Saturday

Nancy and I accompanied Mom and Dad to the doctor Friday. This was the first visit to his primary care physician since the hospitalization. Dad was glad to see him and they had a lot to talk about. Dad related the medical maze he had been through and the doc gave us a run down on the evolution of how hospitalist came to be and why the doctors in his clinic stopped making hospital rounds. Apparently the administrators are trying to monopolize medical care by recruiting doctors away from clinics and making life miserable for doctors who just want to hang out a shingle and maintain a loyal patient population. So he and his colleagues told the local administrator to take a flying leap.

The doc had familiarized himself with Dads file and basically told Dad that someone was looking out for him. He checked Dad out, found his BP low (which was perfect 10 minutes earlier when his nurse took it). He went through the pharm farm Dad has been cultivating and made some adjustments to his diuretic; Dad is still somewhat dehydrated. He encouraged Dad to eat as much as possible to encourage his body's attempt to repair itself...a lot remodeling is taking place all at once. He told us he would be in contact with the pulmonologist on the BOOP issue and tapering the steroid treatment. He spent about 20 minutes with us which was refreshing and made Dad feel good. Dad asked him if he really needed to see the other doctors and much to his chagrin he said yes. Just before we left, Dad told him that early on, when there was some doubt as to the outcome, there were some folks that came to his mind that he wanted to express his appreciation to for all they had done for him through the years, and he was one of them. I think the doc was touched. 

We got Dad home and Nancy went to get lunch for them and I went to work. Sister Cindy was expected around 1. I had a late night and didn't get a chance to check in on them before bedtime.

Today was cockeyed for me, Friday the 13th on Saturday. By the time I had time to call Mom and Dad, Cindy had left, so I didn't even get to see her. Mom said that Dad had slept in until around 9:30 and probably would have slept longer but the weekend nurse called and wanted to come by. I asked if he had done any exercise and she said that he had done some. I reminded her to feed and water him good and she had already measured out a good quantity of  water and juice for him to drink for the day. She was also making him a high protein shake to drink in between meals. I think they are getting the hang of home life again. If I can get some recipes together, I may try to get Mom some help in preparing meals. I think the care and feeding is keeping her engaged but it is a little overwhelming at this point. 

I am looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow. 

God is good!