I could have slept until noon if Buck didn't exist. Slept so well didn't want to stop. We did a quick walk and I unloaded the dishwasher from my short rib soiree and ran out of here.
Stopped at the Japanese place on my way to him and got him a California roll, some grilled meat and a few pieces of fresh salmon sushi and chatted with Carolyn while I waited. then stopped at another place and got 2 thai teas for us to drink. He loved it all. They packaged the sushi with thin lemon wedges between which gave it a really fresh mouth. He ate everything but a piece of salmon and a few pieces of the beef.
His table looked like he had been sleeping since yesterday as his aloe that you see him in the video from yesterday is still there about half drunk - ie not touched since I left....and his Orange crush from Shari is still there. I retired it to the trash.
Bella came in with a very long email from his Servas friend, Mary Jane and I read that to him. He says thats nice...will you share that with everyone? Typical. I say no...that was her private communication to you not to everyone ;) I'll blog about it if you want me to, he says but thats an article she wrote. Essentially Mary Jane is explaining an article written for Servas where they highlighted him and all the wonderful things hes done for Servas, and Servas international and highlighted it with a picture I provided to her - his current Facebook profile pic that he took when he was with Joe earlier in the year....but its not the actual article itself. Mary Jane, if you are reading this blog, could you forward me a copy of the newsletter to bring to him?
We sat and talked for a while. No therapy today. He says his hallucinations are much better after getting the dose of ropinerole reduced. He seems more mentally with it to me as well. He says he coughed all night - he has a tickle in his throat then he sneezes. Oh god....hes getting a cold. Im in super action mode run to the nurses station Bella is there I say hes coming down with a cold. She says okay you need to give a report to his nurse so I stand and wait. Bella says she'll be few minutes - I ask her just to send her in to the room then please.
So we sit and talk some more. This floor is not that big what is taking so long. Richard hit your nurse button. I see it lit and I can HEAR the thing pinging at the nurses station, and am sitting on the edge of his bed facing the door watching scrub clad person after person walk by without even a glance in our direction. Twice Richard says loudly to a random scrub clad person HELLO! as they are walking by...nothing. TWENTY FREAKING MINUTES LATER a younger person - not the nurse, says did you need something? I stood up and said yeah...someone to respond faster than 20 minutes when he uses his nurse call button. Had their been an emergency and he was in here choking or fallen he'd be dead. Im floored, and especially pissed because that whole falling episode he had in week one he said the same thing - I press it and no one comes so I have to get up on my own. They say that's not acceptable, use your button blah blah...HONESTLY!
So now Im heading downstairs to go find the management. Tell him Ill be back in a bit. I ask the front desk person for the person in charge today - someone in upper echelon management. She scans papers in front of her and says its Bella. I say Bella Angert? Yes shes head of the nurses....okay? She calls and Bella is on her way..appears with a heavy book in her arms asking whats wrong I asked for some closed doors so I can scream.
Honestly if this is the way it is every single person in that facility is in danger. I understand people are busy, but there are dozens of people and ignoring and not responding is not an option for an entire team of floor staff. This is stop drop and roll when you hear a buzzer isnt it? Should be. Anyway - she gets it. Apologizes which is not really what Im looking for. She gets a call from the same floor, and we head up together.
the awful nurse is heading towards me saying she checked his vitals and listened to his lungs and they are clear. I explain so are everyone elses when they are coming down with a cold. He coughed all night, and hes sneezing. Hes coming down with a cold. All I wanted was for them to give him an antihistamine. She says did he drink that? and pointed to the aloe water. I said maybe he had some that is from yesterday. Hes on a thickened liquid diet she says. Like deviating from that and eating sushi is the cause of coughing and sneezing....these people are food nazis. She says I gave him this - picks up a mini milk carton that is like a nutrition shake - which I didn't give him on purpose earlier because its number 2 ingredient is maltodexterin, and number three is soy. Fine poison ingested, but back to the point, hes feeling congested, and sneezing. Again she says lungs all clear.... Okay so we have to wait until hes full blown to do anything...I see. I hate this woman. Who does that? Everyone I know who feels something coming on is ramming vitamin c down their throat, drinking tea, swallowing garlic, or whatever their normal fight it off routine is.... goodbye evil nurse.
Richard Ill be back close to dinner and Ill get you some lozenges or something.
Buck is a solid rock of muscle right now, and LOVES to crawl the streets so I'm taking him down the road with me lately when I go shopping or whatever and tie him up outside the store. Then let him take me where he wants to go....sometimes its to duboce sometimes its to Alamo Square...sometimes he just literally wants to crawl over to pierce and pee he way back to Oak. Easy way for me to walk - I just follow him where he turns..HAHA! So we walk to Walgreens and I decide on Zinc lozenges, and Airborne for the vitamins because there is no threat of drug interactions and as Im standing there it hits me that he just had that stupid Flu shot! That's what it is! hes just got the normal after effects of that.... /sigh
So I head back after 4. Got off the bus early and winded my way there on foot looking for food on the way and stop at a place called sliders and got him a grilled Ham and cheese with tomato and a mint milkshake. He wakes up easliy for me and sits upright. Mentions hes supposed to do that for at least 15 minutes a day. Eats his sandwich well...the fries are kind of soggy so they are Buck food. Loved the shake and drank most of that. We did some of his vocal stuff.
Brought him a letter from another Servas friend, Edith, which he loved reading. She was talking about her travel adventures across Europe she just returned from...Mary Jane was with her for part of it. It was a good read and written like you were with her. He enjoyed it. She included a self addressed stamped return envelope with a sticky note saying things I want/need so he could write anything down and mail it to her like a wishlist. the only thing he wants is travel reports - which I think is the newsletter. When Im done here Im going to go find her email on his PC and let her know.
He got up and went to the bathroom. When he came back out his CNA - Ben - helped him get back in bed. Richard is all janked up with his robe around his neck and sitting crazy in bed because he flopped. Ben says grab the headboard and pull yourself up and Richard did it like he was HeMan. He wanted Ben to be sure to put his bathroom venture in his charts so he could get the points for pooping LOL!
We are not taking the day off tomorrow like last Sunday. I told him since he got such good rest today we'd try to do some exercise tomorrow so I'll spend the afternoon with him but give him the rest of the day and evening to sleep.
i left him his lozenges, but not the airborne as he couldn't drink it he was so full. Everyone say a silent prayer to the universe that the flu doesn't set in so he can make good use of his time remaining with more therapy, and less sleeping/sneezing/groaning.
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