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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