Back Down

Last night I spent the night at the hospital again; Mom's temperature was back up to 102 degrees and she was very agitated. Neither of us got a lot of rest, but she made it through the night okay and even was able to eat a few bites of ice cream this morning. I went home to get some sleep and returned this afternoon to find that she was once again kind of out of her mind and very hot and agitated. Her infectious disease doctor explained that the central IV line cultures were clean so her current PICC line was not the source of the yeast infection and that the results of the echocardiogram hadn't been returned yet. I questioned him about the yeast infection effects on her heart and he said that if the infection was in the heart that she was not a candidate for valve replacement and that the staff would simply make Mom as comfortable as possible. That was a kick in the stomach.

A little later the pulmonary doctor came into the room and he was obviously taken aback by her condition. He pulled me aside and we discussed Mom's history a bit and the fact that we had altered her original DNR orders. His advice to me was to reinstate the original orders as a kindness to my mother. Another kick in the gut.

So for the moment, we wait to hear what the echo results are to know where we go. A simple yeast infection means treatment at a local extended care facility and an eventual return home. Or there is the other.....