Update Dec 7, noon NJ time

Mom is looking a little better today; coughing a bit less.  She had breakfast this morning without gagging for the 1st time – applesauce, vanilla pudding, apple juice, and half a graham cracker!   Dr. Santomauro (Pulmonologist) saw Mom early this morning and gave her a swallow reflex test which she apparently passed – yay!  Mom is alert and responding better, although there are still small, infrequent episodes of confusion.

Unfortunately, the fluid drainage from her lung (thoracentesis) was supposed to have taken place yesterday but I was told they couldn’t fit her into the schedule, so they will do this procedure today.  As well, dialysis did not happen yesterday so that will be today too.  Dr. Abdelhadi (attending) is not on the floor this week so I spoke with the sr. resident, Dr. Yu.  She said the lung xray again showed fluid buildup on the left; this was also confirmed last night by a voice message left from Dr. Ackad.  Based on previous info given, it looks like a 3rd test will also be necessary in order to eliminate any false negatives.  With today’s 2nd test, then 2 days or so to get the results, we’re looking at Friday or Monday next week.  Then a 3rd test, maybe Tuesday or Wed and the end of that week before Mom is even released from CCU.

We’re trying to figure out the best course of action amidst all this uncertainty.  There are 3 possible outcomes from Mom’s stay in hospital:

(A) she’s well enough to get on a plane, so we take her to LA where it looks like we have a pretty good facility lined up for her and she’ll be near Liz, Alan, and Lianna.

(B) she’s not well enough to get on a plane, so she comes back home and we get full-time home health aides to help her with everyday activities and anything else she needs until she is well enough.  Problem with this is that home health cannot administer any meds or perform any nursing services – that would have to be by private nursing care.

(C) she’s not well enough to get on a plane, so we need to have Mom at a skilled nursing facility until she is well enough; this will be necessary if home health care is insufficient for her needs.

As such, we’re trying to figure out if we should sell Mom’s condo now or wait until we know more about which option above is best.  Obviously, option (A) is preferred, therefore, we could sell the condo.  Option (B) would be next, because it’s less expensive than option (C), but only if she can get by without skilled nursing care.  However, we’d have to wait to sell her condo.  Option (C) is last, and hopefully only for a short time until Mom is well enough to get on a plane.  And how long that may take is anybody’s guess.