Back to the hospital

Today when I got to the hospital Dick was sitting on the edge of the chair, flushed, wheezing and in distress. I lifted up his feet in the recliner and rang for the nurse. She said he had been wheezing since he sat up to change to the chair which he had wanted to do. His temp had been normal at 8 but i insisted he was running a fever now. His behavior was the way it is when he has a fever. She was saying it was because of his breathing. It could have been both but when she finally took his temp it was over 100.
I know they were concerned about his breathing as the Dr. had already ordered an increase in the prednisone. But they are not giving him enough insulin to keep his blood sugars under 200.
He was looking a bit better by the time I had to leave for my appointment with the pain Dr. about my knee.
I convinced the Respiratory Therapist that he needed the breathing treatment every 4 hours not just if awake. By about 6 he was doing better and we were able to talk some about how to reduce the behaviors that set off the wheezing. He usually looks worse in the morning and by evening he is better. All I can say is late afternoon and evening has always been his best time of day. He is so not a morning person.

I came home after my appointment to bring in the package of Procrit that arrived via Fed Ex. and put it in the refrigerator. The Dr. phoned while I was at home to discuss what was going on and what she was going to do to find out what was causing the fever. They drew blood to culture it again. Nothing has shown up in any of the blood cultures yet. Nothing has shown up on any of the urine cultures either.
So have no idea when he will be released. I can just hope they check on him frequently.
Julie

Dick did a lot of sleeping yesterday. His blood sugars were elevated because of the prednisone so the nurses think that is why he slept so much. We got word late in the day that the hospice agency I interviewed Monday will take Dick in their service along with the home health agency.

Also the hospital social worker arranged for us to rent a furnished one bedroom apartment for a week that Joella and family will stay in next week. It has a pool and a grocery store across the street and the rate is very reasonable without any hotel tax.

Now I have to find a Pac n' Play for Kaspian to sleep in. Julie

I have left a list of questions I wanted answered. Sometimes they have phoned me and sometimes I am told to let the nurse know and they will phone the Dr. to have them come speak to me. I ask the nurses a lot of questions and they are pretty good about getting answers. Today I did talk to Dick's doctor on the phone. She had come by when she thought I would be there but I got delayed and luckily phoned while she was in the room.

I really agree with her reasoning about keeping him in the hospital until he gets 7 days of IV antibiotics as we both think he was switched to oral meds too soon the last hospitalization. j
I wind up coordinated a lot of care. i was on the phone today with our prescription service and finally got that settled. The customer service agent was very helpful and got them to authorize the Urelle so I will get reimbursed what we paid for it and the Procrit will arrive Friday.

Dick's appetite remains good and his Dr. is letting him have a regular diet to keep his energy up. The Zofran and Lexapro combined have helped. Julie

I wish there were some way we could force all those professionals to call our cell phones when they come to see the patient, and we have stepped out.

It may take more of their time initially, but patient care would improve.

Maybe we should just pin a note to their pj's, saying "don't talk to me without calling my wife's cell phone #XXXX"

What do you think?

Stephany in Iowa

Dick will be in the hospital until he finishes the IV antibiotics at least. His wheezing was really bad yesterday so they started him on Steroids to help clear the airway. I took our son over to his Mother in Laws as she was giving him a ride to Phoenix to catch the plane back to Seattle. When I got back to the hospital Dick's breathing was improved although he had a couple of more episodes of asthma. He kept dozing all day and didn't remember much.
I saw the urology resident on my way out of the hospital and we talked for a bit and went back to the hospital room. She was on the phone with his urologist and found out he had seen Dick at some point but Dick had not told me. The Dr. said yesterday and Dick said Monday. Anyway the stent stays in even if it is irritating the bladder but there will be no more exchanges of stents as Dick could not handle the sedation required for the procedure. Also the urine culture was negative so there was no urinary tract infection. The white cell count was up because that is what happens when a stent is in place. He can't have a catheter as that would be a point of entry and then he could get infections. So all the problems of incontinence will remain. The best hope is the lymphedema massage treatment which of course will be delayed because of the hospitalization.

The OT and PT saw him while I was gone and they said he did better than Monday. Dick told me he did what they asked him to do such as stand up and walk here.

I'm off to the hospital now.
Julie

As well they might be....I'll bet you are so tense you could play ping pong on your back muscles!

Sounds like everyone is pitching in, too. What a great crew.

I hope he gets out tomorrow. Doran just saw his surgeon today, and he passed us on for another three months.

My fountain is up and running (or dripping) as planned. It's beautiful, and worth the wait.

Julie, I hope your evening is restful. Maybe a little glass of wine......?

Stephany in Iowa