Crisis of the Week

Dear friends and fellow bloggers,

Some of you will remember that I am here in the City of Kamloops. I was to be here for approximately one month to look after my  mom who came out of hospital two days after I arrived. I had been looking after her and nursing her for a few weeks when she took a sudden turn for the worse.

On Wednesday (just passed) as I went to town to pick up some fish for my visiting niece, mom called me and asked me to rush home. When I arrived her lips were turning blue and she was shivering a great deal. She could not get warm. I had to turn on the space heater, get her warm drinks and cover her as best I could.  All the while I kept insisting I should call the ambulance. She said an emphatic "no". We have been through these shivering episodes before and so I took a chance that she would warm up and return to normal.  Previously these episodes have indicated a bladder infection left untreated.  In mom's case she suspected a bladder infection but it didn't seem that advanced.

After a stressful hour or so, mom's lips returned to their natural colour and she stopped shivering but she seemed a bit confused and not able to form a lot of her thoughts into sentences. She was exhausted so I let her rest.

In the morning, after her bath, we went to the hospital ER room where we waited for 5.5 hours before seeing the doctor. Mom seemed ok and looked much better than the previous night but after blood testing and a host of other tests, the doctor said mom's white blood cell count was 3x times the norm and he suggested she stay at least overnight perhaps a few nights in the hospital. Mom said she wanted oral antibiotics to go home and recover. The doctor simply said, "if you go home now, you will die at home."  Apparently she has sepsis, or whole body inflammation.

That settled things. Mom remained in ER and was moved that night at 9:30 p.m. to the ward. I had left the previous hour so she put up a protest about where they were moving her and into what bed given her previous bad experiences in August at the same hospital. Fortunately they did listen to her. She is on the same hospital floor as she was last month but she is in a different ward and they have different nursing teams. From what I can see in my several visits, they are treating her better and she is in good spirits.

I am now sorting and packing everything at mom's apartment as best I can while at the same time trying to attending to her needs at the hospital.  Originally the idea was that I would sort and pack on this trip as it appears to be ever more evident that mom needs to go into a nursing home despite her lack of enthusiasm for it. At this point, I am very ready for her to go into a facility where she can be monitored and cared for should anything go wrong. It is a hard decision but one that has taken years to get to. Now having read about sepsis and mortality rates after one has had sepsis, I fear the time could be short though I pray not.  In the meantime, I want her to have a comfortable and worry free existence.

Here is the hospital where she is staying.

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

1 Peter 5:7 

As I write this post I am very aware of so many who are dealing with the health needs of their elderly parents. Just yesterday afternoon a blogging friend wrote me to say her father had passed. Also, yesterday morning I had a call from a cousin whose father is in a nursing home and her mother is in a senior's residence with advancing dementia, cared for by the ailing second husband who has had several heart attacks which have left him weakened.

Lord I pray for these dear ones described above and for all those reading this post who have loved ones who are sick. Touch them and keep them and give grace and strength to those who care for them.

Sky Over Three Days, Sky Watch Friday, September 25, 2010

These photos are taken of the sky above the house across the street. I discovered I had several photos of the same general place which were taken on three different days recently. I thought it was interesting to compare them all. Enjoy!

Such a pretty blue sky and a beautiful day.

A crisp Fall air can be felt today. I love the shadows cast by a Fall sun. Officially the end of summer was still a few days away.

I love the colours in the sky.

Join others from around the world for more Sky Watch Friday.

Wordless Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Hi friends,

I thought you might be interested in seeing two very short videos about the water drilled in Marigat, Kenya and the people who will receive the gift of water. For more information about this project see Jonah's blog here.





Meet others here for more Wordless Wednesday.

Downtown Kamloops: Scenic Sunday, September 19, 2010

Thank you to my newest follower, Kiprotich from Kenya.

This is a continuation of a series of photos I've been taking of the City of Kamloops while I am here on a month long stay. I snapped all of these on September 6, 2010 when I first arrived. It was very quiet downtown as it is an annual statutory holiday and very little is open downtown. You can see more photos of this city if you click here, here and here.

View towards the north wherein lies the city and beyond that, the rivers and mountains.

Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Such a pretty little brick building.

I love the balustrade.

Canadian and Provincial flags flying on hospital grounds.

A view of the city from the 6th floor.

Main street of the downtown core.

Lamp posts and fare meters for parking.

Another view of the main street.

Yet another view of the main street. Though virtually everything was closed there were actually quite a few walking downtown. Mostly young people. My guess is they were college students as the library is close by.

The Plaza Hotel  is in the background with the green roof top. This is an historic hotel and it is furnished in Victorian style.

Some lovely planters line the streets.  You can see it was rather windy.

I love the vibrant red of these petunias.

Thanks for stopping by!  You can look for more Scenic Sunday blogs here.

Views of Kamloops

A week ago Monday, I was visiting my mom at the local hospital. If you'd like to, you can read about it here.  I had to walk up this hill to get to the hospital. I thought you might like to see some views along the way. It was a statutory holiday here in my province that day so the streets were rather quiet.

The big  building in the middle at the end of the street is the hospital. On the right is the red brick Catholic Church.

In the distance you can see an old brick school on the left side just beyond the parking lot. In the distance you can see the mountains. The city of Kamloops is located in a narrow valley and has been built up around the junction of the North and South Thompson Rivers.

A quiet street  facing the front of the old brick school house in the previous photo. In the Summer, this street is the location of a farmer's market where you can purchase wonderful produce and baked goods. On market days this street is lively, colourful and lots of fun.

A building housing many of the city's doctors and a pharmacy.  See the reflections in the glass!

A long shot of the same building.

A view of a long standing hotel chain in the city. In the background the "mountains".

Here is a close up of the school which I reference in the photo near the top of this post.

A view back toward the city as I continue up the hill.

I do hope you've enjoyed the photos. More photos of this walk (to hospital and town) will be posted later.