Joyce's KP Adventure mikepasini.com headlines
First Day Back
10 November 2025
On the way down the hallway to visit Joyce today, I greeting a number of staff and patients who all wanted to know if Joyce was all right. She is, she is, I thanked them.
I talked to Binita the Wound Nurse about the skin problem she had been treating that I thought might have been the source of the infection.
Her RNAs said they'd give her the day off but later, her doctor thought that was because her insurance situation was unresolved.
Dr. Dimaano resolved it shortly after lunch, though.
Because she is returning from a hospitalization, the Medicare benefits kick back in. She'll be getting both physical therapy and occupational therapy starting tomorrow morning.
And Medicare, apparently, will be picking up the tab for Golden Heights for 30 days. At least. It was her first hospitalization this year, a year after her last.
I doubt that is all quite accurate, so I plan to stay tuned.
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MEANWHILE, her blood pressure today was 105/74, not quite as good as yesterday but no surprise to Dr. Dimaano.
She thought Kaiser South City was unable to trace the infection with its blood cultures because Joyce was immediately given an antibiotic, which would have killed off any suspicious activity.
I did get her out of bed and into the bathroom this morning for a normal start to the day. Then she dressed herself on the bed while I hunted for her wheelchair. I had explained to Julian the Transport Guy that I would probably need it for tomorrow's debridement because she hasn't walked for a week. And I needed the air cushion to protect her wound after the debridement.
Sheik the CNA found it in another room. It still had her name tag on it. But it didn't have the leg supports (which we collected later, although they weren't the ones she had been using). And it had an oxygen tank on the back. Someone had just helped themselves to it.
Which is what I did for her remote control. I had brought a universal remote but couldn't get it to work with the TV. So I found an empty room and took the remote.
While we waited for her lunch, I walked with her around the unit, but not the whole 500 feet. We cut it short, just to see how she did, crossing at the nurses' desk instead of going all the way down to the Pacific Room.
She did fine.
She had lunch in the hallway (which is where I took today's photo) but the kitchen didn't send a tray for her. So Sheik ordered one and delivered it to her. She didn't eat a lot but earlier, once we had the wheelchair, I rolled her down to the scale to see what she weighs.
She registered 125 lbs. 8 oz. And Daisy the RNA later confirmed it with a smaller scale.
I told her it was the fluids they had pumped into her at the hospital and she'd soon shed them. Which Dr. Dimaano later confirmed.
At lunch she told me, "When I say prayers, I ask God what did I do wrong." I asked her what he had replied. "He didn't answer me."
After lunch I rolled her to the gym where she did her usual three sets on the SciFit and said she felt good doing them.
Then I took her out into the sunshine for a few minutes. She hadn't been outside since her family visited last month.
Dr. Dimaano said she'd been in touch with the surgeon's staff and would do blood tests later this week to see if Joyce had much of a setback or was ready for surgery. And tomorrow we'll visit Jennifer the Wound Care Nurse for a debridement.
So we're back on track. She really did seem to have recovered from the infection.