Change in breathing

As I have mentioned, my Mother has been battling allergies the last few weeks.

We have gone from horrible sounding wet coughs, to gurgling, which I had finally managed to get under control by giving her benadryl.

Then on Wednesday her breathing changed. I am not sure how to describe it, other than her breathing sounded like she was in a deep sleep, (real heavy almost snoring),but she was awake. This went on for most of the day.

I had decided to have the hospice nurse come check on her Thursday, as our nurse has Friday's off, and I would just as soon have her checked before the weekend.

Although there is someone always on call on the weekend, I see no reason not to plan ahead a little bit, and make their life as easy as possible when it's not an emergency. Furthermore, I prefer to have our regular nurse, as she knows what is normal for Mom.

Also, I couldn't see on the nurses form from the Monday visit the oxygen level, although I was certain if it had changed dramatically, the nurse would have said something.

Much to my surprise, Thursday morning when I went in to wake my Mom, I couldn't hear her breathing. I couldn't even see her breathing. I could see a pulse in her neck, but no rising and falling of her chest.
I was tempted to ask "Mom, are you dead?" (our family has a rather dry sense of humor). But then, she said "I want to get up". Wow, that was weird. Almost like something out of a Halloween haunted house.

So, she was fine. All I could figure out was that it had rained the night before, so perhaps all the pollen had been washed from the air.

I called the nurse to come anyway, just to check Mom's lungs.

She came. Mom's oxygen level had been 97% on Monday. The reason it wasn't on the form is the nurse had not pressed hard enough (it's a multi-page form).

The nurse checked Mom's lungs. They are clear (in the upper part, the lower part has been a problem ever since she went on hospice). Her oxygen level was at 98%.

The nurse said she was glad I phoned, that it gave her an excuse to get out of the office. Apparently we are the only patient (for our home health aide and nurse) who is in their home. Everyone else is in a facility. So, they all kind of like to come here and hang out, chat. We have a good time.

Anyway, Mom is OK.

She is pooping also, but I will discuss that in another posting, with a warning (for those of you who do not want to read about poop).