B.G.M.

My Mom had surgery for a bowel obstruction F night (now Sun night). Between some dementia already on board, surgery, morphin, anesthesiabeing 79 and lack of ETOH -she is confused. I have had patients in the past who were "fine" until they had a surgery and then never quite pulled it together again afterwards. I am concerned that Mom will not regain the cognitive skills she had. She already had a pretty significant short term memory loss. An example of her now- when asked today at dinner time how her incision was-she said she didn't have one. A tough thing to forget given the amount of pain it can generate.
The thing that is so strange is that her face looks great and she sounds so much like herself most of the time. I didn't fully realize before how much dementia is the robbing of a soul in the presence of an intact and beautiful package.
I hope that I will take her home from the hospital T, and fly to my home by the Bay next w/e (if all goes well physically for her). My gut tells me she will not again return to S. D. to live alone, as she will not be capable. I am sad and I am in the caretaker mode that is making me stay just above the murkiness.