A patient was admitted to a mental health hospital in Japan.
For 10 days he was tied hands and feet to the bed.
After 10 days he had a heart attack - the family suspect Deep Vein Thrombosis.......Economy Class Syndrome...whatever it is you want to call it.
Lack of movement and exercise in a mental health hospital. Restraints.
Something apparently long criticized as inhumane by international commentators.
Sound familiar?
A very sad story about a Kiwi English teacher in Japan.
you can read it here.
Okaasan is doing ok. DS told me.
He went to see her Sunday. She was up in the wheelchair and trying and failing to stand. She had lunch at the table in the day room. She chatted to him. He came away happy. This week the physical therapy will start.
Tomorrow Dear Son will meet case worker and social worker......
Showing posts with label hospital stay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hospital stay. Show all posts
Wednesday, 19 July 2017
Wednesday, 14 June 2017
Happy..................
LISTEN to those lyrics!
Okaasan is HAPPY!!!!!
Dear Son reports from the hospital that she is smiling and calm and HAPPY!He went and sat with her for an hour, watched her eat her lunch.
Chatted about things....or listened to her chatting about things.
Amazingly. She was happy.
So, we are happy. And we aren't on meds.
Is this possible in just 24 hours? Was this just a lucky moment that when he went she was on a high? He said she seemed naturally happy, not manically so. She said the last time they'd met was maybe downtown...she knew who he was.
Really wonderful.
He met her in a meeting room of the hospital and the nurse brought her in a wheel chair. She wasn't allowed to have one of her magazines (too much outside stimulation) and she isn't allowed TV (in fact we did notice at the weekend that Tv seemed to enrage her even more, "WHY are those children working at 7 am?? WHY?").
So. There we are. The meds are helping. Thankgoodness for modern medicines.
We had a nice calm after work evening. I weeded the garden. He watched football on TV. The cats lounged on warm concrete. We ate dinner together in the kitchen....I take Okaasan's chair at the table now (work out the symbolism of that...) and then after some TV we slept. It was nice and normal.
Meanwhile.
***WOW!! You lot - blog readers.
Thankyou so much for all the messages and support. They kept popping up on my e mail feed all day on my smartphone. Gave me lots of warm fuzzy feelings. Thankyou - I know there ARE people reading this blog, but at times like this past week I really understand it.***
What happens from now on, we'll see.
But several barriers have been broken - specially with Dear Son and his thinking. He has accepted outside help from care manager and social worker, and doctors. He has accepted that medicine maybe has a role to play in his mum's care. All of that is quite a lot. He is his mum's son, her attitudes to hospitals, doctors and medicine have inevitably influenced him.
But now. Medicine and a hospital are maybe helping.
HAPPY!!!!!!
๐
Saturday, 3 June 2017
Volcano in the living room
Bubbling, bubbling...erupting...throwing out rocks...hot...molten...simmering again...bubbling...spewing forth....raging...simmering...
ALL of the above. Often in the space of a few minutes.
We are on volcano watch this weekend.
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
Physically? Okaasan IS getting better. We had to use the wheelchair last night. But then she started being able to walk and stand - in a kind of two-step with Dear Patient Son. They look like judoists grappling. She is holding onto his arms as he backs slowly in front of her and she shuffles forward.
She has got to the toilet a few times with help.
She slept on the sofa, with a coffee table upended next to it to stop her slipping onto the floor. And her Dear Very Patient Son sleeping on the carpet nearby.
We had family dinner. She ate well. Looked soooo sleepy and was pretty silent. Maybe happy to be back.
"I went to hospital? When? Why?" was probably the stunner of the evening. Two weeks plus of experience gone from her memory.
But the impact of those two weeks is right here and raw.
Fury. tetchy, fractious, scolding, anger - at everything.
MOVE that clothes rack!
Why is that table there?
Why is that wheelchair here?
What's that?
Are those socks clean?
That man on TV.....
All of this with raised voice and anger.
It's very, very wearing. And she only came back yesterday...we are hoping this will subside. Apparently the hospital said she was more aggressive in the mornings.
Oh God we hope so. And we hope it gets less. If THIS is the new norm? It's like the dementia has scaled up by several notches.
And then.
She let us change her pajamas and diapers without too much fuss. Like a toddler - she let Dear Son kneel in front of her and she held onto his shoulders. I was behind her as we took off the clothing, she obediently lifted one foot at a time to let us undress and dress her - all the time chatting on about the name plate of the neighbor's house she could see thru the curtains...
And 20 minutes later - she took off the hospital corset and threw it on the floor...."I KNOW what is best for my body? What hospital? What doctor?"
And then polite again; "thankyou for the flower. That's pretty".
"Why is that piece of paper on the table? Is it mine? What is that cup?" with cold fury voice.
We are exhausted. It's only 10 am on Saturday.
Onwards into our weekend.
ALL of the above. Often in the space of a few minutes.
We are on volcano watch this weekend.
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
Physically? Okaasan IS getting better. We had to use the wheelchair last night. But then she started being able to walk and stand - in a kind of two-step with Dear Patient Son. They look like judoists grappling. She is holding onto his arms as he backs slowly in front of her and she shuffles forward.
She has got to the toilet a few times with help.
She slept on the sofa, with a coffee table upended next to it to stop her slipping onto the floor. And her Dear Very Patient Son sleeping on the carpet nearby.
We had family dinner. She ate well. Looked soooo sleepy and was pretty silent. Maybe happy to be back.
"I went to hospital? When? Why?" was probably the stunner of the evening. Two weeks plus of experience gone from her memory.
But the impact of those two weeks is right here and raw.
Fury. tetchy, fractious, scolding, anger - at everything.
MOVE that clothes rack!
Why is that table there?
Why is that wheelchair here?
What's that?
Are those socks clean?
That man on TV.....
All of this with raised voice and anger.
It's very, very wearing. And she only came back yesterday...we are hoping this will subside. Apparently the hospital said she was more aggressive in the mornings.
Oh God we hope so. And we hope it gets less. If THIS is the new norm? It's like the dementia has scaled up by several notches.
And then.
She let us change her pajamas and diapers without too much fuss. Like a toddler - she let Dear Son kneel in front of her and she held onto his shoulders. I was behind her as we took off the clothing, she obediently lifted one foot at a time to let us undress and dress her - all the time chatting on about the name plate of the neighbor's house she could see thru the curtains...
And 20 minutes later - she took off the hospital corset and threw it on the floor...."I KNOW what is best for my body? What hospital? What doctor?"
And then polite again; "thankyou for the flower. That's pretty".
"Why is that piece of paper on the table? Is it mine? What is that cup?" with cold fury voice.
We are exhausted. It's only 10 am on Saturday.
Onwards into our weekend.
Wednesday, 31 May 2017
Too difficult for hospital...
The hospital is complaining.
They've asked us to take Okaasan home for a night. In the hope that it will ease her aggression/stress/anger.
Dear Son got the phone call yesterday and went in to talk to the doctor and nurses.
They said that the physical therapy is progressing. But she still can't stand or walk alone. So they have taken her to the toilet by wheelchair and lifted her on and off the toilet twice. And she is diapers, of course.
But. She is noisy and difficult. Banging her hand on the wall by the bed. Aggressive with the nurses. Shouting.
Of course.
They suggested she comes home tomorrow for one night. To give her (and them) a break.
We are in a whirl of wondering. And heavy feeling.
Will one night at home make any difference?
Would Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon be better? 2 nights?
Will we be able to get her back to the hospital?
Is it actually NECESSARY that she goes back to the hospital?
Special taxi and driver with a wheelchair.
How to get a wheelchair into the house.
Toileting......
Should she sleep on the floor (as usual), or the sofa? Or we should get in a bed?
Toileting......protecting the flooring/carpet/sofa.....
Could she transfer to another, more dementia-experienced facility?
Could she be at home, here - with a physical therapist coming every day?
Dear Son will be calling the day service manager today for advice....
His difficult bike taxi customer leaves today. Finally. He was looking forward to a few days of normality and rest. No chance.
Aghhhhhh...
This is a smallish hospital. Orthopedics. Mainly neck and back. Many elderly patients, of course. But they don't have special staff for dementia and psychological support. The nurses are busy.
As Okaasan's pain subsides and she begins to feel better - she is getting more questioning about her situation.... questioning which is frustration and aggression. She can't remember the calm reasoning anyone gives her and she doesn't do much to ease her own stress.
Anyone in hospital usually arranges their time to while away the hours. A bit of TV, a book, a letter, a visit, sleep, some food, physical therapy, checks...but someone with dementia doesn't. She frets and stews and stares at walls, listens to conversations....turns away magazines and the tricky TV earphones.....doesn't chat to other patients.....living only in the moment of self-unhappiness.
And it's coming our way...tomorrow or Friday.....
Stay tuned.
They've asked us to take Okaasan home for a night. In the hope that it will ease her aggression/stress/anger.
Dear Son got the phone call yesterday and went in to talk to the doctor and nurses.
They said that the physical therapy is progressing. But she still can't stand or walk alone. So they have taken her to the toilet by wheelchair and lifted her on and off the toilet twice. And she is diapers, of course.
But. She is noisy and difficult. Banging her hand on the wall by the bed. Aggressive with the nurses. Shouting.
Of course.
They suggested she comes home tomorrow for one night. To give her (and them) a break.
We are in a whirl of wondering. And heavy feeling.
Will one night at home make any difference?
Would Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon be better? 2 nights?
Will we be able to get her back to the hospital?
Is it actually NECESSARY that she goes back to the hospital?
Special taxi and driver with a wheelchair.
How to get a wheelchair into the house.
Toileting......
Should she sleep on the floor (as usual), or the sofa? Or we should get in a bed?
Toileting......protecting the flooring/carpet/sofa.....
Could she transfer to another, more dementia-experienced facility?
Could she be at home, here - with a physical therapist coming every day?
Dear Son will be calling the day service manager today for advice....
His difficult bike taxi customer leaves today. Finally. He was looking forward to a few days of normality and rest. No chance.
Aghhhhhh...
This is a smallish hospital. Orthopedics. Mainly neck and back. Many elderly patients, of course. But they don't have special staff for dementia and psychological support. The nurses are busy.
As Okaasan's pain subsides and she begins to feel better - she is getting more questioning about her situation.... questioning which is frustration and aggression. She can't remember the calm reasoning anyone gives her and she doesn't do much to ease her own stress.
Anyone in hospital usually arranges their time to while away the hours. A bit of TV, a book, a letter, a visit, sleep, some food, physical therapy, checks...but someone with dementia doesn't. She frets and stews and stares at walls, listens to conversations....turns away magazines and the tricky TV earphones.....doesn't chat to other patients.....living only in the moment of self-unhappiness.
And it's coming our way...tomorrow or Friday.....
Stay tuned.
Monday, 29 May 2017
Black Sunday
Knackered.
Have to go to work today...and the next 5 days.
Spent a lot of emotional energy yesterday...
We visited the hospital at lunchtime. While he parked the car and went on upstairs, I went to a local cafe to get a choice of coffee or a cocoa, and a nice cake for Okaasan. Try to take her something nice everytime.
A few minutes later I arrived in the ward room. Okaasan was the only patient - the other 3 bed were empty and clean.
And fury was in the air. She was NOT happy - she was angry - at everything we did or said. The fury. The aggression. Anger. Rudeness. Raw emotion sitting in a wheelchair.
DON'T sit there!
Don't move that chair!
Hmm. Coffee? Cocoa? Both.
Don't put your bag there.
Don't use that trash bin.
DON'T!
It's itchy on my back. What's this thing round my body. I want to go to the toilet. What's this. Don't.
Such a change. We'd left her Saturday afternoon all smiley and pleased to have seen us.
And come on Sunday to this.
I got riled up too. I couldn't help it.
Dear Son put a warning hand on my arm....I went to walk around the corridor with my coffee. I Reset and went back.
DON'T walk around the hospital like that with a coffee cup!
DON'T put the lid there!
It's impossible to fully get over the shock of seeing someone so different. So much anger, where usually there is none.
I left again. Blood boiling. Went to the toilets downstairs.
Came back.
She was talking about the itchy feeling of the corset and wanting to go to the toilet. Dear Son trying to explain that she couldn't GO to the toilet - she was wearing diapers and a urine tube and bag. Trying. Anger. Wanting to defecate. Badly.
We left her. Hoping that without us sitting by the bedside she would defecate.
Stood in the rain in the parking area wondering what had hit us. Was she alone in the ward because she'd turned difficult and the nurses had moved other patients? Or was that just a coincidence of hospital admin?
We went to lunch. Tried to Reset. Exhausted. Dear Son had a whole thing about whether he was bike taxi working or not, whether the rain would stop.
One hour later we went back to the hospital.
She was in bed. The anger was gone. Replaced with whimpering sadness and irritation about the itchy feeling.
I'd bought a back scratcher. While DS paced the room I sat at the bedside and tried to scratch inside the back of the corset. Okaasan endlessly telling me to take it off and check her skin for redmarks. I sat and talked comforting, kind words. On and on....she calmed.
I got one of her magazines and held it over the bed, showing her pictures of old Tokyo - asking her about places in the city. Scratching. Talking. Calming.
It was a relief. She had returned. That other person, the anger person. Gone.
I guess everybody who lives with dementia in the family has this experience? Seeing a whole OTHER side to the person they know? It's amazing. Scary and confusing.
20 minutes later DS wandered off to the toilet. Okaasan heard the word "toilet" and started getting agitated. Flapping her hands on the bed, whimpering...stress building.
I asked the nurses to come and a team of three went into action behind the curtains to help Okaasan. We stood in the corridor and wondered when this will all come right...when will she be able to come home?
She HAS started physical therapy. End of last week. She had talked happily about the nice therapist. Obviously a positive experience. Will she be able to stand and start walking this coming week?
We left. In the rain. Exhausted by the two hospital visits.
Went home to finish cleaning Okaasan's room and clothes. Watched a video. Ate steak for dinner.
And now a week of work begins.
Ho hum.
Have to go to work today...and the next 5 days.
Spent a lot of emotional energy yesterday...
We visited the hospital at lunchtime. While he parked the car and went on upstairs, I went to a local cafe to get a choice of coffee or a cocoa, and a nice cake for Okaasan. Try to take her something nice everytime.
A few minutes later I arrived in the ward room. Okaasan was the only patient - the other 3 bed were empty and clean.
And fury was in the air. She was NOT happy - she was angry - at everything we did or said. The fury. The aggression. Anger. Rudeness. Raw emotion sitting in a wheelchair.
DON'T sit there!
Don't move that chair!
Hmm. Coffee? Cocoa? Both.
Don't put your bag there.
Don't use that trash bin.
DON'T!
It's itchy on my back. What's this thing round my body. I want to go to the toilet. What's this. Don't.
Such a change. We'd left her Saturday afternoon all smiley and pleased to have seen us.
And come on Sunday to this.
I got riled up too. I couldn't help it.
Dear Son put a warning hand on my arm....I went to walk around the corridor with my coffee. I Reset and went back.
DON'T walk around the hospital like that with a coffee cup!
DON'T put the lid there!
It's impossible to fully get over the shock of seeing someone so different. So much anger, where usually there is none.
I left again. Blood boiling. Went to the toilets downstairs.
Came back.
She was talking about the itchy feeling of the corset and wanting to go to the toilet. Dear Son trying to explain that she couldn't GO to the toilet - she was wearing diapers and a urine tube and bag. Trying. Anger. Wanting to defecate. Badly.
We left her. Hoping that without us sitting by the bedside she would defecate.
Stood in the rain in the parking area wondering what had hit us. Was she alone in the ward because she'd turned difficult and the nurses had moved other patients? Or was that just a coincidence of hospital admin?
We went to lunch. Tried to Reset. Exhausted. Dear Son had a whole thing about whether he was bike taxi working or not, whether the rain would stop.
One hour later we went back to the hospital.
She was in bed. The anger was gone. Replaced with whimpering sadness and irritation about the itchy feeling.
I'd bought a back scratcher. While DS paced the room I sat at the bedside and tried to scratch inside the back of the corset. Okaasan endlessly telling me to take it off and check her skin for redmarks. I sat and talked comforting, kind words. On and on....she calmed.
I got one of her magazines and held it over the bed, showing her pictures of old Tokyo - asking her about places in the city. Scratching. Talking. Calming.
It was a relief. She had returned. That other person, the anger person. Gone.
I guess everybody who lives with dementia in the family has this experience? Seeing a whole OTHER side to the person they know? It's amazing. Scary and confusing.
20 minutes later DS wandered off to the toilet. Okaasan heard the word "toilet" and started getting agitated. Flapping her hands on the bed, whimpering...stress building.
I asked the nurses to come and a team of three went into action behind the curtains to help Okaasan. We stood in the corridor and wondered when this will all come right...when will she be able to come home?
She HAS started physical therapy. End of last week. She had talked happily about the nice therapist. Obviously a positive experience. Will she be able to stand and start walking this coming week?
We left. In the rain. Exhausted by the two hospital visits.
Went home to finish cleaning Okaasan's room and clothes. Watched a video. Ate steak for dinner.
And now a week of work begins.
Ho hum.
Saturday, 20 May 2017
Staring at walls
Okaasan in hospital.
Not a happy thing.
She doesn't remember the fall, doesn't remember the pain - until she tries to sit up or move her body....
so wonders - endlessly - WHY AM I HERE?
WHY???
We expected deterioration in her mental ability with such a dramatic change of location/people/routine.
But even we were shocked at the physical change in her. Okaasan's speech is slurred and sometimes incomprehensible. Of course she suspects the nurses, doctors and other patients of spying on her and the family - told us that in big whispers - that "they" are bad people. Old, familiar paranoia is back to the fore.
The slurred speech and rambling words. That was a surprise. Even here 4 days ago - as she lay on the carpet in pain etc - her speaking ability was clearer.
Yesterday we did a joint visit. Okaasan was on the bed staring at a dirty, stained grey wall. The TV on the bedside table was turned in another direction and the magazine was unopened on the side table. Dear Son said she had watched Tv before, but then dismissively told the nurses "I don't need that", so they'd maybe moved it away from her.
She DOES need TV. It's her everything at home. It's life and entertainment. Companionship.
We got the nurses to move the furniture back into position. We guided Okaasan to her handcream to attend to scratchy feeling on her leg where the hospital diapers were rubbing her skin, we gave her drinks and chat...and...
There are three other elderly women in her room. The others looks more mentally alert. The room is near the nurse station - from where I am sure Okaasan listens to every conversation and thinks they are talking about her.
She is eating the foods. She is sleeping. She can sit up a little, if the bed is moved into position.
Today Dear Son will meet the doctor and hear what he thinks. Was it spine damage, not exactly a break...maybe a crunching together? A nerve is caught?
The house is so strange without Okaasan in it. Feels huge and empty.
I came home Friday night. Dear Son was working late.
I threw all the left overs in the fridge into a frying pan, added cheese and ate it upstairs in front of the TV. No need to plan a healthy dinner at 7 pm.
Years of having my daily routine guided by Lunch at 12. Dinner at 7. Must Feed Okaasan. Must Check Okaasan. Now freedom....strange.
We really, really hope they don't keep her in hospital a long time. get a corset fitted, get her sitting and standing and walking again. Get her to come home the end of next week?
What more is necessary for an elderly lady? As long as she isn't in great pain. She doesn't need perfect physical ability. She needs a livable-with feeling in her body.
So.
From kind of looking forward to the day when Okaasan might go to hospital and experts would take some of the burden off our shoulders - I am already missing her and hoping she comes back to us soon.
Strange that!
Not a happy thing.
She doesn't remember the fall, doesn't remember the pain - until she tries to sit up or move her body....
so wonders - endlessly - WHY AM I HERE?
WHY???
We expected deterioration in her mental ability with such a dramatic change of location/people/routine.
But even we were shocked at the physical change in her. Okaasan's speech is slurred and sometimes incomprehensible. Of course she suspects the nurses, doctors and other patients of spying on her and the family - told us that in big whispers - that "they" are bad people. Old, familiar paranoia is back to the fore.
The slurred speech and rambling words. That was a surprise. Even here 4 days ago - as she lay on the carpet in pain etc - her speaking ability was clearer.
Yesterday we did a joint visit. Okaasan was on the bed staring at a dirty, stained grey wall. The TV on the bedside table was turned in another direction and the magazine was unopened on the side table. Dear Son said she had watched Tv before, but then dismissively told the nurses "I don't need that", so they'd maybe moved it away from her.
She DOES need TV. It's her everything at home. It's life and entertainment. Companionship.
We got the nurses to move the furniture back into position. We guided Okaasan to her handcream to attend to scratchy feeling on her leg where the hospital diapers were rubbing her skin, we gave her drinks and chat...and...
There are three other elderly women in her room. The others looks more mentally alert. The room is near the nurse station - from where I am sure Okaasan listens to every conversation and thinks they are talking about her.
She is eating the foods. She is sleeping. She can sit up a little, if the bed is moved into position.
Today Dear Son will meet the doctor and hear what he thinks. Was it spine damage, not exactly a break...maybe a crunching together? A nerve is caught?
The house is so strange without Okaasan in it. Feels huge and empty.
I came home Friday night. Dear Son was working late.
I threw all the left overs in the fridge into a frying pan, added cheese and ate it upstairs in front of the TV. No need to plan a healthy dinner at 7 pm.
Years of having my daily routine guided by Lunch at 12. Dinner at 7. Must Feed Okaasan. Must Check Okaasan. Now freedom....strange.
We really, really hope they don't keep her in hospital a long time. get a corset fitted, get her sitting and standing and walking again. Get her to come home the end of next week?
What more is necessary for an elderly lady? As long as she isn't in great pain. She doesn't need perfect physical ability. She needs a livable-with feeling in her body.
So.
From kind of looking forward to the day when Okaasan might go to hospital and experts would take some of the burden off our shoulders - I am already missing her and hoping she comes back to us soon.
Strange that!
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