Discharge

Mom has been in the hospital for two Fridays now. There have been some ugly days and some better days. Her doctor has switched from trying to cure her cancer to trying to make her as comfy as possible. When she checked in, he had considered a number of procedures to help make her comfortable, but she was looking so weak that those procedures kept being postponed. She had tons of tubes, pain meds and more. Then they removed the tube in her nose a couple of days ago and she perked right up. She was looking great yesterday and today. Though many people visited her, she tried to keep visits short because she was doing well and wanted to give us a bit of rest for what lies ahead. She is always thinking of us first!

Mom felt so good today that the doctor decided to discharge her to the hospice. No nasty procedures or operations, I noticed no morphine bag on her, AND she's allowed to start eating food again (she appeared to still have the IV food, but maybe they'll wean her off of that if she's doing well). The hospice looks very swanky and homey. She's got her own room overlooking a pond and one of the volunteers there is a long-time Girl Scout friend. The nurses seem pretty attentive as well, which is key. Of course, nurses always seem very attentive when Penny pays a visit. She's almost as effective as a well-timed box of doughnuts for nurses.

Some of our initial wave of caregivers is starting to head home. John had to leave yesterday so he could get back to school. All six of mom's siblings are in town today (looks like Aunt Barbara took the picture), but Uncle Jerry will head out tomorrow. Some of her sisters might take a brief break home since they've been here for more than a week and they can re-deploy quickly because they live in-state. Mandy put me on her car insurance so I should be able to get around a bit on my own, which is nice. It'll be weird being behind the wheel again, though, after a year and a half abroad. I keep expecting the driver to turn onto the left side of the road - an effect of living in countries that drive on the left, I guess. I'm not sure if I'll have that same sensation in the driver's seat. Fortunately, my arm has full range of motion and some of its strength back, so I think that shouldn't be a barrier to returning to the driver's seat. I'm just glad to be in Dayton, where the drivers are friendly enough for the transition back behind the wheel to be a slow and pleasant one.

Even though hospice sounds like bad news because it is associated with end of life care, it is actually good news for today. It means Mom is done with surgeries and painful procedures. Also, if she's doing REALLY well, the hospice folks will assess mom's state of health, home, caregiver capabilities and consider whether she can return home for a bit and what hardware, training, etc. are necessary to ensure her comfort and safety at home. I'm a little nervous about homecare, but we'd get to see more of her and she isn't especially fond of hospital settings. But that's a bridge to cross later. For now, we're excited that she's feeling well, enjoying her lovely view and getting some quality play time with Penny.