It was another easy night. Dad woke up thinking he was wet, but he wasn't. Then we both went back to sleep. We were awakened by a tech at 6 who took blood from his hand. At 6:45 he had to take his thyroid pill. His blood pressure was 127/72. About 7 I got dressed. I helped Dad with his dentures. I used denture powder instead of denture cream, just as an experiment. Then he ate breakfast while I took my supplements. I stirred some fat bombs into his oatmeal. I was dismayed to see that he was given egg substitute instead of real scrambled eggs. Then the tech came wash him and get him dressed. But she did not remove the catheter. I gave him his hearing aids and he put them in.
The speech therapist arrived after 9. She did calendar work with him and had him match description cards with the name of the kind of therapy. She saw his primidone schedule book and was complimentary. She left at 9:35. Dad and I practiced a PT exercise in gross motor skills from yesterday. Then I warmed a heating pad for his shoulder. I gave him the therapy putty to play with and he found a button embedded in it.
The OT came then. She took him to the gym and put a heating pad on his shoulder. Then she laid him on his side and massaged his shoulder. She did range of motion and commented that it was better. She had him practice the gross motor skills from yesterday. His catheter fell off and I carried it back to the room. When his time was up, I followed him back to the room.
Lunch arrived. The nurse practitioner came to listen to his heart. I said his GP said he needed to gain weight but the hospital had him on a low sodium, low fat diet. She said she would see that it got changed, and that he could eat whatever he wanted. I gave him two fat bombs with lunch.
The PT came for him at 1. She took him to the gym for some walking with a gait belt. Also walking with a rollator and going up steps. She gave him breaks and talked about in-home therapy after discharge. She talked about all the things Home Health will help him to, like label drawers, walk outside, identify dangerous areas of the house, etc. She talked about benefits of having someone like Patrick live there, and the dangers of living alone. She mentioned music therapy.
When we got back to the room, I reviewed Dad's menu. We also looked at yesterday's mail. Then we both laid down for a nap. When he woke up, I called the nurse to take him to the bathroom, but no one showed up. After 10 minutes, I helped him use the rolling walker to get there and let him do what he needed to do while I held onto the back of his shirt in case he wobbled. Then I helped him to his wheelchair for supper. We talked about going to the dentist and going to a gas station. When supper arrived, he dug in. I had to cut the green beans for him. William called while he was eating.
Faye arrived at 6. I called in the meal order for tomorrow, requesting a boiled egg so there could be no substitute. Then Faye went to get something from Subway on the first floor and I went home.
I was having chest pain. It would not go away but after awhile I decided that I would be dead if it were serious. I brought in the mail, but it was all recyclable stuff. I ate some chicken and made a salad. I put the recyclables out at the curb. I boiled ginger root to make tea. I looked for Dad's date book, with no success. I started writing my blog, but stopped to answer Faye's texts. I listened to the messages on Dad's phone. I called Chris. He said if I gave him the hospital info, he could call Delta airlines and get me an open return ticket. I deleted a bunch of e-mail and continued writing to my blog. Then I washed the breakfast and lunch containers and made meals for tomorrow. I put more fat bombs in a bag to take to the hospital. I made breakfast and lunch. I packed my little bag and prepared to head out. Then Faye texted asking for long sleeved shirts for Dad.
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