Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2006. This was the view from our hotel room in San Diego. Mattie loved visiting San Diego, mainly because of all the activities and fun he would have there. Mattie loved Sea World, Legoland, touring the USS Midway, walking around outside, and seeing the ships go by in the harbor. Mattie was not a couch potato and did not need any down time. Therefore, it was important to keep his body moving and his mind stimulated by day. San Diego enabled us to achieve this and it brought all of us happiness to see Mattie taking in the world around him.
Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.
- number of people diagnosed with the virus: 2,163,290
- number of people who died from the virus: 117,717
I went to bed close to 2am last night. I woke up at 8am this morning, and it felt great. I honestly don't know how I wrote last night's blog. As I was exhausted and was having trouble staying awake to string words together. Yesterday was such a horrific day, and even today I am still ranting about the poor ER experience we had. I have called the manager of the ER twice, and she has yet to return my calls. Totally unprofessional in my perspective.
Given the coronavirus, we are unable to visit my dad. In fact, they told my dad that he wasn't allowed any visitors.... which was a message directed to me. I understand the importance and safety precautions now because of COVID-19, but there have to be some exceptions to this rule, as there are patients who need extra support and are vulnerable. Without an advocate they won't get the appropriate care and medical treatment necessary.
Either case, we spoke to my dad, his nurse, and his doctors today. We got the full update. Thankfully the second enema kicked in after I left last night, and my dad continued to have bowel movements all day today. My dad fought me last night. He did not want to be admitted to the hospital. I can't blame him! No one likes being in the hospital, but I rationalized with him and explained that it is important to know that he passes this large solid poop ball, because if he doesn't we would have to come back to the ER and begin the whole hateful process all over again. Neither one of us wanted this!
Needless to say, my dad is spending another night in the hospital. His GI doctor wants him to get a colonoscopy to rule out any tumors or blockages. Since my dad is still experiencing pain, we feel it is important for him to comply with the test. In fact, my dad's nurse called me because my dad refused the test and that was reflected in his medical chart. After we got off the phone with her, we called my dad and discussed why it was important for him to take the test and why he should do it while inpatient.
I am waiting for 9pm, as I need to call my dad's nurse to talk with her about how we are all in agreement for him to take a colonoscopy tomorrow. So the process continues and until we get answers, we all feel uncertain about what is going on! Meanwhile, in addition to staying close to the phone, we also went over to the house my parents are moving into on Monday. We worked hard at setting up closets, cleaning bathrooms, and Peter was assembling cabinets and doing other logistical chores. At some point, Peter and I took a break and sat in the backyard. The backyard faces a local golf course. Literally while sitting for a short time, a golfer saw us and shouted at us...... "this is the life!" I understood his point, but if he only knew the true story we are facing, I have a feeling, he would have a shouted out a different tune.
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