He is back! Jack isn't home but his confusion is mostly gone. We put him back on the anti-depression drug and he is doing great!
He is sleeping well most nights and I don't get those scary phone calls in the night from the nursing home.
I have been eating lunch with him in the dining room and he is now going there on his own. Service and food is like a nice restaurant and quite a change from the tray in his room.
I am a much happier camper!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
confusion and falls
This has been a difficult week. Jack has fallen a number of times with many bruises, bumps, cuts, and more confusion.
I don't know yet what is causing the problems. I don't know who the strange man is who lives in my husband's body. I have spent many hours during the middle of the night at the nursing home.. Have had all kinds of calls and now I dread the phone ringing.
During a great thunder storm I was called out this week because they thought maybe Jack should go to the emergency room. He had fallen at 2 am the day before and they thought maybe he was more injured than they thought. The pains were all old ones and he just really wanted to see me... see how I have spoiled him!
Sometimes he is perfectly fine and a bit later he is totally confused and talking about things that even I have difficulty putting in context. We take him to the wound center tomorrow. The nursing facility will send someone with me to help...bless them!
Times are difficult.. I know I can't bring him home like this...yet that is his and my greatest wish. But I want him safe and secure until the doctor dismisses him.
I don't know yet what is causing the problems. I don't know who the strange man is who lives in my husband's body. I have spent many hours during the middle of the night at the nursing home.. Have had all kinds of calls and now I dread the phone ringing.
During a great thunder storm I was called out this week because they thought maybe Jack should go to the emergency room. He had fallen at 2 am the day before and they thought maybe he was more injured than they thought. The pains were all old ones and he just really wanted to see me... see how I have spoiled him!
Sometimes he is perfectly fine and a bit later he is totally confused and talking about things that even I have difficulty putting in context. We take him to the wound center tomorrow. The nursing facility will send someone with me to help...bless them!
Times are difficult.. I know I can't bring him home like this...yet that is his and my greatest wish. But I want him safe and secure until the doctor dismisses him.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Good days and horrible days
I don't know what happened last Wednesday but when I went to get Jack to go to the wound clinic, another person was in his body.
I have never seen Jack so totally "out of it" in the years he has been ill. He could not navigate his power chair without assistance and that made him cross and sometimes down right angry. His eating habits were awful and I was shocked at how he was eating by putting his biscuit in his oatmeal and the butter on top of the oatmeal bowl cover.
That was just the beginning. I had put off his bath, etc. until the morning and he was not able to help me much with all the dressing and things we had to do to get ready. At the clinic he responded so differently they asked him if he knew where he was and he did respond correctly. This really frightened me and we cut part of our morning short so I could get him back to the nursing facility.
We discussed at the facility what could be wrong and they had changed one med which they said was only a pill he took when needed but they thought they might help him through some discomfort if they gave it to him on a regular basis. I have no idea what was wrong. They said they would contact his doctor and perhaps Jack would be better the next day.
That evening he called me and seemed his old self. He caught me crying and asked me why and I said it was just because I missed him so much. That was true. I missed the real person and Jack himself. This house is cold and empty when I am here alone.
The next morning he was fine and mentioned the previous day a couple of times because he realized something was wrong but he couldn't figure out what it was. I took him out yesterday and he was fine and hasn't shown any of the same actions since. But this is scary and painful to see changes like this.
This was a change that I was not expecting and it has really made me see that he is in a safe place and I could not have handled him alone at home in his condition.
I am beginning to think there are NO GOLDEN YEARS!
I have never seen Jack so totally "out of it" in the years he has been ill. He could not navigate his power chair without assistance and that made him cross and sometimes down right angry. His eating habits were awful and I was shocked at how he was eating by putting his biscuit in his oatmeal and the butter on top of the oatmeal bowl cover.
That was just the beginning. I had put off his bath, etc. until the morning and he was not able to help me much with all the dressing and things we had to do to get ready. At the clinic he responded so differently they asked him if he knew where he was and he did respond correctly. This really frightened me and we cut part of our morning short so I could get him back to the nursing facility.
We discussed at the facility what could be wrong and they had changed one med which they said was only a pill he took when needed but they thought they might help him through some discomfort if they gave it to him on a regular basis. I have no idea what was wrong. They said they would contact his doctor and perhaps Jack would be better the next day.
That evening he called me and seemed his old self. He caught me crying and asked me why and I said it was just because I missed him so much. That was true. I missed the real person and Jack himself. This house is cold and empty when I am here alone.
The next morning he was fine and mentioned the previous day a couple of times because he realized something was wrong but he couldn't figure out what it was. I took him out yesterday and he was fine and hasn't shown any of the same actions since. But this is scary and painful to see changes like this.
This was a change that I was not expecting and it has really made me see that he is in a safe place and I could not have handled him alone at home in his condition.
I am beginning to think there are NO GOLDEN YEARS!
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