Dad Starts PT

Supriya the physical therapist came to work with Dad this morning. She started him off with just sitting up in bed. Then she wanted to see how he did walking but he said his leg was too sore. So she  had him sit in a chair for an hour; the Lift Team helped him back to bed after the hour was up. For the rest of the time he is at the hospital, Supriya, or one of the other physical therapists, will work with Dad daily during the week and one day on the weekend. After he is discharged, Kaiser Home Health will come to the house and provide some PT. On Monday I will start checking to see how much PT the VA will provide for Dad; I also need to exchange his current walker for one that is narrower so Dad can get around the house easier.

PT Supriya helping Dad to sit at the edge of the bed.

Earlier in the morning Nurses Aide Cristi came by to take Dad's vital signs. His blood pressure was 129/73 mm Hg; a little higher than it has been but still OK. His temperature was normal, no fever.

Nurses Aide Cristi takes Dad's temperature.

After Dad ate breakfast I went to Sunrise Cafe to get a cup of hot tea; I got really cold sitting next to the window on this very overcast morning. Sunrise Cafe has a breakfast buffet; along with 2 types of scrambled eggs, there is also a potato medley with 2 types of sweet potatoes and regular potatoes (like the one at Koa Cafe), pork sausage links, regular bacon as well as turkey bacon, corned beef hash patties, and pancakes.

There's a corned beef hash patty under there.

Besides using locally sourced raw produce, one of the other things I like about Sunrise Cafe is their use of environmentally friendly products. Besides unbleached & recycled paper products, they have cup lids made of recycled materials and dispensers that give out a single utensil at a time so the others don't get contaminated by people with an infectious disease.

Utensil dispensers.

Cup lid.

I was here for the morning shift since Curtis & Lori had a morning meeting scheduled with their contractor. Unfortunately, the contractor had to reschedule; not sure when that will be. Curtis showed up a little before Dad had lunch. I cut up his hot turkey sandwich & opened up his vanilla ice cream; he ate about 4 or 5 bites of the sandwich, all of the ice cream, and all of the iced tea. We left for lunch after Dad took all his pills; we went to Sunrise Cafe again. Curtis had the Ginger Beef with extra vegetables; I had the Tofu with Onion Poke with extra vegetables. Curtis said the Ginger Beef was very good; next time I think I'll get the Ginger Beef.

Dad with his hot turkey sandwich.

Ginger Beef with steamed beans. (Photo by Curtis)

Tofu with Onion Poke and steamed beans.

We talked with Dr. Chawla after lunch about the Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST). I had previously looked through all of Mom's filing cabinets and couldn't find the copy of Dad's paperwork. Curtis reminded me that Mom had made a binder for each of them with medical paperwork; we decided to fill out the new POLST with Dr. Chawla tomorrow if I am unable to find the previous POLST. As fate would have it, I found Dad's binder; Mom also made one for Xander. I was unable to find the POLST in Dad's binder. But I did find Dad's 1992 Living Will (similar to the one Mom had with her POLST) in the file of legal paperwork that Rowen helped Mom & Dad with; it has all the information we need for the POLST. I also have copies of Dad's 2017 Advance Health-Care Directive and Dad's 2017 Authorization to Disclose Protected Health Information. I've already given them Dad's 2017 General Durable Power of Attorney.

Curtis noticed that paper cups at the Sunrise Cafe cost 30 cents; we figured out its because many people bring their own cups so the cost of coffee, tea, and soda from the machines is adjusted for that. These cups are from the Ikaika 'Ohana for Christmas, we're going to start using them while we are sitting with Dad.

There was a little bit of excitement across the street this afternoon; a car was pulled over by the side of the road and one of the passengers was standing outside of the car talking to an officer. There were 3 police cars surrounding the car. I'm not sure what it was about, but about 15 minutes after I noticed them, all the police cars left. The car they had surrounded (and its occupants) were still there; they left about 15 minutes after the police cars left.

The car they stopped is on the other side of the car on the left, there's another police car parked behind it.

Curtis said Dad had to be awakened for dinner. He ate some of the beef stew and the Magic Cup and seemed to be in good spirits.

(Photo by Curtis)

The cats have been wondering what's happening. Chibi has been sleeping at the corner of Dad's bed, facing the door; I think she's looking for Dad.

Chibi looking out the door last night.

Happy Birthday to Maria & Ratna!