Monday, August 27, 2007

Hospital -- Updated

My mom was discharged from the hospital this afternoon. We weren't notified until this morning. She's much better now.

So, what happened was... Her colon (large intestine) was infected. The most obvious symptom was her terrible abdominal pain. It has many factors - Diabetes, Old age, Lack of fiber, and lack of exercise. In general, she had bumps on her large intestine that popped. All of the puss leaked and caused an infection. They did a procedure where they had used a needle to take out the puss. Normally, if her part of her organs (ie. bladder) are not functioning properly, she would need a surgery. However, after the small procedure, some rest and antibiotics, she's better now.

My mom went to the ER last Friday, and she was diagnosed for Diverticulitis. After 11 hours at the ER with her, she was finally admitted to the hospital at 2 am.

Today, I visited her; she looks much better. On her first day at the ER, she was poked 9 times for blood sample and IV. Two nurses poked her about 6 times and missed. Finally, the doctor did the job in 1 shot. By now, 3 days later, she has probably been poked about 20 times.

Anyway, she had a small procedure two days ago, and she's fine now. She can finally eat. The case management team will review her status tomorrow to see if she can go home. There's a chance that she might need surgery.

After 11 hours in the ER, I have only noticed one thing - that no one knows anything. Maybe I'll explain next time when I'm not so sleepy.