12-12-12 Dad's on the mend!

Not at Longhorn Village anymore ..

Dad was 'released' on Tuesday to continue to heal on his own ... away from the skilled nursing facility.  He no longer needs intense wound care for his foot.  His foot is not completely healed though.  He still has a standing appointment at the Wound Care Center in Cedar Park so he is staying close.  In an effort to keep an eye on his progress, I have him staying at my house.. with 2 teenagers, one husband, a  caretaking mother-in-law, a needy dog, and Me!  It's quite a combination and I don't know how long I can keep it all in balance.

Today...

... we meet with a Home Health Care provider, which Medicare part B covers at 100% while needed.  (whew!)  I've been noting all that dad can and cannot do so hopefully they can kick in with some good help. He really wants to go back to Gonzo soon, but I need to assess how he gets around before I can think about  that move.  I know we have lots of "rules" around our house with so many people living in it, and that may drive him crazy enough to get stable sooner than later.  I need to know that he can make meals, keep up with  his meds and insulin, keep himself and his area clean and keep from getting injured again.  The Home Health Care will transfer to Gonzo so that is a big help.

Just keeping you informed with changes.  Hope all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Love,
Amber

End of September Report

Back in the Hospital

Dad was checked back into the hospital on Thursday, Sept 27th, by his podiatrist  Dr. Jon Smedley.  During his stay at Longhorn Village skilled nursing facility, he was healing but at a slow pace.  After 2 weeks of hyperbaric treatment and a wound vac and 3 different antibiotics, the podiatrist was not happy with the way the wound looked on the bottom of his foot.  There was a part that looked worse, while most was healing.  He ordered an MRI and more cultures and found that his 5th toe (pinky) had infection in the bone that was not there the week before.  Puzzling.  So, Dr. Smedley felt he needed to be extremely aggressive and get Dad in the hospital on a drip IV with a stronger antibiotic, and then remove the bone on the 5th toe, possibly the 4th toe aswell.

Surgery 

Dad went in for the procedure Saturday morning early, and the podiatrist removed the bone in the 5th toe, but left the 4th toe alone, since he didn't see any infection there.  He will be in the hospital through the weekend, and possibly Monday / Tuesday.

Change of venue...

Feel free to call him.  He is at Cedar Park Regional Hospital, (in Cedar Park :).. Room 2205.  I know he is resting most of today, but Sunday will be up for a call from family & friends.

He is tired of feeling tired, poked and cut on... ready to be healed.

Keep him in your prayers.

Love to all!

Tuesday, Sept. 4th

Long Pause

Sorry to have taken so long to get information out.  Moving Dad and a Holiday Weekend to follow, makes for a very long weekend!

So, Dad is in Longhorn Village and you can reach him at 512.992.0283.  

This rings directly into his room and he will most likely answer on speaker phone.

• Check it out at http://www.longhornvillage.com/health   He is in Casa Mesquite.  
• His cell phone is irritating him and I think it's just too small to operate.  So call the room number to chat.   He moved in on Thursday evening of last week.  Friday was an adjustment day.   I took his clothes and other needs, along with Rosie, to his room.  She is actually doing really well with him and all the aides and nurses really like her company.  (Thank Goodness for that!!)

Looking Better

Dad is definitely looking better.  He has a large wound in the bottom of his foot still, with a wound vac attached.  We have mostly been prodding the staff along on staying in touch with all entities involved in dad's healing.  The endocrinologist has to approve the insulin dosage, the podiatrist has to  prescribe 'wound care' at the Wound Care Center, then we make arrangements to get dad ready and travelling to that center.  It's an intricately woven plan and challenging keeping all the people in the loop that need to participate.  Poor dad treats me like a secretary and I had to tell him today (in no uncertain terms) that I can work for him on MY time but keeping the 4 other people in my life organized was a real challenge as well.  He has the ability to make calls and receive them so I needed him to start calling whoever he felt he needed to talk to and schedule a few things for himself, instead of griping to me and trying to get me to pounce!  This tells me he is thinking pretty clearly too.

Feel free to email and ask any questions I have not answered.  Call or text me if you need to..  512 569 9617

Love to all!
Amber

Wednesday, August 29

Regular Day Recovering

I'm currently at the hospital w/Dad.  We ate lunch together and I got to meet with his "infectious disease" doctor.  (I didn't know he had one of those OR needed one... but evidently he does with this type of infection.!!)  He said he has "Cellulitus" so that's why that doctor is involved.  She said she works directly with his Foot Doc, Dr. Smedley.  They are changing his antibiotic to keeflex or one of those types, since he is allergic to penicillin and all. 

It does NOT sound like he will be released in the early hours of tomorrow, but it could be tomorrow afternoon or Friday.  My bet is that BY FRIDAY he will be released if they feel the infection is under control because hospitals are known for releasing on Friday for some reason.  Of course, if he still needs to show better progress they will keep him.. its just the feeling I get from speaking with all the staff.

Thanks for your Prayers!

Dad is doing better.  Keep him in your prayers... 

Tuesday, August 28

Better Day

Dad with his "Tough Guy" look

I visited with Dad today for about an hour.  I found him sitting in his chair, bright eyed and talkative.  

He had a procedure Monday evening to clean out his wound and eliminate any infected cells.  The procedure went really well and he has a "wound-vac" attached to his foot to keep his foot completely clean.  The 

redness in his leg has diminished greatly so dad is feeling much more upbeat about his recovery.  Even the swelling of his leg looks tons better.

In the picture you can see the tube coming out from his bandages.. that's the "wound vac"

Message from Dad

Release Date

I have placement arranged for him at Longhorn Village in my neighborhood.  All kinds of plans have to fall into place in one day to make this happen.  I have yet to speak to the foot doctor who is in control of when he is released.  The nurses seem to think it will be tomorrow, but I'm betting Thursday so they can measure progress and decide whether to keep the wound vac in place.  It's not real common to have a wound vac when transitioning.  

Feel free to call him.  341 1000, rm 210.

Nite!

Sunday, August 26

On HOLD..

I went to the hospital early today and could not stay long.  Dad had just had a shower and was working on using upper body strength to maneuver across the room and lower himself into a chair.  He does take the path of least resistance so the Occupational Therapist has his work cut out for him. :)
Dad had the foot wound wrapped up so I didn't get to see it, but when I was talking with him about getting released, and I thought it might be tomorrow (Monday), the therapist shook his head and said he really doubted he'd be going anywhere before Tuesday.  I really hope to talk w/a doctor or two tomorrow to get more details.  His release date is To Be Determined...

Uncertainty tonight

I had spoken w/Sue earlier in the day and she said dad got irritated quickly while they were talking.  It was a little nonsense issue, but he was quick to elevate.   So, I called dad tonight on the hospital phone when I got back home.  It was about 8:30. He had been frustrated that his cell phone wasn't working correctly... I told him I would call his cell and we'd check it out.  Once he answered and heard me on the other end, and I could hear him fine... he realized his phone was working just fine.  But the rest of our conversation was disjointed.  I asked him if he was tired.. he said yes,.. he'd been through some therapy and he was tired.  I heard a nurse in there and she said his temperature was 100.2.. he had not had anything over 98.7 since he'd been in there so that does not make me feel good.  I will check on that tomorrow too.

Feel free to call him

You can google the hospital:  St. Davids Round Rock, he's in room 210.  If you call his cell, it automatically answers on the 3rd ring so if he doesn't have it connected to him, you will hear what is going on in the room. You can either hang up and call the room, or just listen in and giggle ??

Nite!

Saturday, August 25

Dad's Getting Bossy :)

I went to the hospital Friday morning and found Dad sitting in a chair eating breakfast.  That's a huge improvement because he was not able to move around much the day before.  Just having the schedule and care has made him much more awake and responsive.  That's how it is for any of us, but dad has never been extremely regimented about his own care so this schedule has helped.  I also thing the distribution of his medications being so scheduled has helped his system.  I spoke w/the Diabetic Specialist from the hospital and she said his maintenance of his diabetes has been good.  This surprised me, but she said to keep doing as he has been doing.  She also said I could ask for a prescription for a Pen that will load the dose he needs by dialing (clicking) so he won't have to hope he's hitting the right mark when he is loading the syringe.  I'm checking into that.  I know he is feeling better because he continues to call my cell and tell me things I need to pick up and bring to him, or how I need to get on the staff there to have the doctor come back to go over an issue or two.  He didn't have this kind of "sass" Thursday!

Infection on his Foot

Today dad told be the Podiatrist came by and let him know they found a piece of glass in his foot which most likely caused the start of the infection.  He was relieved to know an external item caused it.  He kept wondering what he had done to cause such a wound and could not figure it out.   The glass knowledge really helped him to know he may "snap back"...  He says he has HOPE.  That's really good and makes me happy too.

UTI

Once he has seen the antibiotics through for the UTI, then I'll better know if he can make it to the bathroom on his own w/o dizziness or fear of losing control.  Not sure how much he can regain... but I really hope the dizziness is gone.

Short - term Future

I checked out the Longhorn Village in my neighborhood (Steiner Ranch) and it really nice.  The hospital sent admission papers over to them to receive him Monday or whenever he is released.  My friend is the admissions person and she said there are open rooms and it should work out great!  They have around the clock care and are very social so I think dad will be quite pleased to recover and rehab there.  We will have 20 days so that give me time to see how he progresses to know what the next step will me.

Feel Free to call

He has his cell phone attached to him so if you want to call him I'm sure he'd be glad to talk a moment.  

Thursday, August 23

I know some are wondering what is going on with Dad so I created this very basic blog to help update if you are wondering about the latest news.  I am not a "blogger" so don't look for a witty recount of events on the day... just what information I can remember.. :)

From Monday to Today...

When I spoke w/Dad on Monday he was in Gonzales and had called the EMS to transport him to the hospital because he could not get up off the couch.  He said he just didn't have the capacity to rise or move but he didn't know why.  He was very disjointed in his conversation and seemed unable to continue a thought on the phone.  

He was released later that afternoon from the Gonzales Hospital and somehow made it home w/a prescription.  I did talk to him and while he sounded better.  He said he was diagnosed w/a Urinary Tract Infection and had been give a major dose of antibiotics, and a prescription to be continued at home.

On Tuesday, I went to get him to bring him to my house in Austin to make sure he was healing and eating properly.  When I arrived, it as obvious he could not have been taking care of himself.  I got his things together and in getting his shoes on, noticed a large spot on the bottom of his boot that appeared to be infected.  I also saw that his leg was red and swollen almost to his knee.  Worried me but didn't want him to stay in Gonzo!  We got to Austin in the late evening and I got dad as settled as I could to rest.  Clearly he cannot maintain himself right now.  He is not at all stable to even walk.

Wednesday morning I took him to Round Rock St. Davids Hospital emergency room.  They saw him immediately and quickly determined the infection was pretty bad and had been festering a while.  They were very confused as to why the Gonzales Hospital let him go.   I'm just glad he's where he is right now.  They are very thorough.  

They drained the spot on his foot and are continuing to drain it.  The redness is receding and the swelling went down immediately.  He is on a strong antibiotic and is being well cared for.  I will meet with the doctor today to learn what is determined for the near future.  I know they said they were keeping him for at least 3 days but they may need to keep him longer.  I'll know more Friday.

The Plan 

I am learning how Medicare works slowly and it's overwhelming.  I have a few informed friends in my circle who have worked in the administrative roles for Assisted Care and nursing home facilites.  I should be talking w/an appointed Case Worker soon too to help guide me in the options for dads care.  I believe Medicare covers his stay in the hospital.  Since he will be in there for 3+ nights, I also understand his transport to a care facility of our choosing, and the first 20 days will also be covered.  Whew!  That helps for now because I cannot maneuver him at all, and he cannot be on his own!

I have to check into many facets of this issue today so there may be big revisions in my plan.  Who knows?! One of the good things is that our neighborhood has a really nice care facility w/all levels of care... he would be right down the street.  He would also have very attentive nurses and caregivers, as well as me doing what he needs.  Plus, Rosie would be happy there too.

Wrap up for today

Dad is a bit miserable because the doctors have taken him off certain meds and I think he might be detoxing alittle.  He isn't getting everything he WANTS but everything he NEEDS right now.  If you call him, you have to give him a moment to get everything in order to be able to talk... it seems he is moving at a glacial pace, but he is making good effort to move himself around as needed.  I will be in to see him Friday morning and hopefully get more details.

He is at St. Davids in Round Rock in room 210.

Website if needed:

http://www.stdavids.com/locations-facilities/round-rock-medical-center.aspx