Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

[SXGuy]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

Thanx guys, no sick pay, shes self employed, not sure what shes entitled to, or what her level of care will need to be yet. In the dark with a lot of it to be honest, should know more when I visit her later.

Plenty of friends and family support so shes not alone.

[cymruambyth]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

So sorry to hear about what has happened to your mum. Just make sure that family members talk to everyone and pm Pompey for help.

[SXGuy]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

Just come back from hospital. She was a bit angry with me cos she doesn't want to be there anymore, hates hospitals. I think she accepted In the end she has to be there. I just think shes worried they wont let her go home anytime soon and theres stuff that needs to be done.

Obviously doesn't trust me to get it sorted. lol

The dr believes she has had a viral infection, which put pressure on the heart, gave her a heart attack, and caused a blood clot to travel up to the brain.

They have placed her on some Anti Biotics, water tablets, blood thinners and something to take the strain off the heart. And gave her an MRI Scan also.

She seems to have improved since yesterday, managed to say a few more words, and actually wrote a word down that she wanted to say.Still not 100% but it will take time I guess.

But, she did a full face of make up all by herself, including drawing her eyebrows and lipstick, as well as wash herself.

All in all her general state of mind is boredom. Surrounded by very serious stroke victims and just wants to be around more alert people.

Think today has been a positive one, but still has some way to go yet.

[MrsD]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

sounds like she's making some progress, I would imagine it's a good sign that the words are becoming clearer, all you can do is support her and make sure she gets the right treatment by asking lots of the right questions. I'm probably about the same age as your Mum, I don't like hospitals either so I can so understand why she doesn't want to be there. Just listen to her and get the answers and actions she needs. Don't ever presume that hospital is always right, you need to just keep asking until you get a satisfactory outcome and one that your Mum is happy with.

[SXGuy]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

They want to move her to a speech recovery ward, but until they can, they want to see her do tasks like make a cup of tea etc. Trouble is, shes so stubborn she doesn't want to, its not that she cant. I tried explaining that the more she shows them she can do the quicker it will be before shes out but she doesn't believe me. I need to speak to the nurse or dr today because im sure I overheard the dr telling staff that shes unable to listen to all requests they make, which isn't true, its just her, always has been. She has always repeated herself a lot, and has always been the kind of person who has 10 million things going on in her head and finds it hard to focus when someone is speaking to her. I don't want them to think that she has an issue from the stroke, but make sure they understand, its just her.

[patchouli]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

My Mother really found that doing crossword / puzzle books helped her a lot with sorting out her head.. She still does them now and insists it's the only way to stay alert.

Also if you have an iPad or Tablet or something similar where she can use a touch screen to do various games that help with hand eye coordination, word recognition etc etc...

Jigsaw puzzles or Rubik cubes are good too.

[Pixie]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

It's difficult for the medical staff as they obviously didn't know her before she became ill. Hopefully, one you speak to them, they'll realise it's "just her".

[SXGuy]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

Hi Guys.

Just thought id write a little update.

Saw my mother today, and I honestly believe she is 100% better than yesterday and the day before that.

Her Vocab seems to be improving every day, ive noticed more and more words being spoken, and she is slowly starting to write correct words and sentances.

Shes far from well enough to come home, however I am really optimistic that it will be soon.

Shes fully aware of what is happening, still the same person ive always known. I think she has been very lucky.

She had an MRI yesterday, however ive yet to see the results. But they have placed an occupational nurse with her who is assessing her abilities. So although I don't know if this is good or bad, im going to take it as a sign that at some point she will be fit enough to come home.

Being the stubborn type of mother she is, I think the occupational nurse is going to have a hard time assessing her to do anything lol.

Anyway ill sign off by saying, I think tonight is the first night since Monday morning where I will actually sleep well.

Thanks for all your support so far guys, will keep you updated soon.

[cookie2112]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

Hi Guys.

Just thought id write a little update.

Saw my mother today, and I honestly believe she is 100% better than yesterday and the day before that.

Her Vocab seems to be improving every day, ive noticed more and more words being spoken, and she is slowly starting to write correct words and sentances.

Shes far from well enough to come home, however I am really optimistic that it will be soon.

Shes fully aware of what is happening, still the same person ive always known. I think she has been very lucky.

She had an MRI yesterday, however ive yet to see the results. But they have placed an occupational nurse with her who is assessing her abilities. So although I don't know if this is good or bad, im going to take it as a sign that at some point she will be fit enough to come home.

Being the stubborn type of mother she is, I think the occupational nurse is going to have a hard time assessing her to do anything lol.

Anyway ill sign off by saying, I think tonight is the first night since Monday morning where I will actually sleep well.

Thanks for all your support so far guys, will keep you updated soon.

Great to hear that your mum is on the mend, fingers crossed she is well enough to go home soon

[IF]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

Hope your Mum is home soon too and sending hugs to you both SXGuy

[jj19]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

All sounds pretty horrible to me. I do know there are many causes of heart failure and drugs can do wonders. It may be something that needs surgery although cardiac surgery is a walk in the park these days although scares the bejesus out of me. I hope she feels better soon. Just remember to ask questions as I don't think all doctors give you the full picture unless asked.
I dont know you but my thoughts are with your mum and all sick people

[SXGuy]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

Another update. Getting better again. Head Nurse confirmed also that her speech is getting better.

Still finding it hard to put a sentence together, but that's to be expected. She is pronouncing words better each day.

She was showing off today, saying she can still do maths, and she was writing down 800 + 800 = 1600. LOL

Asked me what had happened the day I found her. So I told her. She must have forgotten or maybe the stroke played a part of her not remembering I don't know.

She is desperate to come home, she says she has had enough now, the ward is to noisy at night time and shes tired, she just wants her own bed. But I tried to explain to her that at the moment, they are still treating her and she cant just take some pills at home instead.

Spoke to the head nurse and she told me that, they can not yet explain why she is so breathless, but think it could just clear up on its own, they confirmed that she also has a urine infection. and are giving her antibiotics for that.

Shes now also on double the dosage of diuretics and ACE inhibitors since her GP prescribed them, and they have also placed her on beta blockers.

Looking at her chart, her rapid heart rate is slowly decreasing from 120 when she entered hospital to 90 now. So to with her blood pressure, has also been getting better.

Fluid on her feet and legs appear to be reducing also.

Head nurse said, they usually keep people like her in for a minimum of 7 days, but can not promise she will come home Monday, but its possible it will be sometime next week.

So im staying positive still.

[MrsD]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

you can just visit and support her , make sure the staff know you are on it and reassure your Mum that everyone is doing everything possible to get her sorted and home to her own bed. One thing I would bear in mind is that when you are ill, really ill, you know in yourself that you need assistance from medical professionals. I've had a few close shaves over the years and I have always known that I need a Doctor and possibly pretty fast. that's why it's really important to listen to your own body, you just have to be your Mum's conduit here.

[SXGuy]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

Hi Guys. Saw my mother again today, a lot better than yesterday, she seems to be improving 100% every single day, every time I see her I am shocked at the level of progress she is making.

More words are being spoken correctly, and wrote correctly. Still having trouble forming a sentence on paper, but individual words are correct, so I would assume that sentences would be the last step in recovery.

She is aware of the words that do not sound right when spoken, and tries to adjust how they sound to make it correct, which I think its pretty good considering Monday she didn't even know they sounded wrong.

My brother was unable to see her today due to work commitments and cover falling through but she did have a visit from an old friend which cheered her up.

Shes still wanting to come home ASAP and is still upset about being around people who are worse than she is, but that's to be expected.

She explained in detail today what happened Sunday night. She said, she suddenly fell over around 11pm, and couldn't move, but she could hear the tv playing music. At some point she managed to crawl from the living room up the stairs and to her bedroom, which is where I found her the following morning.

I don't think she realises just how lucky she has been to get away with appearing to only have expressive aphasia. Im not really sure which part of the brain has been damaged and what disability if any it has caused, but it doesn't seem to be showing any signs of a disability as yet.

Checked her chart today and her heart rate is now 88, so has gone down 30 points since Monday which is brilliant. Her blood pressure also appears to be getting stronger too.

Shes feeling abit sick because of the two antibiotics they are giving her for her infection, but apart from that, shes the mum ive always known and loved.

Really think we have all had a lucky escape from something that could have been very bad, and I shall take this a warning that its about time she had a break from the day to day stress and enjoy some semi retirement.

In regards to her complaint of breathlessness, they are unable o determine a cause, they tested her by asking her to walk a short distance until she felt breathless and hooked her up to a monitor, no signs of impaired oxygen to the lungs, no signs of raised heart rate or blood pressure, so they have made the decision that it is anxiety related and want her to try some deep breathing exercises.

Personally, I feel it may have something to do with giving up smoking 6 weeks ago after 56-57 years.

[cymruambyth]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

That's great news SXGuy. It's good to see that she is fighting to get to home as it shows she hasn't lost her confidence. The balance between monitoring and releasing is always a grey area that isn't obvious to the patient! As my dad used to say, 'Don't want to be in hospital because people catch illnesses in them'!