Mom was confused. She writhed around a lot trying to get comfortable, so high on morphine that she was unaware of her broken bones. Her eyes could only open a tiny bit and she couldn't speak. She could squeeze my hand when asked to but it would drain her energy and she'd fall asleep not long after. She learned to communicate by raising her eyebrows to say 'yes' after a while. She could mouthe 'really?', and she'd give us a confused look to say no.
I asked if she was in pain, she wasn't. There were too many drugs being pumped into her for that. It was like caring for a toddler at times. She kept trying to pull her feeding tube out and scratch her head, she didn't understand when we told her that she couldn't do that. This made her moody a lot and she'd refuse to communicate for a while.
The nurses tried every day to remove her feeding tube as she contstantly pulled it out until she was finally ready to eat proper food. Mom had to wear padded gloves most of the time to stop herself from pulling tubes out or scratching her head. She was allowed to have them removed if someone was holding her hand whilst visiting, she quickly learned this and used it as an opportunity to pull her tubes the second the glove came off!
After a few days she was given a device that clipped into her trachea tube and helped her to speak for a short while. It gave her a robotic sounding voice and if she had it in for too long it would affect her breathing. She started to learn phrases like 'that's alright!' and 'it is isn't it' which she would use all the time - even if they were out of context!
Seeing the improvements reassured us enough to return home for a few weeks so we booked a flight. Each day saw tiny positive changes - even if there was a long way to go- until our 14th and final day.
It was finally time to return home to Iceland.
I'm trying to raise money to frequently visit my mom during her long recovery, I would really appreciate any donations and please share the crowdfunder if you can.
Loppy x
You can donate here...
Read the article here...
Read part one here...
Read part two here...
Read part three here...
I asked if she was in pain, she wasn't. There were too many drugs being pumped into her for that. It was like caring for a toddler at times. She kept trying to pull her feeding tube out and scratch her head, she didn't understand when we told her that she couldn't do that. This made her moody a lot and she'd refuse to communicate for a while.
The nurses tried every day to remove her feeding tube as she contstantly pulled it out until she was finally ready to eat proper food. Mom had to wear padded gloves most of the time to stop herself from pulling tubes out or scratching her head. She was allowed to have them removed if someone was holding her hand whilst visiting, she quickly learned this and used it as an opportunity to pull her tubes the second the glove came off!
After a few days she was given a device that clipped into her trachea tube and helped her to speak for a short while. It gave her a robotic sounding voice and if she had it in for too long it would affect her breathing. She started to learn phrases like 'that's alright!' and 'it is isn't it' which she would use all the time - even if they were out of context!
Seeing the improvements reassured us enough to return home for a few weeks so we booked a flight. Each day saw tiny positive changes - even if there was a long way to go- until our 14th and final day.
It was finally time to return home to Iceland.
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Mom exploring |
I'm trying to raise money to frequently visit my mom during her long recovery, I would really appreciate any donations and please share the crowdfunder if you can.
Loppy x
You can donate here...
Read the article here...
Read part one here...
Read part two here...
Read part three here...