Joyce's KP Adventure mikepasini.com headlines
Happy to Be Home
8 October 2021
The Blue Angels escorted Joyce home this afternoon after a 28-day hospital stay. She made it up the first stairs she's navigated in all that time to the front door without the aid of the Fire Dept. this time.
When she plopped into her favorite chair she asked for the parcel that has been waiting for her to return. I sliced through the duct tape holding it together and handed it to her.
Inside was a note from Whit, Steve and Viv -- and a glass pumpkin original by Viv. We loved it!
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SHE WASN'T RELEASED from the hospital until she had finished her antibiotic drip in the afternoon. And then it took someone 45 minutes to pack her things in a chair and take her down to the curb where I had been waiting impatiently.
I laid out the new Wound VAC supplies at home and made sure every thing we need is there. And apart from a paucity of drape, we're OK. When Kevin the RN called, I asked him to bring more on Monday because only one comes with each foam kit and four are used for each dressing change.
We heard from Salwa the LVN who texted her congratulations too. I asked Kevin if they could both come Monday to familiarize themselves with how Dr. Tong wants the wound dressed.
It's quite a bit more complex than the previous white foam dressing. There is a bridge of foam the runs to the front of her leg for the lily pad so she doesn't have to sit on it. But that bridge has to be kept off the skin with drape under it. And there are holes that have to be punctured in the foam dressing and the bridge for it to actually work. Tricky stuff.
Cat the Physician's Assistant wrote up detailed notes, especially advising extreme care in removing the dressing because that's very painful. She recommended soaking the old foam in saline solution to make removal less traumatic.
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WE HAD A NICE DINNER of a Caprese salad followed by the chutney shrimp pasta dish I long ago mentioned. And split the last half of a bottle of chardonnay.
Then we watched the Giants take the first game of the series from the Dodgers.
She was happy to be home, she kept saying (with some disbelief it had finally happened). But nothing was made her happier than holding Viv's glass pumpkin in her hand.