15. Palliative care at Home Part 3
By Susan Ellis of KeyLifeJourneys
There is a marked change in functioning when one has pneumonia. Coughing disturbs one's rest but confusion enters the picture. Tammy shared that she was having difficulty distinguishing between sleep and being awake, that during the transition there were major changes in perception. Tammy often felt that there were more people present than there were. Often she would say something out of context and when questioned say "oh I was just thinking out loud."
With the first antibiotic there was a calm and frequent falling asleep. There are six pills to be taken. She has had 4 so far. We still wait for the cough to cease. At least the lungs do not appear very congested. I rubbed some Vicks on her chest this afternoon and set a humidifier up in her bedroom. It is all about comfort now.
One great comfort is the oxygen to be used when ever she wants it. When it arrived there was a machine which drew oxygen out of the air to be inhaled. But the company also provided us with three different sized tanks of oxygen for use if she needed to walk with it or if we had a power failure. Also there came a gift bag. It was a very caring gift bag. The bag contained a book which I leave on the coffee table. It is called "A Caregiver's Guide. A handbook about end-of-life-care." It is by Karen MacMillan, Jacquie Peden, Jane Hopkinson and Jennie Hyde. Published by The Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem and the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association.
It is a very comprehensive guide and all who share this space thumb through it gaining some new insight. Other items in the gift bag were a lap rug, night light, toothbrush/paste, a notebook for journaling, a packet of paper tissues and a CD of relaxing music. Tammy dozed in her recliner chair following the first dose of antibiotics with the music playing. It calmed me down too. Later we looked through her collection of CDs to find sounds of nature and Native American rhythms. These are going to useful in the days to come.
The gentle music played and slowed me down and let me flow at the same speed as Tammy. That is what Tammy asks of us all; to slow down and be in synch with her. She doesn't want our bounce, our energy, our baggage, our negativity. She can feel it the minute we walk through the door and it is alien to her; bringing discomfort. She asks us to join her not make her join us.
There is a marked change in functioning when one has pneumonia. Coughing disturbs one's rest but confusion enters the picture. Tammy shared that she was having difficulty distinguishing between sleep and being awake, that during the transition there were major changes in perception. Tammy often felt that there were more people present than there were. Often she would say something out of context and when questioned say "oh I was just thinking out loud."
With the first antibiotic there was a calm and frequent falling asleep. There are six pills to be taken. She has had 4 so far. We still wait for the cough to cease. At least the lungs do not appear very congested. I rubbed some Vicks on her chest this afternoon and set a humidifier up in her bedroom. It is all about comfort now.
One great comfort is the oxygen to be used when ever she wants it. When it arrived there was a machine which drew oxygen out of the air to be inhaled. But the company also provided us with three different sized tanks of oxygen for use if she needed to walk with it or if we had a power failure. Also there came a gift bag. It was a very caring gift bag. The bag contained a book which I leave on the coffee table. It is called "A Caregiver's Guide. A handbook about end-of-life-care." It is by Karen MacMillan, Jacquie Peden, Jane Hopkinson and Jennie Hyde. Published by The Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem and the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association.
It is a very comprehensive guide and all who share this space thumb through it gaining some new insight. Other items in the gift bag were a lap rug, night light, toothbrush/paste, a notebook for journaling, a packet of paper tissues and a CD of relaxing music. Tammy dozed in her recliner chair following the first dose of antibiotics with the music playing. It calmed me down too. Later we looked through her collection of CDs to find sounds of nature and Native American rhythms. These are going to useful in the days to come.
The gentle music played and slowed me down and let me flow at the same speed as Tammy. That is what Tammy asks of us all; to slow down and be in synch with her. She doesn't want our bounce, our energy, our baggage, our negativity. She can feel it the minute we walk through the door and it is alien to her; bringing discomfort. She asks us to join her not make her join us.
Posted by Key Life Journey's Blog at 9/23/2010 8:43 PM 
Categories: palliative care at home
Tags: palliative care a caregiver's guide pneumonia caregivers
Categories: palliative care at home
Tags: palliative care a caregiver's guide pneumonia caregivers
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