Kathie Gagne died 4,705 days ago.
I talked to my sister to let her know what was happening with mom at Halifax.
She reminded me that mom was taken to the ER at Halifax on Easter Sunday because of a bladder infection, and that I should make sure to have them check for that today in case it’s the same thing.
I called Halifax Hospital this morning and talked about mom with Natalia, a nurse, for about twenty-two minutes.
She said mom’s blood pressure was better, and her core temperature is “improving”. She also told me that mom was, “responding to stimuli,” and to her name. She said that mom was still critical, but much better than when she was admitted last night.
Mom’s heartbeat is irregular, and they’re giving her “lots of antibiotics” because they think she may have pneumonia. They are also giving her morphine. Mom has an impacted bowel and inflamed colon, which sounds awful.
They gave her a CAT scan last night and Natalia told me that everything in her brain appears normal; there is no evidence of a stroke at all. She does have fluid in her lungs, though, which is why they are thinking it might be pneumonia.
Natalia told me that she was on shift until seven o’clock (Eastern time) tonight.
I talked to Mike Militello, who said he was the head nurse at Coastal Rehab. He told me that at 10:30 last night (May 15th) a nurse found mom in her room and her breathing was labored. So she called another nurse and they thought her lungs “sounded funny” so they sent mom to the ER at Halifax Hospital.
The call lasted thirteen minutes, most of which was spent on hold.
I just sent this email to a few friends who asked about mom:
I just returned from Florida. My wife and son and father-in-law were there with me from (late) Thursday night until yesterday (Tuesday) morning.
My sister had been there for three straight months and finally left on Sunday morning. So when we left yesterday I was basically leaving my mom all alone.
It was far, far worse than anything else I have ever done in my life. It was easily the worst weekend of my life.
Leaving my mom at the rehab place, sitting alone in a cafeteria staring into space, not knowing if at any point over the days I was there whether she really knew who I was, was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
And then when we landed last night there was a voice mail from the rehab place telling me that they took her to the ER a few hours after I left because she was wheezing and congested and couldn’t breathe. They called around midnight (my time) to tell me that they had to intubate her because she wasn’t breathing, and then around 3am to ask my permission to “run a central line”, which has something to do with needing a big vein to dispense medicine and collect blood. Around 7am the hospital called to tell me that she was septic, and that she had a pretty severe urinary tract infection which had spread to her bloodstream, and that her condition is “really bad”.
I just tried calling a few minutes ago (9:30 AM PT) and was told that they were all too busy — dealing specifically with my mom — to talk but that someone would call me soon to let me know what was happening.
So right now that’s my status.
I just returned from visiting mom in Florida and received an email from a friend asking me how it was. I replied:
My sister had been there for three months and left on Sunday morning. So when I left Florida I was basically leaving my mom all alone.
It was far, far worse than anything else I have ever done in my life. It was easily the worst weekend of my life.
Leaving my mom at the rehab place, sitting alone in a cafeteria staring into space, not knowing if at any point over the days I was there whether she really knew who I was, was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
And then when we landed a few hours ago there was a voice mail from the rehab place telling me that they took her to the ER a few hours after I left because she was wheezing and congested and couldn’t breathe. So now I’m waiting to hear from the ER doctor.
I received a voice mail from (386) 274-1070. I didn’t receive the message until my flight from Florida landed in Los Angeles at about 10PM PDT. Here is a transcript of the call:
“Hi, David. This is Darlene calling from Coastal Health and Rehab about your mother. Can you please give us a call whenever you get this message. This is Darlene again calling from Coastal Health and Rehab about your mother, Kathleen Gagner. Give us a call whenever you get this message at (386) 274-4575. Thank you.”
This is the last photo taken of me and my mother. My little sister took it when I visited mom at Coastal Rehab for Mother’s Day weekend.
My sister sent me this email:
Coastal Rehab can be temporary for rehab or long-term. I think we will need to just count on it for temporary rehab (in terms of months) and see how Mom does. She will need to improve a lot for her to be able to go back to Grace Manor. She needs too much care. I don’t think we can really plan very far ahead just yet. See what you think when you get here and see her. Physical Therapy for Mom would cost $180/week for 3 30 minute sessions. If the PTs see that she can do more, they can increase how often they see her. That would be $720 for one month. The $2000 will cover two months of PT with the idea that she can possibly do more than 3 times a week. The room/board/psychologists/psychiatrists are covered by Medicaid. Coastal will take her in good faith when they see that the Medicaid process has been begun. (This is common amongst ALFs and nursing homes-knowing that people will have to pay down their money to get Medicaid.) Medicaid will back pay whatever Mom receives while at Coastal prior to its approval. Paying the $2000 will help get her “poor” enough for Medicaid.
The fax was sent to the courthouse. I will call Victoria in the morning to verify that she received it. […]
Another email from my sister:
[…] Still trying to find out more about the catheter issues. They took it off again this evening. […]
Mom is still at Halifax. I have not talked to Dr. Buck yet. The Case Manager made a comment about Mom being discharged over the weekend, but I am not sure why.
Having the Medicaid meeting tomorrow. […]
I replied to my sister with this:
Hey, [name redacted],
What the hell? Is everyone involved with the elderly in Volusia County named Jann?
Would mom be moving to Coastal Rehab (and leaving Grace Manor permanently)? I don’t understand. Does the $2k cover everything — room and board, the psychologist and psychiatrist etc. — or is that just to pay for physical therapy? Is Coastal Rehab a long-term facility or would this just be temporary?
What did Dr. Buck say?
Did you send the fax to the courthouse? […]