2000
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Sunday, September 24, 2000 He is coming home. Tuesday was the day they said - now they say Monday - he has surgery on Monday. We are trying a second port. Hopefully this one won't get infected. Hopefully this one will last. This is cute. But nobody told me. Where is the doctor? Where is the communication? I have asked. And asked. And asked. They have my teaching schedule (Mon-Tues-Wed). This has not registered with them. I don't have the drugs. They have written the prescriptions. Maybe they should just call them into Longs at the Hub. Make things easier. I don't know what his pill schedule is. Someone will "tell me". When? I don't know where I am dropping him off at 7AM Tues and Wed. and does he know where to go? If he goes home Monday - does that mean no Ampho? When did that get decided? Who is in charge here and why are they not communicating with me? Or does he go home at midnight to come back at 7? I sent for the doctor - one doctor. He had no answers. What are they doing? Do they know? No warning? I did bring a ton of stuff home already since I knew we were working this way - dragged it out in a suitcase. A very big case with a broken handle. You can sidestep the beast as you drag it. I managed. I can pack up the rest - or as much as will fit into the suitcase I have here. But a little advance warning would be nice. Would have been. So would boxes. One nurse said yes - one nurse said no. Inconsistant to the last. So I will pack up a bunch of stuff and get the rest tomorrow. He has bottles of water - we can use those. And magazines - I ditched a whole lot - we can take the rest. My knitting went home last night. So did most of what I had here - not my coffee - not yet. Meanwhile, while awaiting the doctor, I am digesting a 1/3 lb Clark Charbroiled hamburger. He had a bacon one - second one this week. Rather we are attempting to digest this beast. I think we have had our last ones. Way too greasy! Onion rings - gag - I ate too much! Malt (I passed on that) and fries - thick as baked potatoes. Way too much food. And he wants to skip a shower (surgery tomorrow). But I don't have his shower curtain up yet - I took down the sliding doors. I installed the hand-held unit. He can stand and I will hose him down. I get the walker and wheelchair and shower chair tomorrow. Delivered to the door. (They were 24 hours late.) So I won't have them or know I have them until I get home. With him in tow. Huh? As for the surgery - he is "on call" and my older son is standing by to be paged so he can rush over in my place (since I am teaching this is necessary). I will rush over ASAP as I get out of my class. Oh but "maybe they will take him early". They are playing that game again. All this because I asked and told and gave a chart to everyone. And they all have a "valid" reason to ignore it. Where is patient relations? Which port (one for two accesses, one for two)? One if by land, two if by sea. See, he gets ampho and demerol and they can't mix in the line. So one of them suggested a double port. Else they start Ampho, run 15 minutes, stop Ampho, do Demerol, restart Ampho, run 1 hour, stop Ampho, do Demerol, restart Ampho, run to end. Have to do this or he gets the shakes. This after a 2-hour bolis. Five hour feed. Then he waits for me to come and get him from work. On a teaching day, this will be later than normal. He will arrive earlier than normal as well on teaching days. No way around that one. So they plan to do PT - so he can regain his arms and legs. He lifts himself almost off the toilet, off the bed. A little help. His back hurts from the effort. So does mine from lifting him. I felt it this morning so I did not push the workout. 225 lbs. Leg lifts instead off 265. I'll work on getting to 300 later. And I didn't want to do the Dipper higher than 110. I can do 100. I did the ab machine at 54 - I can do 60. I did biceps at 30. I did triceps at 30. I did the incline presses at 40+ machine weight. I did the butt machine (Gluttmaster) at 70 lbs. I did the leg extensions at 20 - I never get above that for some reason. I spent 35 minutes at 3.3 mph warm up (and work out) on the treadmill and 10 minutes at the end for cool down at 3.1 mph. Good enough. Because I was up until 3Am last night and I was racing the plumber. He was checking the cabinets, the hardware, the connections I have to go get, and getting ready to install on October 7th. Good. I sorted papers (mail) and took out trash. I sentenced the cat to be in the house and out of the garage until I can figure out how Ranger is getting out of the house. He greeted me the last two nights - arriving home as my car did and rolling on the ground at my feet. Little hellcat. This is Ranger - the puffball. Littlebit does not do this - after I threw her into the yard one day - she refuses to go outside. I could leave her the garage. And the attic. She likes that. But Ranger is a devil. Pranced right back in the house. So I shut the garage door. Keeps the house cooler anyway. |
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