That's sweet. I'll keep that in mind! Thanks.

(assuming that you meant AM, not PM ... unless your plan is to hold me captive in some storage room in the dealership for 14+ hours.)

There were several occasions during the meeting where I want to punch The Death Nurse in the face.

crazynurse's sister was talking about transferring her to a bigger (and presumably better) city hospital. The Death Nurse just started talking about the potential cost of an ambulance transport that insurance wouldn't cover ... "It would be thousands of dollars."

Seriously wanted to punch her.

Besides, an ambulance ride is one of the things I can still get a professional courtesy on.

Another punchable moment was asking for a psych eval by a shrink who just might be able to discern the difference between "appropriately approaching end of life issues" and "major depression." "Why would you want that?" says The Death Nurse. "She already saw a psychiatrist."

"And we haven't been given access to the report or able to talk to that physician."

Actually, she wasn't even really The Death Nurse. She was a pinch hitter. The real Death Nurse had some other meeting.

Damn Wolf ... Seriously, If Jim gets you there I am offering a pick up/ride back.
I NEEEEEED to get outta the house anyway and would love to see you again.
It'd be my pleasure. PM/email/IM me.

I spent two days last week in your county for a class, but not really close to where you are ... at least I don't think I was that close. They cut our lunchbreak down to nothing (20 minutes) to get out of class early, so we didn't get any time out of the classroom (fire department banquet hall with REALLY uncomfortable chairs).

Looks like I won't need to go to Cherry Hill ...

I went to visit crazynurse last Thursday. I hadn't been planning on it, but decided to bop over because her discharge was looming, and I didn't want to miss out on seeing her if she did get whisked away to New Jersey.

So, I show up and she has a glum look on her face.

hmmm.

"An ambulance is coming for me in 15 minutes to take me back to reallycrappynursinghome."

WTF?

The place in Cherry Hill didn't accept her, possibly because her financial POA, her daughter in Saint Louis, either didn't make or return a phone call. Details on that piece are unclear.

So, basically, I'd arrived in the nick of time ... chatted with her a bit, along with my friend tatadoc who was pulling some clinic hours.

And then the EMTs show up with their very fancy litter and whisk her away. They actually showed up within the promised 15 minutes. I'[m not used to that happening. I wasn't planning on accompanying her to the placement ... I had Orienteering class that night.

I didn't follow the ambulance over, but somehow managed to beat them, thanks to directions bitch being set to "shortest time," I guess. I was parked and smoking under the overhang by the time they arrived.

It was a little surreal. The nursing home was having it's Halloween Party. All of the staff, some of the patients, and most of their grandkids were dressed in costumes. The kids were all hyped on sugar, and it was loud and chaotic.

A kitty kat and a vampiress told us what room to go to, which turned out to be next door to her old one.

One thing that was nice ... staff that cared for her while she was there previously kept coming into the room just to say, "Hi."

I stayed long enough to get her settled in, and jetted out of there to get to class, which I made with three minutes to spare.

I visited last night and took her things she's not supposed to eat.

Wow. speechless.

Just when you think that things are going well ...

Much of this happened while I was in New York, so I don't have the full story of what put her into the hospital.

Late Tuesday or early Wednesday crazynurse had difficulty breathing and was delirious (again). She was taken back to the hospital, intubated, and placed on ICU. By the time I was able to see her on Friday, they had declared her stable, lightened her sedation, and she was able to communicate with a letter board. She kept saying she was tired of this and wanted it all to stop.

The physician on her case said that he would not be taking her word for anything until she was off the vent.

She was extubated yesterday. Or rather, as they prepared to do so, they turned their backs on her for just a second and ... she extubated herself. I only know this because her night nurse dimed her out.

(and yes, the balloon was still inflated. nobody is sure how she managed not to really injure herself)

Adrenal insufficiency is the latest medical condition on the table and may be driving an assortment of her problems. They are going to treat for that, the low blood pressure, the depression, the a-fib, and probably three or four things that I forgot.

So, now that she's talking, everybody had a really long and detailed conversation about end-of-life issues ... and she has decided to remain a full code, and is no longer wanting to talk to the death nurse.

Jeeez. This has been quite a run.

It's been a bad couple of days.

After being off the vent for three days, last night crazynurse went into respiratory distress, and was put back on the ventilator. She is only under light sedation, and when awake, she is aware of who we are and able to comprehend what's going on.

Her family and I are meeting with the hospice team tomorrow.

If there may be poetry in death, she would hang on until November 23rd. That way only one day will have to suck for the family. You see, 20 years ago on that date, her husband passed away.

She would like to die at home, in much the way her husband did, surrounded by friends and family, however, at this point, she may not survive the transport.

So sorry to read this Wolf.
Damn, for a while there she seemed to be getting better.

Wolf, sorry to read this. I wish you and Crazy Nurse's family peace and tranquillity on the road ahead. You're such a good friend to have - bug hugs to you for being there when your friend needs you.

Sorry, wolf :(

At least she's had you through all this wolf. You've made things better for her.

Sorry to hear this, wolf. You are a good friend.

^whs