A Hospital Story

My mother-in-law is in the hospital. Jim was with her in the ER for 9 hours on Thursday. The doctors at first suspected a heart attack. Then, they thought she might have suffered a stroke. They performed an EKG, heart ultrasound, and chest CT. She has been very forgetful lately, and was understandably confused in the emergency room. But on Friday, up in her hospital room, she was actually delusional, and we were frustrated that no tests or procedures had been scheduled to rule out certain diagnoses. Finally today, Jim and I were able to speak with her pulmonary doctor. It was determined that she did not have a heart attack, although her heart is only working at 30% or less. A stroke was ruled out as well. What she does have is end-stage emphysema, hypoxia, and pulmonary cachesia. Her lungs are so damaged from smoking three packs of cigarettes a day, that her body is working triple time just to suck in enough air. She looks skeletal and the doc says she is “wasting away.” She has had a decreasing amount of oxygen reaching her lungs, tissues, and brain. The pulmonary guy said that she will have to quit smoking (anyone want to bet money on that?), administer her own oxygen, operate a nebulizer, use an inhaler, take numerous medications, etc. We informed him that she would never be able to handle all that on her own, so he suggested “assisted living” as a possible solution. We are going back to talk to him in the morning and will see a social worker regarding extended care. Many meetings and decisions loom in our future. And guess what? Jim will be out of town from Tuesday to Friday, and I am the second person, after him, listed on her Medical Advocate/Power of Attorney form. Sigh.