I just sent the following email to my sister:
[name redacted],
I just talked to Christy, the morning shift nurse on mom’s floor. She said that there were no significant changes during the night, but that mom seems to be responding well to the antibiotics; her body temperature (which had been dangerously low) has returned to normal and her body appears to be regulating its temperature well on its own now.
She’s still on a ventilator (with a breathing tube) so they are keeping her pretty well sedated on morphine because they don’t want her to wake up and freak out because of that. (Apparently that’s pretty common.)
They’ve also stopped administering ALL of the anti-psychosis / anti-dementia / anti-memory-loss drugs (e.g. Namenda, Risperidone, Ativan, Aricept, Haldol) while she is in the intensive care unit, which is another reason they’re keeping her knocked out for now.
I’ve given a thorough history of mom’s last six months to both of the primary nurses on that floor — Christy and Natalia — and am waiting to hear from the physician this afternoon. Both of them seemed to agree with me on the chance that the continuing and ever-changing dosages and schedules of the potpourri of psycho pharmaceuticals could potentially be causing problems with her liver or kidneys which is why she keeps getting urinary tract infections; or it could be completely unrelated. But either way it’s probably best to “start fresh” and we’ll learn more when she’s moved out of the ICU.
She’s in room 519 on the fifth floor of the Fountain Building at 303 N Clyde Morris Blvd, 32114. I sent her a letter with some photos of [name redacted], although I have no idea if she’ll be in that same room by even the end of the day today.
You can call 386-254-4150 with PIN [redacted] for information, but (since you can’t actually talk to mom anyway) for now it’s probably best if I’m the only one talking to them and I’ll keep you updated. I’m just relaying all this information in case I get hit by a bus or something.
I called [name redacted] and updated him this morning. He said he may try to visit her this afternoon, even though I strongly suggested that it would be pointless because she’s unconscious.
I love you and will keep you posted.
David Vincent Gagne