Saturday, March 12, 2022

Saturday, March 12, 2022

Tonight's picture was taken in March of 2005. This was classic Mattie entertainment in our home! Of course I would say that Peter inspired Mattie and together they were quite the pair. What they were trying to imitate for me was their version of a bug's face!

Quote of the day: If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward. ~ Martin Luther King Jr

It maybe March, but we began the day with snow. Typically I do not drive in the snow, because believe it or not, I never learned how. I learned to drive in California and I feel this limited my ability to handle all driving conditions. But given my busy days at the hospital, I decided I had to pull it together and go grocery shopping today. As I haven't done this in about two weeks! Our refrigerator was getting bear and whatever I had in it really needed to be tossed. 

Peter is still not 100%, but is thankfully making a strong come back to feeling better. His stomach has been upset for days. Ironically the grocery store was busy today. The check out person asked me if I was "snow shopping." Meaning stocking up because it is snowing! I said NO! I was buying things because my dad has been in the hospital for almost two weeks and I have no food in the house. 

 

My mom and I got to the hospital around noon. At which point I helped my dad with his lunch tray, reviewed his day, and logged about it. If we don't write it down, within five minutes he forgets anything he just did. In fact he can eat lunch, I can clear his tray away, and minutes later he will ask when's lunch. It is quite a commentary, which is why he can't be left to his own devices at home, and certainly NOT in a hospital. 

My dad had a very busy day today, starting at 7am. The highlights of his day were taking a shower (the first one in ten days) and walking up and down 16 steps. They are trying to work with him on this so that he can easily transition home next week. Because of the pacemaker, my dad can't put pressure or weight on his left hand/arm. This makes walking and getting up difficult. But they are working with him on this. In addition, he apparently walked 50 feet without a walker or cane today. I have NO IDEA why they are doing this with him, but perhaps they are showing him that he can balance more than he thinks. Nonetheless, with me he will always be using a walker. 

Yesterday they started my dad on 40mg of prednisone. It was the last resort because no topical creams were working to reduce the intense rash on his back. In fact many of the staff in acute rehab have never seen a patient react to adhesive like my dad. His rash was raw, spreading everywhere, and oozing as well. He was very very uncomfortable and couldn't concentrate on anything other than scratching. Which only made the rash worse. The prednisone seems to be working. They will begin tapering it down to 30mg tomorrow and Monday (20mg on Tuesday and Wednesday, 10mg on Thursday and Friday, etc). In addition because my dad is allergic to steroids, they are premedicating him with 10mg of baclofen (a muscle relaxant) to help prevent intractable hiccups (non-stop hiccups which require hospitalization). 

The days are LONG, as I got home at 7pm. So I am signing off as I need to make dinner and catch up on chores, just to repeat this day yet again tomorrow.