More hip pain (Wed, 6 Apr, 2011)

Mom took a pain pill (a real one) last night when she went to bed, and she said that it helped a lot. But then unfortunately she had to get up multiple times for urgent trips to the bathroom (diarrhea) so this morning she was again pretty wiped out.

Karen the Hospice RN called around 9am to see how she was doing, and to let us know that she would be stopping by in the early afternoon. Mom was in so much pain from her hip that I was able to convince her to get into her recliner and take a pain pill. She actually agreed (!!) but wouldn't do it until she had gone through her normal morning routine, gotten dressed, and run a load of wash. But finally she settled in, and I covered her up with TWO fleece blankets and gave her a pain pill. She napped for about an hour and a half, until the FedEx guy clumped along the deck in his boots, which sent Jana into a barking frenzy, which then sent Charlie into a barking frenzy from upstairs. We got everybody calmed down, and we examined the package of Lidocaine patches that Steve ordered yesterday. We weren't sure whether to put on a patch in addition to the pain pill so we decided to wait for Karen.

A little later, the phone rang and it was the pacemaker clinic at the hospital. Apparently mom is supposed to transmit her pacemaker data every 91 days, so we attempted to get their phone transmitter to work, but failed. Their phone cradle is designed for an old-fashioned land line, not a cordless phone. So after trying and failing, I talked to the guy and we decided that we would come into the hospital next Tuesday to do it before mom's wound clinic appointment.

A couple hours later, Karen arrived bearing another foam pad for mom's mattress. They only have twin-sized foam pads, and mom's bed is a queen, so she kept rolling off the edge of the foam pad and down onto her normal mattress. So now we have another foam pad to keep the surface level, and I stripped the bed, washed the sheets, and re-made it. It is now a much more level (and cushy!) surface.

Karen told us that there's no problem using the Lidocaine pad along with the pain pill, and she helped mom apply the pad to her hip. Karen also re-wrapped the wound dressing (at mom's request).

After Karen left, mom cuddled back into her recliner and napped for most of the rest of the afternoon. Mom still thinks that her hip problem is bursitis.