luvteaching

Good morning! @JazzyV Thanks for having DH on both lists! It's very kind of you. DH update - looks like we've dodged the "skilled nursing" bullet. PT finally came in yesterday afternoon and had him transfer from bed to wheelchair, wheelchair to mat table, and then stand at the bed. He did those tasks fairly well so the consensus is he can come home in a few days rather than skilled nursing! Yay! He wanted to come home by 5:00 PM yesterday and he wasn't happy with my explanation. Today I take in his wheelchair so he can practice transferring with that. We're going to meet with the palliative care doctor for an informational meeting about what that entails. DH has a sign outside his door now "Do not leave any food or drink in the room". He's setting off alarms if he sees a pudding cup or applesauce somewhere on the computer stand (they use them for giving him some meds still) and he wants it! I just laughed when I saw that. DH is being much more verbal and starting to advocate for himself which I'm loving. This is better than he's been in a few months. He's also off IV antibiotics and on oral meds. As for me - I did water aerobics yesterday and spent time with him. Today I'll make sugar cookies to take to the staff and head out by 11:00. Thanks for all the good thoughts and for reading my epistles! Karen

Good evening, It's been a good day with several things getting done which is good. DH is continuing to do well. Before I got there today he told the hospitalist he was ready to go home and he wanted out now! I got warned by the nurses so I talked to him about him needing to get off the IV antibiotics and to be cleared by PT and speech. Later the hospitalist came in and I let him know that DH and I had "Chatted". The hospitalist told me he told DH "We'll see what your wife says". This afternoon we got DH out of bed and he transferred to the wheelchair with assistance. We went for a walk down the halls to admire the new artwork. When we came back he wanted to sit in the arm chair. The CNA's tried to help him but they got an "I can do it myself!" and he did (with them closely monitoring. I left as he was eating - still pureed but tomorrow Speech should re-evaluate as should PT. Keeping fingers crossed he'll be able to come home in a few days and not have to go to skilled nursing! Have a nice evening everyone!! Karen

Good morning, It's "Here we go again" time for this household. DH is back in the hospital with a UTI. Same bacteria as the one at the end of January. Currently he's starting to come around but his voice hasn't returned. We may be going back to the skilled nursing facility which is ok. However, we're out of Medicare days so a month's stay is about what our three Alaska cruises will cost us for this summer. Oh well. You can't take it with you, right? Middle name is Lynne and no reason why. DH's is his mother's maiden name. Our son's is the name his birth mother gave him. Update: I got to the hospital today and DH was up in a chair chatting away with the nurses. He is definitely back. H even transferred from chair to bed but with help so that's a plus. I'll find out more on Monday and am now hoping to avoid the skilled nursing facility and the cost! Have a good evening, put your clocks ahead and sleep well. Karen

Yes to lost sound as well.

Good afternoon, We're watching the ships sailing away from Port Everglades and Dh is watching Secrets of the Zoo. He has been home 48 hours now and is doing well. He is transferring fairly easily from chair to wheelchair, etc., is much more talkative and engaged in what is going on, and definitely has an appetite - especially for cookies! DH's middle name is his mother's maiden name. I'm not named after anyone but a lot of my age range were named Elizabeth as it was when the Queen came to the throne. Fortunately my mom didn't follow that pattern. DS is not named after anyone but his middle name is his birth name given by his birth mother. We adopted him when he was 2 1/2 years old. We weren't interested at all in using family names - think Hilda, Reginald, Delvina, Percy, Thelma and Harry. Not going to happen! Karen

Checking in as well.

Checking in. First time since Mid-January since DH was hospitalized and in rehab. He came home yesterday and is watching with us (as Dr. Pol is on the tv). Karen

Good morning, I woke up to snow this morning - just a dusting - and it's now turned to rain. No snow to the north or south of us so just our convergent zone. Thankfully I don't have to head out until after 10:00 this morning and it should be warmed up by then. DH comes home today! He is ready and so am I as I switch over to full-time caregiver mode. He stood well yesterday and can transfer pretty easily so we should be fine. He still is having some swallowing issues and I'm supposed to get some thickened shakes for him but Walmart (where the speech person told me to) didn't carry them. I'll stop at Fred Meyer this morning. If not there's always Amazon! He doesn't need them except for meds taking and we can do that with pudding. Once he's home we'll have home health come in and will get speech services probably starting next week (they are on my call list this morning). I was told I could wait until Monday to have him come home and use up the last of the Medicare Days but this gives us the weekend to get back into our routines, our son will be here Monday morning to have Dad time while I go to water aerobics and then get a haircut, and DH is more than ready to be out the door of the facility. If someone wants to investigate a side job - handicap transport is a thriving business. Today's ride home is costing me $95.00 (11 miles) and the one to the wound care clinic on Wednesday is $222.00 (with our discount and 15 miles each way). Of course not covered by insurance. Oh well. Until his heel heals enough to walk it is what we have to do. Have a great Friday! Karen

Good morning, Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit! Today no snow is falling but it's below freezing. Hopefully it will warm up before I have to head out. I didn't go anywhere yesterday as the snow fell most of the day and our road was a mess. I'd prepped DH for this and called in a few times. Later in the afternoon the evening nurse called to update me which I appreciated. Then, a few minutes later, I got another call and DH wanted to talk to me so she used her cell and we had a nice conversation (for him). She told me she'd never heard him talk so much and carry on a conversation! I'll be in there today. I love pork chops and will do one in the air fryer tonight. DH loves pigs and has the entire Freddy the Pig series of books he remembers from his childhood. I got him a stuffed aviator pig for Valentine's Day. He's very happy with peanut butter and jelly on toast or bread or in a sandwich. I like to make a peanut butter oatmeal cookie with peanut butter chips. I think that has it all covered. Enjoy your day everyone! Karen

Good morning, I have 2 inches of snow with more falling so am staying put for the moment. I prepped DH yesterday that I might not make it in or I'd be late. The thing is we have snow but in Burlington, which is about 7 miles away, it's green grass and some rain! Mother Nature is having fun with us. DH is continuing to do well to come home on Friday. Yesterday he stood at the parallel bars for over two minutes a couple of times so that was good. Today I'll get some phone calls made, get the banking things taken care of (payday for my teacher's pension) and maybe bake some cookies. Karen

Good morning! It's a very cold (14F) but beautiful sunny morning here in my corner of the PNW. We had a skiff of snow a couple of days ago and some more is in the forecast. Hopefully it will be on the roof, grass and not on the road. DH gets to come home a week today! We did his Care Conference on Wednesday and he's made good progress. We're keeping him in for the extra time to build up stamina and work on consistency standing as well as work on his swallow. This particular bacteria that caused his UTI really knocked him for a loop. I've not seen him this impacted before from a UTI. At least we are within our Medicare days so that's a plus. Now off to get a few things done and then go spend the afternoon with him. Thank you everyone!! Karen

Good morning everyone, It's cloudy and grey out there but rain is in the forecast for later. We also have snow in the long-range forecast and I'm hoping Mother Nature is wrong! DH continues to make slow improvement. The last few days he's been brighter and doing more so hopefully he'll get home sooner than later. We have his Care Conference on Wednesday at 2:00 PM so should know more then. We're running short on Medicare days so hopefully he can be home before we have to start paying especially at $475.00/day. His roommate who coded on Valentine's Day and then came back didn't make it. The obituary is in today's paper and says he died on Feb. 14th. One of the nurses let me know yesterday he hadn't survived. I'll get a card off to his daughter in the next day or two. Life isn't very exciting here which is fine. Time with DH daily is at the top of the list. I go in before his lunch and come home at dinner. They now have his hallway patients eating in the dining room if they want to and I encourage him to do that for the socialization. He had salmon last night along with green beans, rice pilaf and spiced peaches for dessert. It looked delicious and he was digging in when I left. Have a good Sunday everyone! Karen PS: Chocolate Mint Duo KitKats - yum!

Good morning, It's a gloomy day here with clouds and rain in the forecast. Caregivers Day - I'll be taking in cookies and homemade Oreo Cookie fudge for DH's care people this morning. I keep them supplied with cookies when he's in there. Baking is my therapy but we don't need to eat it all! In addition his sister is coming up from north of Seattle for a visit today so we'll both enjoy seeing her. The last few days have been a lot less stressful and no news on his roommate at all. Wednesday he had wound care, a shower, OT, Speech, and PT so he was a tired guy. Yesterday was just PT and he did well on that. Keeping fingers crossed that he gets home before our Medicare days run out! Have a nice Friday! Karen

Good morning, Thanks for all for getting today's thread going and checking in. It's a lovely sunny morning here in our corner of the PNW but clouds are coming and rain for the weekend. DH is making progress. Yesterday he did well standing at the parallel bars and transferring to the wheelchair. Today is wound care for the heel and then speech for sure. We had a scary afternoon that had nothing to do with DH. His roommate wasn't doing well and the daughter had come in. We left to do PT and then wandered the building, sat in the foyer to enjoy the sun, and then went to the dessert buffet then headed back. When we got back his daughter was taking his belongings to the car and the EMTs came in minutes later to transport him to the hospital which is .5 miles away. They go to move him and he coded! We're behind the curtain separating the two bed (and by the window) with nowhere to go. The daughter came over and I gave her a big hug as they worked on him then she went back to give info, etc. They worked on him doing CPR, suctioning blood (he'd had an upper GI bleed) and no pulse at each check. DH and I are sitting silently hearing all this and just hoping and praying for the bed. 30+ minutes later they call the time of death and 30 seconds later, if that, he starts breathing on his own! They bundled him up, got him out of there, and I haven't heard anything since. The staff was so good. The nursing person, Mykel, knew we were stuck and came to check on us as did several others. DH understood some of what was going on. I was shaky but ok. The EMTs were amazing! The roommate was there due to hip replacement surgery and only arrived on Friday. Life takes such sudden turns, doesn't it? Karen

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Woke up to a skiff of snow this morning but it should melt off before I have to head in to see DH. Today is my niece's birthday so will stop at Starbucks and load her card with $20.00. She's in Canada so this is a quick and easy way to do it. Love books and the bookcase beside the bed is overflowing! Currently reading the Rhys Bowen "Her Royal Spyness" series and picking them up used on Amazon. Have the newest Alex Cross to get read as well. I like a Ferris wheel but it's been years but not fast carnival rides. DH is making progress and hopefully will be home before our Medicare days run out. He's got about 19 or so left. He's been standing in the parallel bars independently and even tried to walk the other day. Yesterday was speech and the coughing has pretty much stopped during eating so he has an exercise to work on. The speech therapist will see him again tomorrow. Sunday he was up in the wheelchair all day, enjoyed Super Bowl snacks, etc. so he was tired yesterday. I have an aviator stuffed pig for him for Valentines Day and I told him I didn't know what he was getting me yet but I'd figure it out! Have a good day! Karen

Good morning everyone! DH left the hospital yesterday morning and headed to the same rehab facility he was in October-December so it was old home week for him. He had a number of people welcoming him back. With his memory issues it's good he's in a familiar space. His brother stopped by for a visit as well. Hopefully this stay is only going to be a few weeks as he's already transferring from the bed to the wheelchair fairly well but has difficulty doing it in reverse. He's still on the weak side due to so much time in bed and the UTI knocked the stuffing out of him! On a positive note the facility was much more organized and on top of things yesterday. I signed the paperwork in a timely manner, they had the order for the bed cane and it will be on today (it took 10 days last stay), he has a room to himself at this point and he's by the window, so many good things. I even got a thank you note from the hospital nurses for all the cookies I baked them (I took them some every day!). Karen

Good morning, No showering with a friend and no jerks to dump here! DH is the first and he's a keeper. He's still in the hospital but the last couple of days I'm seeing some good improvement. Yesterday the hospitalist had a chat about going home and mentioned hospice but I've talked with our DS and just don't feel that's a place we want to go at the moment. I do understand where the hospitalist is coming from as DH is taking longer to bounce back - I don't have my rose-colored glasses on (I don't think so anyway). However, yesterday he was very talkative, ate by himself and finished everything, no shaky hands, asked for his hat to wear, talked to the respiratory therapist and nurses with a decent conversation, and was asking me about family and friends. I think this particular bacteria just took the "stuffing" out of him. Anyway, I plan to say no to hospice at this point and hopefully we can come up with a plan to have him home soon. Thanks for all who have asked and keep him in your thoughts. Now on to make snickerdoodles for the nursing staff! Karen

Good morning from a cloudy and soon to be rainy PNW. @dfish Thanks for checking. DH is still hospitalized but I should find out more today. Yesterday I got there and he was 'Nothing by mouth" because he'd coughed so much the night before at dinner. The hospitalist came in, we agreed DH should eat and we'd watch him, and a bit later lunch was delivered (chocolate pudding, peaches, egg salad, strawberry shake - think Ensure type, and thickened apple juice). He's still on one-to-one feed so the CNA did it for a while then I took over and DH handled it all pretty good. The pudding disappeared fast as did the egg salad, shake and apple juice. The peaches took a bit longer. We'll see what happens today. The options, at this point, are home or a "swing" bed program at the hospital where he'd do more therapy there. I'm all for that one. He did that last Spring and came out in great shape. Hopefully more news tonight! Karen

When I saw it was Spunky Old Broad day I thought of the commercials I've been seeing for the new movie out "80 for Brady.". Karen

Good morning, Heading in to see DH in a bit and get caught up with therapists, etc. He did well yesterday and his vocabulary and feistiness is definitely returning. He transferred from the bed to the wheelchair unassisted but needed help getting back. I'll take it! When our school got a copy machine we had boxes of old ditto masters. Not wanting to let anything go to waste I grabbed them and came up with a Halloween art project called "Spooky Pictures." The kids drew a spooky picture (not gory or graphic) on notebook paper then we paper clipped it to the ditto master, took out the brown sheet, and the kids traced over their picture using a lot of pressure so the ink transferred. We also had a discussion about the lettering being backwards. When they were done I ran the picture under the hot water tap in our classroom sink (I warned our custodian ahead of time) and the water made the ink run and bleed. When the pictures dried it looked like you were looking through a purple fog and then kids loved it! The custodians were ok with it and I told them to just leave the sink until we were done. The sink always cleaned up well. I had enough ditto masters to finish out my teaching career! Karen

Good morning, Thanks to everyone who keeps this thread going. It's snowing at the moment in my area of the PNW but it is lightening up. I've called the hospital to let them know I may be a bit later than normal. It's supposed to warm up in the next hour or two. DH is continuing his progress. He moved up to the next level in food after the swallow test yesterday so that's good. He also, during PT, sat up on his own and dangled his legs over the bed. He had great body control so that was good to see. I'm to bring in his shoes today when I go in. He's also a bit on the ornery side, which is unlike him, but that's ok. His heel wound is continuing to heal and I'm impressed with the coordination between the wound care center in Bellingham and our local hospital. Have a good day everyone! Off to take the oatmeal butterscotch cookies out of the oven and then get them ready to take in to the nurses. Karen

Good morning, It's a clear cold morning here in the PNW and I'm not moving as quickly this morning. I love puzzles - crossword, word find, sudoku, and jigsaw are all on my "to-do" list. I have about 30 jigsaw puzzles backed up at the moment. My mom and sisters do them (they are in Canada) then I get them. Even though I'm retired I just don't seem to have the time that they do. Oh well. DH update - he was somewhat better yesterday but it's slow progress. The UTI isn't MRSA so that's good news. It's a more common bacteria and easily treatable. He has some of his swallow reflex back so is eating pureed foods and they start him with dessert at meals which he loves. He's eating everything they feed him. Monday another swallow test will be done and we'll see where we go from there. Off to make some cookies for the nurses and then head into the hospital to sit with DH and needlework the afternoon away. @kazu, @rafinmd, and everyone who is in need - our thoughts are with you! Karen

Good morning, Roy @rafinmd - good choice to get help and get checked out. Our local department is wonderful! Jacqui @kazu hang in there - you are so cared for on these boards. Hope the healing continues without hiccups along the way. Bless your kind neighbors. DH update - Yesterday we found out that his UTI is not MRSA but a more common bacteria so he's now on ampicillin every 6 hours and they are watching as he's sensitive to the cillins. Yesterday morning he was talking a bit more but had failed his swallow test. By 4:00 PM the speech pathologist came back in to test again (she didn't want him to go all weekend without solid food if possible) and he passed for thick liquids. Yay! When I left they were feeding him chocolate pudding and he was not going to be interrupted with that. He has a sweet tooth. His speech is coming back slowly. The doctor thought he might come home tomorrow but I told him I thought he was being too optimistic. DH has been in bed since Tuesday and we need PT to make sure he can transfer from bed to wheelchair and back, we need him to be eating totally on his own and his speech needs to improve. We also need an extra day to get transport home for him arranged. I'm thinking Monday or Tuesday. Thanks for listening/reading everyone! Karen

Good morning! Spouses Day - well mine is adding grey hair to my head. He was doing very well this past week. Up, cheery, wandering around in the wheelchair and getting into things, reading his Railroad magazines and his bird ones, etc. Pretty normal for this 82-year-old, memory challenged, deep tissue injury guy. Tuesday he wasn't himself and he slept a good part of the day. Didn't worry me too much as that happens sometimes if he overdoes things. He could talk to me, tell me his name, etc.Tuesday night he claimed the entire bed by sleeping sideways so I got the couch. First time for that. Yesterday morning he was waking up well and he wasn't talking to me. I called our doctor's office and talked to the nurse and talked to the nurse who comes for the wound care and both agreed to call 911 so 10 minutes later our local fire people were here and a bit later DH was carted off to the local hospital where he is now in a room by himself and getting excellent care. His UTI he had a few weeks ago grew MRSA and he had a week's course of sulfa drug for it. Well, the thought is that wasn't long enough and the MRSA has reared it's ugly head and come back as he definitely has a recurrence of the UTI. Fortunately there were beds available and I didn't have to fight to have them keep him. Now we wait until the culture percolates and. go from there. He's in good hands and I'll be heading in by 11:00 or so to have the afternoon with him at the hospital, speak with doctors, etc. and work on my counted cross stitch. Karen

I'm here.