A Very Long Day

We are exhausted. We started out at Meijer. We got Dad a pair of sweat pants, a Tiger Cabrerra t-shirt and a light jacket to wear inside if he is chilly. We wanted him to be comfortable.

Then we went to the hospital early because I was worried about Dad taking his meds. Yesterday his blood pressure dropped and he had to stay another day. I knew that today the doctor who was over his case was off for the day. 

So they gave him his meds and about a half hour later I asked his nurse to take his blood pressure.  She declined and said someone would be in at 11:00 to take it. I just gave her my best brother Larry smile and said I would like her to take it now.  She went ahead and put the cuff on and turned the machine on.  Then she said the cuff was too big and put a different one on and turned the machine on.  Then she switched arms and turned the machine on. I asked (again with my brother Larry's smile) "Is it in the 70's?"

It was! So that meant another delay. They wanted to wait two hours to see if it would correct itself. It did. They said they would correct the dosage.

That did give us one more breathing treatment.  Gene came in happy to still have Dad for one more treatment. It was very clear that Dad and Gene had become great friends.  Gene even brought in his phone to show some pictures from Artprize in Grand Rapids this year.

This really was a frustrating day. Out of the nine days spent at the hospital this really was my least favorite day.

Personally, I would have preferred having the nursing home pick him up, but the case manager said once they figured out the oxygen tank we could do it.  After a half hour they decided we could take a tank from the hospital and Stratford would return it!  Finally, they sent us on our way with instructions to make sure we would seatbelt the oxygen tank for safety!

Pat's Dad is hopefully having a very restful night at Stratford Village.  He is going to be there for a few weeks before going home.

It is a beautiful facility.  The people are nice and very welcoming. Before we left the hospital this afternoon Dad asked, "Do you think I will be able to sit at a table for dinner?"  I thought maybe he might not be able to do that, but said, "Sure, we'll go with a yes answer on that one!"  He laughed and told me he liked my optimism! 

When I went in to tell the employees Dad was in the car waiting for a wheelchair I told Dawn, who welcomed me, that it would mean the world to Dad to sit at a table for dinner. She said well of course he can do that! Later on Pat's Mom and sister, Mary, even were invited to stay to have dinner with him.

So we are going to wait until about 11:00 tomorrow (oh, I guess it is today!) to go to see him. Pray he rests well in a regular bed tonight!