The Day After PT - and I'm OK

I'm thankful to be able to say that today I have not been all stove up the way I was last week. The Physical Therapist cut back on the severity and number of repetitions this week, so I'm only mildly sore today. I did make a point of asking her if she thought I should be asking the doctor for a blue parking sticker, and she agreed that I should. I won't need it all the time, but for some places, like the Galleria, which is a huge multi-story mall, I'll definitely be taking the walker, and I'll need to be near the door.

We ate at an old Krystal's yesterday, and I guess that's the first time we've been in one in over 20 years! Luckily, I was having a good day, because the bathroom doors were not much over 20 inches wide! The sink was not much bigger than the size of a sheet of paper! It really looked like what I would imagine an airplane bathroom might look like, and definitely reminds me of the bathrooms on trains as I remember them from my childhood. So, when we got home, I found the Krystal website and complained. I had an answer from the Birmingham District Supervisor by this afternoon. It was pretty much a form letter, but it did have his phone number, etc., so I figured I'd call in a month or so and see if anything is going to be done to make those bathrooms handicap accessible.

We've been consciously advocating for better handicap facilities in businesses we go to for years now, never thinking that someday one of us would be needing them. Now, I'm super conscious, and very glad that I've been doing my part to make managers aware of what needed to be done.

What a Difference the Right Equipment Makes!!

This morning was my first chance to take care of Daddy from a hospital bed that worked properly. It made quite a difference, although I still had problems getting him to follow my directions. I was able to change him out of the night Depends, clean him up, and get fresh ones on, put on socks, pants part way, and shoes, before I ever let the bed down for him to sit up. That is a BIG help. He rolled away from me, following my directions perfectly, but when it came time to roll toward me, he kept trying to climb over the rail!! DH heard me struggling to get his legs back in, and came and helped me get him on his side, so I could finish the Depends. Next time, I'll put his trousers on around his ankles first, so it will kind of "hog tie" him. LOL

Having the right equipment does make all the difference in the world when care giving. I've been very concerned about Ruth and Mick, after seeing the terrible bruises he gets from a wheelchair that doesn't fit his needs properly. I wrote The Voltage Gate and A Hearty Life, thinking that they might have some scientist friends who could help her adapt the wheelchair better. If you know anyone who might be able to help her, I sure would appreciate you sending them the link to her post.

Anyway, we continue to take one day at a time, even one hour at a time, with Daddy, just trying to keep him as comfortable and as mobile as we possibly can.

Things Have Settled Down Again

When I posted a couple of days ago, things were looking pretty grim with Daddy. But each time I've not been able to get him to eat much, I've been giving him his medicine with Boost to drink, instead of water. So, he's a little stronger now than he was.

Frances stayed with him yesterday, so we could go to Sunday School and church, and have a little free time to ourselves after lunch. Daddy didn't want to get out of the bed before I left, but Frances said she'd deal with whatever needed to be done. Thank goodness we have someone with him I can actually trust him with. We are very fortunate.

We were pleased to find, when we returned, that he was lucid and had been using the walker all day. DH had a deacon's meeting to go to, so I took care of supper and putting him to bed all by myself. I did take him to the bedroom in the wheelchair, because he had gone sound asleep in his chair already and he seemed woozy. But I didn't have a problem making the transfer, using the walker to make the change, instead of having him hold onto me.

This morning was not quite as normal as I would have hoped, but it wasn't too bad. The hallucinations have been mild today, and he's walked most of the day. I did use the wheelchair to take him to breakfast, as I had him by myself again. DH had to travel to a family funeral.

We get the hospital bed this afternoon, so that will make a lot of things easier for us. And Daddy surprised me about that. He protested when he realized we had ordered it, but I was able to get him to understand that we had followed his wishes on that as long as we could. He hasn't fussed about it since. That may change when he actually has to sleep in it, but I'll deal with that when and if it happens.

Through all of this, the Zelepar has been working just fine. It was definitely the strep throat that kept it from working before. I'm still on the antibiotic, and my throat's still sore sometimes, but I think the strep is gone finally.

So, all in all I'd say things have settled down again, but I know how quickly that can change. I'll just be thankful for now and let next take care of itself!!

Hallucinations

Daddy has been hallucinating for the last several days off and on. At times he doesn't realize he is at home, and starts wanting to know when we're going home. Although he is blind, I've noticed him looking around at things with this wide eyed expression on his face. He's obviously seeing things that aren't there. And, he's talking about them, too! Normally, Daddy is a very quiet person, but he's been chatting away about these children playing in the living room and the trucks in the bedroom. No amount of reassuring him that it's not real will convince him of it. Up until yesterday, the hallucinations seemed harmless enough, but were a definite sign that something had made a down turn.

Yesterday morning was the worst I've had yet with Daddy. Thank goodness my DH got to the house just about the time I was going to get him up. I found him lying astraddle of the bed, with legs partway off, having made an unsuccessful attempt to get himself out of bed. His bottom was much too close to the edge of the mattress to have him sit up, so we had to try to maneuver him back in the bed. All the while, he's loudly protesting that the trucks are coming into the bedroom, and he's struggling against us, trying to get up. We finally managed to get him seated at the foot of the mattress with enough spare room to be reasonably safe.

The question was, now that we had him there, how were we going to get him up, when he was exhausted. Thank goodness I've had prior experiences I could fall back on! We ended up taking the arm off the wheelchair and making a difficult sideways transfer of about 12 inches!! He's just a dead weight and doesn't help at all. By the time we got him in the chair, I was already worn out. Thank goodness I had taken my Zelepar earlier, before he got up!!

By the hardest, we managed to get him partially dressed, but there was no way to pull up his pants or change him out of his night Depends into fresh ones. With one more gigantic effort, we managed to lift him up enough to get the wet Depends off and a dry one under him, partially taped up on the sides. That was just going to have to do for then. DH rolled him into the kitchen, with his trousers down at his ankles, and I covered him up the best I could.

His kitchen table is too low to let the arms of the wheelchair go under it, so he tried to eat breakfast farther away from the table than he's used to. He was still hallucinating and talking about the hole in his bedroom wall where the trucks had come through. He ate very little, but he did let me feed him a few bites. Luckily, we have the Rhoho cushion that Mama had after she broke her hip. Sitting on that is like sitting on air, and it's designed to prevent pressure sores. So we stood him up one last time for the day, and managed to get it under him. We ended up leaving him in the wheelchair all day, for safety's sake.

DH stayed longer than usual last night, so he could help me get Daddy to bed. It was not easy, but it was nowhere near as bad as getting him out had been.

Frances came today, and thank goodness Daddy was lucid this morning! Since I knew what to expect today, she and I changed the Depends and got him partially dressed before we ever let him get up. That made things a lot simpler. We stuck around and helped with him until she had him ready for breakfast. Then we got out of there for our Date Day. We both really needed to be away from all that nervous tension for awhile.

He's still really weak tonight, but he's beginning to understand a little of what is expected of him when he needs to make a transfer. That helps a lot.

So I write this tonight, not knowing who I will deal with tomorrow - my Daddy, or the fellow with all the trucks and children. I'll find out in the morning, won't I?