20 November 2020
It turns out that the placement of the lily pad on the white foam makes quite a difference in the Wound VAC's activity. When Salwa moved it to a new location on Monday it was quieter. And when she moved it to yet another on Wednesday it was even better.
Tuesday night, though, we had a bit of scare when I swapped out her canister. There was blood dispersed in the usually yellow fluid.
I texted a photo to Salwa the LVN.
You have to take a moment to praise the modern world once in a while. If I had not been able to do that, I would have had to call the advice nurse and explain there's blood in the canister. And the advice nurse would have had to consult a physician who would cautiously have said it has to be seen so go to the Emergency Room.
And there the night would have gone.
Instead, I text a photo to Salwa who just happens to be driving her father to Pleasanton (a good long ride) and stopping for gas on the way when she gets my message and replies that it's normal fluid drainage. Nothing to worry about.
And so we don't worry.
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NO, WE DON'T WORRY. Instead, I find a movie to distract us.
Go ahead, guess.
No, not Fawlty Towers. That's a TV show.
Give up?
It was the Masterpiece Theater production of Pollyana, starring Amanda Burton as Aunt Polly and Georgina Terry as Pollyanna. It's the story of another girl who had a problem with her legs.
A real tear jerker. Pollyana is so upbeat you wouldn't be surprised to find out she grew up to be a home health worker. There's no burden she can't lighten.
She had learned the Glad Game from her father, after all.
To play, you simply think of something to be glad about no matter what the situation is. If, for example, you hate Sundays, you can be glad that it will be six full days until the next one.
The only trouble with this uplifting fare (which Joyce really enjoyed) is that, after watching it, I realize what a grumpy old man I've become.
Which, I suppose, is something I should be glad about. Because, um, wait, let me think....
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TODAY JOYCE HAD A VIDEO VISIT with Dr. Tong. It turned out to be something of a comedy.
You're not laughing? Just wait.
Dr. Tong has long wanted to do a video visit. The theory was that Salwa or Tyler would be here for a dressing change and she could inspect the wound across town from the safety of her office.
Salwa comes at 10 a.m. and Dr. Tong does surgery all morning (usually) so it took a while to find a time for the video visit. And when we did, it was 9:30. You know, before Salwa gets here.
Salwa has been coming at 9:45 as she's acquired more patients. I think she's up to seven or eight now. So she comes a little earlier.
But Joyce had told her the visit was scheduled for 10 a.m., which would have been perfect. Except it was 9:30. Seeing the humor yet?
So the night before I text Salwa to let her know it's really at 9:30 not 10. I'm not trying to get her to come earlier, though. I'm just informing her.
A few seconds later she texts that she'll try to make it even though she has a new patient at 9 a.m.
I tell her not to run any red lights because in the past Dr. Tong has been late to the party. Her assistant calls at the scheduled time to see if we're logged on and then goes to get her. And we wait. And wait.
And that's what happens. At 9:40, the assistant calls on the phone and promised to try joining the video visit in five minutes. At 9:45 Salwa arrives and quickly removes the old dressing. I join the video visit with Joyce's phone. I'm the cameraman, flying Joyce's camera like a drone over her wound, waiting for Dr. Tong to take a look.
But do we connect with Dr. Tong?
We join one video visit, they join another. Twice. Her office calls in between to see if we have joined. We have, we say, have they? Yes, but it says it is waiting for us. And ours says it is waiting for you.
Salwa in desperation asks them to FaceTime. She's the only one who knows how anything works. Dr. Tong doesn't know what the icons on her screen mean. Her assistant is confused.
I'm busy flying a drone, of course. Captain Lily Pad. Zoom, zoom.
Then the battery on Joyce's phone dies. Well, we bought these iPhones six years ago this month. My battery (on the larger iPhone 6 Plus) still lasts all day so I had no idea she was dealing with only 15 minutes of battery life.
"Joyce, you need a new phone," I point out as I lose my wings.
Meanwhile, Salwa gives the assistant her number and they do not FaceTime because that's against HIPAA privacy rules but they do connect on a Kaiser video link.
Except there's no audio. It's just static. But I've had the wisdom to keep the phone call open on Joyce's phone and plug it into the charger I use at night so it doesn't die on us. Salwa mutes her phone to eliminate the feedback squelching at us and we have at last audio on Joyce's phone and video on Salwa's.
OK, I hear you laughing now.
It's a good visit. Salwa does the fly over, commenting intelligently on the new growth and the issues. She updates Dr. Tong on the reduction to two white foam pieces now. Dr. Tong raises the issue of the black foam, which Joyce dreads. They come to a compromise of cleaning the wound with Vashe (which costs more than bourbon) for a while before moving to black foam. Dr. Tong also praises Salwa's work.
Salwa suggests an in-office visit. Dr. Tong agrees. The assistant promises to find a date and get back to us. Somehow.
And for those of you still scoring at home, Dr. Tong's office now has Salwa's phone number embedded in their system. Hurray.
Salwa finishes dressing the wound after the call, wraps Joyce's leg in an Ace bandage to minimize the swelling and gives us elbow bumps on the way out. "See you Monday!" she calls out.
After she left, I made an appointment at the Apple store for noon on Sunday. We're glad to go every six years.