Ive noticed over the last few months that my mum has changed in some ways. Back in January she was full of life, happy & had loads of energy.. I envied her for that.. she complained of feeling not herself & I joked around saying she'd been around me too long & I was rubbing off on her, but I could see in her face that she really wasn't right. 10 years ago she suffered 4 slipped dics & had a major back operation, she then had 9 gallstones & removal of gallbladder, & pancreatitis.
She'd been unsteady on her feet, falling to one side & loosing her balance. She began taking small naps in the afternoon, & it gradually became a frequent all day nap. Her memory seemed to be off key, she began repeating herself over & over, & forget it as soon as she said it & look blankly at me & at times she couldn't get her words out properly & got very frustrated & then completely forget what she was saying, & id sit her down & make her a cuppa. My mum loves her garden & pottering around, she never sits still. She's 62 next week but she looks 40. She's absolutely beautiful!1 year ago we had a birds nest in our Porch, the builders were extending the house & they needed to pull all the lights down, which were tangled in the nest, mum got up on a wooded step ladder, & she fell, 4ft on too the cornerstone- rushed her to hospital via ambulance . Winded herself on impact, head cut, she had fell straight down on the concrete flesh wounds from the stone from the middle of her spine & went all the way down to her buttocks. her knee broke her rib & her rib punctured her lung 
She had internal bruising, & some bleeding. She's still not right. & 2 nights ago I was called home around 4am I was in bed, mum was not well, she couldn't stand. Her hands were ice cold. She was wheezing. Extremely pale. My brother wasn't sure as she changed quite quickly. She takes 100mg amitriptaline at night. Recently seen a private Neurologist who prescribed mum with Pregabalin through the day & morphine for her recent back pain.
I found her bent over screaming in pain, I gently picked her up & sat her on the sofa. Went to the kitchen to get her some water & I heard a thud, ran back in & she'd tried to get up & fell backwards & hit her head on the cornering of the wall. She was very dopy & seemed quite out of it, I checked her pills. Tramadol 4 tablets she forgot and took an extra one. Mixed with the amitriptaline. & oral morph. I had to wake my dad as I was so ill myself & I couldn't pick mum up, he helped me to get her up to bed, and I was exhausted & couldn't walk home so I slept upright on the armchair..
next day I woke up to find my mum in bed mouth wide open pale & shallow breathing but a very high pitched wheeze sound was coming from her,
She woke up suddenly & shouted at me, but I was more than happy for that as I thought the worst. That was the worst night so far, but last night I was struggling myself, days are very long & painful for me, as they are for mum too. I feel burnt out.. the nights I can't sleep because my pain is immense & then I'm called to my parents to care for my mum who is also in pain.. last night mum fell over in the kitchen, hit the side of her face on the concrete tiled floor.
I was 4 steps away from her grabbing her a jumper from the coat rack as she was really cold, I couldn't grab her in time. I rushed to the floor in panic, rang my dad who was asleep bless him. He came down the stairs & sat with her. We didn't want to lift her up to quickly just let her get her breath back, it's so upsetting. Dad picked her up & I stayed on the floor. I stayed there for almost an hour. I couldn't move, mum was led on the sofa & dad too. I called an ambulance went through the details..& within 3 mins or so she was up in the kitchen making a cup of tea. I still had no life in my legs to get up & take her back to the front room, I knew I needed to get up, but the odd feeling in my legs came back, heavy, & one of my legs looked blue... god knows how I made it up the work surface but I did.. mum was shaking, her fingertips had blanched white marks on them, but she looked ok & with that she fell again. This time I went down with her. She hit her back & the bruising has come out today. Quite bad. She saw the doctor tonight at 5.30. He said the recent blood tests he ordered for mum 1 came back Positive, he couldn't give her a name or description but did confirm an Auto immune Disease! My mum too will be having her first Rheumatology appointment on Monday morning. So I have been told I have an auto immune disease. I know GPA & im still awaiting biopsies & tests, her doctor didn't mention vasculitis, as it isn't hereditary but can my mum & me have a link in our diseases...? X
Looking for hope
Knees and Ankles again
churg strauss
Great occupational therapist visit
