Update on Margaret

I managed to catch up with Margaret's specialist on Thursday afternoon.  There was still some concern about AF and Margaret had been fitted with a halter monitor once again.  Her legs were still very swollen and weeping fluid in spite of the increased Frusimide.  They haven't been able to find any suitable veins to take a blood sample to check her kidneys and finally Margaret is still very confused.

As I have said before I visit over lunch and dinner times to help her with her food this means 10.00 am to 12.30 pm and 4.45 pm to 6.15 pm visits.  After lunch on Thursday I told her that I would be back at 5.00 pm.  When I walked in at 4.50 pm the nurse was consoling her and Margaret was in tears.  She had asked the nurse to phone me as I was late and had probably had a motor accident.  Of course I wasn't home which really upset her.  She calmed down when I arrived and I pointed out that I wasn't even late let alone in an accident.  It took some time to work out what had caused this concern but I think it was because I had our car serviced that day and had used the bus to get to the hospital in the morning.  This left Margaret with the belief that there was something wrong with the car and thus it could be in an accident.  Another problem is that Margaret firmly believes that the nurses call button which is contained in the TV control and speaker pod is the telephone  and the actual phone in used for something else which only works if she dials 66!.  This really gives the telephone receptionist a pain as it somehow or other wakes her up:)  When Helen phones she gets a nurse to to make sure that Margaret uses the phone.  Once she dropped it and Helen could hear Margaret carrying on the conversation using the Nurses call/TV control pod.  Helen hung up, called the nurses station back and they went and put Margaret back on the phone.  Even so, to call me she had to use the nurse.

Margaret's specialist is away for a few days and another Physician has taken over.  I met him yesterday, Friday,  and he is very concerned with Margaret's condition plus the fact that somehow or other Margaret had lost her sling overnight.  She was in great deal of pain so I went looking for a nurse and found the ward sister with the new doctor just about to visit Margaret.   The doctor was upset when Margaret's sling was found folded up on a high shelf where Margaret could not have put it.  I had thought that Margaret might have removed it and it had fallen under the bed but this meant that somebody had deliberately ignored that it was off or even worse removed it and put it out of reach.  The doctor explained to me that and mild pressure on the break could cause it to open and misalign the fracture and it must be kept  immobilised at all times.

Next he was concerned with her swollen legs.  She was, in his opinion, on the verge of developing blood clots in both legs which in turn could cause a stroke.  He had her put in long TED stockings and clot busting injections.  She is to keep her feet up most of the time but also go for short walks under the supervision of a physio once or twice a day.  Her heart  appears stable but as she hasn't had a blood test for several days he was concerned that the increased Frusimide could be affecting her kidneys.

All in all I am still very worried about Margaret's future.  As for the arm there is nothing to do with it for the next few weeks except, perhaps, start Physio on it to prevent the shoulder joint freezing up.