Dad Is Doing Better, Sort of

Like yesterday, Curtis took the morning shift and I came in around lunch time. On my way in I walked past the espresso stand in the patio lobby, which is closed on the weekends and in the evening. Here's one of their signs which I can't usually see when they are open.


Curtis said when he arrived this morning Dad was sleeping and he continued to sleep for most of the day; he apparently had less pain so he could sleep more. He also did not pull the IV line out last night; it might be because of the stretch gauze sheath that Nurse Gary put on his hand and forearm yesterday.

Shortly after I arrived, Nurses Aide Cristi needed to give Dad a bed bath so we left and went to the Sunrise Cafe for lunch. Curtis tried the Pork with Won Bok and I tried the Beef and Ulu Stew. They were both good. I am glad to see them using more locally-sourced food that is also culturally relevant.

Pork with Bok Choy and extra vegetables instead of rice.

Beef & Ulu Stew with extra vegetables instead of rice.

Dr. Chawla came by after lunch. Dad's white blood cell count has gone down but is still high so the intravenous Vancomycin and Zosyn are helping. She said Dad's leg is also less warm and less red. Tomorrow she is having a physical therapist work with Dad to start getting his leg strength back.

Dad's appetite has been small, even for him. We decided to give him the same type of meal each day; since he has dementia he won't remember that he ate it the day before. We're ordering the things we know he likes. Since he likes ice cream, Nurses Aide Cristi suggested giving him Magic Cup, an ice cream-like product with a higher protein content. I asked Dr. Chawla when she came by, she concurred and has prescribed it for him; I ordered it with his dinner and am also going to order it with his lunches.

Clockwise from silverware: beef stew, dinner roll, lemon wedge, Magic Cup, ice, and iced tea.

One of the nice thing about meals is that we can pre-order them. I call in between 9 and 11 to pre-order lunch and between 1 and 4 to pre-order dinner and breakfast for the following morning. Since we have settled on a menu, it makes it really easy to set up his meals; and I don't have to try to be coherent so early in the morning!

Dr. Chawla also came by after dinner. She said Dad's CT scan of his abdomen showed that he has an aortic aneurysm. Due to his age, surgery to correct the aneurysm is containdicated. His blood pressure has not been an issue and that is helpful since high blood pressure would put a strain on the weakened part of the aorta and likely cause a rupture. One of the important things this brought to light is that we have not been able to find Dad's advanced directives paperwork. We know that he and Mom filled the paperwork out together; both did not want to be resuscitated. The Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) needs to be filled out by both Dad and his doctor; I was going to do it with Dr. Nakano on Dad's next visit. However, with this new development we are going to do it tomorrow with Dr. Chawla since right now his records say to do everything possible to keep him alive and we know that's not what he wants.

Happy Birthday to Deanna, Melody, & Clarissa!