October 2nd - The Sound is Out

Moon Over Rosewood

Dad was sleeping at seven and was still hooked up to the IV.  His hearing aid was in the case, thanks Tom, but the battery seem dead.  I put another one in and it didn't seem very loud.  I woke Dad up and had him put it in and he could not hear anything.  I put it in my pocket and grabbed a cleaning kit and wipe from the hearing aid bag that had just been restocked, thanks again Tom.

Dad and I used sign language to get dressed and use the bathroom.  Chuck was waiting (or napping) for us in the dining room.  I told him we had lost our sound system, but that didn't slow him down much.  Dad started on the cream of wheat and I did a filter change on the hearing aid.  It must have been quite clogged with wax because the test noise it makes sounded almost twice as loud. 

Dad had some coffee, a bite or two of the cream of wheat, and maybe a bite or two of the scrambled eggs.  Back at the room he used the bathroom and went back to bed.  The Physical Therapist came in and scheduled a time of 11 am for his PT. 

I finally got a chance to introduce myself to Pam.  We talked about Dad's meds and she directed me to Robena at the nurses' office.  I spoke to her about switching Dad's anti-diarrheal from "as needed" to twice daily.  I told her I would love nothing better than to report Dad was constipated.

Dad was asleep when I left and I didn't wake him.  As I had sat with him I could tell he was still cold.  On the way to work I stopped in at a CVS to see if they still made hot water bottles.  I picked one up, took it to work, where Cate stopped by for a nice conversation and took the water bottle and some heat pads to see if they would give Dad any relief from the cold he was feeling.

In other news, Tak Takvorian called me at the store yesterday asking about Dad's condition.  That was kinda rough conversation.  They wanted to know if they could come down to see him.  I tried to prepare them for what they might encounter, but I don't think it will help much.  John and Nancy Thomas also asked me if they thought it would help if they went by and saw Dad.  I left it up to them.  Then Becci Bishop texted me last night and asked if she could come by at 3:30 Tuesday afternoon and bring the kids.  I directed her to Cate since she would have a better idea on how his afternoon was going.  Bill is in town.  He came by train.  There was a train that derailed near Hanford yesterday.  It wasn't the one Bill was on.  Good job, Bill.  I think Marge arrives on Wednesday and Jim will be here soon.  It's nice to be around family.