I took a day off work to go see dad. He was pretty tired in the morning. I would have to look pretty hard at him sometimes because they way he sleeps, you would almost think he isn't with us anymore if you didn't see him breathing. The right side of his face is a bit sunken in around his temple and he can't shut that eye the whole way. He gets really pasty white when he is sound asleep and half the time his mouth hangs open. I felt pretty defeated for awhile.
They got him up around 10 and put him in a big chair, where he continued to sleep. They had him there for about 2 hours. The occupational therapist came in and worked with him. She did a lot of upper body work and he was actually really trying to help her. His left hand gets pretty swollen since he can't use it so she showed me how to manipulate his hand to make the swelling go away. I can tell you that what she does works, because he was pretty swollen on Sunday when I was there and barely swollen at all yesterday. They don't work with him on weekends, so that is why he swelled up.
She hand him bring his right hand to his chin and scratch it, shrug his shoulders and do resistance therapy with his right hand. She thinks that he is already showing more signs of strength even though some of the things she is doing does hurt him, he is really trying to push through it.
I asked her if they could start getting him dressed since he hasn't had clothes on since February other than hospital gowns. We went through his closet and pulled out a couple T-shirts that she is going to send to the seamstress. She can cut them down the back and put Velcro on them so it will make his life and whomever is dressing him life much easier. I think that will make him feel better. I know it would me!
After this was all done and they got him back to bed, he was pretty awake after that. His TV is a flat screen and it is in the middle of the room not near his bed, so it doesn't swivel, which makes it hard for him to see. Plus, I don't think the sound is that great. Since he doesn't have In-line oxygen (coming out of the wall) its an actual tank machine that is pretty loud. So coupled with that, you need to turn the TV way up for him to hear it. I am a loud TV listener as it is, but the volume you have to have it on to accommodate him is pretty loud. I would mute it during commercials and he would raise his hand up and ask what happened to the remote. So, he was listening to what was on.
I asked if we could move his bed to the center of the room, so they are either going to do that, or have the maintenance man come move it over to his side of the room. Apparently it used to be by his bed, but they took it down to paint and then placed it in a stupid spot.
I can't believe how nice everyone is there. They all walk around like they love their jobs. That kind of quality of care in a nursing home is SO hard to find. One of the gals who wasn't even assigned to dad saw I had a blanket on and asked if I wanted another one. Who does that?? They do, and its awesome!
They had nursing home Olympics while I was there, I shit you not. It was AWESOME!! They brought in residents from two other nursing homes and they did physical games against one another in their little court yard. It started to rain so they took it in the dining hall. It was pretty cute. I am so happy the involve their residents with things to do. I can tell you that they all look happy to be there.
Dad didn't problems coughing yesterday at all compared to Sunday. They used a cough assist on him a few times because he asked for it, but not a whole lot came up. THAT'S GOOD!! They have also turned down the amount of oxygen that he was on before to prepare him to wean. He is tolerating it very well.
One of the ventilator patients was talking and I heard her. So I asked the respiratory therapist why she could talk and dad can't. I guess when that happens, there is a balloon that they put air in that fills up his trachea. When that balloon is filled, no air, or secretions can escape around it. Air from the ventilator will then come up through your mouth, which some patients don't like so they will fill the balloon back up. Dad's reason for having that filled is because of his infections and all the secretions he has. It's a protective measure so he doesn't aspirate or choke. So, the goal for dad is to get rid of the infections, so there are no secretions and he can get the air out and talk!!! It will be a slow process, but hopefully we can get there. That is MY goal for him. I think they can do it!
I went to K-Mart there. Wow. Small town K-Marts are soooo not impressive. I gave dad 15 minutes to think of anything he wanted from there and all he came up with was shampoo. So, I grabbed him some Pert Plus and hopefully they will use it. I also bought him an air freshener deal to get the nursing home smell out of his room. Its a fake Glade candle that flickers. It adds a nice ambiance to his room. At first I thought he didn't like the smell, but he insisted he did.
I think if anyone wants to go visit him, that would be nice. The best time to go is probably in the afternoon. That's when he seems to be most awake. It is really hard for him to talk, so if you just talk to him he will nod to you and he does listen even when his eyes are shut.
I am sorry that I am slowing down on my blogs. Its hard to think of stuff to write when I am not there, and we aren't dealing with his health during a critical time when something is always changing. It really surprises me to hear about all the people who read this and still follow his care. I know that he appreciates all the support and we DEFINITELY appreciate it. I can't believe this blog has had over 12000 hits and averages 60 hits a day. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!
They got him up around 10 and put him in a big chair, where he continued to sleep. They had him there for about 2 hours. The occupational therapist came in and worked with him. She did a lot of upper body work and he was actually really trying to help her. His left hand gets pretty swollen since he can't use it so she showed me how to manipulate his hand to make the swelling go away. I can tell you that what she does works, because he was pretty swollen on Sunday when I was there and barely swollen at all yesterday. They don't work with him on weekends, so that is why he swelled up.
She hand him bring his right hand to his chin and scratch it, shrug his shoulders and do resistance therapy with his right hand. She thinks that he is already showing more signs of strength even though some of the things she is doing does hurt him, he is really trying to push through it.
I asked her if they could start getting him dressed since he hasn't had clothes on since February other than hospital gowns. We went through his closet and pulled out a couple T-shirts that she is going to send to the seamstress. She can cut them down the back and put Velcro on them so it will make his life and whomever is dressing him life much easier. I think that will make him feel better. I know it would me!
After this was all done and they got him back to bed, he was pretty awake after that. His TV is a flat screen and it is in the middle of the room not near his bed, so it doesn't swivel, which makes it hard for him to see. Plus, I don't think the sound is that great. Since he doesn't have In-line oxygen (coming out of the wall) its an actual tank machine that is pretty loud. So coupled with that, you need to turn the TV way up for him to hear it. I am a loud TV listener as it is, but the volume you have to have it on to accommodate him is pretty loud. I would mute it during commercials and he would raise his hand up and ask what happened to the remote. So, he was listening to what was on.
I asked if we could move his bed to the center of the room, so they are either going to do that, or have the maintenance man come move it over to his side of the room. Apparently it used to be by his bed, but they took it down to paint and then placed it in a stupid spot.
I can't believe how nice everyone is there. They all walk around like they love their jobs. That kind of quality of care in a nursing home is SO hard to find. One of the gals who wasn't even assigned to dad saw I had a blanket on and asked if I wanted another one. Who does that?? They do, and its awesome!
They had nursing home Olympics while I was there, I shit you not. It was AWESOME!! They brought in residents from two other nursing homes and they did physical games against one another in their little court yard. It started to rain so they took it in the dining hall. It was pretty cute. I am so happy the involve their residents with things to do. I can tell you that they all look happy to be there.
Dad didn't problems coughing yesterday at all compared to Sunday. They used a cough assist on him a few times because he asked for it, but not a whole lot came up. THAT'S GOOD!! They have also turned down the amount of oxygen that he was on before to prepare him to wean. He is tolerating it very well.
One of the ventilator patients was talking and I heard her. So I asked the respiratory therapist why she could talk and dad can't. I guess when that happens, there is a balloon that they put air in that fills up his trachea. When that balloon is filled, no air, or secretions can escape around it. Air from the ventilator will then come up through your mouth, which some patients don't like so they will fill the balloon back up. Dad's reason for having that filled is because of his infections and all the secretions he has. It's a protective measure so he doesn't aspirate or choke. So, the goal for dad is to get rid of the infections, so there are no secretions and he can get the air out and talk!!! It will be a slow process, but hopefully we can get there. That is MY goal for him. I think they can do it!
I went to K-Mart there. Wow. Small town K-Marts are soooo not impressive. I gave dad 15 minutes to think of anything he wanted from there and all he came up with was shampoo. So, I grabbed him some Pert Plus and hopefully they will use it. I also bought him an air freshener deal to get the nursing home smell out of his room. Its a fake Glade candle that flickers. It adds a nice ambiance to his room. At first I thought he didn't like the smell, but he insisted he did.
I think if anyone wants to go visit him, that would be nice. The best time to go is probably in the afternoon. That's when he seems to be most awake. It is really hard for him to talk, so if you just talk to him he will nod to you and he does listen even when his eyes are shut.
I am sorry that I am slowing down on my blogs. Its hard to think of stuff to write when I am not there, and we aren't dealing with his health during a critical time when something is always changing. It really surprises me to hear about all the people who read this and still follow his care. I know that he appreciates all the support and we DEFINITELY appreciate it. I can't believe this blog has had over 12000 hits and averages 60 hits a day. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!
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