Ignorance is Bliss

My mother-in-law, Bev, was taken to the emergency room early Monday morning when she woke up and declared that she could not breathe. The doctors in the ER determined that, besides her end-stage emphysema, her BNP level was elevated. A high BNP level sometimes indicates heart failure, but the cardiologists were hesitant to diagnose her until they performed more tests. Now, days later, an exact diagnosis has still not been made, and assessments are ongoing.

Oddly, Bev has been quite cooperative and is seemingly content since she entered the hospital. Her Alzheimer's is very prevalent, and I suspect that this is responsible for her placid behavior. She phoned me seven times on Tuesday, just so I would know where she was, and called so many others as well that we have had to delete some numbers from her cell phone's contact list. She thinks she is at a hotel and has come up with some wildly entertaining stories the past few days. Bev insists that the woman in the next bed, along with her frequently visiting husband, are sharing her hotel room, but she doesn't seem to mind too much. And, although she was shocked that she couldn't find an ashtray in the room, she has not even asked us for a cigarette. Not once. She does have a nicotine patch, but that has never before pacified her for this long. So, with 24-hour-a-day oxygen, and an unusually pleasant attitude, Bev is looking better and feeling pretty good, too. It is always fun, though, wondering what will happen next.