Pop came Home:) Then “THE FLU”

I was able to bring Pop home on the 17th before all the snow fell.  I was able to get his medicine and get home.  We went to bed and I woke up at 2:30 am doing what you do when you have the stomach flu.  I was not anything pretty let me tell you. 

I decided to come sleep on the couch and guess what Pop had the flu to. 

We spent all of Wednesday sleeping on and off.  In the morning I was lucky enough to get ahold of a Group Health nurse to talk about Pops medicine cause he lost almost 10lb of water weight in 1 day and that is dangerous for someone who has BP up and down like Pop.  I always joke he is a delicate flower and he really is.  Everything is a balance between what he puts in his mouth and how his medicine works. 

Most of the time it is like having a tiger by the tail, he feels good and wants to eat and do everything like normal, but his body sais no by having his BP act crazy. 

It is a good thing I have been at this for a while and have some good sense.

I am feeling better, that flu was one of the worst I have had in probably 15 years.  I hope I don’t get anything like that again. 

Trying to not get excited, Tomorrow could be the day Pop comes Home

Last night was kind of difficult and the 1st half of the day not so good either.  Pop just can’t tolerate too much heat.  The room he was moved into must have been closed to 80 degrees. He got not sleep and had a terrible night. 

They swapped him with someone else and I turned the fan on him and he passed right out.  I think he is somewhat dehydrated to. He slept on/off for most of the day.  He was a little bit confused but I think that had to do with dehydration.  I was able to get him to have a snack and he ate his dinner before I left, those are all good things.  We are one more step closer to leaving. 

If everything is ok and his BP stays good and he is up and  a round when the dr. comes tomorrow.  Fingers crossed he will be at home this time tomorrow

Start of week 2, but really week 3 since problem Began.

Tonight my Poppa is resting in a different room in the hospital, on a different floor.  His BP is coming down, know his blood chemistry stuff is going a little wonky due to medicine.

I try so hard to be a trooper and behave like everything is ok, cause if I am ok my Poppa will be ok to.  I just don’t always feel ok on the inside.

It is funny yesterday, I went to visit him early and left for lunch and to run some errands because he was sleeping.  I didn’t know what to do with myself because I have not had to decide how to just fill my needs.   I always squeeze what I need into what I have to accomplish for Pop that I never think about what I could want. Some people would think that is crazy, but that is how I love and take care of my Poppa. He is the beginning, middle and end of my day.

He has some dementia issues so I am not able/willing to leave him home alone longer than a couple of hours by himself and to be honest I would rather take him with me.  We are a team.  A very heavily one sided team, but we are a team and I may get worn out sometimes and irritated because I forget he is 71 has had 5 heart attacks and a whole bunch of other medical problems in the last few years, he is still my dad and still tries to tell me what to do cause he thinks I am his little girl.  We are a fine pair.  I digress.

I am hoping that tomorrow everything will be good and I can bring him home and we can move past this.  Everyday he gets stronger.  He is good tempered and is trying very hard to have a good attitude about the whole thing. It is hard for him he is the one stuck in the hospital.

The cats both miss him.  Pop’s cats name is Tic and supposedly my cat, her name is Lily.  Lily gives me the dirtiest looks when I come home and Pop is not with me.  Tic she cries for her Poppa and sits, sleeps on his bed when I am home.  She also does their normal bed time routine.  I try to comfort her and pet her but I am not her Poppa

Hospital Chronicles, day 9, I think.

So My dad has been back in the Hospital since Monday.  This all started last Tuesday when his congestive heart failure backed up his lungs and irritated his COPD.  They dried him out, he went home on that Thursday.  He was great number wise on Friday, but his mucus membrane was really dried out.  The Dr.s off said not to give him one of his water pills.

But it was too late, Saturday morning he was to dried out and his BP was in the dumper and I had to call 911.  So back to the hospital he went.  The EMT did a great job bringing his BP back because the whole  time he was in on Saturday his BP was normal and everything looked good, so they sent him home.  Sunday he was fine, felt good.

So we come to Monday and once again is BP is bad and I have to call 911 and they take him to the hospital.  He has been there ever since and his BP is all over the place.  Also, I can never seem to be there when the dr. rounds, but it is ok.  Hopefully we will have some good news today and maybe he can go home tomorrow. 

All I care about it my Poppa being better and all the money and stuff will just have to be worked out later.  I can’t stress out about 3 hospital rides or his copays for being in the hospital.  I have a little high BP  to so I have to keep it together.  Besides if I fall apart who will be steering this crazy life boat me and pop are floating along on.

Oh 2012 you started out so good!

So Last night I had to take my dad to the ER cause he couldn’t breathe.  We haven’t had to go to the ER for 1 1/2 years.  Not so bad.  My dad   has lots of things wrong with him.  His BP was thru the roof n he had not slept in 2 days and he was hot all over.  It wasn’t to bad as far as experiences go.  We have had worse experiences with going to the hospital.

It is funny a lot of times I just want to be alone and now that he is there and I am here, I miss him.  The cats miss him.  I have so many chores I could get done, I am so exhausted.  I think I have only slept 4 hours between this morning and this afternoon.  I am not to freaked out by the whole going to the ER cause we have done it enough times I know what to say n do and how to make sure things are good with the nurses, cause they do the caretaking.  I just want him to be ok and come home.  I would never admit it to him he drives me crazy but I miss my Papa.

I will try to post again after he comes home about this,  I just forget that things were tough when they go back to normal.  I suppose things are that way for a lot of people.