Julie flies out early Monday morning for a biz trip made based on the original rehab estimate. Then Daddy had to go and kick ass and get out earlier than anyone expected!
Monday morning, Daddy will be discharged from rehab & transported back to the main hospital to get the "tunnel line" (not pic line) removed that was put in for his 6-wk antibiotic course. (SO glad we are not needing to deal with an infusion nurse appt 2x/day and temperature-sensitive IV antibiotics after discharge anymore!) Then Jaron will pick him up Monday evening.
Daddy may have some kind of transplant info session on Wednesday at Ft Meade. The Disabled Veterans Association may be able to provide door-to-door transportation. Because I, myself, have been in two vehicle incidents at the gate (the gate guards admitted fault informally both times) WITHOUT having hit my head AND while regularly operating a motor vehicle every day on base, I agree that if they don't provide transport then he should not go. Ft Meade is really confusing. Like all bases probably.
Julie will be back late Wed nite or Thurs midday depending on what I can get done on my trip.
Jaron will take Daddy for driving lessons, or Daddy can try it out as the spirit moves him. He acknowledged that he has not driven in 6 wks and should try small distances and see how it goes. The puffiness in his legs/feet has gone down enough that he can put on his shoes as of a couple of days ago.
He's been really "putting out" (in the military sense) at all of his exercises and stuff. He made stir-fry in a wok at OT instead of brownies. The dr mentioned it to me on the phone also and said they were all impressed. Daddy told me that PT wanted at first to talk about assistive walking devices and he said that a walker wouldn't even fit in his front door. Then they suggested a cane, and he responded by saying "how about you guys just teach me how to walk". Very respectfully. And instead of taking a ride in the wheelchair down the long hallway TO therapy, he started walking it. Then after doing a tic tac toe game on the floor by throwing bean bags, they suggested he use a hand rail to bend down and pick up 6 of the bean bags. He says, why use the hand rail? And bent down to pick them up without it. And then said, while I'm at it, I'll just pick the rest of these up (not just 6).
Julie has been making phone rounds each morning all week leaving messages, getts various calls back that prompt additional calls and calls back to confirm stuff, etc. No one will give me any names at Richmond (because they know I will start calling them there!). Anyone I ask, "the name eacapes me." Or "It's at my desk." I've also directly asked over email and text so that we can clarify important details that people are not sure about. I know what this means. I said this to the rehab doc on the phone and he very diplomatically said that the team really respects how strong an advocate I am for my dad. Sigh.
It does prompt people to get shit figured out, though. Friday one of the LVAD nurses said that Richmond said that his home VA would provide all transportation and that he actually needed a referral to the TRANSPLANT program in order to get LVAD care there. And that she would convey that to the Baltimore head of cardiology so that he could put in the referral. (Previously, he said that Daddy was probably not ready for a transplant referral due to the recent neurosurgery, so he would put in an LVAD maintenance referral, which apparently does not exist and explains why nothing has happened on this trajectory yet.) This doc is really too high level to get in to much detail and I've been asking him if there is someone else I can work directly with on details and he said not really. I've asked him stuff and he's like, "oh, I didn't think to ask that. I'll check the next time I talk to Richmond." And everyone is definitely tired of me, again. Whatevs. Just doin' m'job. They can all suck it. (What, I'm not sure.) We are all respectful. I thank them for taking good care of my dad and they thank me for supporting him.
So...I've put together a primary care checklist and FAQ for Daddy including neuro follow up (to ensure remaining blood inside dura brain lining has dissipated), phone #s, dates that various things happened, etc. LVAD care & transportation to Baltimore in the interim. Home VA (Clarksburg) should provide transportation and then he can stay with us as long as we're in town to get him & take him back, otherwise they can put him up in their "hoptel".
House prep at Casa Ard includes taping vents in the bedroom and bathroom closed, possibly moving a not-often-used portable AC from the basement in to the master bedroom for Jaron, and an extension cord hanging over the balcony so that Daddy can run a space heater and Jaron can run an AC at the same time...in separate rooms...on the same floor. And not blow a breaker. (We know based on numerous previous experiences that the entire upstairs is all on one breaker.) I want everyone to be comfortable and I DO NOT want being cold to make Daddy feel like he needs to GTFOutta here before he's really ready. I told Daddy he could go for a walk outside or hang out on the patio to warm up if needed, and he asked if he could sleep outside. We joked about setting up the hammock for him to sleep outside.
Daddy asked me to order him a sweatshirt from Amazon for the few days while he stays here. Even at 75 in our house he feels cold. In his hospital room everyone who comes in says with surprise how warm it is in there. The first day I was dressed nice for a meeting I'd had earlier and joked that I was going to have to get my pants drycleaned again. Then I started wearing shorts and sandals to visit him. The blood thinners really make him feel COLD.
Anyway...either he'll head out on his own or I'll take/follow him home on Friday.
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