How exciting Elaine! And, being able to pursue her doctorate on them will be fantastic! We have heard such amazing things about UAB...... Kyle has a friend in dental school there now and I saw him this past Saturday at homecoming. He really likes it there!
I thought for sure I would get to see the campus soon, but I don't think Kyle is going to complete his secondary to UAB after all..... I think he is leaning REALLY heavy toward applying for dental school instead of doing medical school. He would have to delay application until next summer which means he couldn't start dental school until Fall of 17. I don't like the thought of him delaying for 2 yrs, but it might be best because Maddie could decide where she wants to go to PA school without the pressure of them both having to get in at the same place. Then, he could apply for dental school and work while she is in her first year. She will finish in two and can go to work so they would only have one year being covered totally by loans. He is my one child that has ALWAYS wanted to be a doctor.....and I worry that he will be disappointed if he doesn't pursue that, but he has seen him "not getting accepted" as a sign that maybe he needed to look at other careers. He thinks this MIGHT be it. But, so far, he has only shadowed one dentist so he needs to do a lot more of that before he decides for sure. Prayers would be appreciated as this is becoming very scary and stressful for him.
Charlotte, hope Richard is doing better. And the familiar items might be of some comfort to him for sure! Hopefully he can be back home soon and get some rest!
This message was edited Oct 8, 2015 4:10 PM
September - the year is flying by!
Genna rehap for a dementia patient is totally different than for someone else. Richard was flat of his back for basically a week. He only got up to very briefly (a few seconds) stand with assistance on the side of the bed twice and one to to walk a short distance with a walker with the PT holding him with a gait belt. They cannot follow instructions. Right now he is having a hard time just holding his drink. I'm sure that walk him some in therapy in the morning. It takes 2 people to take him to the bathroom and sit him on the toilet.
I've been on the run all day today. I went out at noon to check on him and help him with his lunch. Then I had to go back at 2 to do some paper work. I'm sure glad we have the top tier BC/BS. Medicare will only pay 100% of the first 20 days. After that the co-pay kicks in. But his insurance will pick up 100% of it if he stays longer than 20 days. The place costs 180.00 per day.
I have a meeting at 10 tomorrow with the social worker. She will want to know what he could do before going into rehap. That gives them a benchmmark of what to work toward. I hope they can get him back to the same level but I'm somewhat doubtful. The social worker will also work with me in getting some home health care for him once he goes home.
When I saw him about 2:30 he was really tired. You could tell he was having a hard time staying awake. They had him sitting in a wheelchair by the nurses station so they could keep an eye on him. His daughter went around 3:30 and she found him in the same place but said he was sound asleep sitting in his chair.
I've been trying to think of something to take that would be familiar to him but haven't figured that out yet. He has music playing all the time at home. I may get an inexpensive ipod and load some music on it and have them turn it on for him.
Genna I'm sure that Kyle will end up making a good decision. I'm sure they are ready to get on with their life and Maddie I'm sure is ready to get into school.
Elaine forgot to say that is an amazing position for your DIL. It's wonderful that her doctorate will be paid for. Jeff's master's in electrical engineering at SMU was paid for by his company. Kristi also had her MBA paid for by her company. Jeff thought about pursing his doctorate which his company would have paid for but he needed a break before he did it and then they ended up moving to CA.
We are back home and enjoyed the short trip. A couple of friends went out with Cayla and Bryan last night and after the friends came home, Cayla and Bryan did some Christmas shopping. They left about 4 and stayed out until a little after midnight. Cayla cooked breakfast for us, then we all , except Bryan, he worked today, went walking. Walked a block and went back, Jana came by with a cake she had made for Cayla and we all had a slice, was sitting there talking and Cayla started turning pale, I noticed it and asked her if she was ok. She said she was just suddenly very tired. She was white as a ghost. I told her to lie down if she needed to and she was asleep in just a few minutes. She slept a little over an hour and felt better when she woke up. She said she just had spells like that every once in a while. It was very upsetting to me to see her go from great to sick in just a matter of minutes.
Eli is chattering up a storm now, mostly parroting things, but he did tell Bryan he wanted to have pancakes for breakfast yesterday when he gave him options. Jana took them to the library one day last week and she said Eli walked up to a little girl sitting with a book and told her " read "
He was out of school for his fall break this week.
When Cayla was at Nashville the first time, we talked to several people working there that we're going to school on Vanderbilt's money. The let every employee take anything that they want to study while employed there. I know it is a great thing they do.
I hope you found Richard a little better when you went this afternoon Charlotte.
Sandra I know that was upsetting to see Cayla make such a sudden change. I pray that she gets all this behind her soon and gets back to her normal self!!
Richard looked and acted better today but has a long way to go. His daughter admitted today that she was really upset yesterday after she saw him. As she said she never understood anything he said. It was just random incoherent whispering.
I met with several people today and was pretty upset myself when I discovered the med list the hospital sent was a very old list and they were really over medicating him! I am not sure how that happened. But I tell you , you have to watch everything that is done now days. It seems our medical system is becoming totally incompetent. I don't understand it! I went home and made a med list of everything he was taking when he went in the hospital and told them that was what he should be taking and made a note for the doctor to call and discuss it with me. I talked with his nurse when I took the list back and hopefully we have it straightened out. I found all this out from the head RN at the rehab. They were giving him 150 mg of trazodone in addition to 2 anti depressants and a pain med!!! None of which he has taken in YEARS. Then meds that he had been taking they had not given to him???? Luckily it was just vitamins, his Aricept, etc. So I hope that after some of the stuff they were giving him gets out of his system he will start responding better.
He recognizes me and is really glad to see me every time. He really can't totally eat by himself. He can't get his hands coordinated to hold things right. Get's confused as to what utensil to use. He was beginning to have some of these problems before he went into the hospital but nothing as bad as now. He is talking at just above a whisper for some reason. You can tell he really likes his nurse. She walked by and he lit up and waved to her.
I stopped by Best Buy this afternoon and bought an inexpensive MP3 player. I spent tonight getting it loaded with some songs. I thought I was going to have to have help for a while but I finally figured it all out. He is used to listening to music 24/7 so I thought that might help him.
He acts a lot like someone that has had a stroke. But they did an MRI on him to check for that and TIA's. He had not had any.
Sounds like they wanted him to be a zombie, that much medicine. I am thinking he will be more like himself when he gets some of that out of his system.
We finally got some much needed rain last night. Much cooler here today too
Sadly it was the hospital that was giving him all that stuff!!! I went to see him at noon. I helped him eat and he ate most of his lunch and all of a large milkshake. Best he has eaten yet.
That trazadone is strong stuff, it was way too much for his age too I think
It's good to hear Richard is eating well, so I hope he gets his meds straightened out. You are right, you have to stay on top of everything. I think some of it is that hospitals are more and more short-staffed in critical positions. The other thing is that they are low-paying anymore. They want to pay pretty well to get new people but after about 5 years there are no incentives for the better nurses to stay.
I wandered around outside yesterday and today and was surprised to find a Monarch butterfly. Don't see too many. The sulphurs were everywhere and I have had the fritillaries for a while. My zinnias have done well this year(they re-seed every year) and my hot lips has been blooming like crazy again. Even had another DL bloom.
I ran the 15k race this morning. It was so foggy on the mountain you couldn't see very well 50 ft ahead of you and it misted rain a couple of times. I actually run better when it is cool. So I did pret well and placed 2nd in my age group! They put the 60-69 year olds together instead of in a 5-year group, so I was happy with that and I won a gift card.
A few more random photos. The mushrooms are very tiny and were growing around a stump by the woods. The pumpkin I bought at an art show a couple of weeks ago. The black seed pods are from a blackberry lily. I love these. And one of my clematis has been blooming again too.
Elaine you still have a lot blooming. Love your little tiny mushrooms and your pumpkin! I still have a few zinnias and some anemones . That's about it. My caladiums have played out. I need to dig the bulbs up and let them dry out. It is so dry here!!! I keep having to run the sprinkler. If things go into the winter too dry they will get a lot more damage if we get another cold winter.
Richard had a really bad day today. He just has good days and bad days. Today was one of the worse he's had. I'm not sure he really knew I was there. He was just very agitated and the only thing I really understood him saying was that he was tired. His daughter came out about 4 and I don't think he realized she was there. His nurse checked him over good before we left around 6. Took his vitals and listened to his lungs, etc. They told me he hasn't slept the last 2 nights. He is tired and goes to bed early but he seems to be waking up in the middle of the night and then not going back to sleep. The head RN told me today that she has noticed that he is aspirating. That is something I've been concerned about but didn't really know the signs. He has been having trouble with having a runny nose for quite a while now. I had not associated it happening after he eats. But after she pointed it out that's exactly when it's been happening. I'm just afraid he's in a fast downward spiral. I had been noticing some changes in him before he had to go in the hospital. A lot of them were some of the things he doing now but now it's just so much more pronounced.
I told his daughter that maybe I should just take him home. That he might settle down more at home. She told me she didn't think I needed to do that. She's right but I just hate to see him go through such misery.
Charlotte, you can't stay up day and night with him. If you did you would soon not be able to take care of either one of you. I am so sorry this time has come to have professional help,but it does seem to be here. The Bible tells us there is a time for everything. You have been so good to him while you could be and now you need help, sending you much love and prayers this night
Charlotte I'm so sorry!!! It doesn't sound good that he is aspirating. That occurred to my BIL after his stroke and was very scary the way he had it. Rehap was able to help him overcome it as he got better. I agree with your step daughter that until he is doing better he should stay there. Did you double check to make sure they have his medicine correct.
I'm sitting inER right now. They called me from rehab and said they were sending him to ER. Not sure why and now I'm sitting here waiting for them to find the room he's in and take me back. Yes his meds are straight . I went over it all with the nurse earlier today. I actually looked at his meds lust in the book .
Have you found out anything yet?
He has pneumonia.
Oh no, I guess the nurse caught it after you left, God Bless you
He is in the hospital in coronary care with a vent. I didn't get home until about 3 last night. I'm trying to check on him now but his nurse has stepped on the floor. They are going to have her call me back. I'm going up shortly and check on him.
The nurse actually checked him over before we left rehab yesterday. His vitals were all ok. No temp. I'm guessing he has aspirating pneumonia . There were lots of signs of aspiration yesterday.
Let us know when you hear from him
I'm so sorry but thank God they were on top of it and discovered his problem!!! Prayers my friend for strength as you get this problem handled!!!
Turns out he doesn't have pneumonia. The lung exam came back clear. He has a really bad infection but they are not sure where the infection is coming from. His kidneys are not functioning properly. He is very sick!
That is really good news that he doesn't have pneumonia but not good at all that his kidneys aren't functioning properly. Can they do dialysis to make him more comfortable?
Did they take the vent off yet?
He is still gas the vent. We are not going to do anything as drastic as dialysis . Without the vent he would not be alive. We will reevaluate the vent later in the week.
I thought they might try to wean him off since it isn't pneumonia, how are you holding up?
Love and prayers Charlotte
How are you doing Charlotte? It hasn't stopped for you lately!!! Hugs and prayers
No change when I went up last night. I plan to be at the hospital early this morning so I see his PCP when he makes his rounds this morning. We talked to the lung doctor yesterday. His older brother died of a really strange lung disease several years ago. This really reminds me of his brother's problem. His brother had been fine other than feeling tired for about a year but then he was 80. He also ended up in the hospital on a vent. He had something they called restricted air flow. Supposedly caused by something he had been exposed to at some point in time.
I got a good nights sleep last night so I feel much better today.
Sarah won the talent contest at the fair last night so that was good news. I know she is excited. She won $500 plus a huge trophy.
Charlotte, I've been thinking about you all weekend. I'm so sorry Richard is doing so poorly. I hope and pray you will get some answers soon about what is going on. I know you and his daughter are anxious to get to the bottom of this and get him better. Glad to know you got some good sleep last night and are rested to deal with the new week. Congrats to Sarah!!
I was off yesterday and took Friday off too. I really need to take more days off to get some things done but felt like I needed to be at work today. We went to Birmingham Sunday to watch our Evan play football at 5 pm, so that took up most of the day. He plays both offense & defense (they are 10) and our son helps coach. He scored the winning TD on an interception and made several sacks on their quarterback. He's really one of their better players and is very quick. We were so proud of him and he's a great kid. His older brother and sister were in Florida with friends so we didn't get to see them. Busy kids.
Yesterday we hauled a bunch of stuff to Goodwill that I had boxed up over the weekend. Then we went back home and loaded up a chest that I needed to have refinished. It matches a small vanity that I used as a girl and a nightstand. All this was my parents furniture. The chest really needed some work, but I'll use it in my spare BR with the other pieces and it isn't so large. Then we grocery shopped and I cut up and froze a bunch of red peppers from the garden. I had my garden guy come by and he's going to bring out a bunch of pine straw and trim some shrubs, replace 2 for me and put out the mulch. I just don't have time, especially with this running training.
I know most of you saw this on FB, but I ran a 15k race on Saturday and came in 2nd in my age group (60-69 females). The lady who won is 60 and is training for a marathon, so I was very pleased being 67 and coming in 4 minutes behind her. The half marathon is on Nov 14, so y'all be cheering & saying a little prayer for me that morning!!
Just sitting at the hospital is so exhausting. I think it's the stress. Praying that the Drs are able to discover the source of Richard's problems. Congrats to Sarah!! What was her act?
Elaine you just amaze me with all you do on a daily basis but your running takes it to a whole other level. Congrats my friend to you and Evan!!!
Looks like Ashley's stomach is balancing out again, TG!!! She has had 3 good days and starting to look for a new job now that summer is over.
Jeri, so glad you posted about Ashley. I've been worried about her too. Do you think it's watching her diet that is helping her this time? Now that she knows about the hernia is there any different meds she is taking? You may have said and I forgot. I hope she finds another job.
We talked to the doctor and Richsrd is being transferred to hospice. They are taking the vent out and putting an oxygen mask on for his comfort. He is not expecting him to last long.
I am so sorry, Charlotte. If I can do anything for you, please don't hesitate to ask
We all love you
Charlotte I am so sorry for the prognoses on Richard. Is there anything you need?
Oh my goodness, Charlotte. This seems so unexpected. Please know we love you and will do anything we can for you at this time. Please do ask if you need anything. We're not that far away!!
Charlotte I am so worried about you and Richard. I wish we were closer!!!
They have put Ashley on prescription Prilosec. They have it over the counter but the Dr. wants her to take a higher dose and Elavil. Now she is taking her Miralax on a regular basis, she wasn't taking it at all.
We got Richard to the hospice center around 8 tonight. He is resting ok . They are giving him Morphine and Ativan if he starts to act restless. He shows no indication that he is aware we are here.
I am going home shortly and get some sleep and plan to be back early in the morning. The room is comfortable and plenty of places for family to relax.
Jeri I'm glad Asley is doing better with her stomach.
My poor dogs know something is going on. Charlie is especially upset. He keeps following me around when I'm home and wanting in my lap. Totally unlike him.
Love you all! I feel the concern and love!
Continuing to pray
Poor little puppy, of course they know something isn't right. I am so glad he is in a nice room so you can stay all you want. Will they let you stay the night if you want?
I am happy for Ashley too, she has had enough sickness. What kind of job is she looking for ?
Elaine, I admire you for running and being a champ too !
Yes we can stay as much as we want. There is a bed in the room for family. It's right next to the window. I tried laying down on it the morning thinking I might try to take a nap and the mattress feels really cold to me! So so much for that. But there is a really nice big comfortable chair and a sofa and another chairs. There is a courtyard in back of the rooms. There is a door in his room where I can go out to the courtyard or just open if I want some fresh air. They even allow dogs to come here but I don't plan to bring them. They are bringing me 3 meals a day. If I want them fine - if I don't fine. I also have a micro wave and a mini fridge. The staff is extremely nice. Hospice is a wonderful thing!