Ok - what a roller coaster dad is on!! I dropped in to see him yesterday at lunch time and what a change from the night before! Wednesday evening he was pretty alert and seemed to be getting stronger. When I saw him yesterday at lunch he grumpy, lethargic and complained of pain. I came back again in the evening and he was doing so much better - almost like a different person...literally! Again I went to see him at lunch time today and he was more groggy than I had ever seen him. Lydia, the head nurse from Legacy, came to visit him and see how he was doing while I was there. We were both puzzled how such a change could happen so rapidly. But before I left I pute 2 and 2 together and have a theory why this is happening.
Two aides came in to take his lunch order. I asked them why they thought he was in such rotten shape and they said he had therapy that morning. My guess is that he is just bushed at lunch time because he gets worked so hard for his therapy session. It has been the pattern each time I have seen him this week. The evenings seem to be a better time of day for him.
Tonight when i went in he was a little grouchy because he wanted to use the bathroom instead of his diaper and the aide hadn't been in yet. Once that got remedied he was more at ease. We enjoyed part of a football game together. I know he was actively watching because he would make comments about good plays or tackles.
The problem that I see looming is that he has no interest in eating. He has lost a lot of weight in the last 10 days. I have talked to the nurse about a supplement to boost his appetite.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
October 24, 2008
Today we moved Dad from Lakeview Hospital to Avalon Care Center. He really surprised me with how well he responded the admitting nurses questions. Even as late as when we left the hospital, he was still pretty goofed up...confused, anxious, etc. The night before he was seeing fur balls flying around his room. He was sorting his meds - even there were no meds there to be sorted. He even 'dropped one'.
The admitting nurse asked him questions to determine his time and place orientation.
Nurse "what is the date today?"
Gordon "October 22." It was the 24th.
Nurse "what year is it?"
Gordon "8002." A little transposition error.
Nurse "what city is this?"
Gordon "Boulder...no, Bountiful."
Nurse "do you know where you are, what facility is this?
Gordon "Avalon Care Center."
This evening when I went in he was dressed and laying in bed watching football. It was active watching, not just staring. He seemed a little more alert. He did have some confusion during the day. He said he 'put an a.p.b. out for Eloise'. He became a little disoriented believing she was in the same place as him. I reminded him of the circumstance and he seemed to recall and be satisfied.
The end of this video is a cute greeting from mom to dad.
The admitting nurse asked him questions to determine his time and place orientation.
Nurse "what is the date today?"
Gordon "October 22." It was the 24th.
Nurse "what year is it?"
Gordon "8002." A little transposition error.
Nurse "what city is this?"
Gordon "Boulder...no, Bountiful."
Nurse "do you know where you are, what facility is this?
Gordon "Avalon Care Center."
This evening when I went in he was dressed and laying in bed watching football. It was active watching, not just staring. He seemed a little more alert. He did have some confusion during the day. He said he 'put an a.p.b. out for Eloise'. He became a little disoriented believing she was in the same place as him. I reminded him of the circumstance and he seemed to recall and be satisfied.
The end of this video is a cute greeting from mom to dad.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
October 20, 2008
We checked him into the hospital last night to have some diagnostic work done on him. They did a CT scan, took blood, urine, etc. CT scan showed no damage from bleeding or stroke, just atrophy from old age. The blood showed no infection but the count was down, The urine showed no infection.
The conclusion is that the combination of lower blood count, elevated anemia, atrophy, lower than usual oxygen saturation, fatigue, poor eating and drinking habits all combined to make the perfect storm. We had him admitted to the hospital for blood transfusion and to get some more fluid into him. Our thinking is that his response to this jump start will be a telling factor in what life prolonging measures would be appropriate in the near future. There doesn’t appear to be any one life threatening weakness looming, but more general aging that is slowly taking its toll.
In conjunction with this hospital visit we will be visiting with hospice to see what services they can provide that will be beneficial. We have learned that hospice is not necessarily a time to die exercise. A person can be on hospice for a time and then be removed if they improve. They are there to provide additional support to the person and to the family. The support can be in the form of physical therapy, emotional and spiritual support, medical equipment, medication that provides comfort (as opposed to healing)…all covered by Medicaid.
His humor and wit persists even being in these dire circumstances. Fortunately he was not in any severe pain, though he did complain about his legs hurting. Though he wont be able to remember any of this, he was entertained all day by various non-existent occurrences. While I was there in the morning I opened his window so he could see outside. He enjoyed watching the airport across the street from his room, the men dressed in white marching around, planes coming and going, seagulls feasting on crickets, turkey’s that were on fire, the large mine on the side of the mountain. And then there was the entertainment inside the room – the floating blanket in the closet, Ryker playing in the closet and the like. In fact, Marie said he spent a good part of the day playing with Ryker. At least he was having fun…it was just the real people in his room that were stressed!
The previous few posts show somewhat of a timeline of this gradual decline that we have noticed in Gordon over the past couple of months. Kind of interesting.
The conclusion is that the combination of lower blood count, elevated anemia, atrophy, lower than usual oxygen saturation, fatigue, poor eating and drinking habits all combined to make the perfect storm. We had him admitted to the hospital for blood transfusion and to get some more fluid into him. Our thinking is that his response to this jump start will be a telling factor in what life prolonging measures would be appropriate in the near future. There doesn’t appear to be any one life threatening weakness looming, but more general aging that is slowly taking its toll.
In conjunction with this hospital visit we will be visiting with hospice to see what services they can provide that will be beneficial. We have learned that hospice is not necessarily a time to die exercise. A person can be on hospice for a time and then be removed if they improve. They are there to provide additional support to the person and to the family. The support can be in the form of physical therapy, emotional and spiritual support, medical equipment, medication that provides comfort (as opposed to healing)…all covered by Medicaid.
His humor and wit persists even being in these dire circumstances. Fortunately he was not in any severe pain, though he did complain about his legs hurting. Though he wont be able to remember any of this, he was entertained all day by various non-existent occurrences. While I was there in the morning I opened his window so he could see outside. He enjoyed watching the airport across the street from his room, the men dressed in white marching around, planes coming and going, seagulls feasting on crickets, turkey’s that were on fire, the large mine on the side of the mountain. And then there was the entertainment inside the room – the floating blanket in the closet, Ryker playing in the closet and the like. In fact, Marie said he spent a good part of the day playing with Ryker. At least he was having fun…it was just the real people in his room that were stressed!
The previous few posts show somewhat of a timeline of this gradual decline that we have noticed in Gordon over the past couple of months. Kind of interesting.
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