We all met at my Dad's bedside this morning at 10, and by "we" I mean myself, my sister, brother-in-law, Uncle Bob and Aunt Jean. The nurse that came in to give the outbrief seemed impressed by the size of the crowd.

Near noon, we loaded Dad into the front seat of sis's minivan for the cavalcade home. I broke off to get gas at cheap Pennsylvania prices, so I was the last one home. We got Dad situated in a living room easy chair and moved a small table next to it, where he could put a phone, books, cups of tea, and whatnot. The table we're using is the one that's destined for me, as my sisters took the associated doll-beds. If memory serves, Grandpa H built all three.

Over the course of the day, Dad improved tremendously. He's supposed to be walking for twenty minutes a day in short spurts for the first day. We didn't bother to time him, because he got that much in just walking around the house. It was snowing today, so walks outside are perhaps not a good idea yet anyway.

Sis and BIL got Dad his medication; he's taking five daily pills, plus a pain pill every four hours. In addition he needs to weigh himself and take his temperature daily. At his insistence, I created a spreadsheet to keep track of all that. It's a rather crude spreadsheet at this point, but I think it acceptable for a first draft.

He went to bed earlier than he used to, but his color is wonderfully improved, he ate a reasonable quantity of food at lunch and dinner, and after the first few times I stopped following him as he walked; he seemed stable enough on his feet to be at no risk of falling. His stamina is still quite low, and he never walked for more than sixty seconds at a time. That's about where we should be, according to the nurse.

Tomorrow I've got some shopping to do. With Bob and Jean visiting, we'll certainly need more food. Also, Halloween is only two days away, so I feel obliged to get some candy for visiting children. I've no idea how many children are likely to show up, although I know Dad keeps track every year. I could ask him, but I don't think I'll bother him over such a minor issue, especially since maintaining ignorance of the issue gives me a fine excuse to buy a substantial pile of candy. Lastly, his required daily shower uses five washcloths, so unless we want to do a small load of laundry every day, I'll be buying some more of them. They must be on sale somewhere.

Posted by: Boviate at 10:42 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
Post contains 455 words, total size 2 kb.