Wednesday, February 9, 2005
The big news continues to be Mom's UTI.
My plan has changed after a surprise consult with Mom. Because I'd stayed up so late yesterday, I managed to turn off my alarm (which was set for 0700) in my sleep. I awoke at 0900, dashed around, showered and made coffee in preparation to go to Costco (it was necessary, today), all the while thinking:
As I walked in the door on return, Mom was walking into the bathroom. So, bath time was set. I unloaded the car, stripped her bed, turned off her machines, set up breakfast preparation, found and administered her First Thing Pills, took her through her drill as well, all the while threatening her with dire consequences if she ventured off the toilet and reminding her that I "just got back" and am doing four things at once, "...you can sit there for a minute or two and relax. It's warm. I've seen you do it before..."
When we finally settled down to her bath I began rattling off the Plan of the Day: Call doctor; get call back; take Augmentin; go pee in cup; come back; maybe then you can take a nap...
The recitation exhausted Mom. I could see it in her demeanor even though she looked well rested and pink. "We're going down to see the doctor today?!?"
"No, not today..."
"Oh. Good. That's the one in Phoenix. Good."
"We're going to the lab so you can pee in a cup."
She stared at me for some time. "Is there any way for you to handle this without me having to go out today? Or go down to the doctor?"
Hmmmm...shifting into my relatively new, Step Back, If There Is No Obvious Danger Involved, Let Go attitude: "Yeah...I could just refill the Levaquin, double you up on that for 7 days, see if that does the trick. I'll know about halfway through the course. If necessary, then, we can do the other stuff next week."
"Good. I don't know why but I'm tired today. I feel like I've been up all night."
"Well, I can only vouch for 1230 [when she went to bed] to 0345 [when I went to bed]. After that, you were under your own recognizance."
She smiled ironically at me and lifted her eyebrows as if to say, "Well, then, I guess we'll never know..."
So we're going to follow her plan even though I have a feeling the 500 mg Levaquin for 7 days isn't going to do the trick. She may have something other than e coli which responds better to another antibiotic.
She was only up for a couple of hours before she headed back to bed. I suppose I should take her temperature. I will when she awakens. Even if it's a little high, it shouldn't be too high because she's still on antibiotics. If it's more than a little high, we've got a problem.
So, other than that, I'm hanging out, doing laundry. It's cold today! Very sunny and very cold!
Later.
Okay. I should call the doctor when I get back, that way I know I'll be home when she returns the call...then, since the lab is open until 1730 and the doctor's office is open until 1600, I'll have a chance to get her in to pee in a cup before tomorrow, I've got enough Augmentin to last through tomorrow, if necessary I can always refill the Levaquin and double up on it until the urinalysis comes through, which should come through Friday midday, our FNP will be faxed the results, she'll decide what to prescribe (and whether to set up an appointment), hopefully she'll call the medication into our pharmacist up here (I think they've done that, before), I should be able to get her on it by Friday evening. If necessary while she's on it, because I'm sure it will be an antibiotic which means I'll have to watch out for her iron consumption, maybe I'll put her on two Niferex-150 tablets, morning and night, that should take care of the scheduling problem, even if she takes the new medication twice..."...and with all those words drumming a persistent "One-Two" rhythm in me I was up, showered, out and back by 1100 on the nose.
As I walked in the door on return, Mom was walking into the bathroom. So, bath time was set. I unloaded the car, stripped her bed, turned off her machines, set up breakfast preparation, found and administered her First Thing Pills, took her through her drill as well, all the while threatening her with dire consequences if she ventured off the toilet and reminding her that I "just got back" and am doing four things at once, "...you can sit there for a minute or two and relax. It's warm. I've seen you do it before..."
When we finally settled down to her bath I began rattling off the Plan of the Day: Call doctor; get call back; take Augmentin; go pee in cup; come back; maybe then you can take a nap...
The recitation exhausted Mom. I could see it in her demeanor even though she looked well rested and pink. "We're going down to see the doctor today?!?"
"No, not today..."
"Oh. Good. That's the one in Phoenix. Good."
"We're going to the lab so you can pee in a cup."
She stared at me for some time. "Is there any way for you to handle this without me having to go out today? Or go down to the doctor?"
Hmmmm...shifting into my relatively new, Step Back, If There Is No Obvious Danger Involved, Let Go attitude: "Yeah...I could just refill the Levaquin, double you up on that for 7 days, see if that does the trick. I'll know about halfway through the course. If necessary, then, we can do the other stuff next week."
"Good. I don't know why but I'm tired today. I feel like I've been up all night."
"Well, I can only vouch for 1230 [when she went to bed] to 0345 [when I went to bed]. After that, you were under your own recognizance."
She smiled ironically at me and lifted her eyebrows as if to say, "Well, then, I guess we'll never know..."
So we're going to follow her plan even though I have a feeling the 500 mg Levaquin for 7 days isn't going to do the trick. She may have something other than e coli which responds better to another antibiotic.
She was only up for a couple of hours before she headed back to bed. I suppose I should take her temperature. I will when she awakens. Even if it's a little high, it shouldn't be too high because she's still on antibiotics. If it's more than a little high, we've got a problem.
So, other than that, I'm hanging out, doing laundry. It's cold today! Very sunny and very cold!
Later.
