My FIL suddenly felt sick late Sunday night and needs oxygen all day Monday.
He barely woke up to see us and he was sleeping all day. He has morphine now as he may have pain breathing but he also is weak so he sleeps all day.
Has not eaten much so this is an issue. Hope the hospital bed came and we have to call and find out. The NH gave us a new pressure-sore mattress and they hope the hospital bed can help him for feeding.
He has been so weak that when they moved him from this side to the other wing of the building, his eyes were not opened at all. Instead he closed his eyes tightly for a short while in the room. Never seen him like that. Sedated strongly by the oxygen and morphine... Never opened his eyes. He just had little yogurt and juice. Hope today he gets better.
Now he is in the semi-private room. (A last minute move.)
The roommate is walking and talking so I am not sure what is wrong with the guy. Looks nice.
The residential care director is worried about my FIL as he is quite weak. Don't know why he cannot breathe - it is the CHF.
Hope he will pull through. Now he is vulnerable for not eating.
The other thing is the old room he had was smelling at times. My FIL smells more lately as he does not go to the bathroom as much as last year anymore. The weather is hot also so maybe he smells more. But the housekeeping dept. should make sure the room smells better. Amazing that the staff came in and out and didn't worry about the smell. The nurse once said it is not their job about room smell. I told the head director to pay attention to this matter. I cannot live with bad smell in the room.
My husband now signed for staying in the NH without feeding tube. The director said it will only last a few weeks if they give him the tube in this state. I still hope my FIL will pull it through.
This morning my FIL had some breakfast still on oxygen. Hope he will be fine once he starts eating.
I wonder if he has pneumonia. Has he had a check x-ray? That would explain the difficulty breathing. CHF would explain the low oxygen levels and the need for oxygen as well. For whatever reason it doesn't sound good. A human can go weeks without food and it takes very little food to sustain life. Hydration is more important but I am sure they are pushing fluids as much as possible. Yes a hospital bed will make it easier for them to help his fluid intake. Pressure sore mattresses are important if he is going to be in bed to maintain skin in integrity. It only takes a short time to, sometimes hours, to create a pressure sore... and it takes weeks to heal it.
If he is slightly dehydrated and not urinating as frequently that may be the reason for the smell. Concentrated Urine has a horrible odor. Being indoors, the outside temperature is irrelevant to body odors. It could be that they are not able to adequately bath him in his current state. I am sure right now they are more concerned with his health concerns that odors.
I am glad your husband finally signed the orders for no tubes I am pleased that he did eat a little this morning.... and hope he continues to get better.
Love, deb
The Following User Says Thank You to Gabriel For This Useful Post: ninamarc (07-03-2012)
We didn't worry about the odors Monday but I did email the head director today about the ventilation issue.
Anyway, since we go for staying home option, he is not going to the hospital to take x-ray. Last time in late Feb., he had some kind of upper chest infection and had antibiotics/oxygen for one day. Now they made educated guess without probing him anymore. No sign of infection for now. Hope we will get more news Thursday when the doctor comes. Slight fever but gone. So it is not obvious.
The issue is my FIL is weak given no walking/talking. His hands are weak to hold the food or spoon. He slept all day Monday due to the weakness, not the oxygen.
For now as long as he can eat, it is OK. The family director sees him more now. I guess at this point he is the sicker one in the home.
I am pleased that he did eat a little this morning.... and hope he continues to get better.
