Joyce's KP Adventure mikepasini.com headlines
Surprises
11 September 2020
Do you hate surprises? Well, today brought more than one of them. See what you think.
Tyler arrived just after nine to do the dressing change. But we were surprised to see he was accompanied by Salwa, another LVN. She'll be doing the next dressing change, he said, with his supervision, she added.
But she seemed quite confident it would be no trouble at all. "It's a big wound," Tyler said, "but it's not difficult." She nodded.
When Tyler took Joyce's vital signs, I finked on her. But I made her tell the story of her fall at the side door.
Accident Scene. You can see evidence of the left knee taking the brunt of the fall but the right knee wasn't spared. That isn't dust. It's ashes from the wildfires.
"We have to report falls, so it's good you told me," he said. He took a look at her knees but they aren't even bruised.
"Better not try that again without Mike," he advised. Like I'd take the fall instead.
When he asked about medication changes, I volunteered that she's skipping the Ativan with Dr. Tong's approval. And she did just fine.
Then they were gone.
At Tyler's request, I reordered supplies from Apria (already). "How many do you have left?" the clerk wanted to know. I had no idea. "Can I just reorder what we got last time?" "Sure."
It will be here Monday, she said. After the last experience that would be a surprise.
Alpha the physical therapist called, as expected, to ask if she could come at 1:30. No problem.
Then I got a call from the logistics firm delivering and installing the washer and dryer. They'd be here in 45 minutes, just after 1 p.m.
I figured they'd be done by the time Alpha came.
And I was right. Because the washer was smashed in on top and the dryer was kicked in on the bottom front corner so they couldn't install anything.
"Might have happened putting them on the truck in Texas," one of the guys guessed. But they promised they'd be back tomorrow with new ones (since it would take longer than that for Bondo and a new paint job to dry).
To compensate me for another day of dirty laundry, they threw in a new gas line. They told me (to my surprise) they can't use my perfectly fine current line because they have to install all new. And I, knowing the current one is leak proof, didn't order a new one.
That wasn't the end of it, though.
I heard the doorbell while I was slaving away on a story for Photo Corners but I didn't hear any footsteps accompanied by the dragging sound of a medical line. So I went around to the front door and met a young woman coming down who was delivering flowers to Joyce.
Flowers. A pleasant surprise this afternoon. The flowers are sitting on the discretely disguised Wound VAC.
It was a gorgeous bouquet from "her loving sisters," the card said. What a lovely surprise!
And just to return the favor, I took a photo of Joyce holding them before it was time to slip the Guerra's lasagne that Alice brought over into the oven for dinner.