Thanks John, your detailed update covered yesterday's Dr. Appointment perfectly. I think you captured his comments and concerns. I was pleased that he called Dr Nguyen while we were there, we also went and fetched the results of the culture from the lab while we were there.
I gave the lab order to Nurse Maribeth at Rosewood, I also informed her of Dad's two appointments next week, she assured me they would draw blood on Monday and get the Tuesday @ 11am and Thursday @ 2:45pm on the calendar.
When Dad and I arrived back at Rosewood, when we exited the car, Dad's left arm was resting on the arm rest of this car. When he lifted his arm, part of his skin tore and he started bleeding. I was able to control the blood and get him inside where they immediately got him cleaned up and bandage. Dad said it didn't hurt. The nurse said skin tears are very common, they often occur when helping seniors in and out of bed. They said they would write up an incident report. I got his car all cleaned up. If you use his car, we should but a towel on the console, I think he'll do better than leather.
Dad refused to allow me to use a wheel chair to take him to the appt, even though Rosewood urged us both to NOT use the walker. After dinner he said he was worn out and asked me to tuck him in bed and shut the drapes. In hindsight, it might have been a little too much. He is having trouble getting in and out of bed now. He needs help sitting up and needs help lifting his legs on the bed.
He has had diarrhea since he has arrived at Rosewood. They gave him some Imodium AD last night after dinner. I asked the nurse to write in his chart for the staff to ask him after each meal if he wants for Imodium AD, since it's listed, "As directed."
His mood and resilience is inspiring beyond words. He truly wants better hearing aids and to be able to walk again without a walker. He talks about moving to the big house (assisted living) and once again taking care of himself. He's told me over and over again that Rosewood is, "not so bad". I think he likes being around people.
As you would expect, all of the staff love dad, especially the physical therapist who are giving dad training on the new walker. They said its better for him to use the grey walker now, however they will continue to work with him and are confident they can get him stronger and trained on the new walker.
I've been helping him brush his teeth after each meal by moving his kit into the bathroom. I suggested to John that if we can get him a dental cleaning, that might be a good idea, especially with the food pockets on his left side.
That's it for now.
Love to all,
...Jim
Friday, September 7, 2012
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Dr. Hedari September 6th
We saw Dr. Hedari today. He asked that I not record the session but did say he would talk directly to any of you if you wanted. He did have the cultures on the parencetisis and said they were negative. We notified him of the changes in Dad's treatment regimen which was the switch to Zyvoxx oral and moving the Zosyn to every 8 hours. He concurred with those moves to the benefit of Dad's kidneys and he wants to continue on this protocal. We see him in one week.
He did not have the blood results and gave Jim an order to take back to Rosewood.
We asked about the chemo option and he is of the opinion that the first chemo treatment allowed the infection to move into Dad's skull. He said it was very dangerous to do chemo on Dad. Jim and I expressed our initial thoughts of chemo and then described our observations of Dad after the first chemo treatment and how well Dad seemed to do. I asked if he would call Dr. Nguyen to get his thoughts and, to our surprise he left the exam room, spoke with Dr. Nguyen, and came back to report that we should wait until we get the results of the PET scan before we make any decisions on chemo. He told us that the chemo Dr. Nguyen would use would definetely supress Dad's immune system.
Dad was in fair spirits today. They did discontinue the Lexapro as it has interactions with the Zoysn. He appears to me to be getting weaker and weaker. Just standing up is a chore for him. Although he did have physical therapy before the appointment and may have just been worn out. His face looks mildly better to me and Dr. Hedari said that nerve would not likely heal and more than it has to this point.
Oh, a couple of things: Dad's weight was 160.4 and BP was 110/70
Maybe Jim will have some thoughts...
He did not have the blood results and gave Jim an order to take back to Rosewood.
We asked about the chemo option and he is of the opinion that the first chemo treatment allowed the infection to move into Dad's skull. He said it was very dangerous to do chemo on Dad. Jim and I expressed our initial thoughts of chemo and then described our observations of Dad after the first chemo treatment and how well Dad seemed to do. I asked if he would call Dr. Nguyen to get his thoughts and, to our surprise he left the exam room, spoke with Dr. Nguyen, and came back to report that we should wait until we get the results of the PET scan before we make any decisions on chemo. He told us that the chemo Dr. Nguyen would use would definetely supress Dad's immune system.
Dad was in fair spirits today. They did discontinue the Lexapro as it has interactions with the Zoysn. He appears to me to be getting weaker and weaker. Just standing up is a chore for him. Although he did have physical therapy before the appointment and may have just been worn out. His face looks mildly better to me and Dr. Hedari said that nerve would not likely heal and more than it has to this point.
Oh, a couple of things: Dad's weight was 160.4 and BP was 110/70
Maybe Jim will have some thoughts...
Thursday Sept 6th Notes
Called Life Station, they issued UPS Tracking Code 1Z 6F0 23F 90 9826 8218, they will stop billing dad 30 days after receipt of the equipment back. It will be shipped today.
Tom - Dr. Trang will see dad next Tuesday @ 11am. That was the best they could do. Dad said he would like to ask Dr. Trang if there was a better hearing aid and would consider buying two new aids from, say, Belltone if they thought it would help him hear better.
My visit is going well. He has been very up beat and positive, even with all of his challenges. He's told me several times that he likes Rosewood and is looking forward to getting better so he can move into the "big house".
Health wise, he has his challenges. You guys know them all so I won't detail my observations.
Love to all,
...Jim
Tom - Dr. Trang will see dad next Tuesday @ 11am. That was the best they could do. Dad said he would like to ask Dr. Trang if there was a better hearing aid and would consider buying two new aids from, say, Belltone if they thought it would help him hear better.
My visit is going well. He has been very up beat and positive, even with all of his challenges. He's told me several times that he likes Rosewood and is looking forward to getting better so he can move into the "big house".
Health wise, he has his challenges. You guys know them all so I won't detail my observations.
Love to all,
...Jim
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Dr. Nguyen 9/4/2012
Picked Dad up at 1:30 for his 1:40 appointment with Dr. Nguyen. I certainly did not leave enough time to get across town. Dad told me that he was up at 7 am and had breakfast in the dining room at 7:30. He had just finished physical therapy shortly before I arrived. He was using the walker and he is getting better at it. They told him to put the cane away for awhile.
We got back to the room at 3:45 and he was really tired and was ready to lay down before dinner.
I'll email you the audio of Dr. Nguyen's visit.
We got back to the room at 3:45 and he was really tired and was ready to lay down before dinner.
I'll email you the audio of Dr. Nguyen's visit.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Rosewood admission
Well Dad has been moved into Rosewood Skilled
Nursing Facility today. As I said, he is room 1301B with another
gentlemen named Gil Navarro. This is one of the toughest thing we have
had to do, but we exhausted all the other options. We hope Dad is able to
get the help he needs to move into the Assisted Living apartments in a few
short weeks. Of course that will depend on how long he is on IV
medication. Dad has a couple of doctor appointments this next week, the
first is on Tuesday at 1:40 with Dr Nguyen, the oncologist. John would
you please either work with Rosewood to get Dad to this appointment or
re-schedule the appointment for a time that is more convenient for you?
The second is with Dr Heidari, the infectious disease specialist (the one in
charge of Dad’s anti-biotics) on Thursday at 2:15. Jim if you would work
with John on this one, that would be great.
Unfortunately, moving Dad into Rosewood on a Saturday of a three day weekend didn’t make for a smooth transition. They were short staffed and while the nurse came in and introduced herself, she said she would do an evaluation on him sometime before 11 PM, we did not see her before we left at 6:45. We also did not have anyone to talk to about which specialist we would like Dad to see. In a meeting today, Tom, John and I thought it would be best if Dad could see Dr Heidari, Infectious Disease; Dr Trang, ENT specialist; Dr Nguyen, Oncologist; and Dr Alexandrakis, Ophthalmologist. There was no one to talk to, so John if you could work with Tom over the next day or so to get this taken care of, I would appreciate it. If the doctor is not available until Tuesday, would either you or Jim please work to ensure this. We have been told that Dad’s primary doctor has to be a doctor that will visit the facility, so we agreed to Dr Memen. He will have to approve the specialist that we use for Dad and will probably mean a switch in medications.
Jim, would you contact Life Alert and discontinue the service. I have already stopped the newspaper and all of Dad’s mail is going to Tom and Marys. I can get the internet, tv and phone shut off when I come back in a week or so, so Jim will not be without service while he is here. Also, I believe all of Dad’s bills are being paid automatically, and I am working to understand the process that he has set up. But if you see any unpaid bills, please let me know. I just added Jose to auto-pay for the landscaping, in case he asked.
I am sure I am missing several important items, but hopefully I will remember before anyone misses a deadline. Deb and I are heading home tomorrow, but I plan on returning the week of Sept 10th and Deb will return when she can, hopefully in a month or so. If we are needed before that, please let us know otherwise I will try and make regular trips down to help out with doctor appointments and to spend time with Dad. I hope he makes new friends at Rosewood and I just become a nuisance, but either way l try and make regular trips down. I would like to thank Tom, Mary, John and Ranae for all the support while we were here. This was much harder than I thought it would be on me personally and it was great to have them here to share the load, grief, frustration that this process entailed. Both Tom & Mary and John & Ranae went out of their way to help relieve the pressure during the last four weeks and I truly appreciate all they did as well. I believe we worked very well as a team. I want to also thank Deb for all of her support during this period. I know she was getting pressure from work to return, but she never let on and was a tremendous support for me. She is my rock, my counselor, therapist and best friend, and I would have been a bigger wreck without her by my side. I am truly blessed.
Dad’s good days still outnumber his bad, so I have been blessed to spend this time with Dad. His sense of humor is still very sharp and I only wished I would have captured more of his Dadisms. Dad has taught me so much over the years and he continues to teach me how to live even when you are dealt a crappy hand. Jim I know you will enjoy your time with Dad as much as I did.
Unfortunately, moving Dad into Rosewood on a Saturday of a three day weekend didn’t make for a smooth transition. They were short staffed and while the nurse came in and introduced herself, she said she would do an evaluation on him sometime before 11 PM, we did not see her before we left at 6:45. We also did not have anyone to talk to about which specialist we would like Dad to see. In a meeting today, Tom, John and I thought it would be best if Dad could see Dr Heidari, Infectious Disease; Dr Trang, ENT specialist; Dr Nguyen, Oncologist; and Dr Alexandrakis, Ophthalmologist. There was no one to talk to, so John if you could work with Tom over the next day or so to get this taken care of, I would appreciate it. If the doctor is not available until Tuesday, would either you or Jim please work to ensure this. We have been told that Dad’s primary doctor has to be a doctor that will visit the facility, so we agreed to Dr Memen. He will have to approve the specialist that we use for Dad and will probably mean a switch in medications.
Jim, would you contact Life Alert and discontinue the service. I have already stopped the newspaper and all of Dad’s mail is going to Tom and Marys. I can get the internet, tv and phone shut off when I come back in a week or so, so Jim will not be without service while he is here. Also, I believe all of Dad’s bills are being paid automatically, and I am working to understand the process that he has set up. But if you see any unpaid bills, please let me know. I just added Jose to auto-pay for the landscaping, in case he asked.
I am sure I am missing several important items, but hopefully I will remember before anyone misses a deadline. Deb and I are heading home tomorrow, but I plan on returning the week of Sept 10th and Deb will return when she can, hopefully in a month or so. If we are needed before that, please let us know otherwise I will try and make regular trips down to help out with doctor appointments and to spend time with Dad. I hope he makes new friends at Rosewood and I just become a nuisance, but either way l try and make regular trips down. I would like to thank Tom, Mary, John and Ranae for all the support while we were here. This was much harder than I thought it would be on me personally and it was great to have them here to share the load, grief, frustration that this process entailed. Both Tom & Mary and John & Ranae went out of their way to help relieve the pressure during the last four weeks and I truly appreciate all they did as well. I believe we worked very well as a team. I want to also thank Deb for all of her support during this period. I know she was getting pressure from work to return, but she never let on and was a tremendous support for me. She is my rock, my counselor, therapist and best friend, and I would have been a bigger wreck without her by my side. I am truly blessed.
Dad’s good days still outnumber his bad, so I have been blessed to spend this time with Dad. His sense of humor is still very sharp and I only wished I would have captured more of his Dadisms. Dad has taught me so much over the years and he continues to teach me how to live even when you are dealt a crappy hand. Jim I know you will enjoy your time with Dad as much as I did.
Saturday. Heart hospital
9 am
We are on the discharge list. We still have to wait for the doctor to actually sign the papers.
Dad was up and had some breakfast. He ate about 2/3 of his eggs and a little bit of the sausage. He had both oj's. The room here is freezing. The nurse called engineering and asked them to raise the temp. Dad reported he was not seeing very well today. That made him a little weepy. He didn't want to go for a walk. He took his morning meds and is now back to sleep.
We wait for the hospital wheels to turn....
We are on the discharge list. We still have to wait for the doctor to actually sign the papers.
Dad was up and had some breakfast. He ate about 2/3 of his eggs and a little bit of the sausage. He had both oj's. The room here is freezing. The nurse called engineering and asked them to raise the temp. Dad reported he was not seeing very well today. That made him a little weepy. He didn't want to go for a walk. He took his morning meds and is now back to sleep.
We wait for the hospital wheels to turn....
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