It was by anyone’s standards a weird day. In fact it wasn’t one day as Friday rolled into Saturday. Work was its usual rush and tear of orders being produced or quoted and as many calls being answered. Red Astaire still haven’t grabbed the nettle of how much work we get through and I don’t think they ever will. Money rules the roost over common sense.
i left work and drove to the hospital to see Mum. Traffic was awful with the M25 stuffed – the usual Friday night scramble. When I got there it was obvious something was amiss. The staff sort of stared at me as I walked in. Ron was with Mum and he explained how Mum, to use his words, had been ‘a naughty girl.’ She had pulled out some of the tubes she had in her nose and her wrist and had thrown a carafe of water at a nurse. She looked at me with terrified eyes agreeing that she had done precisely that explain that she was only defending herself as the staff was trying to kill her. She looked haunted and very scared and begged me to stay the night. I said I couldn’t that the hospital rules would not allow me to sleep over. The ward sister had walked in and indicated it was OK. I could see by her look that Mum had been very troublesome but she thought it best for Mum if I were to spend the night by her side. It was probably because they thought I could calm her down a bit. Mum kept rambling on and on about odd things and all very spooky it was too.
Ron left then I too followed suit. I needed to have my injection and eat some carbs. Mum was patently NOT happy so I phoned Jasmine who caught a cab to the hospital. When she arrived I left. When I got back all but two of my brood were there: Jasmine, Emily, Grace and Brett.
After they left we settled down for the night. It was the thing of nightmare. Mum slept from 11 to 1 as did I then she awoke and the door between the dream world and reality collided. She spoke to a woman and child who were clearly no there, to man who stood bside her, to me even though I took no part in the conversation, to a nurse who also wasn’t there, to my Dad, to her sister. Then she asked me to turn the TV off. Both sets were off. She took hold of the emergency button which resembles a TV remote and pressed that sending alarm bells ringing. The staff were patience personified. An Asian Doctor appeared who she told me in a stage whisper was in fact a pharmacist who owned the flat we were in and the down stairs one to and was her now selling fruit and biscuits. He looked at Mum then smiled at me then hastily departed.
The night dragged on an on as I kept looking at the cock. The hand moved from 2.30 to 2.35 as though some deity was holding back the passage of time. I found it all disturbing and naturally grew concerned. My fears were two fold and based upon the little knowledge I have. If the bowel blockage had spilt into Mum’s system, and it had, releasing toxins on the way then those poisonous particles could have either permanently damaged Mum’s mind or possibly temporarily. I spoke with a nurse who said they had taken swabs from Mum believing it to be Sepsis. This made sense to me but then, looking it up I am now as worried as I was before I knew what was ailing Mum:
Sepsis can develop into a life-threatening illness, and must be treated aggressively with antibiotic therapy. Sepsis, when severe, can cause low blood pressure, alter the mental status of a patient, cause chills, and a general feeling of poor health. Septic shock, the name for sepsis when it progresses to the life-threatening stage, is treated with medication to increase blood pressure and high doses of antibiotics.
The nurse told me that the Doctor wouldn’t have the results to the test until Monday. In my opion that is leaving the problem alone for too long.
I left Mum after 6AM and caught the bus home. I arrived home after 7 where I had my injection followed by some breakfast then off to bed. Since waking the phone has been going off at regular intervals with all manner of people phoning: Boo Boo, Derek, Jasmine, Emily and then Lesley. Lesley an I along with Steve and possibly Uncle Richard and Auntie Mary will be going to visit Mum at 2.30 as will Derek and his wife. Mum wants me or someone to stay tonight as she fears and mistrusts the ward staff who really are a nice bunch of people.
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all words and art are copyright © of Russell 'C.J' Duffy. For another side of CJ go here: sOMeThiNg For tHE wEeKeND, SiR?
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3 comments:
Heck, what a frantic and restless night. The illusions that can spring from a fevered mind are quite alarming.
These events call upon the physical and emotional strength of everyone involved.
I have first hand experience of sepsis through Debbie. Let's hope it's not that.
Paul>>>Then you know better than I that it can be life threatening if not dealt with. My worry is that the hospital team are not acting quickly enough. Emily spoke to a guy we call Doctor Ben (real Doc) who imeadiately (see I do learn) said they should be adminstering medication now. I cannot remember the name he gave but I agree with him. This sort of problem should have a proactive solution and not reactive. Monday is too far away.
Sepsis is a ghastly condition where poison is coursing through the body. If Sepsis is indeed what it is then intravenous antibiotics should be administered now.
(This is in no way meant to be a warning or a prognosis: Debbie left it so late she was incapable of asking for help and she was given a 50% chance. After five weeks in a coma miraculously she came back, but ravaged by scarring on the heart and lungs and complete kidney failure. She's now on the transplant list and a shadow of her former self.)
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