My mom has been here for nine days. She came in with her blood sugar extremely high and has developed fluid on her heart and lungs again. She has a hard time breathing and suffers from anxiety and panic attacks when she can't breathe. My brothers and I know Mom has an incurable disease with the COPD she has, along with her diabetes and other ailments, she's miserable.
Because of the amount of fluid she is holding, her medication was increased to get rid of this. That means about every hour she's up to urinate. This exhausts Mom and she gets so out of breath, but she hates "bothering" the nurses. Fortunately, I was on vacation this week and was able to stay all night with her.
Nicole was her night nurse and she was so sweet and gentle with Mom. She was very patient also; as I know my Mom, she will wear you out helping her so much. But Nicole was very calming and even her kind, soft voice seemed to ease Mom's anxiety. She was on it too, with everything Mom needed, or I asked of her. I know how busy nurses are, so I was glad to be here and help in any way.
Mom's doctor decided to put her on a BiPap machine at night to help her sleep. But her room was so small, we were having a hard time making room for that machine since I had a recliner I was sleeping in. Once the respiratory therapist came in with the machine, we had to figure out where to put it. Nicole went out of the room and found out another room was available and asked me if I'd like to move rooms. Here it was, about 1 am so I didn't want to inconvenience anyone. Mom was asleep and had no clue what was going on.
Once Nicole got the approval from her charge nurse, I was like "sure let's move". We, along with another nurse and the respiratory therapist, started getting Mom's things together and put them in the new room. Nicole just left Mom in her bed and wheeled her down the hall to put in the new room, after she moved the empty bed from that room out into the hallway. She got her all hooked back up to her things in new room and resp therapist got her mask on for BiPap. Nicole told me it was not a problem to move her so she could be comfortable and since I was staying the nights, she appreciated me being there, so she wanted to make sure I was comfortable. I had explained to Nicole earlier in the night, the conversation I had with Mom's doctor earlier that day.
After we leave here, it's back to a rehab facility where we are talking about just keeping Mom comfortable and not wanting her to endure any more painful tests or procedures. We are aware God is in control and He has the say in when her time is up, but we feel it is near. Nicole took that information and ran with it like it was her mission to make sure my Mom was as comfortable as could be while she's still in the hospital. That really touched my heart and I appreciate the kindness she showed and the way she went above and beyond to make Mom feel so good. She woke up the next day in the new room, rested and rosy cheeks as she slept the best she's slept in months. I even got some sleep. Thank you for being so awesome and caring. My family and I appreciate it so much.