TGIF

Thanks for Friday.  I am having a delicious balanced dinner of a martini with olives (my vegetable) and peanut butter (my protein) pretzels (my carbohydrate).  God will understand.
David had a big day and I drove him and interpreting for him all day long.  He saw Dr. Clemo at 9:30, had a blood test later (we waited an hour to be seen), had both a home health nurse and PT visit for evaluation.  He is also scheduled for home speech therapy.  He loved seeing the nurse and physical therapist again.  They made a big deal over him remembering his progress last summer and are very optimistic.  He also had to have a chest X-ray...another hour delay...because of his awful cough and the really yucky junk he coughs up.
Right now David has the feeding pump administering food to his jejunum at 120 mL/hour for a total of 1422 mL each day.  He'll spend a lot of time on the pump.  I hold it when he goes to the bathroom etc.  Tonight his breathing was so labored and his O2 level vacilitated between 86 and 92.  He asked for oxygen and so he is now on O2 again and seems to be breathing much better.  He's agreed to try Nplate to raise his platelet count and will have his first injection Monday afternoon.  He will also see the home health nurse and physical therapist on Monday.  Luckily I will be here too as my students have an online exam and no face to face class.  Katya has been really generous with her time to be available for us and Than sat with David while I did my exam tonight.

I am thankful that he is getting food and not expelling it out of his stomach onto towels and his clothes.  This should give him fuel for energy.  I am thankful that we still have the oxygen concentrator here and he can breathe easier.  I am thankful for Dr. Clemo and her nurse Tracy who are caring, competent medical practitioners who listen to what is happening and make it better for David.  I asked Dr. Clemo to find me a teaching hospital that is full service for active elderly individuals on feeding tubes.  She is going to try but offered little hope.  There is no Facebook group or support groups that I can find to explore options for him (and me).  I think that I have a book here about Caregivers for the Elderly who get written off due to their age and possible short term gains for massive issues.  I also want to report the practice of Dr. Lee for their lack of preparation to help atypical patients.

I am well lubricated from my martinis and David is intently watching Real Time with Bill Maher so he is ENGAGED.  Joe lived to at least 102......16 more years to shoot for.  I'm in.  I think he is too.