July 2006

Over the summer of 2006, Nana spent several months going in and out of the hospital and in and out of rehab with a recurrent liver cyst. The stress of this experience worsened her other symptoms as you can see in this email from my cousin.

July 29, 2006
I just wanted to give you all an update on Nana. We still don’t have a clear diagnosis. They’re keeping her in the hospital on a diagnosis of undifferentiated belly pain. Her white cell count was high when she went into the hospital and they have taken 500 cc’s of fluid out of a cyst on her liver. They did an x-ray and a CT scan of her abdomen. They did more blood work today, but we haven’t gotten the results yet.

They were going to release her today, but she told the doctor she was still having pain, so he didn’t release her. Her belly is also still very distended. We’re trying to get more answers as to the belly distension. I’m really not sure why that seems have nothing to do with why she’s staying in the hospital.

She is also complaining of having pain from moving around, but that could be from being in bed for 5 days. She is getting up and getting herself to the bathroom.

The trip to the hospital has also highlighted her mental decline (which can be exacerbated by sickness and changes in routine). I don’t want to imply that this won’t improve when she gets back home, but it’s what I’ve witnessed and what my mother has told me.

Nana seems to know who she is and where she is, but not necessarily when it is. She seems to swing in and out of remembering things. Today she thought I was J’s daughter (the writer is A's daughter). She only remembered having 2 grandchildren (me and R - she has 4 grandchildren) and only remembers D (not M and B; her great grandchildren). Also, at times she didn’t remember all of her children. She seems to be associating J (my mom) with everything.

I don’t want to scare any of you. She seems generally comfortable and in no major distress. She is eating. I would feel better if we had a diagnosis and I’m trying to push my mother to get as many answers as possible before they release her.