Really scared now

[mothermac]

My mum who is 76 has just been admitted to hospital with a suspected case of the swine!. She has had a terrible cough for the last 10 days but was struggling to breathe on tuesday night so she was rushed in by ambulance.She has been moved off a ward to a hideous room which is in isolation until they get the swab results back they have done on her to confirm that it is the dreaded pig flu.She has had a temperature twice now which they try and sort out by doing blood cultures etc(eh?)and thats it really apart from feeding her strong antibiotics by a canular in her hand. I went to see her yesterday and she looked awful,she could hardly stand up to go to the bathroom and once she satarts coughing she can't stop and can't breathe.I feel so so scared that her lungs are going to give out and she also has angina and other health problems to boot.I bought her a patientline card so she can watch tv at her bedside but they moved her to isolation and her room doesn't have one as it's broken so the 5 pound was a waste of time and the poor thing has nothing to watch even though she is in isolation and feeling like crap.I am going to complain as I think dumping her in there and leaving her like that is appaling.I always thought the nhs was ok but I have changed my mind slightly shall we say.

[looking4answers]

Try not to worry. You have done the best you can. Sometimes there isn't anything we can do. My mother to had angina and went through some terrible illnesses. I was scared to death for her many times but somehow she manage to get over them.

Sometimes the elderly can fool you .They seem so helpless but their bodies are stronger than they look and if she has a survival attitude thats even better. I know how you are feeling. I have felt helpless and like I abandoned my mom many times but well that is what growing up is.They have children they grow up and you can't expect them there all the time ever minute. You have children they grow up and you can't expect them there all the time either. Its just life.

One of the most helpless times of my life was a conversation with my mom when she was 79 . I was chatting with her on the phone and was over 500 miles away. She told me she didn't feel good and felt like she was choking. She said she felt hot and like she couldn't breathe good. I told her to please call someone ,an ambulance and she kept telling me she was ok she just needed to get some rest.

I let her go on the phone with apprehension but would call her back about every five minutes to see if she was feeling worse or better. She couldn't tell .She had several people come by to see about her and I kept calling her until I aggravated her. I thought if she got mad at me for calling she would be ok.

I finally told her that I would let her get some rest as she asked me to. I had a really bad feeling and didn't call her for about 30 minutes. I called back and called back and called back and no answer.. I called one of her friends that went over to see about her and they told me she had died. I really took it hard. Its a very helpless feeling but sometimes there is nothing you can do but be there waiting to hear that everything is ok.

Try to relax and know you have done the best you can and try not to worry..It will be ok.. Take care

[Cell block H fan]

How is your mum now? x