Tuesday, December 23, 2014

I bet there are a lot of people who don't know about this.

Postoperative delirium in the elderly

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2546478/


Postoperative cognitive dysfunction


'Peaceful' made a comment about this in my last post.  I didn't think too much about it.  I went to see my mum this afternoon.  She wasn't there, but another demanding, mad, cursing person was.  It was horrible.  She was trying to get out of the bed.  Demanding that I put the sidebar down so that she could swing her legs over.  She wasn't supposed to get out of the bed.  She was furious with me for not helping.  She wouldn't leave the oxygen tube in her nose.  Then she would calm down a bit, and talk about things that didn't make sense.  She wasn't in a hospital, she couldn't figure out what all this 'stuff' was.  She had never been in a hospital before she said.  She has been, many times.  The nurses came to help with her, got her on the commode, although she had been on it not long before.  I walked out into the hallway and peered out the window at the rain and the view of the wall of another part of the hospital, and shed a tear or two.  The nurses used a 'd' word.  They said it is common, most people get it.  Maybe most of the patients on that ward are elderly.  When I got home and was looking it up, I was thinking dementia, but then later I thought it might have been delirium.  Is there a difference?  Doing all this reading is bloody scary (my mum used that word a lot this afternoon).  The surgeon never mentioned it.  No one mentioned it.  I didn't know there was such a thing.  It's damn scary.  Will it go away?  Please?

So after that sad visit, I went to a friend's and had a cuddle with this.  Almost four weeks old. 


He and his four black sisters are destined to become guide dogs or autism support dogs.  You can read about one of his sisters from a previous litter, here, on page 4.


One day at a time.

6 comments:

  1. (((((Tight Hug)))))) my heart aches for you.... I was hoping to prepare you but its hard speaking to people you dont "know" hoping not to offend... ( Peaceful is now Seeking Serenity )... one tiny shuffle at a time....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know exactly what you are saying. Thank you so much.

      Delete
  2. My heart goes out to you too. It will get better. My Mother was out of her head for several day after a reaction to some medication. My sister and I took turns staying with her at the hospital. As sweet as my Mother was, she was telling the nurses that she would slap the s--- out of them. No at all like mama. She fought with the sheet on her bed. She pulled the sheet up through her pajama leg and out through the neck of her pajama top. Thank goodness it went away. I know holding that sweet little puppy made you feel better. I'll sure be thinking about you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you. It's the thought of it not getting better that freaks me out. There is a chance of that it seems:(

    ReplyDelete
  4. Normal..but hard to witness. Elderly have a hard time with change...any change plus surgery...uffda. She may revert back a day or two...make sure she is well hydrated sometimes a glass of water would bring my Mother In Law around to normal after twenty minutes of sipping water. She also had problems when they moved her to a different facility and each and every time she was in the hospital...it will get better:)

    ReplyDelete

I love to get comments, so don't be shy!