Joyce's KP Adventure mikepasini.com headlines
A Lift at Last
15 November 2024
I was looking forward to today's visit with Joyce because she had agreed to let Jayce the Physical Therapist and Cassie the Occupational Therapist use a lift to get her out of bed and into a wheelchair. It would be the first time since she left the hospital that she would be out of bed and in a chair.
It was also be the first time she would be weighed. The lift can measure the weight of its load.
Her normal weight is 160 but had climbed to 169 recently. In the hospital she was weighed in bed at 149. On the lift, she was 138.2.
I wheeled her around the facility in the chair and we visited Christina, who had given me a ride and was doing crossword puzzles by the front desk. Then we went back to the room for her lunch, which she took in the wheelchair at Cassie's suggestion.
Lunch looked good. Salmon filet, pasta, Brussels sprouts, watermelon. She tried a Brussels sprout, which she normally loves, and spit it out. "It makes me gag." Same for the salmon. She managed a little buttered pasta, but only a little. She did like the watermelon and she had a little coffee and milk before she gave up. I gave her a Boost after that for the protein.
Cassie and Jayce used the lift to get her back in bed with Sheik the CNA learning how to operate the lift.
If I manage to get there this weekend, I make try to get her to stand up and swivel to the wheelchair. I'm not entirely convinced she will need the lift to get out of bed. But it was important to learn her weight today.
Christina drove me home and I took a half-hour nap on the bed. Apparently I need the rest.
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AS I WAS WATCHING the 3 p.m. broadcast of the News Hour, Dr. Tong called to tell me the culture Lady the RN took on Tuesday came back clean. No need for antibiotics (which would have required administration by I.V.).
She asked how Joyce was doing, especially her "mentation." I didn't have as good news for her as she had for me. I did tell her about the weight loss, which alarmed her.
I said I had asked the staff to ask Dr. Dimaano if the Zoloft might be responsible but, as far as I know, Dr. Dimaano, the Kaiser physician assigned to Joyce at the SNF (a situation I'm familiar with thanks to my mother's roommate) had never seen her.
Dr. Tong said she would contact Dr. Dimaano, talk to Jennifer Spitnale the RN in the wound care center and try to arrange transport for Joyce's Kaiser appointments (perhaps to the memory clinic in December too). I explained the charge for a gurney transport wasn't practical for Joyce's level of care. It would be $3,000 alone in December.
She asked how I was doing and if they had determined whether I had the brain bleed before I fell or after. The theory is hitting the tile floor bashed my brain against my skull, causing the bleeds.
It's been three months so I should have my license back but I still can't see. She asked how long they told me that would take to recover and I said not until the end of the year, when I also will have another CT scan of my brain.
She again said she'd reach out to the other people involved in Joyce's care so they share information about her case.
It was, as you might guess, a rather long -- and much appreciated -- chat.