karenulijohn

Years ago, when Harvey was traveling a lot for work, he would be gone for two or three weeks at a time.  Upon his return, I would be so excited and happy to see him.  Shortly after, a day or two, I would experience something of a letdown as he became introspective, quiet, and preoccupied.  I would try to engage him in conversation about the trip, asking who he had come in contact with, what were the outcomes, and did he manage to sell anything.  Invariably, weeks later, I would hear references to the trip that I had never heard before.  Similarly, today at the hospital, all of the discharge instructions were given to him before I got there.  He was given some paperwork which described his medication schedule, description of side effects, telephone numbers,  etc.  However, there was no information about diet.  I know that he had been given liquids, yogurt, juice, ice cream and pureed soups at the hospital.  I assumed that I would continue that, but for how long?  Should I begin introducing more solid foods?  When?  It wasn’t until late this afternoon that, out of the blue, Harvey said that he was told he should continue the liquid diet for two weeks.  I lost it!  “Thank you for letting me know,” I said.  “Why didn’t you tell me that when I asked earlier?”  His only reply was, “I’ve been sick!”  Ugh!!!

Yesterday, the chest tube was removed and all but one of the IV’s.  This morning at 7:00 AM, Dr. Meyers, the latest “Docling,” came in to remove the remaining drain.  Nurse Shastika, a lovely woman from Fiji, and Alisa, who sounded Swedish, removed the staples from both wounds.  Harvey said that it was a little uncomfortable, but not painful.  They placed tape strips over the wounds, and he is to let them fall off on their own.  Dr. Graves visited a couple of times this morning and told Harvey that he had recovered very well, and he was very happy with his progress.  He had told Harvey he would arrange for his discharge at 11:00 AM, and within a few minutes, that is what occurred.  On my visit yesterday, I had taken a duffel bag with all of the clothing he would need, including his Rotary pin on the collar of his shirt.  The Murdocks again came to our aid, and kindly volunteered to help me get Harvey home.  When we arrived at the hospital, Harvey was dressed and waiting for the wheelchair to transport him to the parking lot.  We were home just before Noon.

I will be adding another activity to my nursing experience.  Harvey will require an injection of Lovenox, a blood thinner, twice a day for the next thirty days.  Fortunately, they taught him how to give the injection as well, so the responsibility doesn’t fall solely on me.  I am happy to say that a Home Nurse has been assigned to Harvey’s case, and she has already contacted us to make an appointment.  She said that her first visit usually takes approximately two hours.  I will definitely be asking for nutrition advice.

Harvey’s sister, Hilma, emailed us to say that she had sent two quilted lap robes made by the women of her church.  As she and her husband, George, are snuggled under their quilts while watching Jeopardy, she will  be able to picture us sitting in our respective, side by side recliners, snuggling under our lap robes while watching Jeopardy.  Maybe we can send each other the answers through telepathy.  Thank you, Hilma.  They arrived today, and they are beautiful.  When Dawn is here on Wednesday, we will have her take a photo.