Jon and I left to take Dad to the orthopedist before the Hospice gear came, so it was a nice surprise to see how Dave arranged everything by the time we got back. Jon and Dave had moved Dad's bed into the spare bedroom, and Dave had the hospital bed put in its place. We also received a table and bedside commode and soon we'll be getting a wheelchair.
Naturally, Jon wanted the room to LOOK nice, not just function well. He was covering up the nasty (clean but ugly) side bars with a coverlet. He joked about making a bedskirt. Love it.
Dad had to have yet more Xrays at the orthopedist's office. Now we know he did not break or fracture his shoulder, but he has a huge hematoma that has caused swelling from the top of his shoulder down to his elbow. It is bright red and dark red. It looks awful and is very painful. What a relief that nothing was broken. The doc said he may have torn a ligament. That was the good news.
The bad news was that the abnormality in Dad's hip is a fracture. The doc wants Dad to stay off his feet, as he has the risk of breaking the bone under pressure or in a fall. He said he would like Dad to have an MRI so he can think about putting pins in the hip to hold it together. We told him we have some other issues to deal with, like reducing the shoulder pain, starting radiation and getting his eyes cleared up, and I need to speak to Hospice about the order and timing of all the things that need to be "fixed." He suggested getting him a wheel chair and wrote a prescription - so Medicare would pay for most of it. We are to call him back after we talk to the eye doc about his recovery and ability to get around (for the MRI).
I called Hospice when we got home. They ordered the wheel chair and got their doc's permission to double the pain meds. A nurse will visit tomorrow to assess Dad's needs, and perhaps bathe him.
Jon gave Dad a malted milkshake as soon as we got home. Dad immediately fell asleep and slept for a couple hours. He woke up for dinner - half a taco - then wanted to head for bed. He FINALLY was able to move his bowels, and boy are we all happy. It exhausted him. It took a few tries to get adjusted in the new bed, but we think after all the exertion and more pain meds, he has fallen asleep again. Let's hope he, and Jon, get some sleep tonight.
The tally: Cancer everywhere, fractured rib and hip, torn ligament and hematoma on his shoulder, bleeding behind his retinas, constipation, and general malaise. Hospice is all about making their patients comfortable, in their own homes, and that is our goal for Dad!
Jon is a huge help in so many ways - from helping Dad with everything, to keeping us laughing. I was about to make up the bed in the spare room, and he asked if I wanted any help. I said yes. He handed me a glass of wine. :-)
Dave also has done so much when I am so scatterbrained and can't organize my thoughts. He had gone to Tybee to see his buddy Jimmy & family, then called to see if I needed anything on his way home. I gave him my Kroger's shopping list. Later I called him back and asked him to pick up a prescription for Dad. It would have saved him many miles if I had remembered the prescription first - but alas, I am happy I remembered it at all.
Dad is sleeping, Jon is doing the NY Times crossword puzzle on his iPad, Dave is helping, and I am tired.
PS The "posted time" on this blog is about 3 hours off, in case anyone wondered why I'm ready for dinner at 3 pm or other strange timing.
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