There was no monitor in the new room. I had been taking comfort from reading the numbers, but now there were none. And it was chilly. He had lots of blankets, but I turned the heat up to 70 for me. I am not sure it ever reached that. I showed him how to pump his lymph system by flexing his feet because he wanted exercise.
His breakfast found him around 7:30. He ate scrambled eggs, blueberry pancakes, a banana, milk and frosted mini-wheats. I wasn't wild about the frosted cereal and he was surprised when I mention it had sugar. But he ate it anyway, in spite of claiming he liked things with their natural flavor. And also some shredded wheat crackers soaked in the remaining milk. While he was eating, someone came to take three vials of blood. And someone else came to take his vitals. The hospitalist came in to check, but did not give me any info. I asked about getting Dad up to try walking again, and he said yes, but later.
When Dad finished eating, he fell asleep. So I laid back too, but could not sleep. The room would not get dark and announcements were made every so often. And it was still cold.
Faye showed up, probably around 11, but I don't remember exactly now. She was happy with how well Dad was doing, both physically and mentally. If he could walk, he could probably go home. But he would have to work back up to it. She had made copies of the house key for me. We talked and the nurse came in. I asked to see what was under his forehead bandage so she changed it. It stuck to the gauze as she removed it and that made me cringe inwardly because I know how that feels. But Dad said he felt nothing. (Is that good or bad?) The nurse wiped it with wet gauze and taped clean gauze over it.
Faye ordered his lunch. She gave him his shaver and he went to town. But I left before he finished. I was tired.
I took my roller bag home. Faye had given me a list of things to do,and I did some of them, including finding notepaper so she could make more lists. I then put on vitamin patches and made breakfast. I ate while looking at e-mail and listening to several short audios. I plugged in my phone to charge. Then I put on a longer audio and laid on the couch to fall asleep.
And I did, but then William came over with a rolling walker that he had just bought on a yard sale. My husband knows never to wake me, on pain of death, because I have such trouble sleeping, but William hasn't. He went searching for Mom's rollator and found it in the front closet, along with another rolling walker. He left. I texted Faye. She wanted to know if the new keys worked, so I tested them and they did. I took my supplements and ate some strawberries and blueberries. I figure the food in his fridge is just going to go bad if I don't eat it. I packed some Ensure and Premier Protein for Dad. I sat down and wrote blog entries for the last two days. I posted the first one. I texted Faye, who said neither PT nor OT showed up.
I put on audio and was texting William when there was a knock at the door. It was Patrick, come to search the recyclables. He searched a bag of recycled paper for stamps. Then he talked to me about stuff. After he left, I texted Faye and then called her. We talked about Dad mostly. Then I went back to listening to the audio while I looked for Mom's therabands to use with Dad. I did not find them, but I did find some dry skin salve that I bought for Dad years ago and he could use now. I finished listening to the audio on tapping, making notes for later. Then I published my Sunday post, saving whatever happens later for tomorrow's post. Now I am taking out the trash and going to the hospital so Faye can go home.
* If anyone knows what the squiggly line by the "13" means, I would love to know. I think the 13 is breaths per minute. *
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