Caregiving

Wednesday, I took Mr. M for an outpatient procedure. During the procedure, I went to Walmart and got some groceries for him. (Don't know if I mentioned it, but he has decided against assisted living--again). After the procedure, they told him to eat soft food--not being specific about what that was. Mr. M, of course, wanted to go to Cracker Barrel. He had chicken and dumplings and applesauce--they're soft, right.

Thursday, I called Mr. M to wake him up for a doctor appointment. He told me he'd been throwing up all night. I advised him to take his nausea medicine--an hour later when I called back, he still hadn't. I knew the home health aide would be there soon (she had planned to help him get ready for the doctor appointment), so I waited for the doctor's office to open and called to see what they thought we should do. The nurse that called back said for him to take the nausea medicine and go easy on food. I went to his house to check on him before calling to cancel his appointment. The home health aide was there--she had just called the repairman because the heat was out (down to 5 degrees overnight). She helped Mr. M get cleaned up (though they skipped the shower as it was so cold in the house) and tucked back into bed while I fed the cats and made a few more phone calls. The home health nurse called and said she'd be there soon.

The general consensus of the three (or more?) nurses I talked to was that he should take the nausea medicine every so many hours, then gradually work up from a clear liquid to a BRAT (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) diet. It was determined that the Cracker Barrel meal, while soft, was more than his stomach on the aftereffects of sedation could take and that was the cause of the vomiting. They also said he would be weak from the medicine, no food, throwing up, etc. and shouldn't be left alone. I called the lady that comes and cooks and does light housekeeping, when she can, and she said she could come over for a few hours in the afternoon.

I called M and asked him to bring our space heater to help warm Mr. M's room while waiting for the repairman. The repairman arrived about 10:30 and left about noon. Two fuses and two sensors were bad and had to be replaced. Things warmed up rapidly after it was fixed.

Ms. L, the lady mentioned above, arrived a bit before 2:00 with Gatorade, Sprite, and applesauce. I caught her up to speed and then went to get a few more groceries for his ammended diet. The physical therapist arrived just as I was leaving. I got a banana, some pudding, some chicken broth, instant rice, and some cat food (for the cat, not Mr. M). I stopped by the house for a few minutes to check e-mail (plans in the works for a Pathfinder lock-in), then returned to Mr. M's. He was feeling much better--was sitting up in his recliner--looked better. He had had some Gatorade, a cracker, some nausea medicine. Ms. L and I kept pushing food and drink in small quantities for about another hour to see if he would be ok. Ms. L had to leave so she could be home before dark--I stayed for about another hour--fed the cats, gave Pepper her medicine, shut the window over the cat door to keep the cold out and the cats in, turned on lights so he wouldn't fall, gave him his evening meds and then left.

Tuesday (mostly) with Mr. M

Mr. M had an outpatient procedure scheduled for 9:00 Tuesday morning. I got up at 5:00 to watch the weather news. It sounded like a good day to stay home. I called Mr. M at 6:00 so he would have time to get ready--he said he didn't feel good and wanted me to reschedule. It was just as well since the grass was so frozen, I was afraid he would slip and fall anyway.

I called and rescheduled his appointment (after 8:00). I still had to go over to Mr. M's and refill his pill box--I had purposely left it empty the night before since he wasn't supposed to eat or drink after midnight and I didn't want him to accidently take pills in the morning. I got to his house around 9:00--filled the pill box--fixed his breakfast and had him take his morning pills. The home health therapist arrived (blocking me in the driveway) just as he was finishing breakfast. So, I stayed for her visit.

It was about 10:30 by the time I was able to go--Mr. M wanted me to pick him up some orange juice and a burger for lunch. I stopped at home to check with his grandson about the progress toward assisted living, then went on to town. I got his juice and burger and delivered them. I also changed his pain patch.

Mid afternoon, he called to say his feet were hurting and see if he could put on another patch. I told him not to and called the primary care doctor's nurse. While waiting for a call back from her, Mr. M called back to say that the pharmacy had called and he had a prescription in. I talked to the nurse again and found out what to do for his pain. I went to Mr. M's and took care of that-- Mr. M asked me to pick him up another burger when I went to the pharmacy.

M and T had to leave for class at 5:00, so they were gone by the time I got home. It was still raining--didn't change to sleet and snow until Wednesday morning.

A Busy Week

Monday morning (after the snow slowed), I went to Mr. M's to feed the cats and do a little cleaning up. I did laundry and dishes, swept and mopped the kitchen, cleaned out the litter box, took out the trash, etc. I went from there to the local grocery store to get some milk. I had just parked when the phone rang. It was the hospital--they were discharging Mr. M and how soon could I get there. I told them I had just gotten to the grocery and would have to go home, eat, and then come down there--about 2:00.

I got home, called the doctor that Mr. M had a 1:00 appointment with (I'd been trying to find out whether to cancel this appointment ever since he went into the hospital and had just cancelled it that morning) to see if they could work him in after all. They said they could. I drove down to the hospital--arrived shortly after 2:00. I thought they wanted to know when I was coming so they could have him ready--wrong! I got to his room and he was still in his gown. He said he was still sick. The nurse said the doctor had discharged him and he had to go home. She helped him get dressed. Then we went to his doctor appointment. After that, I took him home, tried to get him to eat, had him take his meds, and left.

Tuesday morning he called me--sounded confused. He said he didn't feel good--I told him to take his medicine and I'd check back with him. I tried during the middle of the day to reach him and kept getting a busy signal. After lunch, I went to check on him. He was fast asleep with the phone off the hook. I replaced the phone and left. I had to go to town to get some bird seed. I called him before I came back to see if he wanted me to bring him something to eat. In the course of our conversation I found out that he had not taken his morning meds--he had taken the sleeping pill from the night before. I got the chicken he wanted from KFC and got to his house while the home health nurse was still there. We were both concerned about his confusion about his meds and his not eating much of anything.

Wednesday was phone calls between Mr. M's grandson, the social worker, and myself. The assisted living facility where he went last June has an opening and plans were made to move Mr. M there.

Thursday, I picked up some meds at the pharmacy and took them to Mr. M--scooped the litterbox, took out the trash, etc.

Today, I went to Walmart for Mr. M to get cat food and some other things he wanted.

I managed to do a few other things this week--but I don't remember what.

Campmeeting--Day 5--Tuesday

When I called Mr. M for his morning med reminder, he was confused again. He said he thought he ought to be somewhere where they would give him his meds and feed him. So, I called the Dr. office to see if Mr. M could get in to see the Dr. filling in for his PCP (who was out of town). The receptionist said she would have the Dr. call me. After waiting an hour or so, I called the Home Health Nurse and asked if she could get somewhere with the process. She said she was scheduled to visit Mr. M that morning and would get the social worker going on things. I went to Mr. M's to talk to the nurse and wait for the social worker. The nurse said his vitals were all good and left. I went to the restaurant and got Mr. M something to eat for lunch and ate with him. I cleaned up after lunch and did some laundry. Mr. M called an old friend to see if she could come every day and make sure he ate and took his pills. She said she couldn't commit to come every day, but could come every day for the rest of this week for two meals and meds. At about 2:30, I called the main Home Health office to see when the social worker was scheduled to come. The person I talked to said that she wasn't scheduled to come until Thursday. So, I told Mr. M good-bye and came back to campmeeting. (Actually, stopped by the house and visited with M for a little bit before returning to campmeeting).

I visited with a friend for a little while after returning, while waiting for T to get out of the late afternoon seminar. When T got back, we ate supper.

The evening meeting was by Bill Tucker again. I called Mr. M after the meeting for the evening pill reminder.

Time spent with Mr. M: 5 hours
Meetings attended: 1

Tuesday

The kids and I went to the Gallatin library, Aldi, Tractor Supply (squirrel corn and suet), and Walmart in the morning.

I stopped off at Mr. M's to deliver some things I'd picked up for him--found him not feeling well. The home health nurse was due any time, so I stayed and talked to her. We made an adjustment in his medication and I guess that helped, because he mowed his lawn (on a riding mower with help from a neighbor) that afternoon.

I went down to his house in the evening to see if he was feeling better (that's when I found out about the lawn mowing). He asked me to go to town and get him something to eat--so I did.

My work day

Every day--wherever I am--whatever else I am doing--three phone calls for medication reminders.

I also talked to Mr. M's home health nurse about medication changes on the phone this afternoon and picked up some medicine at the pharmacy.

Just as I arrived home tonight, about 8:00, Mr. M called me--said he wasn't feeling well. I went down to check on him--found out he hadn't eaten since this morning--had him eat--called the home health service and talked to the nurse on-call--had him take his blood sugar. She thought it sounded like a low blood sugar from not eating and said he should be ok overnight since he had just eaten. He was feeling better when I left. Came home sometime after 9:30, but before 10:00.