, “She’s so sweet, she’s precious.”  I just looked at them and smiled.  I knew there would be trouble.

Gladys was scheduled for an MRI and when they came to get her she wanted me to go with her but I told her I couldn’t.  I could see the fear in her eyes because she didn’t understand what was going on.  I tried to explain that she was going to get a test done and that they would take good care of her.  After she left, I told the nurse that they would need to raise the rails on the bed and watch Gladys because she would try to get out of the bed, even though she can’t walk without her walker.  I went home while she was having the MRI.

Restrained and Sedated

When I came in the next morning Gladys’ roommate told me that the nurses had to restrain Gladys, the nurse told me they had to sedate her.  I had a real problem with her being sedated because I know the sedative causes her brain to malfunction.  Gladys did not know who I was.  I could see it before I even talked to her.  I asked them not to sedate her again.  If she became combative, I wanted them to call me and I would come back to the hospital.  We only live 10 minutes away.

What the hospital didn’t understand is that Gladys did not become combative because of the dementia.  She became combative because she couldn’t have her way.  That was her MO, when she couldn’t have her way she either had a tantrum or she would fight.  Fortunately, there were no more problems.

All Is Well

After three days were were able to take Gladys home.  There were some issues that were the result of massive doses of antibiotics, but they eventually cleared up.  All is well but Gladys is a little slower and her cognitive abilities have diminished a little more.

Subscribe to the comments for this post