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Barbara Fritchman Thompson Diary

Week of 30 June 2008

Latest Update: Sunday, 6 July 2008 12:20 p.m.


Monday, 30 June 2008

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I spent about four hours at work today shifting all the files in the file room I am responsible. When we moved from the 9th to the 10th floor several months ago we filed the allocated shelf space leaving some room at the end of each row. In the meantime we have acquired some new files which need more room than we thought. This morning I started the shifting process which is very much like shifting books. Fortunately when we put the files on the shelves we left the back side of one range empty. I moved one section around to that side then proceeded to shift everything down and across, etc. I was able to leave some further expansion areas as I worked the files down.

I worked about two hours this morning before breaking for lunch. After lunch I did my daily stuff before spending another two hours finishing up. Needless to say I did not go to the gym tonight. Plenty of exercise for one day. 

We had another small storm come through last night bringing another .20 inches of rain. These small showers do add up after awhile to make some decent rain fall. Tonight after dinner when we took the dogs the wind had picked up blowing in some nasty looking clouds. Most of the activity is north of us but it had started to sprinkle as we came in. We have a cold front coming through tonight dropping temperatures down into the low 60's.


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Tuesday, 1 July 2008

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No update


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Wednesday, 2 July 2008

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No update


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Thursday, 3 July 2008

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Np update.


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Friday, 4 July 2008

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Happy July 4th. If you also read Bob's page you will know my absence here has been due to my mom being ill. Tuesday morning Frances called me at work at 10:15 to let me know dad was on his way to the emergency room at Baptist Hospital where they also volunteer. I took off to meet him there. She had been up all night sick and in extreme pain. We knew she had not been feeling well off and on for several months often times not being able to eat and/or keep anything down. She also had a lot of swelling in her stomach that has gradually been getting worse. I work from 8:30 to 5.

She was already back in the OR by the time I arrived. They gave her some pain medicine and at some point took her for x-rays. Frances came from work sometime around 12:00. After checking on her we decided to go down to the cafeteria to get some lunch then returned back to the waiting room. Finally about 2:15 Frances went back to check to see how she was doing and came back out to say they were sending her home. I went back to talk with the doctor or most likely resident (Baptist is a teaching hospital). They said they could find nothing wrong with her to warrant further tests and to just follow up with her family doctor.

Dad took her home and I went back to work. Frances called me later to let me know they had a 4:30 appointment with her doctor. I went on out to dinner with my friends Nancy and Betsy to Cities. Frances called to let me know he ordered a CT Scan of her back then they had gone back home.  Wednesday morning I was work an hour when Frances phoned to say mom was worse, had been up all night and that the doctor wanted a scan of her abdomen area. I took off for the house to pick them up, mom was so weak dad could not handle getting her to and into the car. We drove over to the imaging building. She was so sick and in so much pain she could not even sit up but they got the scan done and called in the results to her doctor plus gave me a copy on CD. I drove her to the doctors who said take her straight to the emergency room at Forsyth Hospital. I had been dashing in and out of buildings getting wheel chairs and getting her in and out of the car for two hours. They took her straight back to the OR, the doctor called ahead, and started working on her right away. An hour later she had been seen by a nurse and an attending OR doctor, diagnosed with a stomach blockage and hooked up to an NG tube to start pumping out the fluids backed up in her stomach. Dad and I were both livid that Baptist Hospital did not recognize her symptoms and treat her.

By mid-afternoon she was feeling a little better but they were having to wait for a room to empty to move from ER. At 4:45 dad and I left to go by the house and pick up a few things and grab a bite to eat. By the time we got back they had moved her to 9th floor, a general floor. No room for her on the 2nd floor which is the stomach, endoscopic floor. I stayed until Frances arrived after she got off from work then drove home, packed a bag and drove back to dad's to stay with him. At his age I did not want him alone in the house in case he were to fall or need something. They had told us they would put a light camera down into her stomach sometime Thursday once they drained off the fluids so they could get a look at what was going on.

Thursday morning I took dad back over to the hospital. They told us it would be 1:30 before she went down for the procedure. I drove on to work. Dad called to let me know they would be taking her down around 1pm and would let us know what they found and how they would proceed as soon as they finished. I left work at noon and met dad in the 2nd floor waiting area where they were doing the procedure. Fortunately the blockage was in the stomach between it and the small intestine. No surgery at this point. They would start her on medication to shrink the ulcer and take the acid from her stomach.

Dad and I left around 4:30 to go by the house so he could do a couple of things and grab some dinner. Just before we left they were moving her down to the 2nd floor. After dinner I dropped dad off at the hospital and came home so I could mow. That small amounts of rain we got those three days was just  enough to really made the grass grow. After I mowed I stayed to play with the dogs and talk with Bob before driving back to dad's to spend the night.

This morning I slept in until dad woke me at 8:15 to shower and dress to go back to the hospital. Frances came over this afternoon and her friend Marcy arrived about the same time. I took dad home to rest this afternoon and I came home. Frances will stay with dad tonight and tomorrow night. Man, running back and forth and sitting around in a hospital will run you down.

We just had a brief downpour which will most likely make it hotter and stickier. More thunderstorms in the forecast for this afternoon and tonight plus all weekend. That is why I wanted to come home last night and get the lawn mowed.

Paul and Mary are coming over later to shoot some video. I am going to grill some squash, chicken and steak for us and a Boca burger for Mary. If the rain will hold off we may be able to eat on the deck, if not we can eat downstairs since Mary is allergic to the dogs.

Hope you have a nice 4th. I will keep you posted on how mom is doing.





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Saturday, 5 July 2008

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It was nice to spend a quiet evening at home. The rain held off long enough for me to grill the food and us to eat. We adjourned to the basement with the cupcakes Mary brought. After eating out both lunch and dinner for most of the week it was nice to have a home cooked meal.

After they left we took the dogs out and off to bed for me. I am reading the first book in the William Tapply series. As I have mentioned he was the co-author of three books with Vineyard series Philip Craig. Craig often had Tapply's character, Brady Coyne, make appearances in his Vineyard books.

In this first book, Death At Charity's Point, Tapply briefly introduces us to Coyne and fills us in on how he becomes an attorney/murder investigator in Boston. We also know he loves to fish for sport from the Vineyard books. Bob has read the first two books I requested from the library and deemed them enjoyable. We are actually reading the first and third books in the series. The library did not have the second one. The series started in 1984.

As with all things, normal life must go on. This morning the dogs let us sleep in until 7:45. I have completed the weekly house cleaning chores while Bob has tackled the laundry. I took the dogs out back to play for just a few minutes. It is really muggy and was actually sprinkling a little while I had them out. Off and on thunderstorms today. 

As soon as I finish things up here and have lunch I shall made a quick stop at the library on the way to the hospital to relieve dad and Frances. I will sit with mom this afternoon while she takes dad to her house, does her and his laundry, and fixes a good home cooked meal for him. They will come back to the hospital and I will come home and fix dinner for us. Frances will stay the night with dad again.

The dogs are confused with all my coming and going. They are used to me being gone or at home but not in and out. The fireworks last night around the neighborhood had Malcolm very upset until things quieted down around 10am.


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Sunday, 6 July 2008

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I sat with mom at the hospital yesterday afternoon from 12 to 6:30. Frances had been over in the morning but left dad at home to rest. If it wears me out at 53 years old you know what it will do to someone in their mid 80's. I helped her with her lunch, they had moved her to soft solids like soup and pudding. After she ate she napped while I read and napped some myself. When she woke up around 2:30 I put her robe one and helped her walk up and down the hall. Afterwards the nurse came in to change her bed and help mom bath off. While they did that I went down to the cafeteria to grab a drink and walk around. We spent the rest of the afternoon talking and watching the ballgame until dad and Frances arrived.

I fixed dinner for us when I got home then we watched several Lovejoy's taking the dogs out for last time around 10:30. I stayed awake long enough to read a couple of chapters in my book. I heard Bob get up with the dogs then snoozed off and on until 8:45 when Frances called. They were at the hospital. The doctors are very pleased with her progress. They may take her off her IV drip today and possibly start her on some softer but denser foods. They told her she is well ahead of schedule for people who are treated for this condition. I think Frances said they did or were going to do some blood work. Most stomach ulcers are caused by "Helicobacter pylori, (pronounced HELI-co-back-ter pie-Lorrie) also called H. pylori is a spiral shaped bacterium. It lives in the stomach and duodenum. The duodenum is the section of intestine just below stomach." They can run a blood test to see if mom has this bacteria in her stomach which they treat with drugs.

Our friend Marcy will relieve Frances and dad this morning around 11:00 and stay until I get there this afternoon. I will stay until mom gets her dinner tray then go over to Frances'. She is cooking dinner for us then dad and I will most likely go home unless he wants to run back over to the hospital for awhile.

I will staying with him this week until mom goes home. If she continues to improve as well as she is I am thinking she will go home maybe tomorrow or Tuesday. Unless plans change I will go by the hospital on my way to work in the morning then go back after I get off from work. I will pack cloths for a couple of work days to keep from having to drive back and forth from one side of town to the other.

Bob has the home front covered. He said Malcolm starting howling for me around 5pm yesterday afternoon and then again not long before I got home. 


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