We made it through almost 3 weeks since Larry's discharge
Entry posted by thejule1
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Well the home therapy nurse discharged us yesterday. I guess she thought Larry was doing so well and I was able to care for him without her. The PT still comes as she said she discharges herself. The dietician was a big help in helping to monitor the feeding tube and the diahrrea. The medications were a problem for me as the facility did not train me in those. Some of Larry's meds were pills that could be crushed, others were liquid or capsules. The capsules (emptied) were a problem as they tended to clog the tube. I was told by some to dissolve the contents of the capsules in Coke or water but that did not work. I finally got one of the meds changed to a pill form and the other I just have to push through with water and syringe. The feeding tube was more difficult for me as the feeding has to be done on a timely basis. I give Larry most of his meds one time a day and one at night. The feeding is 4 times a day about every 4 hours. He cannot take anything by mouth except for ice chips. He does not like the ice chips as it is too cold. The speech therapists said he must have these 2-3 times a day to help with the swallowing and to keep his mouth free of bacteria and dryness. He seems to be doing well on all of this and is slowly gaining weight back. He walks well now and has PT a couple times a week. She said she will take him outside next week when the weather warms to high 50 to 60. I said "good luck with that". lol She is the same PT we had when Larry had his stroke 5 years ago. She can get Larry to do more than I can.
It is a lot more work than I expected but I have my son here to help since he is in between jobs, which is unfortunate for him but lucky for me. I also have my home helper, Jim, to come two times a week.
Larry has his doctor appointment next Wednesday with the new doctor we were able to get from the facility he was in. She is a geriontologist and is with the hospital as his urologist and vascular surgeon. I finally have all of Larry's doctors at one facility.
We are lucky we missed the heavy snow with only frigid temps to deal with this winter. Spring cannot come too soon.
Julie
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