Transfusion #18

Mom's x-ray results showed she had a hairline fracture of her 6th rib on the left side. The radiologist also said she had a small dark area on her right lung that could be pneumonia. Dr. Fujiwara said he didn't hear anything in her lungs so he did not think she had pneumonia; I told him when Dr. Pham checked earlier in the day she also said Mom's lungs sounded clear. As a precaution he arranged for Nurse Emily to come & teach Mom how to use the incentive spirometer to exercise her lungs to prevent her from getting pneumonia. She needs to do 10 reps of the inhalation exercise every hour while she is awake. So now every hour she asks me why she has to do that.

Mom practicing her deep breathing.

We left the ER about 1:30 a.m. Unlike my early morning drive home after taking Dad to the ER, there were other cars on the road. There were 3 cars on the freeway when we got on and 2 stayed with us most of the way. The only weird thing was some of the lights along the freeway were flickering a lot; if they had been like that the other morning it would have really felt like the Twilight Zone! Curtis was asleep when we got home. And he did not leave the key outside for me so I had to call and wake him up. Dad was up, too; he had walked out to the family room with the aid of Mom's walker. After getting the scoop on Mom, everyone went to sleep. Except Mom. I had to keep chasing her back to her room and tell her to go to sleep for the next half hour before she finally fell asleep.

Six o'clock in the morning came too quickly! It took a while to get Mom focused on changing her clothes and she could not remember why her ribs hurt. I finally did get her focused and we were able to make it out of the door on time.

Nurse Staci was Mom's main nurse today, with Nurses Jay & Susan assisting. And there were these guys with clipboards observing them, like they were being graded on their techniques. I asked Nurse Staci, she said they were being audited to see how the staff hangs the bags of blood.

Is there any other way to hang a bag of blood for a transfusion?

While at the ATC, I went to pick up a case of Boost Compact vanilla; one of the nutritional supplement options suggested by Wayde, the dietician, for Dad. I had called yesterday to make sure they had a case available; it was waiting for me at the Sunrise Cafe. Dad got the senior discount. I will be adding it to his milk in the evening; he says it is too sweet by itself. The Boost Compact has the same amount of nutrition in 4 ounces as Boost has in 8 ounces.


This is Curtis' 2nd day of retirement; he hasn't quite gotten in to it because he has been getting up early in the morning. He brought us lunch from Forty Niner Restaurant; he got garlic chicken and hamburger steak. And didn't have to rush back to work for a meeting.

L to R: garlic chicken with green salad, hamburger steak with rice and spaghetti salad.

Dad's leg is still hurting. Hopefully, the VA physical therapist will be able to help him tomorrow. I will be dropping Mom off at Aunty Judy's house while I take Dad to his appointment. Mom needs to have someone help her with her hourly breathing exercises. Even with the hourly repetition, the dementia makes it difficult for her to remember.

Happy Birthday to Sean & Jennifer! Happy 65th Anniversary to Doreen & Lem!