Mom's Daily Tests & Meds - Current

A continuation of Mom's Daily Tests & Meds

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Closing out the Practical Aspects of this Journal

    As most, if not all, regular readers of The Mom & Me Journals dot Net know, my mother died at approximately 0709 on December 8, 2008. Although some of the other sub-journals will continue, this journal, if it continues, will not continue in the same form as previously, since it was a reportage of the technical aspects of my mother's life, including daily stats, what she ate, how much she slept, how often she evacuated her bowels and how her medication schedule was upheld or changed on any particular day. As I begin reviewing the more practical journals I may add posts mentioning me noticing peculiar aspects of her life that weren't clear to me while she was alive, but such a review is probably weeks to months in the future.
    Thus, this final practical post is a not to meticulous detailing of her last few days, linking to posts in the main journal that mention how her life wound down:
  1. December 7, 2008 @ 00:56:  A review of her condition as and her evening before she slept Saturday night.
  2. December 7, 2008 @ 1756:  Includes her arising in the morning, what she ate, what she drank, what meds I gave her when she ate, and more review on how much she slept that day.
  3. December 8, 2008 @ 05:18  Includes a review of some of the last meds given to her and what her condition was when I awoke to give her these meds...and stay with her, from then to the end of her life.
  4. December 8, 2008 @ 10:00:  Includes a detailed description of her "active dying phase" up to her death.
    I think that should do it. There is a "morphine log" and an "acetaminophen log" that I kept from the time she began taking morphine to her death. Hospice asked me to keep the first log as a reference for them so that they could determine if and when she'd more and how much more she might need. The acetaminophen log was for my own reference, in an attempt to avoid overdosing with acetaminophen. Since my mother died a little over three days after this new phase of her life began, Hospice didn't ask for the logs. I can't see any particular reason to publish them, although I retain them and, if it seems, in the future, that it might help elaborate some point connected to caring for Dying Ones, I may publish them.
    As well, please be assured, I'm continuing to post over at the main site. If you're curious to know what I could possibly have to say now that my mother is dead and our adventure would seem to have come to a firm end, click over there and see.