Tonight I am exceedingly frustrated. I had decided that I needed to focus on what I need to get done, and trust Dad's care to the medical people where he is. He moved to a nursing home for rehab yesterday, and I had been trying to call him all day, as had my siblings. Sister went to visit him after work, and he was sitting there holding his new cell phone, totally unaware of the fact that he had 11 missed calls. He couldn't hear the ring tone. So Sister changed the ring tone for him.
When he left the hospital, they said he was still dehydrated, and so they didn't start him back on a diuretic. Yet in the week 8 days since he went into the hospital, he has gained 26 lbs. Somehow, I don't think he's dehydrated any more. I do think he is in congestive heart failure again. Sister is trying to figure out who she can get to address our concern. I'm so frustrated by their inability to find the balance that keeps his heart and kidneys working effectively. I'm also frustrated by their dismissal of our concerns.
Tonight it is very hard to stay down here and trust that they will address our concerns. Tonight, I want to go up there and shake the medical people and tell them to pay attention. Sister and Brother will deal with it. I trust them. I'm also very frustrated by the fact that this is an ongoing issue that never seems to be resolved. We've already changed doctors once (he had over 60 lbs of excess fluid on him and they were still insisting there wasn't a problem). At this point, it's probably only 15 lbs, but it needs to be addressed now, before it kills him.
But now I need to put that aside and focus on the Christmas decorating that needs to get done tonight. I have a young couple coming over tomorrow night for premarital counseling, so I need to have the living room put back together by then. I will stick to my plans, but it won't be easy.
2 comments:
I hope your dad gets his addressed before he backslides. Sounds very stressful, especially this time of the year, and with everything else you have going on.
Torina,
Thanks, I talked to Dad this evening. Now that he has a ring tone he can hear, he answers his phone. I told him he needed to ask about this. Sister plans to make some phone calls tomorrow. She's also going to talk to Brother about it. With all three of them on it, they should be able to find someone to listen. Dad was in this same nursing home for rehab last spring, and he has been a celebrity today, with all the staff coming in to greet him and welcome him back. They think he'll be ready to go home in a couple of weeks, which was good news.
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