My dear, sweet Larry was finally moved form the Memorial Cardiac Care unit to "Country Villa" skilled nursing today, now that they've determined there are no serious heart issues. The transfer hapened at about noon, and went along to make sure he got settled in. The place is OK from the outside, but the rooms are shabby and dim, with 3 men to a room. The noise is constant - TVs, people calling for help, nurses and aides talking, it never stops.

I had to leave for a while as my family was coming over to celebrate Mother's Day. I cut it as short as I could and finally got back to the home at about 6PM. Larry was very agitated and trying desperately to tell me something, and I finally figured out that it was his bladder hurting him. He is unable to void on his own right now and has an in/out catheter every 6 hours or so. It had been done in Memorial about 10AM, but not since, so by 6PM it had been 8 hours. Poor Larry's bladder was ready to explode. I got the CNA and she said she'd take care of and then promptly disappeared. Larry was moaning and tears were falling down his cheeks - it was so heartbreaking. I finally got someone else to do the cath and they took out 600 ccs of urine, which is quite a lot. I am asking every nurse to show me how to do it, since I figure this might be one of the things that makes the difference between whether or not he can come home, and I am not afraid to learn. Does not seem that hard.

The original nurse, the one who took....her....sweet....time....gettting back to us finally showed up and gave me a lecture about how I needed to be patient. She hadn't had time (she explained) to read the chart yet and didn't know about the cath, or the fact that he was paralyzed on his right side. I stood up and drew myself to my full magestic 5'11" and 240 lbs (I've lost 20 lbs, and glad for that!) and glared at her. I told her that her behavior was not acceptable - she had an obligation to read and understand the chart why my husband's life was in her hands. Not sure how much good this actually did, but I just could not bite my tongue any longer. My patience has worn totally OUT. It is so hard for me to be tough and aggressive, because that is totally not my nature, but I've had it with the DMV mentality that seems to rule in these places.

Larry is miserable. I know he wants to come home. I know I could do better for him than these idiots are doing. There has to be a way to make it work!!

xxxoo

-Janine