Thursday, August 2, 2012

Home

We almost literally got kicked out of the hospital today.  According to the doctor, they weren't doing anything we couldn't do at home, but the supported living providers Angela has are not allowed to give her insulin, and she may not be able to give it to herself some of the time.  I am allowed to give it to her, so we ended up coming home with that plan for the short term.  Long-term, we'll have to figure out later.  The issue is still how to get her to take the Lactulose when she isn't thinking right, and in the second place, get food down her (can you believe I'm writing that?).  She wasn't lucid very much today, mostly rambling, but twice she was just aware enough to take her Lactulose and eat.  I believe in order for her to recover she will need to do at least this, so the day has ended well.  She's sleeping, and I'm praying that she will continue to take this med until it can do its job and clear out the ammonia.

I'm also being forced to consider whether or not I will ask the doctors to use a feeding tube - through the nose - to force her to take the med and food if she is unable to cooperate.  Her doctor is not optimistic about her recovery, but she doesn't know Angela well.  While I know that her liver failing is likely at some point, I'm not ready to give up on her yet.  Still, I don't want to put her through the painful procedure of inserting the tube and probably uncomfortable feeling of having it there only to prolong her life if that won't return any quality to it.  I pray that if that decision needs to be made, Mike and I will have the wisdom to do it correctly.

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