A Hectic Thursday

The bruise on Margaret's back just above the pants.

The bruise on Margaret's leg just below the pants.

Not shown the bruise under the pants!

The heading says it all. Margaret was still in pain when she woke up so I gave her more paracetamol which with her patches gives her some relief. Thursday is my normal big shopping day so I got out early and was back by 9.30 am. I found Margaret wheeling her walker around the house dressed only in heavily soiled incontinence pants.

She had had an accident and hadn't made it to the bathroom in time. Her bed sheets and nightie were soiled and her near miss in the bathroom had resulted in muck all over the floor and toilet bowl. I managed to get Margaret out of her pants and into her shower where I hosed her down, washed her with Johnson's liquid baby soap and after drying her down and applying soothing cream to her sore rear end finally dressed her and got her settled in her reclining chair in the lounge.

Next I put my shopping away as it had several frozen items and milk which don't last too well in 30 C plus heat. I also turned on the air conditioning to make us both comfortable, I stripped Margaret's bed and put the sheets into wash. Next I faced the task of cleaning up around her toilet area. Thank God for tiled floors. A bucket of hot water and disinfectant soon had the job done. Finally I made up Margaret's bed with fresh clean sheets and made us both a cup of tea it was now getting on for 11.00 am.

We had a light lunch and then it was time to visit her GP once again. He was very concerned about Margaret's pain and also her low sodium levels so he packed us off to get X-rays of Margaret's chest and ribs while he contacted her physician at Noosa Hospital. Just before the X-rays were taken we got a message from him to collect the films, when ready, and go directly to the Noosa Hospital Emergency Department where admission would be arranged.

After a brief wait in emergency Margaret was placed in a side ward and given morphine for pain relief while more blood and other tests were taken. The X-rays had been quickly assessed when taken and nothing noted but the emergency doctor found two cracked ribs and fluid on the lung due to inadequate breathing. I popped home to get Margaret's medications and a nightie and she was admitted at 8.00 pm.



This morning I went back to see if I could see her specialist but he had not visited the ward yet and it could have been an all day wait. While I was there the RN looking after Margaret asked me to assist her in filling out some forms concerning Margaret's previous health history. Apparently Margaret could not assist them due to her confusion. The RN had nursed Margaret earlier in the year and noted how much more confused Margaret had become in the last three months. She would be accompanying the specialist on his rounds and will pass on my concerns if I don t catch him later.

I took in Big Ted to keep Margaret company.