This morning at 6 o'clock I took Dad to Loma Linda for his cataract surgery. Everything went well. We have a follow-up appointment tomorrow morning. Then we have to put 3 different kinds of eyedrops into his eye 4 times a day. I don't know for how long yet. Getting over there 4 times a day is going to be a bit of a pain. Oh well.
Yesterday Stacey and I drove up to Ventura and met Dede and picked up Dad. Everything was pleasant until we got home. Something set him off. He was mad because I had Stacey drop us off at my house so I could get my camping gear out of the back of her car. He grumbled about the car being parked a little too close to the cactus which made it a little hard to get his stuff out. Then we had a tug of war over his medication. It was a weird, two minute drama that blew up in the driveway. Jim came out to help, saw what was happening and turned around and went back in. Jim is very smart. Later I went over to put Dad's eyedrops in and he acted like nothing happened. I guess for him, nothing did.
We had a great time at the river last weekend. There were definitely some highlights. This was the adult trip which meant most of the time we were in varying states of drunkeness. Things got burned. Oh yeah, it was fun.
I'm enjoying the David Allen book. Getting to the end now. I can't wait to jump in and whip this place into shape.
We got some rain! Last night up on Mt. Rubidoux it was so beautiful. The clouds were stormy looking. We got to the top just as the sun was going down. When we rounded a bend we could see this enormous rainbow that arched over Riverside. The clouds were red. The lights twinkled. Then the lightning started! It was a freaky, beautiful view.
Thursday I want to do nothing. Well, I want to walk, but that's it.
9 comments:
Well, we had the follow-up visit this morning. They said the surgery went well but Dad has some corneal edema which will take about a week to heal. We've got eye drops galore. One goes in twice a day, two that go in 4 times a day and one that goes in every 2 hours. Let me repeat that one. EVERY TWO HOURS. For a week!
Well, at least he's not fighting me to keep it all at his house. We actually had a pretty pleasant morning together. While we were there I made an appointment for him to see Dr. Griffin about his elbow. It's not swollen but it really bothers him. We'll see her on Monday. The next eye visit is Wednesday. I'm getting to know that VA hospital pretty well.
Every 2 hours including nightime? I never know if they mean around the clock or only during waking hours.
I wonder if his elbow is arthritis? Have you used an ice pack on it yet? Might be tennis elbow.
I don't think we need to do it all through the night. I do need to go over there and tape his eye shield on every night. It's going to be a poopy week.
His elbow thing is weird. Every once in a while it swells up huge. It's not tennis elbow. Could be arthritis. He bangs it occasionally which really irritates it. Ice does help.
I think it may be poor circulation in that arm.
Elbow is hot and red when it does? If so sounds like arthritis. Anti-inflammatories for that.
I have one finger that swells like I've been stung by a bee or something and then after a while it goes away. Hurts something awful while it's all swollen tho.
Grrr! The one-eyed sumbitch took off driving someplace tonight. I told him I was going to the grocery store and I could pick up anything he needed but he decided to go get dinner for himself. When I told him he's not supposed to drive he blew up at me.
When I went over there to put in his eye drops he asked me 3 times what they were. But oh yeah, he's fine driving with one eye and half a brain.
Hide the keys. Search high and low and just pretend you can't find them.
It's tempting.
He should have been seeing better already but he's got that swelling in his cornea. I think it's better today.
He's going to have to have the eye drops for a month, something they didn't explain to me yesterday. It will taper off week by week so it won't be quite as bad. But sheesh! Going over there every 2 hours sure eats up the day. This week is a total wash.
In the morning I go over there, do his glucose test, put in 4 different eyedrops (waiting about 4 minutes between each one), watch him take his meds and wrap his elbow in a brace. During this time he's grabbing at the eye drop boxes wanting to know what they're called and what they do. I don't friggin' know what they do! (Well, we looked them up so we sort of know what they do, but explaining it all over and over doesn't help because he forgets everything immediately.) I try to keep them in a certain order so I know which ones I've given him but he wants to paw at them and then gets mad at me when I try to keep them in order.
Then I go over several times a day to put the drops in. At night I do the last set of drops and then tape his eye shield on so he won't scratch himself in his sleep. Every time I do all this we have to have a big conversation about it. Sometimes he resists, saying there's nothing wrong with him.
Well, it will all taper off. I don't think he'll need to wear the eye shield after this week so it should all get easier. Doing all this stuff isn't so hard, it's the interaction with Dad that wears me out.
Post a Comment