Tuesday

Monday the nurse came and assisted Mom in organizing and tracking all of Dad's meds. She also looked at Dad's wound and changed the dressing as well as taking vitals and drawing blood for lab work for Dr appt. later this week.

The PT came and assessed Dad and "asked a ton of questions". She took a tour of the house to see what we are dealing with as far as barriers. Mom said that she was very helpful. She worked with Dad on walking and transferring in the home environment. She will be there every day that Dad does not have a Dr.s appt. this week.

I work on Monday nights but am only 2 to 3 minutes from the house and I have repeatedly told Mom and Dad to call me if they need anything. Monday night around 8 pm Dad got up to go to the bathroom with Mom assisting and his legs gave way after about 2 or 3 steps. He "crumpled" to the floor, with Mom hanging on to his belt. She probably kept him from hitting the floor hard thus the term crumpled vs fall. They were able to get him to the couch but because it is soft and low to the ground, he could not stand. Instead of calling me, (they were afraid I would hurt my ribs...another story) they called Nathan who was at the U of A library studying. It took him about 20 minutes to get there and he was able to get Dad up, to the bathroom and then to the bed. He had tried to call me but I had my phone on vibrate and didn't feel it. Needless to say, I was not happy with my "children". I scolded them and reinforced the fact that late in the day when he is not at his best, they have to be extra cautious in what they attempt. I have repeated the fact that the bedside commode is portable and late in the day it can be brought to him instead of risking rushing to it. If any of you prayed to keep Dad safe from harm last night, raise your hand(s), your prayers were answered. He didn't even get a bruise (so they say) which is remarkable with all the blood thinner he is on. I worry more about internal bleeding than a broken bone.

Thanks be to God who is good!

Today, they had a lot of visitors. Neighbors continue to do all the small things that make a HUGE difference. The nurse, aide, and the PT all came back today. The aide made suggestions concerning bathing and using other aids to help Dad stand up more easily. The PT worked Dad pretty hard, not only walking and standing but also started working Dad's upper body.

I could tell Dad had had a workout when I went by this evening. I reiterated the cautions and suggestions I had made yesterday. I offered to come assist when they were ready to go to bed but was rebuffed. They did promise to call "me" if they got into trouble but, I haven't gotten a call tonight so I guess, unless they called Nathan, they managed to make it to bed without incident.

Jamie III is coming back tomorrow to make the cardiac surgeon visit at 3 pm. I will probably let them handle it and try to take a full day off (it is hard to let go of your kids).

Luke.7
[31] "To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like?
[32] They are like children sitting in the market place and calling to one another, `We piped to you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not weep.'
[35] Yet wisdom is justified by all her children."

Don't you hate it when you pipe your heart out and nobody dances?

I would quote the Proverb about train up a child, but I am afraid that it would say more about me than it does about them, they are stubborn.

Ps.81
[12] So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,to follow their own counsels.

God is good!


P.S. One of the features of a blog is that you can subscribe to it and any time it is updated, you receive an alert. I have had 1 follower(s) for most of the duration of the blog until today. I had another join but because the identity was cryptic I blocked it. If you subscribed today and got blocked, let me know who you are and I will remove the block. There are well over 100 unique visitors reading on a regular basis and I don't want to alienate anyone.

P.P.S. Forgive me if I don't write everyday or late in the day, Dad is not the only one who is trying to get back some normalcy.