It’s Always Something

As Angelique’s caregiver, I am told I need an outlet. So far, this is it. No matter how tired I am, I try to post an entry here. Forgive my fatigue…here goes.

When last we met we were cruising in “wait and see”mode. Fred, Russell and Timmy made their scheduled visit yesterday. James & Kim joined the congregation, as expected.

Something seemed strange about Angelique Wednesday. She slept restlessly, with pronounced hand and leg movements and lots of talking. We attributed it to the increase in visitor traffic. Also, our research about patients in her position revealed behavior similar to what we were seeing in her.

She seemed at times, lucid, and then at other times, confused.

Sometime during the wee hours this morning, she awoke and, using scissors, severed all her wires and hoses. She cut her IV line, her catheter line, and the belt holding the catheter in place.

To my horror, I awoke to her walking down the hallway, fully dressed, saying, “I’m outta here, there not doing this to me”.

I immediately confirmed that she had not cut herself, then put her back into bed and gave her two adivan, “chill pills”, to calm her down. I then called the hospice answering service, which connected me to the the nurse on duty, who was in Columbus at the time.

She traveled to our home and sat with me while the doctor could be contacted and summoned. He came over in the later morning, the first time I’ve ever seen a “doctor visit”,  and told us what her problem was. Turns out her liver has decided to stop processing ammonia. I didn’t even know we had ammonia in our systems. The excess ammonia causes the twitchiness she exhibited on Wednesday, as well as the disorientation that caused her episode this morning.

The cure for it is a laxative which binds itself to the ammonia, and rids the system of the ammonia. It seems to be working. She is sleeping quietly and without the agitated motions that she exhibited yesterday and last night.

Meanwhile, the other question of interest was whether she removed her catheter, or simply snipped off the hose. To determine this, the doctors scheduled an ultrasound earlier today. The superbly excellent, and ultra-professional (she’s reading this) ultrasound technician determined that the catheter is still in her bladder, making it necessary to have it removed (probably surgically) and having another one put in.

This was a difficult post. I am fatigued. I may have repeated myself, or left out pertinent details. I’ll read it again tomorrow, and may make revisions.

Thanks for caring. Stay tuned.