Friday, August 19, 2005

We should know something soon

Well, it is already after 12 noon and we are still waiting for results of the barium swallow test he took this morning; they had no openings for yesterday. A nurse told me last night that they have to make sure "nothing got punctured" - it "wouldn't be pretty" if (liquids) started "leaking into his lungs" (!) They took him down around 7am and he did not get back to his room until after 8:30. It really seemed to take a lot out of him, and was very tired and crabby when he returned to his room. He did not want to talk about it - he said he did not know how it went.
I helped him again with his tube feeding this morning - the hospital gave us Nutren 2.0, instead of the Two Cal - I wish I would have known about Nutren 2.0 six weeks ago - it has 25 more calories than the Two Cal. He also had to have a chest x-ray this morning - I'm glad they brought the machine to his room, instead of him going downstairs again.

I sincerely feel sorry for anyone who goes in to the hospital, or whatever, without an advocate, especially if they are totally unable to discuss matters with the nurses & other staff. Please don't think I am patting myself on the back; I constantly question our decisions and myself about all that has happened in the last three months. I just have to tell myself we did what we thought was right at the time. I simply find it puzzling that I have to constantly remind everyone why he is here, that he cannot be left sleeping on a guerney in the bright sun, what medicines he needs, at what dose & what time. I brought a sheet with 8 or 9 Walgreens stickers on it so they would have his medication list in his file, yet I have to remind them that he needs his Reglan 30 minutes before he eats, or that he gets the Hydrocodone every three hours, etc. For example, he had a pain pill at 3:45 am yesterday before we left home, then, of course, it was several hours before he was in his room. I had talked to the nurse as soon as I found him in his room (read yesterday's post!) but it actually took Earl "complaining" (that's a nice word) to the resident so he could get his first pain medicine around 12:45. You would think, given the history, that they would have kept up his pain management schedule as much as possible, but it was not until I (retold) the entire story to the nurse and the resident, that they started giving the pain pills every three hours.
Anyway, enough of my ranting - I just can't wait to get home again.
Depending on the results of the swallow, hopefully good, Earl will get a lunch tray of clears, and then can go home. I hope to get on the road before the evening traffic.

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