I can tell who my daily readers are because some of you go into shock when I dont post, so here's my three day update of whats been happening.
On the 27th Shari went to visit in the late morning on her way to the airport to pick up Arlene. She called with a good report that he was lucid and looking better than before. I have afternoon duty but there was a major fire a block away at his Walgreens on Haight and Fillmore. Turned into 4 alarms, and they had the area shut down which meant my Fillmore bus as well. I kept waiting for it to settle down, but they kept calling more alarms, and the news helicopters...it was a mess around here..
So everyone that was ON the Fillmore bus was forced off at our corner making a massive wave of people, and everyone that WANTED to get on the inbound bus (me!) was delayed infinitely. I eventually gave up and walked down there to see and here's what I found.
Reports today are that 30 people were displaced and estimates of damage are over 2 million dollars. Businesses near and below were open today but Im unsure of Walgreens. There is still a large debris pile that you can smell walking down the hill.
So admitting defeat on my 22, I had to get creative on my bus route and walk a few blocks away to hop on something else and got to him after dinner as the sun was setting...this is largely due to the fact that the last bus i got on randomly stopped many blocks away announcing okay this is my last stop...WTF? So I walked.....and I had to go to the grocery store above him on the way, so I got him a fruit tart....which he was told was bad for him so it remained uneaten the next day.
When I get there he is siting up saying I was just getting up. This was happening because his bed was soiled. His bed is soiled because he pushes the call button and no one comes in time, and he is a fall risk who is not supposed to get up on his own so he uses his urinal. He often spills it. He is completely aware of this. It is not a crazy moment it is that he is using it laying down and cant maneuver it. I told him about the fire and we went to the rec room to try to find some news while they changed his bed, but the news was over so we watched some random TV together and talked. Hes wheeling himself around on his own just fine. I gave him a good shave, and said goodnight, and trudged home with my bag of groceries and made a salad at home.
the 28th
He wants an egg mcmuffin, so I drove in the late morning with Buck and stopped and got a couple for him. note to the not so frequent McDonalds visitor...a sausage McMuffin has no egg! I was a minor failure but he still liked it well enough.
When I get there he greets me with this loud and clear Barry White voice. What the hell is that coming out of your mouth I like it! I havent been able to hear him so well the entire time Ive been here, but the fact is that hes been up all night coughing with chest congestion and a cold. He doesnt feel well. The upside of that is that the coughing has stressed his vocal chords as well as kept the phlegm moving and his voice is deep and clear. Buck snuggled with him in his bed until he called mercy from his weight and size. I had only about a 40 minute visit with him and he was moving into therapy, so I went back to my car with maybe 10 minutes left on the meter.
We went from there to PetCo because I was completely out of poop bags, and had to use grocery sacks for our morning walk. From there we were already close to the coast so we drove down to Ocean Beach where I had seen dogs romping on a drive by before. Buck had fun. If there is brain freeze for your feet that is how this water felt. COLD!
Arlene and I were to meet the next day, so we went home, got mail sorted and together for her and worked on my own personal paperwork, did a load of laundry etc.... and worked on one of my websites. Way back in New Mexico I thought I lost a rubber bumper for my laptop desk, and on my ride back from there it is sitting in my front seat. Ive been looking for this for a month. Thank you!
the 29th
Even though Im up early, Buck is doing the snuggle thing and I cant get out of bed. Arlene calls to let me know she was leaving soon as we were in the park walking. I had to hightail it home to try to gain control of my hair. She comes to get me near 11am and she is working on the Special needs trust stuff on a phone call when I get to the car. She has a lot of paperwork to get through, and she is still jet lagged. Has a list of todos working. We went straight to Richard. He was up in physical therapy so we walked up the stairs and of course when we get there hes wheeling to the elevator to go back down. Therapist says he would be better served with some good sneakers because hes having issues with his left foot flexing up. They would give him better walking stability. They are in my purse now.
Arlene is shocked at how swiftly he rises out of his wheelchair to get back into bed. He is getting much better at this. Physically he is really getting much better, and everyone's reports are that his color is back to normal. He has that olive skin back. And while he is physically definitely making huge strides he is still far from being able to return to home.
We did get good news, however, that his initial 20 days paid for by medicare, has been extended to 100 days - which puts him a couple weeks before Christmas. He can stay up until that time as long as he is making progress. If progress halts he gets booted.
She called into his cell phone company and got his voice mail password. We haven't been able to listen to his mobile messages since she has been gone. That took for forever, so they were talking about her trip as she was waiting, and when it was recovered she wrote him instructions on how to retrieve his voicemail. He listened to a couple but I don't think he made it through all 5.
She also emailed me later in the afternoon with his proper email password, so I will start printing off his emails and bringing them up there slowly. That will be a good daily thing for him to exercise his eyes.
She had an informal meeting with Bella, and we set up a more formal meeting for next week...Tues I think? All therapists together for a state of the union address, and to try to get a better plan together to push him harder. He would LIKE to do more, but he cannot because he can not get up on his own, so he ends up sitting and waiting for someone to come get him.
He still has a chest congestion, and Arlene says something to the nurse - who is the infamous AWFUL NURSE - who completely denies that he even has a cough. chest clear, no cough no problems. Arlene is like i just sat with him for 30 minutes and he hasn't stopped coughing and hes coughing up a greenish gray stuff. Are you denying he has a cough? Yes she says. Bella is right there and she says Ive heard him cough all day....FFS! I'm gong to have the I hate this nurse speech next week.
Monday 9am is VA Neurology.
No comments:
Post a Comment