Monday, Mar 16th, 2020……
Things
remain much the same as Lydia progresses. They have her on dialysis on Mondays,
Wednesdays, and Fridays. Her nephrologist is in the room most days and last
time she told me she was getting good urine levels. Back in her room, the physical therapy continues
and she is doing better each day. Still can’t walk but she has a little more
control of her legs and can stand on her feet now and can shuffle her weight a
bit. The goal is to get released from the hospital and go to rehab to work on
her strength so she can move around well enough to go to off-site dialysis from
there as well as from home. Meanwhile, I continue to do the two-a-days back and
forth to Corvallis. I’m good with that but it will be nice to get her moved to
another facility soon.
Tuesday, Mar 17th, 2020…… We had been working with Dynette, the case worker assigned
to the oncology floor. Unfortunately, she is out sick right now and Georgia is
now filling in. I liked Dynette and don’t care too much for the fill-in. But we
worked together and now have a plan – she has told us about short-term home
care, which is covered by insurance, and includes home health, occupational
therapy, and physical therapy. Since
there is no medical need to be in a rehab facility (other than physical
therapy) Lydia would be a good candidate for this in-home care. So, we set that
up. Georgia was tasked with finding a service for all of those needs. She will
also be working to get all of the necessary medical supplies/equipment
authorized by insurance. I have a wheelchair and a toilet assist bar and a
shower chair, but we will need a walker and I will probably have to buy a
bedside commode (which they said is likely not covered). No worries. Later, after I left, the doctors cleared her
for release so, after dialysis tomorrow, she can come home. That’s perfect
since I had already hired Linda, my sister’s housekeeper, to come start
cleaning our house. She starts tomorrow.
Wednesday, Mar 18th, 2020……
Sis called me to let me know that our Costco did not get their shipment
of toilet paper last night. We were planning on being there this morning to
shop and that was an added bonus. No rush - maybe tomorrow. I will wait until Lydia gets home and then
she can help me with a shopping list for there and for the grocery store. We
have heard about shortages in Calif. but we seem to be ok here. I was in
Walmart yesterday and they have most everything (except sanitizer, tp, cleaning
supplies, etc.). I will stock up on whatever we need. We are lucky to have egg
ranches around here so we can always get farm fresh eggs when we want, which we
like.
I
straightened up the house a bit – mostly to get all of Rylee’s trip hazard toys
off the floor! We are ready for Linda. I
have to go get a battery for the tractor so I can get it ready to mow the yard.
We have had several nice sunny days and the forecast is for no rain until next
Monday, so I want to get everything ready for our first-of-the-year mowing
party, hopefully on Saturday. Kirk has
our other mower but he will be bringing it back here in the next day or two so
sis can help get the job done.
We headed
off to the hospital and met with the physical therapy guy. The doctor came in
and told us that if she didn’t feel that well and wasn't up to going home today since she had
dialysis, that she could certainly wait until tomorrow. She chose that option
which is actually better for me as well. We still didn’t know what services was
going to authorize in the way of home medical equipment and I only have the
wheelchair and the shower chair right now. What she needed to come home today
was a portable commode for next to the bed. Anyway, we left and headed off in
search of a lead about an organization that you can contact and pick up what you
need. When you no longer need the equipment, you take it back for reissue to
someone else. Problem was they are only a volunteer group and have shortened
hours and may be closed due to the coronavirus. We drove by and they were not
open, so we checked in at St. Vincent de Paul’s to see what they had. We found
one, with the tags still on it, and it was only $15. So we are set for tomorrow.
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2020…… FIRST DAY OF SPRING! Yaaay! First thing planned this morning was my labs prior to my Reclast
infusion (for my osteoporosis). I needed to go to the hospital for that. But I
got a call from my sister that our Costco had toilet paper so we headed over to
stand in line to get in. I was really appreciative of the way they set up the
store entry. No one way in any big hurry – they had us get in line with 6 feet
between us to wait till they opened. Once that happened, they moved a cart out
for each one of us and we all pretty much walked back to the back of the store
where there was a guy handing us each one package. Then we were free to go get
whatever else we needed. I stocked up and totally forgot to use my gift card
and reward certificate at check out! Oh
well, next time! Meanwhile, Lydia had
called and said it would be later in the day when she would be released. They
did labs and said everything was good but she needed another bag of platelets
before release. So, I went out and found my tractor battery (didn’t find it
yesterday) while I was waiting. We went through the check-in process again but
found that the hospital was in full lockdown. So, we had to wait until they got
her prepped and into a wheelchair so they could bring her out to us. We maneuvered
her into the car and we came home! Lydia
was happy to see the sun again! Rylee
was a happy girl! Grammy is home!!
Grammy is home!!
She looks good, so glad she is finally home, much love too you guys :)
ReplyDelete