Diagnosis
FROM GREG:
Yesterday Meredith and I took Mama to an appointment to follow up on her surgery. Dr Haraszti was her surgeon, but his partner, Dr. Yusufji, saw Mama. X-rays looked good, and the healing of the wound is apparently proceeding satisfactorily, but Mama is complaining of pain all the way down the left leg, and there is evident swelling, leading Dr Yusufji to be concerned about a possible blood clot. He sent us to an imaging clinic for ultrasound, and gave Mama a prescription for treatment, at the nursing home, for the bump on her wrist. He left the instructions for therapy as they were. They removed the staples and stitches from her leg.
The ultrasound apparently did not reveal a clot.
Meredith and I were to meet at the nursing home at 11:00, depart 11:30 for lunch, and arrive at the doctor’s office in time for the 1:20 appointment. However, Mama was dressed, ready, and sitting at the door in her wheel chair with her sweater on and purse in her lap, ready to go, and impatient with our attempts to visit while there.
She had a lot of difficulty transferring from the wheel chair into the car, disregarding my instructions about not twisting, standing straight up, where to put her hands, etc. It was painful for her to get her legs into the car, even with assistance.
While she did improve with practice, as we had to enter and exit the car several times, she is not capable of safely doing it without significant assistance, and it is apparently quite painful even then. I question whether it will be advisable to bring her home for a visit this weekend.
Mama said that she did not eat much at breakfast, but was not hungry. When we went to Olive Garden for lunch, she refused all but a small piece of bread and some iced tea. She said that her leg hurt after sitting for a while. I suspect that the strain of getting into and out of the car played a part in this pain.
She asked several times where we were going, and asked if she could go home after she saw the doctor. We explained that she had to be able to get around better by herself before that could happen.
The x-ray procedure was uncomfortable and painful to her, as was the ultra-sound, as it was necessary for them to rotate her knee outward in order to get the images they needed, and just getting onto and off the table was painful. All in all it was a long, tiring, and stressful day for her and her two assistants.
She said she was hungry when she got to Westbury and had a soft drink. I gave the prescriptions to the nurse and explained Mama’s situation. The nurse said she would give her some pain medication. Jeff and Louise brought her a gourmet feast.
I have the application for a disabled persons parking permit for Mama’s car, and will take it to the tag office when I have a chance. I WOULD BE VERY DISAPPOINTED TO FIND THAT ANYONE HAD USED THIS PERMIT TO PARK IN A RESERVED SPACE WITHOUT HAVING MAMA IN THE CAR.
Dr. Robinson’s office has finally received Mama’s records. This underscores our recent conversations about double checking, following up, and verifying. Lisa at Dr Robinson’s office told me, by phone, at 11:24 AM August 20, that she had received the faxes and placed them on Dr. Robinson’s desk.
Yesterday Meredith and I took Mama to an appointment to follow up on her surgery. Dr Haraszti was her surgeon, but his partner, Dr. Yusufji, saw Mama. X-rays looked good, and the healing of the wound is apparently proceeding satisfactorily, but Mama is complaining of pain all the way down the left leg, and there is evident swelling, leading Dr Yusufji to be concerned about a possible blood clot. He sent us to an imaging clinic for ultrasound, and gave Mama a prescription for treatment, at the nursing home, for the bump on her wrist. He left the instructions for therapy as they were. They removed the staples and stitches from her leg.
The ultrasound apparently did not reveal a clot.
Meredith and I were to meet at the nursing home at 11:00, depart 11:30 for lunch, and arrive at the doctor’s office in time for the 1:20 appointment. However, Mama was dressed, ready, and sitting at the door in her wheel chair with her sweater on and purse in her lap, ready to go, and impatient with our attempts to visit while there.
She had a lot of difficulty transferring from the wheel chair into the car, disregarding my instructions about not twisting, standing straight up, where to put her hands, etc. It was painful for her to get her legs into the car, even with assistance.
While she did improve with practice, as we had to enter and exit the car several times, she is not capable of safely doing it without significant assistance, and it is apparently quite painful even then. I question whether it will be advisable to bring her home for a visit this weekend.
Mama said that she did not eat much at breakfast, but was not hungry. When we went to Olive Garden for lunch, she refused all but a small piece of bread and some iced tea. She said that her leg hurt after sitting for a while. I suspect that the strain of getting into and out of the car played a part in this pain.
She asked several times where we were going, and asked if she could go home after she saw the doctor. We explained that she had to be able to get around better by herself before that could happen.
The x-ray procedure was uncomfortable and painful to her, as was the ultra-sound, as it was necessary for them to rotate her knee outward in order to get the images they needed, and just getting onto and off the table was painful. All in all it was a long, tiring, and stressful day for her and her two assistants.
She said she was hungry when she got to Westbury and had a soft drink. I gave the prescriptions to the nurse and explained Mama’s situation. The nurse said she would give her some pain medication. Jeff and Louise brought her a gourmet feast.
I have the application for a disabled persons parking permit for Mama’s car, and will take it to the tag office when I have a chance. I WOULD BE VERY DISAPPOINTED TO FIND THAT ANYONE HAD USED THIS PERMIT TO PARK IN A RESERVED SPACE WITHOUT HAVING MAMA IN THE CAR.
Dr. Robinson’s office has finally received Mama’s records. This underscores our recent conversations about double checking, following up, and verifying. Lisa at Dr Robinson’s office told me, by phone, at 11:24 AM August 20, that she had received the faxes and placed them on Dr. Robinson’s desk.