A Bizarre Series of Events

There are no accidents. Everything happens for a reason. Choose your saying, but it just may have saved Mom's life.

Event 1: Mom has a seizure. Could it have been caused by the antibiotic Mom was on due to a suspected UTI? Antibiotic is stopped. An EEG and neuro consult is scheduled, and a prescription for a sedative for the EEG is written.

Event 2: Mom has back pain. Is it the result of the seizure, where she arched her back and convulsed, or is there something else going on. Is the UTI now advanced to kidney infection, causing the back pain? Sedative medication notes to tell your doctor if you have kidney disease. Appt with primary care doctor is made, urine sample is successfully collected(!!!), we went to the doctor on Monday, EEG is scheduled for Tuesday at Mayo.

Event 3: Doctor rules out kidney infection, and UTI, sample is clean. During exam, Doctor palpates abdomen and finds a pulsing mass on her left side. Could be a cancerous mass, but is more likely her abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) has grown to dangerous levels. Position for it is unusual. CAT scan is ordered and scheduled for Thursday.

Event 4: EEG is completed successfully, although it took two of us to hold her down getting the electrodes in place. This is hard, she looks at me and asks me to help her. With AD, she has since forgotten this trauma. I still remember the fear and confusion in her eyes when she pleaded with me to help her.

Event 5: CAT scan yesterday reveals the AAA has grown about an inch both in length and in width, and is positioned right under the skin. Doctor is talking hospice. I can't let myself think about this right now, I will lose it.
Here is the bizarre part. CAT scan also reveals a quarter. Mom has swallowed a quarter. It was located just above the duodenum. That will be the test. If it can make it through the small bowel, it should have smooth sailing through the rest of her system. If not, we are talking small bowel obstruction/possible perforation and just all around a huge problem. We have to watch this carefully, and I now know the symptoms(vomiting, pain) to take her to the ER. Online sources say quarter will usually pass in an adult. If not, it could be retrieved with an endoscope. (Which would not entail major surgery.)

If all of the previous events hadn't happened, we wouldn't have known about the quarter, and I wouldn't have known about the dangers we currently face and what to look for.

I am on poop patrol. Please, please, please let it pass, and soon! I have never looked forward to playing with poop so much in my life! (Yes, I've played with a lot of poop, it's just that it has always been animal poop!)

I have collected every coin I can find in this house and hidden them. Mom has stashes everywhere, she likes to have them in her pocket. No more, sorry Mom.

UPDATE: Just got off the phone with the doctor. She spoke to a GI specialist, and the specialist feels that if the quarter got past, uh, something (insert technical term which I have forgotten here) at the bottom of the stomach, which it did, it should make it through the rest of the way. Still need to watch for the symptoms, and get weekly x-rays until it passes, but I am feeling so much better. Everybody dance! Wait, maybe we should save the dancing until it passes. On second thought, hell no, everybody dance now! We can dance again later!