I was thrilled this morning when Richard, Daddy’s wonderful duty nurse came to confirm we were being discharged. YEAH!!!! I get to go home! Daddy gets to go home!!!
Richard said the ambulance would arrive about 2PM. That would give me time to run grab lunch, get to the pharmacy, race through the grocery store, and get home to greet Daddy upon his arrival.
Hubbie had left work earlier to head home to begin the process of moving the couch out of the living room into the dining room to make room for the new bed the Hospice folks were sending over.
With errands completed I got home, got the groceries put up, and with Hubbie’s help got Lila and Tweak bathed. We got the Living Room rug rolled up and stored, the couch moved and the floor and baseboards cleaned of months of dust.
The ambulance arrived right on schedule. Unfortunately the new bed had not yet arrived. The EMTs lifted Daddy out and rolled him in. The four of us lifted the sheet corners and transferred Daddy to the recliner.
Suddenly there was the unmistakable smell of shit. I pulled up the sheet and found the cow pie sized shit slick. It looked like thick chili - so thick it would just stick to him when we rolled him over. It was everywhere. I started trying to clean him up with paper towels but the garbage can was getting full and the roll was running out. I switched to a washcloth and soapy water. Then another washcloth…It was so much that I gave up trying to rinse the cloth out.
Piece by piece we got two layers of pee pads out from under him and rushed to the washer, the sheet under him, a blanket they had rolled up and put under his thighs, and his gown all covered with shit were rushed to the washer. That’s a load that will get run through twice with extra rinses each time….and LOTS of bleach.
Still there was Daddy to clean. Hubbie was rolling him over and I’m washing all those parts I never wanted to see much less touch. We managed to get clean pads under him and a fresh diaper….I wonder why the hospital never used diapers? It could not be worse than the mess I just cleaned up. Oh the smell…I opened the front door to air out the house. It was almost 50 degrees… not too bad…
We got daddy a shirt on and a couple of blankets. He was immediately asleep.
At this point, I must back up. Before Daddy was discharged the case worker for the hospice came to see me in Daddy’s room. After talking to me about where Daddy is in his decline, she felt he probably is not ready for hospice care, but she would set it up anyway, and we then could get a good in home evaluation. Talk about a double edged sword….If he is in hospice care, everything is taken care of, there are nurses about all the time, social workers, everything I need 24/7. But then it also means the end of the line.
I don’t think he is in his last throes. When we sat down for dinner Daddy woke up. I fixed him a bowl with a thoroughly mashed loaded baked potato and some veggies. At first Lewy was in full swing, so I started hand feeding him. After a few bites he took the bowl and the fork and started eating on his own. That would be one of the things that makes him not really hospice material. He ate almost the entire bowl of food, some chocolate squares out of a Hershey’s bar, and drank a full 8 oz. of milk. And of course a fist full of pills.
Daddy is sleeping now, as is Hubbie. I’m back at my mid night computer perch and all is well with the world.
3 comments:
Stella said...
Bless your heart.
Goodnight.
hassana said...
Very glad to hear that Lewy's back home and that he's eating well... good sign. God bless you all
Rose said...
Good news! I'm very happy to hear that your father is home and enjoying his meals. My best wishes for good time together (and patience and strength for the more challenging moments)