Update … not a good one

On Sunday, mom was admitted to the hospital with more shortness of breath.  Based on the prognosis I had received, this was not surprising … as the lung condition progressed, she was supposed to have periods of worsening, followed by periods of improvement as her body adjusted.  We talked briefly on Sunday evening, and she seemed OK.

This morning in school, Pepper’s husband called me … he told me mom and been transferred to Loyola, because the hospital had exhausted its capability of keeping her blood oxygen up.

I called Pepper, who was already there, and she told me that I needed to get there now.

It took me a few hours to get a sub and get everything set, but I got to the hospital at about 12:30.   Mom was in a lot of pain because when they put her on a new oxygen treatment, she had gulped the oxygen, and she now had really bad gas pains.  They were able to get her on morphine, among the many other drugs they have pumped into her.

The doctors came to see me, and they were very clear:  there is nothing more to be done except to keep her comfortable.  She does not have much more time.  That could be hours or weeks.  I am not thinking that it will be weeks, but mom is one of the most stubborn people I know.

My brother and sister are sitting down tonight to make some decisions that will need to be made very soon.

I have a final exam scheduled for Thursday in my Budget and Finance class.  I also have a couple of papers that I need to tidy up.