A Stressfull Week

On Saturday Margaret was strangely docile.   She was very confused but not aggressive nor did she ask me to take her home.  We spent the visit talking and going for a walk with Louis.  Margaret's legs were still very swollen and the left leg was worse that the right and also very inflamed.  I though that her GP was visiting over the weekend but he didn't show up on Saturday or Sunday.

On Sunday Margaret was almost non-coherent but still very quiet.  She said that she hadn't eaten since Friday.  We had a brief walk with Louis.

On Monday I thought that she was too ill to go out to have her hair done but she insisted.  She had a nice cut and style which I thought looked very nice and i know she enjoyed her hairdressers cheerful chatter.  The only problem that her legs were worse and still no GP visit.

On Tuesday I dropped into the GP's surgery and left a message that Margaret was very ill an her left leg was now seriously inflamed and painful.  I needn't have bothered. When I got to the Nursing Centre Margaret was the centre of attention.  She had refused her medication, struggled with her carers during her shower and was now in the dining room telling everybody that she was being poisoned and had been assaulted.  The staff could not calm her and had given her an injection to settle her down.  She listened to me and let me get her back to her room where I managed to get her to take most of her tablets which she had spat at the RN.  The RN had phoned the GP and they tested her for a urinary infection which showed positive so they put her on antibiotics.  The GP would check her that evening.

She was still delusional when  left and about 6.00 pm got a call from Helen who had tried to talk to her.  The RN said that Margaret had somehow escaped from a locked ward and walked 50 metres to an adjacent building and had a fall.  As soon as Helen hung up the RN called me.  She thought that somebody, a visitor, had let her follow them out as she did not know the code to the doors.  She had multiple bruising and skin  tears on her left (broken) arm.  Her GP had arrived as they were dressing her arm and was appalled by her condition.  He phoned me later to say that her leg was seriously affected and agreed to meet me next day when he would check up on Margaret.

On Wednesday she was still both aggressive and scared.  She had refused her tablets again as the carers and RN where trying to poison her.  She was also in pain.  I got her to take her medication and sat with her until the GP came at about 2.00pm.  All the time Margaret was trying to escape using her wheely walker or her wheelchair.  I let her wheel herself down the corridor until she had to stop with exhaustion then put her back to bed.  She would not eat lunch and had had no breakfast.  i don't think that she had eaten anything significant since the Previous Saturday and now she was too scared to eat even for me.   When the GP came he said that her infected leg was causing the delusions and confusion and that he had increased her antibiotics.  By now I had  booked Helen a flight from Adelaide to make sure she could see Margaret before things got too bad.  The GP said that it was time.

On Thursday I picked Helen up from Brisbane Airport and drove her straight to the Nursing Home to find Margaret sitting in the dining room listening to music.  She didn't want to go back to her room because she would be assaulted and even accused me of thumping her.  Helen and I calmed her down and gave her her medication which she had previously refused.  Her legs were terrible.  We got her back on the bed and made her comfortable and she drifted in and out of sleep until lunch time.  She had one bite of a sandwich and a morsel of chicken and then started howling in pain.  It was pitiful to hear and watch.  The RN and carer helped settle her down and get her back to bed again.  Her GP dropped in and was dismayed to see her condition.  She is now on heavy antibiotics and increased diuretics but the swelling remains and the infection is worse.   Before he left I asked him what was the likely outcome and did she have weeks or months left.  He said that if the infection gets any worse it would be days, if not possibly weeks but not months.

Today Margaret is much the same and the infection and swelling persists. She also appears to have stopped passing urine which is a sign of complete kidney failure.  Margaret's GP has gone away for the weekend and my GP is taking over.  By chance I had to see him for a regular checkout this afternoon and he told me that the two GPs have decided to cease all medication which had only long term affects and the milder painkillers. From now on she will be on morphine injections.  He is visiting her this evening and Helen has stayed to talk to him.

During the day Margaret's cousin and her daughter dropped in to visit her.  They stayed for several hours and while Margaret was drifting in and out of consciousness she appeared to enjoy their company. We all went for a walk with Louis.  Margaret is still scared about being assaulted and has now added rape but there is no physical evidence to support her assertions any more than me thumping her or the carers poisoning her.  I did report this to the nursing home in case Margaret is overheard by other visitors.

I shall give Helen a phone call to let her know that i will come and pick her up at 6.00 pm as it is raining.