I think we all need to keep hospital kits in our cars. Blankets, pillows, a comfortable chair and a packet of Dad's papers so we have all his information at the ready. Yep, he fell again. This time some Einstein at Airforce Village had sent him to COUNTY hospital. This is the first time I've ever been out there. It's out in the middle of Shitsville, USA.
I was at school this evening and I had forgotten my cell phone. When I got home Paige told me that Dad had fallen and I should call Drew. I couldn't get ahold of him so I called Mindy. She was pretty mad about the whole county hospital thing. We couldn't reach Drew so I decided to drive out there. Dad was still in the emergency room, Drew was with him. Dad was all hands, trying to pull out his IV and take off his stickers and stuff. I stepped in and took ahold of one of his hands. Drew said he'd been a little combative and agitated. Pretty soon after I got there they gave him some Atavan. It calmed him a little but Dad is so good at fighting through sedatives it didn't do that much. We still had to hold onto his hands. After talking about it a while we decided that I should go home and relieve Drew at 5 tomorrow morning. So here I am. I'm going to bed soon.
So, I guess what happened is Dad tried to walk and fell down. They had done a CAT scan on him at the hospital but they were waiting for someone to read it. They don't know if he hit his head when he fell. They suspect yes. I didn't get a look at him but Drew said he has some new bruises.
Man, this sucks. I don't know why I still have this fantasy that the professionals we've hired are actually competent enough to handle this very common Alzheimer's behavior. Silly me.
Ok, update...
Drew just called. They're releasing him. Drew's going to take him back to Airforce and put him to bed. I hope he tells them to give Dad a sleeping pill. Whew! I can sleep in.
Ok, to bed.
6 comments:
Jeez Oh Pete. I really DON'T get how there doesn't seem to be any facility that can care for him.
Well if this is all BRAND-SPANKIN' NEW to them, I'm surprised they don't put him in special state-of-the-art studies and medical trials and write journal articles about him and get famous.
-dean
Y'know, I EXPECT Dad to fall. You can't keep him in bed all the time. I just don't understand why THEY don't understand about his meds. And I really don't understand why they sent him to county. They didn't call Drew until after they already transported him. It wasn't a big emergency. He fell and then said he had pain. What's the big rush? They couldn't call someone before sending Dad to the hospital?
I do think they should have called but I also think it's better to get him loaded up and on his way asap. Since he can't really communicate right and he might have his his head they pretty much have to treat it as an emergency.
I would imagine if he had hit his head and either died or was seriously injured it would cause them BIG troubles.
Ya better put down explicit instructions to send him elsewhere otherwise they'll send him to county again.
At this point if Dad fell and hit his head and died I think we'd all be pretty much ok with it. Of course, they don't know that and that's not the kind of thing you can say to just anyone. Saying "I hope he dies" sounds pretty cold and unloving but at this point it would be blessed relief- for HIM.
I called there when I got home from work. They said he fell again today but he's doing fine. The woman I talked to said she thinks they're starting to get to know him and they're learning how to deal with him. Um, ok.
I did arts and crafts at work today. Wheee! Actually, it was a little bit if a challenge. I had to do artsy stuff using only my limited knowledge of Word. I was so happy when I finally printed it out and could get down to using glue and a cutting blade. Dr. Monica was pleased and that's all that matters.
LOL, I know tht and you know that but the peeps at the village don't. Or they might "know" it but it's so polically incorrect they'd never say it aloud.
You got to do art and crafts? Wheeeeeeee! I got to clean up my desk. Not the same.
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