First Outing

Dad had his first appointment outside of rehab yesterday morning.  BOY was that an adventure.

Mom came to my house at 7:00 to make it to the hospital at 7:30.  I was outside witnessing my “unauthorized swimmer” … so showed the little froggy to her and we were on our way.  I was even a good mommy and made the kids some eggs and toast as well – bonus for them – however not enough bread for me, so I just made something for them.   I thought I would grab a bowl of cereal, however never did.  We were a few minutes early so I opted to go to Mc D’s for a biscuit sandwich.  It was HUGE.  They usually have normal size biscuits, this one seemed extra fluffy!  Oh, well – it was VERY filling.

Off to the rehab hospital to find dad sitting at the nurses station.  As he’s a fall risk, if he’s out of his bed, he’s supposed to be at the station to make sure that if he falls, someone will be there to avoid the fall – help him if he slips or something.  I’m not sure.  Anyway, they had him up and going at 5:30 for this appointment… had him bathed and shaved and fed so he could leave.  He ate ½ a grilled cheese sandwich and most of an ensure juice… getting better, getting better! 

7:45 the transport lady came up and was getting him situated to get on the van, so mom and I went to the car and pulled in behind the van…. And waited… and waited… and waited.  I think it took them a while to get the next gentleman ready to roll.  Anyway – we got on our way and headed over to his appointment.  I think we got there at 8:30 or 9:00am.  One lesson learned bring a urinal – they don’t have those at Dr’s offices (or anything similar)  Good thing is that there are “preparations” made in place for this issue if it occurs.

Anyway – sit in the Dr’s office, fill out paperwork, muddle through drugs, amounts, things like that that really – we have no clue when he’s in there what the heck they give him.  So, I tell the nurse point blank – they sent paperwork over, I wonder if it’s in there.  Yep, low and behold it’s in there – more meds than we even knew about!  There was a page and a half listed.  Is it really that much?  Not really, but I guess it has the “just in case” and the “as needed meds as well… and included the “motility” drug he’s on.  It’s not Zophran, it’s something else that isn’t necessarily for nausea, but getting the gut moving.  Another discovery from this place is that narcotic type drugs will slow the whole GI track down and wouldn’t you know it, the day he was really nauseated and didn’t d a lot of PT due to it was when he had his pain pills 3 times – one at 9am, two during PT and one that night.  AND he’s not getting sleeping meds at night, he’s getting pain pills.  He could hardly sleep last night with the anticipation of this “field trip”.  More concerns on how it would all go… where he would go… what would happen.

What else we discovered on this trip is that getting around in a wheel chair that is not your own, and not maintained properly is really a pain in the butt.  I’m thinking the one he’s using is super old and the left foot rest of the dang chair hung out about 7” father than the freaking chair.  So, the only way to get in through doors was take the chair, rub the left foot rest along the door to shove it in where it should be.  Goodness.  ** more to come on this freaking foot rest**  BUT I got him in, into the room and woven through the TIGHT configuration of chairs that really didn’t seem so tight until trying to maneuver them with a chair.  Eye opening.

We got into the meeting with the doc and she’s thinking that most of this is the pain pills, wanted to do an upper GI test with barium swallow to see what they could see as some of the issues with things getting “stuck” has been there since before the stroke and could be exacerbated by said stroke.  Really, it was left up to Dad at that point and he turned it down.  He can always have it done at a later time.  Right now the nausea is seeming to ease up with the motility drug and if we can get him off the pain pills, the rest could resolve and we’ll be in like Flynn (where does that saying come from?)!

So, appointment now ‘over’ with no real outcome, but with some more knowledge and suspicions that the pain meds are causing some issues with nausea.  Good enough for now.  He’s eating… he’s improving… as long as it keeps improving, we’ll keep moving forward.  So, we offer to have him go outside to sit in the warmth … it had warmed up nicely, but with the Coumadin he’s not to be in the sun, so we put his blanket over his legs and parked him with legs in the sun to warm and body in the shade.  Worked out well and he warmed up nicely and enjoyed the fresh air.  He did comment that if he could stand up, he would pee in the bushes… I told him I would do it, I’d lock his knee and help him do it.  He passed.  Can’t understand why… hahaha – would have been a sight, eh?  Ha!  Well, the transport issues are something else with rehab hospitals.  I think it took a full HOUR for him to get his ride to come get him, however, the sunshine did him good and we took the opportunity to trim his nails while outside and not having to worry about where they all flicked J  Do what you can, right?  So manicure in the fresh outdoors!  Talked with Linda too – so it was a win/win all around! 

After transport got there, I was wheeling him down to the van, headed down the little ramp and that stinkin’ left foot rest came OFF… dragging poor dads foot, tipping us forward just a hair… scared both of us, but neither freaked out.  I held it there while the nurse tried to reassemble… I finally had to tell her to just lift his leg so I could get to the bottom as it was hard to hold him on the slope!  Thank goodness he had a seat belt on just in case!!  Whew, close call, my wheelchair drivers license has been suspended until further notice!

Back to rehab – by the way it’s now 12pm… talked with Richard, his case manager.  The date is still set to the 25^th and Mom is going to be tested on what she can and can’t do to assist with him movements as she’s NOT strong.  I’m scared that she won’t be able to do what needs to be done… but we also have a week and a few days of rehab before he goes home, so pray his stamina improves and we graduate to a walker during the day… so we can be assured that with minimal assistance he can get up and to the bathroom, car, etc..

That’s another thing… they give you lessons on how to do these things, but there is no practical “training” of “how to get in a car” … there are stairs, but there is no CAR in there.. I guess you just practice with a chair and when it comes to a car, you figure it out?  I don’t know.  There is no shower, no shower stall, no shower chair – well, there may be, I haven’t seen them, however.  You would think you would have a dummy car set up with a seat to try to get into without bonking the crap out of your head, a shower to get in and out of… practical things.  Things that will make our break you when you get home.  I wonder if they even teach them how to get up after a fall if that happens… how to recover if the worst happens… you get to the chair and miss… now what?  Do you know how to roll just right to get to XYZ position to get to a kneel, then a stand?  Hum… makes me wonder.

Ok… back the adventure.  Dad was pretty set on just going to bed, but they told him it would take an hour to get him his food.  I knew dang good and well if he went to bed he would rather sleep at that point rather than eat… so I asked if we went with him, would he go to the dining room.  Yep.. so mom and I went to the dining room and got his lunch with him (we didn’t eat)… and sat and chatted while he ate.  He ate an small bowl of beans  - my thoughts were – yes, protein!!  I did tell him every time they rolled him he was to toot a little J  He ate about a ¼ portion of meat, a little of his roll dipped in the gravy from his potatoes and ½ a bowl of pears.  Doesn’t sound like much, but for him, it’s a HUGE improvement!  He did opt out of PT for the rest of the day as he was exhausted from doing the whole transport appointment thing… and with that, we rolled on back to the room, stopped at the nursing station to ask for an assist on transfer to the bed and a change in clothing.  I fully expected it to take  while, but low and behold they were coming in right after us to get him settled. 

By that time it was 1pm.  WOW – one appointment now equates to a full day.  They’re in for a BIG changeup in lifestyle.

So next week, mom goes in for family training one day (Tuesday) and I go in later in the week for the same thing – and we can both be there for that one.  AND next Tuesday we do a true evaluation if mom is able to do the heavy lifting/helping that will be necessary to let him come directly home.  What happens if he can’t come directly home, you ask?  Nursing home with therapy there… that is a dreaded one.  The thing that will let mom have him come on home will be him to assist more and her to be able to help enough to not strain either one of them.  The options are home rehab where someone comes to the house to help dad every week day for his therapy - less “toys” to work with and less of their tools available.  Less pressure for dad to get up and attempt to dress and do the things necessary to leave the house too…. So it’s good to have it out of the house…. But can they do this?  Can they manage?  Scary prospects.  I’m “on call” for a while.  I’m working on seeing when we bring Robert out… and really just holding our breaths right now…

New "Short Bus" Moment!

While at the tag place today (can you say “procrastination”?), I decided to do the unthinkable and prepare for my bank trip that is MONTHS overdue to cash some checks.  I fill out all the paperwork and low and behold that took about all the time needed for my number to be called.  I received a bright new shiny tag for my efforts (mine is now obsolete - as is a lot of things in my life!).  So... I had through a fast food place to grab a bite to eat, and head to the bank.  I pull up - quite proud of myself having filled out the deposit slip and everything AHEAD of time... she takes my stuff and then returns to the window with a very puzzled look and a request for me to "fix" the date on my slip.  I had written 9/14/65!  hahahaha - talk about HABIT when you write a date, eh?

 

Updates from Rehab

Well, all the siblings have gotten mom’s update about our adventures this week.  Trips to car repair places, drives up to Macon to visit Daddy-o in rehab.

 

It was really nice to meet his Physical therapist and get some more info on his leg/hip and the issues he’s been seeing there.  He’s had a lot of hip pain and they have x-rayed him to make sure it wasn’t broken or damaged in any way.  It’s not.  Mostly it’s “low tone” issues.  Now, I have heard all those terms when dealing with the preemie boards and Cerebral Palsy issues, etc.. so if you don’t get what I’m talking about holler and I’ll fill you in.  Basically his muscles are just what it says – having low tone – they’re too relaxed and letting his hip socket sort of “slosh around” which is not good for a hip.  Add to this, since he has limited movement/mobility in that leg, he’s NOT moving it enough… and after hearing that I looked him dead in the eye and said “hum, you need to MOVE more”… ha!  Gary said we should come to PT and tell him that as well – “move more” hahaha.  I told him we weren’t allowed to go to his PT sessions or we would come and be his cheer leaders.  This, as you read in mom’s update (well, only if you’re one of her kids) was got us invited to his PT session today.  Yeah – we finally get to see what he’s up to in this PT stuff.

 

Now Gary also updated us with his accomplishments and the fact he had moved more than 30 feet with minimal assist.  He’s not holding him up; he’s simply pushing the left foot forward as Dad’s hip/low tone isn’t getting the job quite done yet on pulling that foot forward.  He also said he was a “super star” in rehab and always doing as he’s asked and not complaining or quitting.  So these are all great things to hear.

 

I’m not impressed with the reactions to his nutrition at this point… and the fact that I’m sure he’s down a little more in weight and only being given broth and Jell-O when he really needs the energy to get the muscle and strength.  However VERY happy that someone finally listened that it’s the SMELL that is doing him in, nothing more.   The nausea med is one that melts under his tongue – Zofran.  So they are finally listening and it seems to be having the desired effect.  NOW we need Dad to speak up and ask for it when he’s going into OT as its’ right next to the kitchen and he commented that his stomach starts to do flips when he smells all the foods.  We’ll see if he’ll start to do that – I think once you get to feeling ill, there is no going back… but maybe this will work for him.  Time will tell on that one.

 

Oh, and he’s off his Coumadin as well lately – I guess his levels were too high there for a while, now he’s in therapeutic ranges, but he’s not on it… so they will wait and see what the doc will do about that issue.  I asked about Plavix, but was told it’s not a thinner, it’s an anti “stick together” med, so it doesn’t reduce the amount of cells, just discourages them from clotting…. So an ant clotting factor, but not a thinner.  I don’t get why it not be an option, but that’s up to the docs to decide which will be the best for his situation.

 

Other than that, Dad gets a field trip to see the gastro person tomorrow – I guess they want to rule everything else out as he’s having such issues with eating… then again, I am highly opinionated and hear him when he says the smells make him want to hurl.  It’s been consistent since the stroke.  He does not do well with strong smells.  I guess mom will have to figure out what smells trigger him when he gets home.

 

Speaking of home, we’re making some minor changes to the house to accommodate both Mom and Dad – I’ll get some feedback from dad on placement of the grab bar in the shower.  I have Steve coming out to install that as it will take some bolstering between the shower and the 2x4’s in the wall (inserts aren’t right against the 2x4’s and I remember this from when we took our shower out).  I’ll quiz dad on how he thinks he can do getting in and out of the shower with just a handle on the right as he enters the shower, or if he would be more comfortable with one just outside the shower door that would go from wall to floor as well…. that one we can wait on a bit more, as we can have someone there to assist until we can better assess his strengths and weaknesses in that area.  For now mom is leery to make any big changes until we find out just how much will be needed when he gets home.

 

And so, the Saga continues.  I’m trying to get on a schedule and the $%^&*  schools keep messing with me!  I had Liz’s schedule down pat… Monday’s and Wednesday’s she had practice until 5:00pm, Tuesdays/Thursdays from 6pm to 9pm.  So, I was planning on getting her at 5:00 on Monday and then heading to Dad’s..   Yeah, that got shot to heck… she is now out at 5:30 M/W  AND to add insult to injury, she’s also switched back to afternoons on T/Th to boot.  #$%^&*() freaking schools don’t think we parents have anything better to do that adjust our schedules constantly?  Really?  The child needs her own car, but the husband (yes, I’m talking about YOU Butch) wants her to work for it.  Something about responsibility.  Ok, I really think she’s responsible.  She gets good grades, she does what she’s supposed to do 99% of the time – she’s just not actively seeking a job, but really?  Isn’t working at school and maintaining a 90% GPA (with advanced classes) for her ENTIRE high school career enough to qualify you as responsible?  REALLY?  Sigh.  So I really think a car is for MY sanity more than for her enjoyment.  But, hey, what do I know… I apparently am the only one sweating when I can’t get in touch with her after school after she texts me with an “I’m coming out in just a second” from someone elses phone and I can get in touch with NO ONE to tell her to get her own ride home… ½ hour later the hubby leaves work to get her… really?  I’m more of a “drop everything and dash out there” type… he’s more of an amble out there apparently.  Sigh.  My sanity is seriously on shaky ground right now and having that extra worry out there just isn’t helping.

 

I DO have Angela with ONE make up test happening tomorrow; however, I think I can make that one without issue…. Or so I say.  HA!  My boss told me about a class being held on the 27^th… I told her I could promise her nothing…  and really I can’t promise anything at this point.  Who knows what will happen tomorrow that will pull me away?  I can’t tell ya.

Projects and plans

Time to show you whats on my agenda. First up:



Recognize this table family? Yes it's mom and dads the rail is broken so in considering removing the rails and tiling the top and painting the bottom.
Next up:



This is my $15 chair from Salvation Army. Dad cut put a new board for the back. Now to pull off the seat and the back, sand it a bit, re-seal it and put a fun color on it with better padding.
Next up:



HUGE frame street find (yep picked the garbage!). Considered making a BIG bulletin board. Have some cork board from another thrift shop run... Still debating.
Next up:



Street find (yep garbage again) it needed some TLC and some glue with clamps. That was ax imploded. (Hum wonder what that sentence was to be? Cell phone auto correct did me wrong!) Now to paint or just shine it up and sell it? Hum...Tempted to tile the top and use it for plants.
Next up:



A donation from my MIL. still debating what I'm doing with it.
Next up:






My nifty $5 find today a folding rolling cart. I can see this in a bright cheery yellow!!

Project

My next project. An antique ironing board. I'm in LOVE with the architectural feel to these and honestly NEVER thought I would find one!
And Linda will be happy to hear there is no paint in this projects future.
I also have. A cute wood chair to redo. AND do you guys remember the round coffee table? I think it will be painted and the rail removed AND a tile top put on it. Mosaic style. What do you think? Pictures to come in those in the "before" mode as well.

Odds and ends

Cool mushroom at M&Ds house

Cooler lacy mushrooms @ work

My bulletin board @ work. Yep, I did this. Shoulda been a teacher. Naw, doesn't pay well enough!
Detail in the motivational sayings:



This was accomplished on my "work avoidance" Friday ;)



Hahaha. I need this sexy beast for my car !!

Saturday update

I have nothing....sad, I know. I should... Mom and I went to find the body shop recommended to her... They're not open on Saturday. We'll go back Monday lunch time. So today was a morning jont to get moms car back to her. I didn't have a set if keys - woops!! Then a trip to see dad...a drive home...a bit of nothing after that....
So here's moms "newsy" letter...
I’ve been telling everyone that Dad won’t use the telephone and Robert called me to tell me to tell Dad that there was a BYU game on TV today and I told him that Dad doesn’t watch TV. Then I look at the answering machine a little while later and there is a message from guess who? Dad.
Donna that I was going up there on the freeway and if the light fell off the car, so be it. She suggested that I tape it on! Why didn’t we think of that before? So I got my trusty duct tape out and taped it on and off I went.
The reason I wasn’t home when he called was because I went to Wal-Mart to find strawberry Ensure and small puddings and Jell-O in hopes of getting him to eat something.
Then when I get there guess what he’s doing? Watching a football game on TV. So needless to say, he’s feeling much better.
The nurse did get him some meds to calm his stomach and he said he ate more breakfast and lunch than usual but just picked at his dinner while I was there. He didn’t want the stuff I brought except for the Jell-O so I left some there for him and will take some more tomorrow. He tasted the pudding and said it was OK but didn’t want any then so I left some of that too. That’s OK though as long as he’s eating better I’ll not worry anymore. The nurse that brought his dinner in tonight said she would have the dietician come in and talk to him so she can see that he gets what he likes. I brought Honey Nut Cheerio’s but he forgets to tell them that there is some in a bag on his end stand and they serve him plain cheerio’s with lots of sugar on it. Yuk. But he said it’s hard to think when they wake him up to feed him early in the morning. Donna came up about 3 and we were talking away and look over and Dad’s sound asleep. His hip was hurting him so he finally called for a pain pill and it put him to sleep. So Donna left and I laid on the other bed and took a rest for about ½ hour until his dinner came.
He was so happy to have a rest from the all day PT. They did do about an hour’s worth in the morning but he got to lay in bed and relax the rest of the day. He’ll have tomorrow off too.
He got sucked into a football game at 5:00 so I left to come home. I had planned to leave at 6:00 and should have because as soon as I got on the freeway it started pouring down rain and rained hard all the way home until I got to the peach county line as usual.

Mustache you...

Nice 'stach, eh?

My thoughts from Friday and a note from Mom....

To my defense, I have NOT had a computer for a very long time, so updating with a lot of "talking"   Pictures, yes, typing, no... it's hard on a cell phone.
Last night I got my disk restore from Dell - about time, that was a goat rope and a half.  I had put in the order via phone for a restore disk and they sent an EMAIL confirmation of the order and when I didn't respond, they cancelled the order.  DER... think I didn't respond because I didn't have a computer.  Dorks.  So, this time, I did it on line and did a link - and the disk finally got here.  WHOOP!  I started it setting up last night, but left to go visit Dad with mom.. Thursday I didn't get over to see Dad, I had kids here there in football games and practice.  So I stayed home, let Liz take the car to practice and caught up with poor Angela a bit.  So - the computer is now functional and getting loaded with all the necessary software... just one more task in the long line of tasks....

My take on the visit Friday was that dad is tired, but working towards the rehab and getting things moving on rehab and getting out of there.  The issue with the nausea is being addressed as of last night - the nurse is going to give him some meds that should help with the nausea, they'll time it before lunch and dinner in an effort to get his appetite back up and calm the nausea.

Anyway, this is what Mom has to say about the whole thing:

Dad was about the same last night, getting a little upset (which I think is one step better than depressed) with his condition but that is to be expected. Donna brought a Cribbage board but he wasn’t quite up to that yet but hopefully soon. He’s so tired and his muscles are sore after PT all day that he just wants to go to sleep. He said people come and stay too long and he’s not the type to be rude so I told him to not talk to them, slowly close his eyes and drift off to sleep and maybe they’ll get the hint. I don’t know though, Donna put a note on the hospital door to please keep their visits to 10 minutes because he needs his rest but they still stay a half hour or more. You get 2 or 3 visitors like that and it runs into hours of visiting. . I wish I could see what he’s doing in PT but they won’t let anyone visit during the day. He still won’t eat, hasn’t got his taster back and gets nauseous even smelling the food when they bring it in. I’m going to go shopping today and find some strawberry Boost or Ensure and see if he’ll drink that. I keep forgetting to tell the nurses that he drank that in the hospital. I’ll look for some little sugar free puddings too because they gave him Boost pudding in the hospital but said it was too sweet. I tasted it and it was way too sweet. We explained to the nurse about his nausea last night and she said she’d look into some medicine for it. But I know she’ll have to talk to a doctor before she can give him anything and it’s the weekend. So another waiting game. He’s lost 30 lbs and will keep losing if he doesn’t start eating. He looks good and that’s what he weighed when we got married but he needs the food for energy.


I drove over to Donna’s house yesterday and went with her to see Dad. She’s going to bring my car home today and we’re going to go get an estimate on getting it fixed. I turned too quick backing out of the garage Thursday ran into the side of the garage and did a number on the front fender and light. Mum’s the word because I don’t want Dad to hear about it and worry about me. The insurance deductable is only $250 and I get a free rental car while it’s being fixed so that’s not bad. I can drive it around town but the light is loose and I’m afraid to get on the freeway because it might come loose and fall out. It’s like my car’s eye has been knocked out of its socket but just loose and not dangling and the lights and signal still work. There’s also a dent in the fender and the bumper so they will both need to be replaced. Poor Slate (that’s my car’s name). I talk to him all the time and thank him for being such good dependable car then I beat him up. Ha.

Mike came over yesterday and mowed the grass and it looks nice. We’ve had lots and lots of rain and everything is growing including all the weeds. The YW are going to come on Wednesday night and weed Dad’s garden. I know they don’t realize how bad it is so I told the leader that they just need to do the tomatoes and peppers and maybe the YM can have a project for cleaning out all the rest that’s through producing. After they clean it all out I’ll have someone till it all up.

Everyone has been so kind in offering help in my time of need. I haven’t had to ask for much so far but I know that I will need more when he gets home. It’s good that it happened now after all the gardening, freezing and canning has been done and the grass won’t need mowing for much longer and we can concentrate on getting him well during the winter months. The back right signal light on the car went out and my HTer replaced it for me and when I needed a ride to visit Dad on Thursday a very good friend had previously told me that anytime I needed a ride to see him she would be glad to take me so she did. (Donna wasn’t able t go that night). My LDS neighbor up the road called and told me they were here for me anytime if I ever got scared at night or heard someone prowling around call them before I called 911 and they’d be here quicker than the police. That was so thoughtful of her. I put their number in big letters on the wall (clarification - it's on paper) by my bed so I won’t have to find my glasses and look up their number in the ward list. That gave me peace of mind even though I haven’t felt scared (yet). My Baptist neighbor came down for a visit the other day and commented on how good our church is about helping people, even not of our faith. So people notice. I am so thankful for my church friends.

So that’s it from here for now.
I love you all very much.
Mom

Angie's dress from Belk

Cute, eh? Wet head an all after her shower ;)

Last nights events

I really love this convenience store now. :) this is also my new favorite sign!!


After seeing dad we spotted a pretty rainbow


Then a trip to Belks "going out of business sale" in the OLD Macon mall. These were not purchased however fun to try in ;)

My baby is all grown up!


OohLaLa!


Very classy, eh?





And last but not least an article from the paper on Monday about the hospital dad was in. It really is/was a good hospital.


And there you have it. What we really bought was a cute maxi dress for Angela and this dress for Liz



Looks better ON.
And a very nice wool peacoat for Angela - a $250 coat for $50. Even then on a growing child I made sure it fit Liz too as she's done growing and worse case she inherits it if/when Angela outgrows it ;)

FW: Dad update

On Sep 5, 2012, at 9:52 PM, "Martin and Marilyn"  wrote:

I have very good news tonight. Dad is doing much better, he's breathing better, his urine is clearing up and he actually can move his leg a little. I know Donna's blog yesterday didn't sound like he was making much progress, but what a change today!! When he first went into the center some ding-a-ling mentioned it would be a year before he would be back to normal and I thought that was a stupid thing to say to someone laying in bed, paralyzed on one side and very depressed. But then the nurse today said something like 3 weeks goal on going home. Of course we know he won't be back to normal then, but at least that's a goal and he has improved a lot in just 2 ½  days out of the hospital. He said he really didn't have much therapy yesterday, they mostly just talked to him, but today they put him through the ringer. He was ready for sleep by 6 both nights. I just hope he doesn't get visitors later on as the visiting hours are 4:45 to 9. I'd hate for people to drive all the way up to Macon and find him sound asleep and I'd especially hate for them to wake him up. He needs his sleep.

I've had a busy two days. I told you about yesterday and today I did errands and went shopping some more for clothes for him. Now I have to go back and exchange things tomorrow. I tried to find a robe for him but  stores don't carry them until winter. He said tonight that he didn't really need one. They didn't put his shoes on him today for some reason so he said he had sore toes from them rolling over them and stepping on them. His shoes were in the closet so I put them out on the floor with socks tucked into them so they'd see them tomorrow. He still hasn't got his appetite back but Donna said  one of the side effects of Cuminin is lack of appetite and nausea and he said he felt nauseous after eating a few bites tonight. I should have remembered to tell them that he will drink strawberry boost, that should help. He told the nurse that he would trade his bowl of pineapple for fruit cocktail so she got some for him.  So some of the nice nurses try to please. She even went back to his old room and found his deodorant that got left there. It's the little things.

While he was in the hospital he said he wanted me to give the jalapeño peppers that were in the fridge to 3 different people. I never got around to it and figured they were rotten by now but low and behold they were still good so I delivered a couple of baggies today and will dililiver  the other one tomorrow. I found out my right turn signal was out on the car so I asked Dennis if he'd fix it for me. He's a mechanic. So tomorrow I'll go to the car store and get a bulb and take it to him to fix. That is the first thing that I've had to ask for help with but I'm sure there will be many more times before Dad get better. So I'll do that, go to the store for milk, to Wal-Mart to exchange some stuff for a larger size and deliver the last of the peppers. Then it's back to the center tomorrow evening. Today I talked to the case worker and had some questions answered and he made notes of my concerns (very nice guy). Thursdays they have their weekly meeting with the nurses, therapist, doctor and case worker to make decisions and goals and he said he'd have more to tell me then.

So that's all for tonight. I love you all and will try to keep you abreast of things now that I have some time at home.

XXXOOO

All very true and I think Mom and have taken turns being the "negative Nelly" and, well, Tuesday was just a bad day.  Now fast forward to Wednesday night and it's all true.  He's even LOOKING much more chipper, however Mom did say that he really perked up with the girls and I arrived.  I had a plan for yesterday – get Liz from school and dash to Macon to see Dad, let the girls see him again, as the first time they saw him, he was in the hospital.  Even though at that time he was MUCH improved from the first week, he was still on the lower side of improvement.  Yesterday, however, made them feel MUCH better and happy about how Grandpa is progressing and seeing that he could move his leg was a shockingly good thing!

It wasn't SMALL moves this time of just the toe and having it stop after a few small moves, this was the whole leg from the knee and done a few times with a lot of thought and effort.  So, things are healing in the noggin' and connections are coming alive again.  Slowly but surely.

Go Dad, Go!

We didn't stay long and Ill post another post on what we did after we left Dad.  We took the opportunity to dash out when the doc came in to discuss blood in his urine… yeah, that was a good time to take kiddo's out of the room.  J

Rehab...

Rehab is BAD in that they make dad sit for three hours between PT sessions.

Rehab is GOOD in that they make dad sit for three hours gaining stamina and building muscles sitting in a chair between PT sessions.

 

It’s such a double edged sword.  You know it’s good for him, and yet, the empathic side wants to make this easier for him… the logical thing is to just suck it up and know he’s building stamina as things are going.

The only other issue that still concerns me terribly is that 1) Coumadin levels are high 2) there is blood in his urine again.  There is still an issue with mind and body working in conjunction to give ample notification to allow hand and body to get together to make everything come together to get urinal in place, and get things “done” in the right order.

 

I know in my heart of hearts it’s killing him to have to do the things he has to do at this point.  It breaks my heart to see him so down hearted at where he is right now.  I need to be a better cheer-leader and reinforce the fact that there are bigger things still going on in his head. 

 

Bigger connections being made and the others, in time, will come.  It sucks for now to be this dependant on others… but the reality of it is, walking and coordination and BIG muscle things are taking over the brain function for now.  You don’t really want to compare him to a toddler, but really that’s where the brain is… the brain is in the mode of trying to get BIGGER things in order, get new paths.  With toddlers, the reality is, potty training backslides when the big muscles are in work, when other learning is going on, some things just take a backseat. 

 

It’s harder when you’re an adult, and you KNOW what you can/should know how to do in regard to that level.  And, let’s face it, more than a bit humiliating to be in this situation.  How can you balance the knowledge that this is short term with the anger that this is going on in your head?  How can you support an aging parent to let them know that this isn’t the worst that could happen – you SAW the worst when you witnessed the stroke. 

 

There are MUCH worse situations.  They could be strapped in to a bed, drooling and unable to speak a coherent word.  Potty problems are NOT the worst that could be…   It’s such a sucky fine line right now…

 

Really, really sucky.

Dad has escaped...

Well just the hospital for now. He's in Central Georgia Rehab Hospital now - room 410. Visits are limited to 4:45 - 8:00 but I think in the beginning he won't make it to 8:00 if they work him as hard as I think they will.

It seems like a nice facility and I hope they take great care of him and get him improving daily.

I think dad really needs to see some improvement... It would sure lift his spirits if he can see some improvement.

Keep him in your thoughts and prayers for continued improvement so he can make it home!!

Backyard flowers

I'm finally getting color in the back yard and building on it slowly.





Sure wish year would bloom together. There is the bright red and some pink. The red is my favorite however found the pink in the clearance isle at Lowes - a new favorite clearance area! Silly people don't you know these plants bounce back and will be beautiful? It's how I got half the daisies. Can't beat $.29 each!


These too are rescue plants the closer one had a harder time bouncing back however joined its twin in blooming finally!!


Wisteria is going crazy!! Grapes. Well, they may have to go they have seeds and are tough.


This is a start from dads plant. Loves where it is and is taking over the pot ;)


My potato plants are blooming. You would have doubted my sanity buying the at $.25 because they were barely twigs with two or three leaves. Look at them now! The other rescues in with them not doing quite so well. But that's life with rescue plants. Some work, some don't.

The verdict is in on the stones

They are oxalate based.
Do you know what foods are high in oxalate?
http://www.ohf.org/docs/Oxalate2008.pdf shows you all you wanted to know.
Now the mystery is solved as mom and dad grow pecans.... Yep guess what is high in oxalate... *ding*ding*ding* you guessed it - pecans. Whoops. Guess pecans are out from now on!!

Saturday

My services are not required today....what to do, what to do....
Yard. I've had these wall bricks since the 20th. Along with the daiseies I did rescue that same week. It's time to put them in. So here's what I did this morning.



Naked dirt


Tiny wall


With pea gravel (both sides) and backfill


Me after. In reality by then I slipped into the pool clothes and all. I have gone on to poison weeds and salt the pool. However. I should tackle THIS but I don't want to:

Friday medical update

We hit the highlights with knowing that Dad is going to rehab on Monday (I'll have you know every time I say "going to rehab" the Amy Winehouse song starts in my head!).  That being said, there are a few medical updates.

Kidney swelling isn't any worse/better.  They are in a 'watch and see' mode.  I guess that's better than getting into a slice and dice mode.  I'm OK with wait and see, however with the removal of liquids for over 12 hours, I think they have done a number on poor Dad.  Now his urine is very very dark.  (as in darker than tea dark... almost coffee dark.. maybe a weak coffee). 

Yeah, I'm sure everyone in Blog-land is shaking their head.  Believe me, so am I.  I never thought that I would be critiquing my own fathers pee... but here we are.  I guess in reality, as we age, this really should be what we know of and think will become the reality.  Maybe it's because I was so young when my fathers mother was ill and I wasn't exposed as it was child.  Mostly it would seem that it's the daughters who are involved in the care of elderly parents.  It's not a bad thing, it's just the nature of the beast - we tend to be the caregivers later in life.  Hum... wonder if this is why mom and dad moved closer to one of their daughters?  Hum...

OK, I'm waxing poetic as I have a keyboard, a real keyboard to work with.. yeah.  I stole Elizabeth's computer.  Whoop!

So, anyway - kidneys have issues, but not bad ones.  Urine dark, however nurses are not acting too concerned about that fact.  Dad's getting mad because we're pushing and pushing nutrition and drinking of water which is really, really bugging him.  I don't blame him and was trying to nicely tell him that mom is pushing him simply because she wants him stronger and healthier because she wants him to get stronger and well faster so he can come home.  She doesn't want to live alone!

I understand where they are both coming from and I'm sure it's annoying as all get out to be pushed food all the time..  but it has to be for now.  Maybe when he's in rehab and can't have us around to bug him at all meals and have a LOT more and different friendly faces who are having the same or similar issues as him it will be a blessing for both of them. 

The bottom line is that most of the physical issues seems to be behind him, now it's the long road back to getting back to daily life and improving function so that he has mobility.  Right now that's the biggest goal.

Something that I haven't talked about is progression in rehab IN the hospital.  I think this is the third day rehab proper.  He was sitting in the chair for a few times after coming back to the room, however I think the nurses put a stop to that as they aren't that familiar with the tools that are used to get those needing a lot of assistance up and into bed again.  As of yesterday he graduated from stretcher for his return to returning in a wheel chair.  I think this morning they took him down in a wheel chair as well, however, I'm not sure - as Mom and I had bailed out just as they had finally come to get him for rehab.  Anyway - he's still a three person assist in and out of bed.  Two strong men can do it, however, he's not got enough strength back in his leg to really help out enough at the end of a session downstairs, so it's a bit harder for him to assist as much as needed for little nurses (sorry nurses everywhere, but if you're not trained in this, it's HARD - I can see that!). 

Anyway, found out that he took a few steps the other day with a walker and today he took more steps with a hemi walker.  The rehab folks are still trying to determine which walker will be best for him.  I think that the hemi walker seems to be the answer for him with a weakened left arm/hand.  However with time, and strengthening, maybe a full walker would be better for him.  I guess we'll see what the true rehab gets him set up with. 

The following shows someone walking with a hemi walker:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1YhfI8HCXc 

I'm always amazed when I find out just how much is effected with stroke - bowels, urinary, cognitive and response times.  And I know it's trivial to me, but I'm sure it's mortifying for dad to have to have help.  He's such an independent person.  I did tell him roofs are OFF LIMITS now.  ha - for those of you who know Mom has been saying this for years when he was going to someones house for the church who was having roofing done... and where would you find dad???  ON the roof.  Sigh.  Yep.  at 80 years old, ON the roof.  Goodness.  I'm afraid if he gets mobile enough he'll go back on roofs... I told him they are TRULY off limits now.  :op  yikes!!

Ok, so I'm rambling now.

Friday!

That day typically denotes huge happy dances... This Friday not so much. This Friday is business as usual. Work, hospital, home.

The question has been asked about if there are plans for release from the hospital.

The answer to that is as if today, yes, the plans are for a move to rehab on Monday.

Why Monday? Reasons number 1 is its a three day weekend. What a crock, eh?
Reason number 2 is the better reason. They need to get his cumadin levels to a therapeutic level and have it stable. So we have two days to accomplish that.

In the meantime mom and I went to check out the rehabilitation. It was very nice. Hope dads there on Monday. I think it would do him a world of good.

Update

Ultrasound is ordered for kidneys.
When the pain was going in an ultrasound was performed and there was swelling more so than after surgery. So another ultrasound has been ordered by the urologist. And we wait. Which is needed but really the wait is not easy when there has been no liquids since midnight. And it's now 10:30am. No liquid no food.

Come on already.

So far we're on: Low dose lasix, and his normal daily medications, that's it.

Breathing is wonderful and down from 102 +/- to 86 much better. Thinking that a lot of the issues at hand were due to too much fluids for too long.

I think that the lasix is helping quite a bit. Not sure how that reflect for the kidneys.... I know they were pushing liquids in the beginning to flush the kidneys.

Just talked with the doc Gudapadi and found out they went NPO (nil per os - snooty for nothing by mouth) as they were thinking he would need a stent replaced on his right (surgery recipient) kidney today. Then after looking at his levels rethought the need for that. sigh. Nothing like leaving an old man hanging while they make up their minds all the while not asking what HE wants. Really? He's already said NO to most invasive things until he's feeling better

So unless there is something causing major damage right now he's going to "opt out". Good enough for me and well within his rights and we'll step in if we think his decisions are not sound. So far all choices are within reason. The heart patch can wait and is debatable on being the cause and the "be-all" fix so it can wait and/or not be done at all.

AND his nurses pointed his lowered mood to the doc as well and Zoloft is in board. I truly think that just getting OUT of here and improving a bit each day will be good too. Zoloft will just be icing on the cake to help him through. Plus it's a super low dose just to take the edge off.