Talked with Liz. He came home yesterday afternoon. Doing OK on the major things, but his bedsore is worse. Sounds like is was very tired and went right to sleep.
On another note, Mom had another fall yesterday morn. I think nothing too serious, but she banged her knee and head again. Sounded like it may have had to do with the fact that her bed is kind of high so she can't sit on it with her feet on the floor. The PT folks are going to see what they can do to remedy that. Mom did get out for a long day with book club friends after that and was pretty shot by the end of the day according to my sources.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
Dad Doing OK
The doctor just called Liz and said that Dad is improving. They plan to keep him in the hospital over the weekend and hope to send him home Monday.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Dad Back in the Hospital
Got this from Liz yesterday morn:
"The nurse at Willowbrooke called me last night at 2:30AM to say that they had just sent Dad to the hospital. She had called Mom also. It seems that Dad started with a hard, moist cough yesterday (Sun.) morning, which led to a temperature of 101.8 at 6:00PM. They called his doctor, gave him breathing treatments, and put him on oxygen. The doc ordered antibiotics and an xray (for Mon.). At 2:30AM or so, Dad was very agitated and his temp didn't respond to Tylenol - went up a bit, in fact. So they sent him to Riddle Hospital - Sophie said the antibiotics would take some time to be effective, and they didn't want to wait for that."
I talked with Liz (and a little with Dad) later. After doing time in ER, he was admitted. He has pneumonia, which is not surprising. He also has a bedsore (which they had been tending at Lima). Liz and Mom visited him yesterday afternoon. Rebek also stopped by on her way to Maryland (with a car full of belongings since she is moving!). Dad's temp is down and he seemed in pretty good spirits. I think Liz said they are doing some cultures to determine further treatment. We are really hoping this stay is a lot shorter than last time.
"The nurse at Willowbrooke called me last night at 2:30AM to say that they had just sent Dad to the hospital. She had called Mom also. It seems that Dad started with a hard, moist cough yesterday (Sun.) morning, which led to a temperature of 101.8 at 6:00PM. They called his doctor, gave him breathing treatments, and put him on oxygen. The doc ordered antibiotics and an xray (for Mon.). At 2:30AM or so, Dad was very agitated and his temp didn't respond to Tylenol - went up a bit, in fact. So they sent him to Riddle Hospital - Sophie said the antibiotics would take some time to be effective, and they didn't want to wait for that."
I talked with Liz (and a little with Dad) later. After doing time in ER, he was admitted. He has pneumonia, which is not surprising. He also has a bedsore (which they had been tending at Lima). Liz and Mom visited him yesterday afternoon. Rebek also stopped by on her way to Maryland (with a car full of belongings since she is moving!). Dad's temp is down and he seemed in pretty good spirits. I think Liz said they are doing some cultures to determine further treatment. We are really hoping this stay is a lot shorter than last time.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Small Update
Well, it's been almost two weeks since I last wrote, so I feel like I ought to report something even though there is not a whole lot to say health-wise (mostly a good thing).
Mom has been doing pretty well -- seems back to her usual self.
Dad is doing OK, but he still is not back to walking after the stay in the hospital. I think he is back to daily PT, since the stay in the hospital resets the clock for Medicare with regard to paying for PT. He is of course on the soft food/thickened liquid diet that he doesn't really care for. Hope he is getting enough calories.
This past weekend was 'family time'. Saturday we moved everything out of the apartment (Liz and MB had packed it all in a marathon session last week). Most of it went into a rental truck that went to Dor's house. Then Sunday, we all got together for March b-day celebrations at Dor's at which time people rummaged through the truck-load of memories to figure out who wanted what. Josh and Lauren were able to come up and they picked up Mom and Dad on the way. It was fun and productive, but there is still a pile of stuff cluttering Dor's house. Although Mom and Dad were glad, as always, to see all of the family, I think the big get-together is kind of hard for them, especially for Dad -- too much going on and it goes too late for them.
Mom has been doing pretty well -- seems back to her usual self.
Dad is doing OK, but he still is not back to walking after the stay in the hospital. I think he is back to daily PT, since the stay in the hospital resets the clock for Medicare with regard to paying for PT. He is of course on the soft food/thickened liquid diet that he doesn't really care for. Hope he is getting enough calories.
This past weekend was 'family time'. Saturday we moved everything out of the apartment (Liz and MB had packed it all in a marathon session last week). Most of it went into a rental truck that went to Dor's house. Then Sunday, we all got together for March b-day celebrations at Dor's at which time people rummaged through the truck-load of memories to figure out who wanted what. Josh and Lauren were able to come up and they picked up Mom and Dad on the way. It was fun and productive, but there is still a pile of stuff cluttering Dor's house. Although Mom and Dad were glad, as always, to see all of the family, I think the big get-together is kind of hard for them, especially for Dad -- too much going on and it goes too late for them.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Dad's Back & More Mom News
Spoke with Liz tonight. (She had a busy day today -- seems to be par for the course.)
Dad was discharged from the hospital today. Yay! She drove him back to Lima. He's weak and tired, but back eating a bit. Hope he can get his weight up.
Mom fell again over night. They found her face down on the bathroom floor this morn. Sounds like she was there 3 hours -- not good. She went to the doctor who said she might have bronchitis. She had had a bit of a fever. She also had been having some trouble moving her limbs, worrying us that she might have had a small stroke, but the doctor thinks the bronchitis may have just made her weak and unstable. He has her on antibiotics, I think. Liz said she seemed to be moving better today than yesterday, so we are hoping the doctor is right and she will be back to 'normal' once she gets over the bronchitis. Meanwhile she has been told to call for help when she needs to get out of bed for any reason (such as going to the bathroom). She told Liz, 'yes, dear.' We'll see.
Dad was discharged from the hospital today. Yay! She drove him back to Lima. He's weak and tired, but back eating a bit. Hope he can get his weight up.
Mom fell again over night. They found her face down on the bathroom floor this morn. Sounds like she was there 3 hours -- not good. She went to the doctor who said she might have bronchitis. She had had a bit of a fever. She also had been having some trouble moving her limbs, worrying us that she might have had a small stroke, but the doctor thinks the bronchitis may have just made her weak and unstable. He has her on antibiotics, I think. Liz said she seemed to be moving better today than yesterday, so we are hoping the doctor is right and she will be back to 'normal' once she gets over the bronchitis. Meanwhile she has been told to call for help when she needs to get out of bed for any reason (such as going to the bathroom). She told Liz, 'yes, dear.' We'll see.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Full Day
Yesterday was Uncle Tom's memorial gathering -- a good time to remember him and enjoy seeing family on that side that we don't see enough. Enjoyed hearing Lynn and Merit's memories. Dorrie taped it so that can show it to Dad.
Mom had a fall yesterday morn. Someone found her on her knees on the floor of her room. Not sure how long she was there. She hurt her knee and also her rear, so we're not quite sure what happened. She was able to come to the memorial gathering -- Dor picked her up -- but she was moving incredibly slowly. In hind sight, she should have come in a wheelchair. I spoke to her this morning and she sounded very tired and said that her knees felt OK but her lower back hurt.
After the service, Liz took Mom back for lunch and we went to visit Dad. Sharon was there and later Ted stopped by with Aunt Mary. Merit had stopped by the day before. Nice for Dad to have all these surprise visitors -- he really enjoyed them.
At the hospital we spoke quite a bit with Ben the 'swallowing guy' who told us in detail about Dad's video swallowing tests and everything related to his problem -- very informative. Dad 'failed' his swallowing test Monday, but they are beginning to feed him anyway (as we asked). It did feel like it was good we were there in person to ask about him getting food. Seemed like it might not have happened otherwise, though I don't really know. Things tend to slip through the cracks.
Went back to Lima after a while where Liz and MB worked on going through things in the apartment with help from Mom. Full day.
Mom had a fall yesterday morn. Someone found her on her knees on the floor of her room. Not sure how long she was there. She hurt her knee and also her rear, so we're not quite sure what happened. She was able to come to the memorial gathering -- Dor picked her up -- but she was moving incredibly slowly. In hind sight, she should have come in a wheelchair. I spoke to her this morning and she sounded very tired and said that her knees felt OK but her lower back hurt.
After the service, Liz took Mom back for lunch and we went to visit Dad. Sharon was there and later Ted stopped by with Aunt Mary. Merit had stopped by the day before. Nice for Dad to have all these surprise visitors -- he really enjoyed them.
At the hospital we spoke quite a bit with Ben the 'swallowing guy' who told us in detail about Dad's video swallowing tests and everything related to his problem -- very informative. Dad 'failed' his swallowing test Monday, but they are beginning to feed him anyway (as we asked). It did feel like it was good we were there in person to ask about him getting food. Seemed like it might not have happened otherwise, though I don't really know. Things tend to slip through the cracks.
Went back to Lima after a while where Liz and MB worked on going through things in the apartment with help from Mom. Full day.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Too Much Hospital
Sorry to be slow in posting, particularly since there was a lot I should have said.
The past week did not turn out as expected, and the reason (I think) was not anything unusual with Dad. From my perspective, it seems the people at Crozer were seeing Dad's swallowing issues for the first time and responded aggressively. The social worker called a meeting of the whole family on Friday (the doctor finally showed up after 45 minutes). It was one of these end-of-life type discussions -- we may need to make a decision about whether he will be permanently on a feeding tube if the swallowing is not improving, or does he want to just go for quality-of-life. They were talking about under what circumstances he might go into hospice, etc. Unfortunately, David and I both had to attend by cell phone and it was hard to catch everything, though I did catch up with Liz later for clarification. Dad was alert and listening during the meeting, but didn't say much. I think it is very difficult for him to follow a discussion like that with a lot of people in the room.
What is odd and frustrating to me is that I don't believe Dad's swallowing problem is any different than it was before he went in the hospital (he went in for a stomach virus from which he recovered quickly). He shows no signs of dying -- at least not today. Yes, the swallowing is a problem. Yes, he could have aspiration which is dangerous. But they were dealing with this at Lima and I think they can continue to deal with it. He may have aspiration -- not sure that can be helped. (Somehow through what I think has been a pretty long time with this swallowing problem, he has amazingly not gotten pneumonia.) Not sure how being in the hospital is helping unless he wants a feeding tube, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't. As of tomorrow, he will have been in the hospital a week since recovering from the stomach virus. Part of that time they weren't feeding him at all, then finally they gave him a nutrition IV. They are waiting to do a video swallowing test tomorrow. Meanwhile, his digestive system is not being exercised and he is not getting physical exercise (they may have finally started some PT yesterday).
I think the family agrees that him staying in the hospital this long was a mistake -- we should have been more pro-active in getting him out. What I expect will happen is that after the swallowing test tomorrow, they will slowly start getting him back on pureed food and he will have to go through this whole process all over again -- not being able to eat food he likes for a while and needing a lot of PT. As David pointed out, even if the swallowing test looks bad we/he will probably recommend that he eats anyway, so why have they bothered putting him through all of this? Aargh.
On top of everything else, Uncle Tom's memorial gathering will be Tuesday and Dad won't be out of the hospital by then. Fortunately, it sounded like Lynn and Merit will probably stop by to see him (as will we).
So, please continue your prayers! Sorry to be so cranky.
The past week did not turn out as expected, and the reason (I think) was not anything unusual with Dad. From my perspective, it seems the people at Crozer were seeing Dad's swallowing issues for the first time and responded aggressively. The social worker called a meeting of the whole family on Friday (the doctor finally showed up after 45 minutes). It was one of these end-of-life type discussions -- we may need to make a decision about whether he will be permanently on a feeding tube if the swallowing is not improving, or does he want to just go for quality-of-life. They were talking about under what circumstances he might go into hospice, etc. Unfortunately, David and I both had to attend by cell phone and it was hard to catch everything, though I did catch up with Liz later for clarification. Dad was alert and listening during the meeting, but didn't say much. I think it is very difficult for him to follow a discussion like that with a lot of people in the room.
What is odd and frustrating to me is that I don't believe Dad's swallowing problem is any different than it was before he went in the hospital (he went in for a stomach virus from which he recovered quickly). He shows no signs of dying -- at least not today. Yes, the swallowing is a problem. Yes, he could have aspiration which is dangerous. But they were dealing with this at Lima and I think they can continue to deal with it. He may have aspiration -- not sure that can be helped. (Somehow through what I think has been a pretty long time with this swallowing problem, he has amazingly not gotten pneumonia.) Not sure how being in the hospital is helping unless he wants a feeding tube, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't. As of tomorrow, he will have been in the hospital a week since recovering from the stomach virus. Part of that time they weren't feeding him at all, then finally they gave him a nutrition IV. They are waiting to do a video swallowing test tomorrow. Meanwhile, his digestive system is not being exercised and he is not getting physical exercise (they may have finally started some PT yesterday).
I think the family agrees that him staying in the hospital this long was a mistake -- we should have been more pro-active in getting him out. What I expect will happen is that after the swallowing test tomorrow, they will slowly start getting him back on pureed food and he will have to go through this whole process all over again -- not being able to eat food he likes for a while and needing a lot of PT. As David pointed out, even if the swallowing test looks bad we/he will probably recommend that he eats anyway, so why have they bothered putting him through all of this? Aargh.
On top of everything else, Uncle Tom's memorial gathering will be Tuesday and Dad won't be out of the hospital by then. Fortunately, it sounded like Lynn and Merit will probably stop by to see him (as will we).
So, please continue your prayers! Sorry to be so cranky.
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