Shake ups

There were two big shake ups in this house over the weekend. One was geological, the other medical.

We had an earthquake Friday night. It wasn’t big – only 4.2 – and I didn’t hear of any damage or injury. It just shook the house causing that noise. If you haven’t heard the noise, it’s hard to comprehend. The entire house sort of groans. You wonder for a moment if this is the start of a disaster or just a mild disturbance in the force. This time it was the latter. It’s almost always the latter; but that moment of wonder causes every hair on your body to stand on end. Unlike hurricanes, earthquakes hit without warning. You can’t prepare, except generally; but you don’t have the dreadful hours or days of anticipation either. It hits, last a few seconds and it’s over. Those few seconds, though, make you keenly aware of everything you have to lose.

We were watching television when it hit in two quick jolts. At the first jolt Steve and I just looked at each other as if to say, did you feel what I felt? Before the second one hit a split second later we were both heading for Maggie’s room. It’s instinct. If this is the start of a larger quake we had to be ready to grab her. It was over before we made it the 20 feet to her room. Maggie grinned at our sudden arrival. She must have felt it because she was lying in her bed, but she did not seem any worse for the experience. The nurse in her room didn’t feel the quake at all because she was in motion when it hit. Crises averted. Return to the television.

It was a reminder that things can change on a dime. Or a warning that things were about to. Maggie gave us a scare yesterday too. It’s hard to describe how volatile Maggie’s health is. She can be happy and laughing one day and in the Intensive Care unit the next. I knew something was not right by about 8 in the morning. I cancelled a planned outing to the park and watched her very carefully. She was so listless that I worried about her shunt and considered a trip to the ER. But it didn’t really seem like a shunt problem and I couldn’t quite articulate what was wrong. So I waited, which is not without risk, but I have learned when that is ok. I’m glad I did. I finally figured out what was going on in the evening.

Maggie had been given a drug that is too strong for her and she was dehydrated. This happened once before several months ago. Apparently the new chart (that I created) failed to note the previous problem. I removed that drug from her cabinet a couple of months ago, but the pharmacy sent another box to complete the Rx and I did not intercept it. Once I figured out what happened we started her on pedialyte to balance out the electrolytes and this morning she is back to her feisty ways. Well, about 80% back. In fact she just threw the pillow out of her bed because I’m on the computer and not paying attention to her.

This is why parents should not be running their own nursing agency. Maggie is too fragile. She takes something like 24 drugs – though not all of them every day. Mistakes are part of the deal. Someone qualified should be overseeing Maggie’s care. The individual nurses covering the shifts do not have the overview. And though I have become quite well versed in managing her care, I am not a nurse. It took me all day to realize what was going on and I had no one to discuss it with I did not have a nurse for yesterday’s shift and Steve was gone all day so it was just me and the parade of horrible that kept replaying in my head. It’s exhausting and scary. Like an earthquake, it shakes me to my core. And then it’s over.