Okay- so...more conversation about cough medicine

Okay- so last night went fine. Mom was really tired and I had to wake her up in her chair to take her medicines. She went to bed probably around 11:00 PM and slept until 7:30 AM. Yeah! No coughing or anything! She says she felt good.

So... at 9:30 AM we had to leave for a doctor's appointment for my Dad. Mom wanted cough medicine. I told her I would give it to her at 10AM. She raised a fit and kept yelling at me even after we got in the car. I turned on the radio. She started screaming- "Okay then! Try and drown me out."

I turned off the radio.

"Mom, I will give it to you at 10AM."

"I'm going to ask your Dad's doctor if I should be able to take it."

"No- you won't. This is Dad's appointment and it is about him. If you need to see the doctor, I will take you."

I asked Mom if she had taken her inhaler.

"Yes! As soon as I got up. That just makes it easier to breathe. It doesn't help the cough."

Right before we got to the doctor's office, she took out her inhaler and took a puff on it.

"Mom, I thought you had used your inhaler."

"Yes, I did."

"You can only use it 4 times a day."

"Yes, two puffs four times a day."

Get to the clinic and ask Mom if she needs to see a doctor.

"No! I just need my cough medicine."

I pour her medicine and try to hand it to her. She just looks at me and makes no move to take it. In the mean time, Dad is getting out of the car.

"Do you want this?"

"Yes!" Grabs it out of my hand.

We go in to Dad's appointment, which went very well.

There is a coffee shop in the clinic, so they go in for a cappuccino and I get an iced tea. They sit in there and talk to the barista (my dad worked with her for a while when he worked briefly for Star Bucks)

The pharmacy is right next door so I go there and ask if there is ANY cough medicine she can take along with Mucinex. No. Nothing. Nada. And they explain why.

I go out and explain to Mom and she doesn't believe it. I ask if she would like to talk to the pharmacist. She wants to and she does, and she gets the same result. Except now in talking to the pharmacist, she decides she will take Delsym cough medicine at night (12 hour dose) and then Mucinex during the day if she needs it. Okay. Fine. Buy Delsym.

On the way home, Mom uses her inhaler two more times. Ask her again about how often she should use it. She gets mad. Decide I just need to call doctor.

10:00 PM. Take Mom's meds to her.

"I don't want that. I want my Mucinex and my Robitussin."

"you can have one of the other. But you and the pharmacist said you were going to take Delsym."

"Why won't you listen to me?"

"Do you want Delsym or Mucinex?"

"Mucinex. I'm going to write all of this down and show Dr. P. She will understand I need both!"

"Okay. Good night Mom."

Updates on Dad

Dad's mini-stroke was determined to be a mini-stroke and not a TIA- because according to his doctors -a TIA lasts for 10 minutes or less and Dad's lasted at least a half an hour. That's not what it says on the Mayo Clinic website, but if that's the terminology they wish to use, then that's okay with me. I am thinking mini-stroke may be more accurate because to me it seems there are residual effects from the incident. His personality seems to have changed slightly, understanding and quick response seems to have diminished. Perhaps its just because I see him all the time and when he is different, it stands out.


Dad came home on Monday afternoon the 18th. He was started on Coumadin/Warfarin. I know this is very common and there were a LOT of questions why Dad hasn't been on this before. He had a stroke in the late 90's and he has had major heart surgery. Whatever the reasoning, he is on it now. They want his INR to be between 2-3.

We were worried about this because he seems to have issues with clotting, and he bruises very easily, but the INR test done in the hospital was only 1.1 and the test done the the 20th and 22nd were 1.2 and 1.4- so he has a way to go before he hits the desired 2-3.

On Sunday, the 17th, Urology was brought in for a consult because he wasn't fully voiding. The urologist talked about putting him on a "shrinker and relaxer" for his prostate.He said he had to see if the hospital had it because it is so new and is a combo of Flomax and Avadart. To make a long story shorter, he forgot to prescribe it and there were NO NOTES in his medical records to even show this particular doctor saw my dad. My daughter was there when the doc came in and knew him from a surgery my grandson had. So, we finally got the prescription and have found out this is SO new the pharmacies around here have to order it. It will not be available until Monday afternoon. It is also so new it is not listed on the http://www.nlm.nih.gov/ website.

My daughter asked Dad how he was feeling about what happened. Dad said it reminds him of his favorite song by Frank Sinatra-  My Way



Dad has always loved the song- but his emphasis now is on the first line. "And now the end is near; and so I face the final curtain."

I don't know if that is true. I don't know if the end is near; but if he feels that way, it might delay in his getting better.

Not an easy subject to discuss and made even harder because it is nearly impossible to get Dad alone long enough for a good discussion.

I'm not sure how I feel about this.

Lots of things to think and pray about.

Dad

Dad is anxious and worried. This is new- I've never really seen him this way before and it is difficult in many ways. The more anxious he is, the more anxious Mom gets. The more anxious he is the more anxious I get, but can't show it...

He says this "thing" with his heart is really bothering him. I can imagine! And he wasn't happy that the doctor upped his new medication- he doesn't like the new one and is afraid it is making things worse.

They are trying to reassure him that sometimes it takes awhile to adjust the medications.

He's sleeping late today which seems to mean he didn't get to sleep until late.

Today he goes in for a sonogram of his kidneys.

Okay- so here is the big question- (and I know there is no answer...)

Mom has Alzheimer's.

Dad doesn't.

If I were running the universe (thank God I'm not!) people with Alzheimer's would get the bad diseases and illnesses so they wouldn't have to suffer as long... 

Or would that be too unfair?

As I keep telling myself- and everyone else- life isn't fair.

Got to go. I get to run away for awhile this morning for a hair appointment. "My Friends" as my hairdresser calls my gray hair are getting a pick-me-up for fall.

Last Night- Something New

Dad came into my office last night and said "Something new. I told your mother I was going to go and take my evening pills."

Conversation:

Dad: I'm going to go take my evening pills."

Mom: Pills? What pills?

Dad: My evening pills. Medicine.

Mom: You take pills?

Dad: Yes, I have for years.

Mom: Oh. Okay. I guess I forgot.

More Pill Problems- Solution?

Well, this morning Mom got up early. At 8:30 she was running around looking for her daily pills. She "lost" them somewhere. 

I started looking with her and lo and behold- they were right where she thought they were supposed to be...

While we were looking for them, Mom said, "I need to refill my pill box. If you want to do it you can..." I can and I will. Now that the opportunity has presented itself- I will.

Thank you JC! 

Trying something new...

Today while Mom and Dad were gone, I poured meds for them both without telling Mom. I left today's slot without meds in Dad's and today's and Saturday's slots without meds for Mom. I'm hoping she will think she has poured the meds. This is quite possible and if it works, I'm going to try to keep doing it.


I also updated her medication lists on her computer- she goes by the list and doesn't have one of her over-the-counter meds for allergies on the list. I have to be careful because Mom uses nursing abbreviations for how many times a day, dosage etc.

Every morning she takes the medicine for the day and puts it in little medicine cups and separates it for morning and evening. I'm hoping this will be enough to keep her feeling as if she is doing the meds.
I'll let you know the results! Please pray and keep your fingers crossed!