I hadn't planned to visit Mo today had some things to do yet again down the town and I knew Carol was visiting Mo this morning. I wanted to buy some picture frames today because I had some photos of Mo in the garden at the Day Therapy Centre when they all had strawberries and cream. They were lovely photos of Mo smiling and all dressed up as it was her first visit to the centre and she was really looking forward to it. Happy Days!!. One thing she did say was that she felt a little overdressed on that first day and the next time she was going "I'm wearing tracksuit trousers and a jumper" she said, "I'm not doing that again". As I was having a cup of coffee and something to eat down the town Carol texted me from the Hospice,could I bring up a toothbrush for Mo apparently the nurses kept forgetting to ask me when I visited. Sure no problem now I had to visit Mo today,not that I minded, any excuse I guess lol!!.
It turned out that me having to visit Mo,toothbrush in hand,was a good thing the nurses were concerned about Mo's bowel functions or should I say lack of them. Since Mo had been in the Hospice her appetite had increased and she was eating a lot more,well I say a lot, more than she had done in a while. Mo was due to have a one-off injection to alleviate her constipation but unfortunately this specific injection had been discontinued and there was no alternative or replacement for it. The only other alternative was an enema and as this was an intimate course of action,uncomfortable and particularly unpleasant and the nurses needed to have Mo's consent or permission,or some indication that it was ok from her to do it. They had tried to get some kind of consent but they weren't entirely convinced of her response and asked me if I could try. After a fair amount of coaxing and reassurance from me Mo did indicate that it was ok for the nurses to administer the enema to help with her constipation. Because Mo was having bellyaches and there were concerns about possible health risks because of the amount of time Mo had been constipated,2-3 weeks the nurses came to prepare Mo straight away and I made a swift exit lol. About half an hour later I returned to Mo's room and she had been put her side in readiness I guess and the nurse asked me to try and keep Mo in that position,as best I could so I did. I also asked the nurses how long would it take for the enema to work,they said it could be very quickly or not depending on how constipated Mo was it was just a waiting game unfortunately.
