CAREGIVER NOTE:
He was dressed, alert, lucid and coherent and raring to go yesterday. He’s not eating or swallowing food right now. His diet was changed and we’ll see where things go from there. He’s pretty much asserting his desire to be independent – He still can’t put much weight on his left side, but hopefully, he’ll do the work with the therapists so he’ll have some independence when he does come home in a few weeks.

POSITIVES:
Briefly caught a glance of his sense of humor

Hang in there because you are surrounded by many who care.

CAREGIVER NOTE:
Yesterday was a difficult day. He had just a couple of lucid moments during the time I was there. We’re pretty sure that it is from a combination of things and hopefully, today will be a much better day overall. His thoughts ranged from being a pilot, his brothers, cats to cabbages. At one point he was naming all the red veggies and how he wanted some pickled beets. He attempted to pick the cabbages at his feet, but couldn’t quite reach them.

It was a day to talk to all the providers and a couple of new ones. We’ll be talking more today as the plan for rehab and follow on continues. We had introductory talks yesterday and I have to go to the Pallliative Care office this morning before spending the day with him. Hopefully they’ll begin cutting back on the pain meds a bit and OT and PT will have more success today than yesterday.

POSITIVES
No restraints through the day
He was happy for most of the day
He ate well for dinner – not so much for lunch, though.
He did have a slightly greater intake of liquids throughout the day… preferring his Dr Pepper for sure!

CAREGIVER NOTES:
The rice bag was a good help yesterday, not heavy enough to put much pressure on his rib area, but enough to bring some comfort with the warmth and help of a tylenol. He did drink more liquids, but not quite enough to keep the dizzies away. Let’s hope today is a better day in that realm.

The bathroom sink was plugged up again late last evening. At least things didn’t flow over onto the floor and down into the basement. YAY! Easy fix, so everything was put back to rights in about 10 minutes and after another change in underwear, he was ready to go back to bed.


POSITIVES:
He was in good spirits for most of the day
He ate well
He tried to be helpful

There is beauty in hard things…

CAREGIVER NOTE:

He had a difficult afternoon into early evening. He kept saying he was sick but not what was wrong or why he felt sick. He didn’t want any family help or outside help. He got very angry and was slamming doors and then leaving the house (thankfully, through the back door and not the front). He wasn’t able to unlock the fence gates and leave the yard. He wanted the keys to the truck and was very mad that I wouldn’t give them to him. He hasn’t had an episode like this for several months. Once he’d settled down, we both apologized — as I hadn’t handled it like I should have either. We looked back at the last couple of days and kind of figured out what might have been going on. He’s still not willing to go to the dr or to Urgent Care. However, he was willing to try a couple of things that might make him feel better.

LATER: We were able to watch one of the shows he really likes (Finding Your Roots) because he’s hoping he’ll find an idea that will open the window or door to finding the links to his great-grandfather and beyond on his paternal line. We’ve been at a standstill on that line for as long as I can remember and even a paid genealogist hasn’t been able to find some additional hints or leads for the family. It was a good episode, however, no no ideas came to light for either of us.

POSITIVES:
He found some quiet reflection time after the outburst.
He was willing to try some easy on the tummy foods for dinner and drink some Gator-ade since he was pretty dehydrated.
He was able to share his feelings without being angry — and tell us a little more about why he was so angry earlier.
He has slept without interruption all night Tuesday.

Share a hug today with someone you love today.

CAREGIVER NOTES:
He tried to pay rent by handing me a stack of underwear. Not sure where that came from, but he was worried about making sure he was contributing to his care.

He was living in the past for most of the day and into the evening.