Margaret is Improving - Sort Of!

I have visited Margaret every day this week.  There has been some limited improvement in Margaret's fluid retention and the pulmonary oedema has reduced over the last day which is a relief as even with oxygen she was gasping for breath most of the time.  I managed to talk with her GP last night after he had visited her and he thinks that she will have to be on diuretics for some time yet.  Here is where the problem for Margaret lies.  She started on 120 mg of Frusimide a day last Friday which I am told in a significant dose but on Tuesday it was increased to 200 mg a day.  It was not until yesterday, Friday, that the fluid level in her lungs began to reduce.  She will be on 200 mg a day until her legs return to near normal and her lungs are clear.

I asked the GP about the effect this large dose of Frusimide would have on her kidneys and he replied that he did not know nor was he going to take blood tests to find out.  Until her lungs were clear she was still in danger of congestive heart failure.  I  should accept that the main object of the medication is to make her more comfortable and it is not a cure.  The underlying cause of the fluid build up still exists,  she is already in chronic renal failure so the outlook is still grim but Margaret should be more comfortable.

Margaret has not been eating very much this week but the fluid around her waist makes he look very fat and her skirts are getting tight.  She spends most of the day in her chair in front of her TV which is normally on.  Her confusion has returned and she is always asking me what our phone number is and I write it down for her.  She also is fascinated by the controller for her chair which has two buttons, up and down.  She tells me that she doesn't know how t it works and she always gets me to make small adjustments to the angle of her back or foot rests.

She loves having Louis in to visit her but because she is too ill to take out for a walk in her wheelchair Louis has to sit next to her for two hours and gets bored so I don't take him in everyday.   Even yesterday her legs went beetroot coloured when she was taken to the toilet for 10 minutes and they were not elevated.

I shall take Louis in today if the rain eases up.  We have had 250 mm (10 inches) overnight and he got soaked on his early morning walk. (ABC News report)