Buttwiping 101 and Other Lessons
I thought all caregivers knew and understood the importance of keeping the skin clean and free of sores, scrapes, scratches, etc., but apparently it's not as important to some as to others. I have had to repeatedly remind the caregiver to make sure Gary gets wiped clean after having a BM on her shift. There is nothing worse than putting him to bed at night and smelling leftover mess in that area and then trying to clean it after it's dried and fermented all day while he sat in it. I had to give a lesson in buttwiping 101 again this week. I am tired of hearing "I wiped him good" and then finding leftover mess hours later - it's not acceptable when I am paying $22/hr. for his care. It's time for another lesson this week, and this time I will ask to check the cellphone at the door, as I fear she is afraid it will fall out of her pocket if she bends over too far to wipe him properly.
Another lesson I learned this week while shopping at Walmart, is that here in AZ you can't take a short-cut through the Depends aisle as the wheelchairs and walkers are lined up worse than the pre-boarding lines for a Southwest Airlines flight heading to Phoenix. And, look out if someone has a cane - DO NOT get in their way!
After Gary's incident in WA, I decided it was time to get on the ball and get a new DNR for AZ, since the Colorado one is not valid here and we've been here over two years already (wow, times flies when you're having fun)! I downloaded the form from the AZ website, copied it onto orange paper (as stated to make it a "legal" document), and got all the signatures except for the Dr. I called on Friday and they said the physician's assistant who did his last two physicals wouldn't be in the Scottsdale office until Tues. of this week, so I stopped by and dropped it off at the office that morning before heading to my 90 min. massage. I checked back later and she hadn't signed it yet, so I had to wait until the next morning to pick it up. Gary now has a legal DNR hanging on the refrigerator in case something should happen at home. He is determined that he will never go through another trip to hospital, tubes, machines, and all that he went through after the massive stroke in 2004 if he has to continue to live like this, and I have to respect his wishes.
We got an email this week from another stroke buddy's wife - Dennis had his stroke a year before Gary and we met him and his wife after I spent a night in ICU with chest pains while Gary was in rehab. All the stress had thrown my body out of whack and it ended up being a thyroid problem, but they were running all the heart tests because of the stress I was experiencing at the time. I was given their number by one of the nurses in the ICU, who told me we had similar situations and I should contact her for support. Dennis had a massive brainstem stroke in 2003 and has pretty much been homebound since that first couple of years, as she found it too difficult to travel or go anywhere with him. He was recently diagnosed with blood cancer, so they've taken him off all meds and have hospice coming in now. He is about a year older than Gary - but has been through 11 years of Hell since his stroke, not to mention the toll it has taken on his wife. She will keep me updated on his condition.
We only have about 1.5 weeks before we head out to San Diego for a beach weekend. I'm hoping it all goes smoothly as Gary's caregiver will be going with us to help with driving and his care.........but I think I'll be doing the buttwiping! lol
Sarah
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