General Discussion & Chat: Coffee and..... for Saturday, August 26th, 1 by BabsERNurse

BabsERNurse wrote:
Dahling luvvies,

It's close to Saturday here so I'm going to post. I just came back from visiting with Mum at the nursing home and she's stably dwindling. I don't know how else to put it. She asked if there was going to be BINGO today, but I had to disappoint her and tell her she'd have to wait until tomorrow. She used to be quite the BINGO player in her younger years. I took her outside in the courtyard and I could hardly extricate her from there. I finally had to take her inside when it came supper time and time for meds. I'm glad to see a little spunk in her again, even if it's only momentary.

Maria, I'm so sorry you are ill with pneumonia. I hope the meds they have you on work quickly. I think I read in Friday's post that you are on Levaquin (big guns antibiotic) and Prednisone and Albuterol and Atrovent. I'm glad to hear the doc put you on these medications. The Albuterol and Atrovent combination should help greatly. In the ER we call that combination an "A & A". The Ipratropium (Atrovent) is used to prevent bronchospasm and the Albuterol is an adrenergic bronchodilator that works by relaxing muscles in the airways to improve breathing. Of course, the Prednisone is a steroid and helps by decreasing inflammation in the lungs. I hope you are drinking LOTS of fluids. Make sure some of those fluids have calories in them as you require calories to help fight fever, to boost your immune system and to aid in healing. Also, you may find it helpful to drink some warm fluids such as tea or even coffee. They help in cutting the phlegm and soothing the air passages from coughing. There are xanthines in coffee that work as a bronchodilator and you may find that after drinking a cup of coffee, your coughing lessens for a time. Xanthines are the property that the medication "Theodur" is made from and that medication was used for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

On the way home from visiting Mum this evening, DH pulled off the road and let me shoot some film. Here's a photo looking out at Penn Cove from Madrona Drive and towards the Penn Cove mussel floats.

I bid everyone a wonderful day. Hugs to all, ~Babs~