Monday

Dad did not want us to leave yesterday at all. He seemed pretty upset. We set Skype up on his laptop and he was able to see Scott and he was also able to see Zane play around in his crib. He enjoyed that. Now when Martha is there, we can video call him and we can see each other!

While we were doing that, the nurse came in and said that she wanted to give him a bath, I asked her to hold out a bit because we were just getting ready to leave. He shook his head no that he didn't want one, and I finally figured out that he was saying it hurts him. So, I asked if it just generally hurt or if they were being rough, he said it hurt. So, I asked if he wanted some pain meds before they bathe him and he said yes. That got me thinking to that morning when the nurse was drawing cultures on his arm, I was looking at his face and she wasn't and he was grimacing in pain and saying, OW! He is a hard stick anyway and she was digging pretty good, but she didn't go as long as she probably would have because I was standing there. So when we were getting ready to leave, I wrote a note and put it over his head so everyone can see that went something like this:

Dad cannot push his call light, so when you come in the room, please ask him if he needs anything before you leave. For example:

Do you want the TV on or off?
Do you want the radio on or off?
Are you hot or cold?
Are you comfortable?
Do you need anything for pain?

Dad has feeling in ALL of his limbs even though he can't move them. Please be mindful of that when you are doing blood draws since he can't yell or pull away.

He is very lucid 98% of the time, but I noticed a few times he didn't remember certain things, like having his head CT last week. He also didn't remember the therapist doing the talking valve with him on Saturday, but when we talked about it on Sunday, he remembered. He didn't know about Aunt Joan being sick either, but that may be because no one told him, and no one told me not to say anything. He wanted to know why he may be transferred to Waterloo, so I am not sure if anyone told him that, but I did. And he also said that he needed to get back to work at Wells Fargo, but I told them that they knew he was sick and that they wanted him to get better.

I felt awful leaving him and knowing he can't really communicate his needs to someone who rushes in and out of the room worries me if no family is there. Especially if they are hurting him. :(