HOSPITAL / June 3rd: Tuesday morning Trisha and Mary stayed at the house to do some “rearranging.” They cleaned, folded and vacuumed and they had some ideas of where to put things so that my caregiving might be easier. They were worried that they were disrupting my method of doing things. Not to worry. I think almost everything is where they repositioned… Read more →
Category: Caregiving
Feeding tube
HOSPITAL / June 2nd: I’m writing this from notes and memories. On Monday, they put the feeding tube in. I was actually driving to the hospital when the doctor called. He was trying to say he wanted her in for a follow-up visit in a week or two to take out some stitches. Thinking about the trauma of ambulances to and from… Read more →
Moving and Mowing
HOSPITAL / June 1st: Kathy had a restful night and Sunday Doctor Irani decided to move her from InterCare to a different part of the same department called Telemetry. If I understand it correctly, in a telemetry unit all the patients are monitored remotely in a separate room. A nurse on duty can see or hear when a patient is struggling.… Read more →
InterCare and the Search for the Lost Cord
HOSPITAL / May 31st: On Saturday morning Kathy’s condition seemed to have stabilized. Doctor Irani had given up on the idea of the temporary NG tube to feed her. The nurses and personal care aides were great. Naturally you always want an instant response to buzzes and beeps in your room, but the hospital is like a city that keeps… Read more →
A Nose for Food
HOSPITAL / May 29th & 30th: Thursday afternoon Kathy’s sister Trisha arrived from New Mexico. She rented a car and drove up from Bradley Airport. She called on her cell phone to warn me she was on the same floor as Kathy’s room. Very courteous to warn me. She didn’t want to just barge in. I welcomed the company and help working… Read more →
Breathing
HOSPITAL / May 28th: Wednesday and Thursday were whirlwind days at Baystate. Because it was cool out I brought Marty with me. I parked in garages both days so he was safe and I could go out and we would go for sniff and pee walks. Well I drank a coffee. Marty did his thing. I contacted our dog sitter Joanne and… Read more →
9-1-1
CAREGIVING: I’m writing this from Kathy’s hospital room. On Tuesday we got up as usual and Kathy was coughing and couldn’t really eat or drink much of anything. I had figured out that I could get her to take her meds by breaking them up into small pieces and putting them in a little applesauce. Unfortunately the combination of insufficient fluids,… Read more →