Morphine, Sister.
The first week was just as much a blur as A and E really.
Another stream of names and faces - ward doctors, pharmacists, consultants, ward managers, the whirlwind of changing shifts and personnel.
With one exception everyone has been wonderful. The exception was a bitch who left Rosemarie in acute pain for two and a half hours for no apparent reason, other than laziness and the pettiness of people who think power is all about saying 'No'. My daughter was ready to wring her fat little neck and took a lot of talking out of it. This woman's behaviour shocked all the nurses and students on the ward and they were queuing up to apologise to us.
The regular consultant is away for a week so there was a House meeting led by another consultant called Mr Jackson. The general feeling is that the major issue is the constipation which is actually made worse by the morphine, but whose pain can't be controlled without it. We were expecting them to prescribe an enema immediately but the consultant and the Ward Doctor seemed reluctant.
Rosemarie continues to be really distressed unless she is fully medicated. The staff are learning that she won't take tablets and were surprised and impressed by her ability to hide them under her tongue or in her cheek and furtively spit them out later. She will, though, readily take paracetamol in suspension.
We met the ward Physiotherapist and Occupational Therapist and I shared my concerns about Rosemarie coming home before there was proper care in place. They assured me that she would not be released until Lambeth had agreed to an appropriate care package.
We had a meeting with the Ward Doctor who said there was no sign of UTI or kidney problems.
The psychiatrist from the Community Mental Health Team stopped by. She is an absolute gem and was very supportive. She buttonholed the Ward Doctor and convinced her to increase the Sertraline dosage. I think this is a good thing. I am wary of the increasing number and frequency of powerful drugs she is taking but her needs are urgent and anything that helps the Delirium is ok by me.
Delirium. We had heard the word used in A & E but we were now given a small and explosive booklet about it. My daughter and I read it and it was like a thousand light bulbs going on. What I had been seeing over the past few weeks and had attributed to the rapid acceleration of the disease was listed here as a series of symptoms of delirium. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. I had never really thought about it before. 'Deliriously happy' and 'delirium tremens' were the only things that came to mind, but here was an illness with a lengthy onset and a cure that could take weeks or months. What kind of Rosemarie is left under the symptoms?
Finally on the Wednesday she was given an enema in the evening, and it had the desired effect early on Thursday morning. Rosemarie was still in pain and the routine of tears and morphine continued.
Friday someone had the bright idea of her having a CT scan. I went down with her. She does not like changing surroundings and became increasingly distressed on the way there. On arrival she was transferred to a different trolley and told she had to stay still while she was in the machine. I almost got her to lie still with her arms across her stomach, but since this was the area they wanted to investigate that wasn't much help. The technician asked if it she could strap Rosemarie's arms above her head. I told her not to try unless she wanted to lose some front teeth. The CT scan was abandoned.
This Professor Jackson had apparently found some really hard muscle in Rosemarie's lower back in the area she has long complained of as the source of pain and he was concerned it may be inflamed. She has been prescribed Naproxen which is only available in tablet form. We tried.
The PT and OT returned and tried to encourage Rosemarie to stand, using a standing aid. Getting her to a sitting position was difficult but just about possible. Getting her to stand presented a real challenge. I don't think it is the pain that stops her. I don't think she really understands what's happening. The crowd of people around her, the confined space created by the pulled curtains, the largely unintelligible instructions....no wonder she is distressed.
Saturday was another long day. They are trying to wean her off the morphine at last, and increasing the dose of paracetamol.
Maybe we have reached the end of the beginning.
Another stream of names and faces - ward doctors, pharmacists, consultants, ward managers, the whirlwind of changing shifts and personnel.
With one exception everyone has been wonderful. The exception was a bitch who left Rosemarie in acute pain for two and a half hours for no apparent reason, other than laziness and the pettiness of people who think power is all about saying 'No'. My daughter was ready to wring her fat little neck and took a lot of talking out of it. This woman's behaviour shocked all the nurses and students on the ward and they were queuing up to apologise to us.
The regular consultant is away for a week so there was a House meeting led by another consultant called Mr Jackson. The general feeling is that the major issue is the constipation which is actually made worse by the morphine, but whose pain can't be controlled without it. We were expecting them to prescribe an enema immediately but the consultant and the Ward Doctor seemed reluctant.
Rosemarie continues to be really distressed unless she is fully medicated. The staff are learning that she won't take tablets and were surprised and impressed by her ability to hide them under her tongue or in her cheek and furtively spit them out later. She will, though, readily take paracetamol in suspension.
We met the ward Physiotherapist and Occupational Therapist and I shared my concerns about Rosemarie coming home before there was proper care in place. They assured me that she would not be released until Lambeth had agreed to an appropriate care package.
We had a meeting with the Ward Doctor who said there was no sign of UTI or kidney problems.
The psychiatrist from the Community Mental Health Team stopped by. She is an absolute gem and was very supportive. She buttonholed the Ward Doctor and convinced her to increase the Sertraline dosage. I think this is a good thing. I am wary of the increasing number and frequency of powerful drugs she is taking but her needs are urgent and anything that helps the Delirium is ok by me.
Delirium. We had heard the word used in A & E but we were now given a small and explosive booklet about it. My daughter and I read it and it was like a thousand light bulbs going on. What I had been seeing over the past few weeks and had attributed to the rapid acceleration of the disease was listed here as a series of symptoms of delirium. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. I had never really thought about it before. 'Deliriously happy' and 'delirium tremens' were the only things that came to mind, but here was an illness with a lengthy onset and a cure that could take weeks or months. What kind of Rosemarie is left under the symptoms?
Finally on the Wednesday she was given an enema in the evening, and it had the desired effect early on Thursday morning. Rosemarie was still in pain and the routine of tears and morphine continued.
Friday someone had the bright idea of her having a CT scan. I went down with her. She does not like changing surroundings and became increasingly distressed on the way there. On arrival she was transferred to a different trolley and told she had to stay still while she was in the machine. I almost got her to lie still with her arms across her stomach, but since this was the area they wanted to investigate that wasn't much help. The technician asked if it she could strap Rosemarie's arms above her head. I told her not to try unless she wanted to lose some front teeth. The CT scan was abandoned.
This Professor Jackson had apparently found some really hard muscle in Rosemarie's lower back in the area she has long complained of as the source of pain and he was concerned it may be inflamed. She has been prescribed Naproxen which is only available in tablet form. We tried.
The PT and OT returned and tried to encourage Rosemarie to stand, using a standing aid. Getting her to a sitting position was difficult but just about possible. Getting her to stand presented a real challenge. I don't think it is the pain that stops her. I don't think she really understands what's happening. The crowd of people around her, the confined space created by the pulled curtains, the largely unintelligible instructions....no wonder she is distressed.
Saturday was another long day. They are trying to wean her off the morphine at last, and increasing the dose of paracetamol.
Maybe we have reached the end of the beginning.
posted by Other Kosh at 9:53 pm
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