When I got there, it was just after 10 and the doors were locked. I obeyed the sign and called Security. Then I waited in the cold for them to arrive. Thankfully, a couple was coming out and I was able to get in without frostbite.
I met Faye in the room and we discussed the day until 11, then she left. Dad wanted to watch his favorite show which came on at midnight. So we stayed up. I fixed myself a bed on the reclining chair. I showed him how to turn the TV on and off, and had him practice that. We also practice raising and lowering the head of the bed. I had him call the nurse to get his chuck changed. Then I retired, hopefully leaving him feeling empowered enough to take charge of his environment. Earlier I had heard him tell the nurse that he had nightmares about being surrounded by people doing things he didn't understand.
So we both went to sleep, though it took me longer. As people came and went during the night, I would open one uncomprehending eye. By the time it registered who they were and why they were there, they were gone. I woke for real at 5:30 hearing Dad breathing heavy and fidgeting. I got up to check. His cath was leaking and he had taken off all his coverings, his watch, and an IV sock. I called the nurse, who said he'd done it earlier and they left him because he seemed to prefer it. She changed the cath, hung up a new bag of IV. He said he was hungry, so I ordered breakfast. Room Service refused to let us have V8 because she said Dad was on a heart healthy low sodium diet. The calcium chews were on the table. Faye said I could not give him them. But who knows what happened when I turned my back to answer Kurt's text. The nurse called to confirm the dietary restriction.
I worked with his dentures, trying to obey his directions even though he kept forgetting the steps I had already done. He was not quite ready when breakfast arrived. Almost immediately, the pastor appeared. There was a very loquacious tech cleaning the room. Dad started eating. The tech left when she finished and the pastor left a little later. Then I pulled out my breakfast and ate, too. I washed some blueberries for us both. His catheter started leaking again, but he did not want to stop eating. The OT tech stopped by, but said she could come back after he ate.
Dad insisted that I order lunch right away. So I ordered what I was going to order yesterday for delivery at 1. The OT tech came by to give him a bath and maybe see if he could bathe himself. I went to the visitor's center, which was empty, and did stretches. I came back and she said it went well. She was going to submit a recommendation for rehab. I sat down with Dad afterward, and wrote notes for my blog. Then a PT came. She put a gait belt on him and took him for a walk. I had to follow with a chair in case he got tired. She said he was almost too good to go to rehab. Dad wanted to hug her so she did. She also wrote a recommendation. Later Hannah came by to say Dad was cleared for Rehab and was just waiting for a room. She brought a cart to carry our stuff. It was almost lunch time. I gave Dad a fig bar and a banana. I started packing our stuff.
Rehab services would not start until tomorrow so Dad felt today was wasted. Dad put on his shoes. It took a long time but he did it himself. I tried to catch up on blog notes. My phone was low, and I had no cord to recharge it, so I shut it off. I took my homeopathic remedies. Lunch arrived a minute before Hannah came by to get him for rehab but said it could wait until after lunch. Dad ate his lunch and I ate mine. I watched him eat, but did not help him even though he had some difficulty. It was a big lunch and I wish he'd had it last night so he would not have woken up hungry. I realized I could go home to charge my phone, but I wanted to be here when he moves. My back was hurting and I got spasms. I told Dad I needed to sleep in a real bed tonight. He seemed reluctant to give me up.
Another lady came and said Rehab wanted him now. So he broke away from lunch (which he had been eating for an hour) to take a wheelchair ride. I grabbed the yogurt and almond milk from the tray to take along. We got into a nearby elevator and went to the 5th floor. The room was nearby the nurse's station. The tech put him in bed, which did not make him happy. The new (male) nurse said the #1 rule was not to get out of bed without professional help. Dad had no cath, just sat on a chuck. The nurse gave us quite the introduction. Dad needed changing. The nurse changed him and left. 10 minutes later he needed changing again. I had him make the call so he could learn to do it if I weren't there. It happened a third time. After the tech had gone, a doctor came. He asked a lot of questions, including the ones Dad answered every day: what day is it, what year is it, who is the president, what is your name, where are you? The only one he got wrong was the day of the week. He also asked how Dad got groceries and did he drive? After he left, I showed Dad the menu with the goal of having him order his own supper. We picked out which items he would like and I wrote them down. Then he dialed the phone as I recited the numbers. But he wanted me to speak the order. I ordered the Mediterranean sandwich, but they said it was not on the heart healthy menu. So we got the oven-roasted vegetable wraps again, plus assorted cooked vegetables. It seems like a lot of veggies, but the meat dishes were not on his diet. While we waited, he wanted his upper denture out. I took it out and wrapped it in paper towels. My back hurt and I tried to contact Faye with the tablet. But I could not get it to do that. The mobile apps were so different from the computer programs. I went into the bathroom and cried where he could not see me. I went back to try again. Then he wanted his denture back and was not happy that I hadn't cleaned it. I started to cry. He rubbed my elbow. Then I turned my phone on, expecting it to die at any minute. I called William but he could not come. I saw that Faye had texted she'd be here in 10 minutes.
When the meal came, it was big. I could not raise the table or lower the bed to fit under it, so he had to scooch to the side to eat. And eat he did. I offered to chew it for him, and he invited me to eat some green beans, so I did. Faye did come, when she found the room. We talked about the events of today and what we expected for tomorrow. I told her I hurt too badly to sleep in a chair again tonight. She said she would stay even though she had to work tomorrow. She said it was more important to be there at night when he might try to get out of bed, than during the day when he was surrounded by people. I didn't see how either of us could afford to be there all night.
Then I went back to Dad's house. It was awfully cold. I ate some nuts and grapes. I listened to the rest of a podcast while writing up my blog post from my notes. I called Chris and told him my dilemma. He said I was no good to anyone if my back went out. I called Faye. Dad set off the bed alarm while we were talking. And Faye had to go get someone to shut it off. So the response time was not good. I called Kevin and asked him to spend the night. He said no, but I hoped he would reconsider. Then I went to bed.
* This is the PT tech. Seems all the female techs and nurses like Dad. *
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