ALZHEIMER'S BLOGGING:

Have you ever called 911 and wondered why sometimes the EMT's don't seem real friendly? Or you had a loved one being picked up from a nursing home or urgent care and the EMT seems a little quiet. In our EMS world we work lots of hours with little pay. We work weird hours, for instant, we will work 24 hrs on - 24 hrs off- 24 hrs on- 24 hrs off- 24 hrs on and than 4 days off. Than we get called in to work on our days off. So for instance, I worked 24 hrs on Thursday, 12 hrs on Friday and now I am on my 24 hrs today. I try to grab a nap or food when I can. It is hard to keep slim this way. hehe Well yesterday was a eventful day.

I got off my 24 hour shift and went on my way to the airport for a flight call. We loaded every thing on our plane and we had a 3 hr flight to California to pick up our patient. An ambulance was waiting for us, and in the hospital we found a 67 yr old female lying in the hospital bed in ICU. This poor lady had a trachea with a ventilator on breathing for her, a Foley, a line for her feces, a pic line, a peg tube for feedings, and wraps with on legs. Our job was to take her to Phoenix to a long term hospital, because most of her family lives in Phoenix. This was not an easy task. First to put her on our vent was an uncomfortable thing for her. When we would put her on it, she would give me a frown and I would ask her if she was alright and she would shake her head no. So than I would say are you breathing alright, and she would shake her head no. Our machines told us that she was breathing, good 02 sats, and good vitals. But this poor little lady was very unhappy. After about 2 hrs of convincing her that she would be alright we finally got on our way. We sheet lifted her to our gurney, put her on our ecg monitor, pulse ox, and our vent. I could see the fright in her face as we moved her into the ambulance. I tried my best to comfort her. We finally got her to the airplane and loaded her inside. It was a long 3 hr flight. We kept monitoring her, taking vitals, watching her monitor rate which was in first degree block with episodes of PVC's. Her blood pressure was slowly dropping, from 112 systolic to 94 systolic, and than back up to 105 systolic. She tried to sleep during the flight. But I would talk to her asking her how she was with yes and no answers and she would shake her head telling me she was coping.

I guess I am telling you this because this was a hard thing for a 67 yr old women to make who was not doing good, just because the family wanted her closer to them. She lived in California, and so did one daughter. The other two daughters lived in Phoenix.

As we landed this lovely lady was not responding to us. Her eyes were motionless. She would not wake up to any painful stimuli. Her vitals were still alright, but this was not a good thing. As our ground ambulance brought us to the new hospital her blood pressure dropped and her systolic was 88. My heart is breaking. She is in renal failure, had strokes, and vent dependent. I do not know if she has dementia, because she could not talk to me.

Please if your family member is very ill, and in the hospital, don't move them out of state because you want them closer to you. Wait until they are physically and medically ready to move.

Sincerely,
Marie Fostino
Alzheimer's A Caretakers Journal
Seaboard Press An Imprint Of James A Rock Pub., Co.
www.mariefostino.com