Day 19: You Tunnel, I'll Distract the Guards... um Nurses
October 8, 2008
Yesterday’s trials left my cousin and I vowing we’d prepare to break Dad out of the hospital if they tried to hold him again. I still had my words ringing in my ears from when I chewed out his nurse the day before and said he needed to “get the hell out of this place!”
We arrived with missions in mind. I was to straighten out things with the guards… um nurses, while my cousin helped Dad get dressed. He was anxious to go but a wee bit nervous what he’d encounter on his own without being tethered to a hospital bed in only a hospital gown. My cousin and I put only the most positive, optimistic face on things to give him courage. And we let him know he had us right beside him every step of the way.
We had an interesting day just settling in. While waiting for GM to get ready at the hospital my cell phone rang. It was CM Linda from Boma’s (the lady we met from our home town and planned to get together with this trip and take college student Paco to her first fireworks show?). She had an adventure of her own the last two weeks with a sick son but finally settled down to make contact. She has Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights off and is working nights all next week. So I gave her the short recap on GM’s mishaps and we talked.
I admit I’ve been going so long in high gear caretaker/manager role I was feeling a bit overwhelmed today. I guess it all just hit me how hard this work is. So all the while I got myself and my cousin to the hospital and my dad ready with the nurses I was praying God give me a little pick-me-up. I think Linda’s call was it. Besides offering whatever help I needed she gave me that olive branch. A night out with the girls come Sunday to do F&W and see fireworks. I made tentative plans to do that and kinda hope GM would be up to a little R&R then, but otherwise my cousin is happy to play “guy’s night in” with him if I still wanna go come Sunday.
Getting into the van was an adventure for GM. I ran down the procedure based on what I do/need and how we handled my mom when she was sick. Because of how my adaptations worked I had to stay in the driver’s seat. My cousin took point. First we rolled my dad up into the van in his wheelchair, then he transferred to the backseat. He ended up not needing a walker but grabbed what armrests and ledges that were handy. In came his wheelchair and walker to be stowed behind me for the trip to SSR.
The weather was a balmy 88 degrees this afternoon on the drive home. Just perfect in the shade for GM (he loves warm and balmy). Sitting outside the hospital waiting for me to pull up the van was his first taste of fresh air in 10 days. So when we got through SSR’s front gates, I opened the windows and drove nice and slow. I wanted him to get a good breath of the beautiful place he was coming too.
Now for all you SSR Haters who say this place looks like a retirement community, let me tell you that’s actually a good thing when your 76 and recovering from a broken leg. We laughed that if GM was going to a rehab hospital then this must be the rich man’s version of it.
My cousin got my dad inside the studio and I brought in the bags. We caretakers had a little conflict at first. My cousin expected my dad to be more needy than he is and I’m one to push him toward independence. So when my cousin was ready to push GM around this tiny place in a wheelchair, I told GM he had two good arms and one good leg and could damn-side do it himself. Or better yet, he could get up and sit on the sofa then prop his legs up more comfortably.
I know, I sounded like an ogre. But I also know this rehab route well and how important it is to set the tone for independence. It seemed to work well for him. From then on GM took up residence on the sofa and opted to make several walking trips to the bathroom. It’s roughly 30 feet each way so between his many trips we think he averaged 450 feet today. (And that was after doing near 300 with the PT gal before discharge.) GM also started to relearn the necessary skills of how to put on shorts or pull up socks when you can’t reach your feet. Fortunately I have several dressing sticks in my collection for just that purpose since I already have that much permanent loss of mobility.
GM’s one problem is that his leg is swollen so that meant a necessary trip to Walmart to get him some larger shorts. We bemoaned his inability to wear the long leather pants this trip. Oh well.
Before I headed out I popped over to AP to pick up some lunch (soup & chili) and get drink refills. Our friend CM Jim saw me drag myself in and immediately jumped in to lend a hand. He refilled my mugs and even grabbed my To Go order off the kitchen counter before my beeper went off.
When I headed out to Walmart the sky clouded over. I just knew there’d be rain. And it came down in buckets while I was inside. I waited till the storm passed taking time to get GM shorts that filled the three most important pre-reqs: size, storage and fashion. I also picked up some sleeper shorts for those times he doesn’t care about fashion.
I returned to find GM napping on the sofa. My cousin reported he got himself up repeatedly. Just when we sent out for dinner at AP, the phones started ringing. Everyone was checking in from home. It exhausted me let alone GM to repeat the same story over, but they were all happy to hear his voice and know he was back in the real world. Mid phone call a knock came at the door. It was a runner from the Front Desk bearing a little POTC gift bag for Grandpa Mohawk. Seems one of you DISsers (jekjones1558) remembered the one thing the hospital pharmacy does not carry: purple hair coloring.
GM got a big kick out of that as well as his other get well cards that have been finding their way to us. He loves knowing he has a fan club and a goal to come back to. Keeps him young.
We went over a few more PT/OT life skills and my lessons in using a dressing stick to adjust socks. By then GM was tuckered out. I had just reached for a movie to pop in the DVD player when he settled into bed and started snoring. In fact he’s still snoring, loudly and lustfully. That’s a good sign. He’s comfortable here.
Tomorrow the visiting nurse comes and I have a goal for GM to get outside for some time eating or just sitting by the pool.
As for my cousin, he truly is a prince. I don’t know many nephews who would drop everything just to nursemaid his uncle. He’s gone into overdrive as caretaker and has become my dad’s personal shadow when walking. I’ve told him what a grace he’s been to us. I only worry he’ll burn himself out.
As for me, while in Walmart I called a friend and whined about my downbeat mood. It helped perk me up to get some of that frustration out. And besides she was a great help advising on how to shop for men’s clothes.
Bottomline I’m most grateful we have this place to start GM’s recovery. He has a beautiful view of a lush box garden and the CP bus stop. He watched families loading up in all their Halloween Party finery this afternoon. And the birds are chirping and tropical breezes blowing.