Drugs

Today was my first full day of playing nurse to my mother. Last night, I organized what I could of her drugs. Let me just tell you, there are a LOT of them. Since I am currently only taking my own meds in the morning and at night (and different drugs at the different times), I decided to use my awesome pill box to organize my mother's drugs.

Mom has a hard time remembering which drug is for what and what time she is supposed to take her drugs, so I have been having to explain everything thing to her every time I give her pills. One of her pills that she takes twice a day can lower her blood pressure significantly, and since she was having some trouble with her blood pressure being too low in the hospital, I have to check her blood pressure before she takes the drug. If her pressure is too low (below 90 systolic), she can't take it.

We went to the doctor this morning to have her Coumadin level checked and it was back in the range that they want it. So she took her first pill tonight. I have to take her back on Friday to have it checked again and see if her dose needs adjusting.

I also went over all of her medications with her doctor, including some medications that she had been taking prior to her hospital stay, so we could be clear on what she can and cannot take. She has a couple of prescription pain meds, but if she wants to take an OTC pain reliever, she can only have Tylenol. No aspirin (because she takes it daily already), no ibuprofen, no naproxen - no anti-inflammatories of any sort.

So, now that we got all of that taken care of, tomorrow will be a day of making phone calls and scheduling appointments. Oh, and I did go ahead and schedule my own appointment to see one of my own doctors while I was scheduling my moms Coumadin check for Friday. Just in case you were wondering if I was doing anything for myself.

Tune in tomorrow for an all new Vera Bradley post!