Dad Sleeping More Today

Dad refused to get out of bed today to do his physical therapy; PT Kevin even came by twice to ask him if he wanted to do PT. I think Kevin should just tell him that he needs to do it; he shouldn't try to reason with Dad since the dementia gets in the way. Dad said he just wants to sleep; but that's his normal activity.


Since Dad was complaining about being sore no matter which side they put him on, Dr. Kim put in an order for a cardio chair & Lift Team. They picked Dad up and put him in the chair, strapping him in so he couldn't fall out of it, and set him up in the room. They did't ask him, they just did it. They said we could wheel him around in it; may be we'll try that tomorrow. For tonight, they want him to sit in it for about an hour. Besides relieving pressure points it will also reduce his chance of getting pneumonia; he went to sleep in it.

I spoke with Dr. Kim more about Dad's prognosis. She said the Vancomycin & Zosyn antibiotics he is on are usually given for 2 weeks. Whether they use others will depend on whether they culture anything from his blood. They are doing a 2nd culture since they got nothing from the first one and he still has an elevated white blood cell count. Dr. Kim said they are transitioning him to oral antibiotics so that he can be released to a rehab center. They have also taken him off of the IV fentanyl and are transitioning him to oral oxycodone for the same reason.

I missed that call from the VA this morning; my phone was on the charger in a different room. I called back & left a message; looks like I'll have to wait until tomorrow. I also spoke with Flo today; in order to be able to transition Dad to a rehab center we have to have a long-term plan for when the 1 or 2 weeks of rehab are completed. I had thought that the only option available if he still needed assistance was an assisted living home but that's not true; he could come back home and have paid caregivers coming to the house. So that is what I will be talking to the VA about too.

We filled out Dad's Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) based on what was in the Living Will he signed in 1992 and the Advance Health Care Directive he signed last year. Aileen, the Medical Social Worker on duty today (she's Jodi's co-worker), helped us get the required doctor's signature. The POLST is now in Dad's medical file at Kaiser; a copy will be put on the refrigerator at home so any first responders that come to the house will know what his wishes are. And when he goes to rehab or assisted living a copy will go there as well. 

For lunch today I tried the Misoyaki Salmon; I would order this again. They gave a generous sized portion, it looked like more than 1 serving to me.

Misoyaki salmon with brown rice & corn niblets.

Today Dad only ate the Magic Cup and ice cream; he pretty much left everything else untouched. I'm glad they have the Magic Cup so that he is getting at least a little bit of balanced nutrition.

Yum!

Apparently at night Dad has been pulling out the IV line. The last 2 nights they have had someone in the room after we leave to stop him from pulling the line out. Today they are trying something different since he does not have to have fluids this evening; they are covering the port with gauze so he doesn't see it.

After reading yesterday's post I decided I needed to get better photos of the signs about the Kaiser Permanente organization so you can learn more about where Dad has been staying these past few days . I did that on my walk today. There are 15 photos  so I'm going to post them over 3 days. Enjoy!

I remember going to this facility in grade school when we first started at Kaiser.

I got a call from Patrick this evening; he's Sam's replacement at the Hawai'i Wildlife Center. There is a young manu-o-ku that needs a ride to the airport tomorrow morning. I will be able to fit it in before I go to the hospital to spend time with Dad.