Good Morning!  I came home early with a really bad headache. It's still trying to linger some but hopefully the early meds will keep it at bay. I'm also copying this from an email I sent out to some family members so it may have other info in it, although I'm trying to edit as I go.

Yesterday was eventful! Bill said that "some girl" came in before I got there. He didn't know who she was and I'm suspecting it may have been the ENT. When I walked in the door he was in the middle of a hearing test. The person I thought was just a technician was actually the audiologist. She suspects, and wants to retest in a month after the fluid in his ears is gone, that he actually has pretty profound hearing loss in his right ear and moderate loss in his left. He and I had recently talked that he needed to get his hearing checked. She works out of the hospital and she said that any time we are down there for appointments, if an appointment is not scheduled at discharge, just to call her directly and she will squeeze us in, she does it all the time. She also said that since he is a veteran, if we then go through the VA, the hearing aids will be free. But, you've heard the horror stories about dealing with the VA and a lot of them are true. So, we'll also look at the options she has.

As soon as that was over occupational therapy came in and worked with him, standing and then reaching up and out and down. While he was standing, Dr. Threlkeld came in and had a listen. He said that nothing is growing still, and if something did grow, they were using the right antibiotic and it was killed. He said that's a good sign and he will only need to be on home antibiotics 2-3 weeks instead of the usual 6 weeks. 

Next came cardiology and since they are just monitoring meds for the most part, there wasn't a lot to discuss there. She said the heart sounds good and all tests indicate that there are no problems in that direction.

Physical therapy arrived shortly after that and his lunch came 30 minutes early, right after they walked in the door. So far all of this took place between 9 and 11:30! PT wasn't happy with the oxygen level they were getting, he was only at 86% and Bill wasn't happy that his lunch, which was a huge portion of lasagna, was going to get cold. So, PT said they would come back so that he could eat. They did talk to his nurse and came in and upped his oxygen from 3 to 5.

Shortly after lunch an associate of the lung doctors came in and made note of the O2 change and said he would tell Dr. Fox to come by. When he came in he listened to him for 2 seconds, said that he was still hearing crackles, and said he would see him tomorrow. I don't know if he is afraid of questions that he might get, thinking that he couldn't answer them or if that is just his nature, but his bedside manner and dealing with family members/caregivers leaves a lot to be desired.

Physical therapy came back and he did the exercises he's been doing here at home with home health. They only walked in the room instead of the hall. His O2 still dropped into the 80s but after resting for a minute or 2, if he would keep his mouth shut and quit talking, the level would go back up.

That's about when my headache hit and nothing was helping. I thought it was because I had switched back to drinking water and needed the caffeine, but a coke didn't help and neither did the Tylenol. I finally told Bill about 3:30 I needed to go home or I wouldn't be able to drive later. I got home right at 5 and just sat. I did eat although nothing sounded good, or even tasted good, but I did eat, and kept it down. Not even the Cubs game helped. I'm also stuffy this morning. The air is stagnant again and farmers are burning fields so I've been driving through all that smoke. Even with the car on recirculate the smell gets in. It was really heavy yesterday coming home, enough to need headlights. So dangerous to cover the interstate like that.

I've got to check this morning and make sure the nurses are administering his nasal sprays. He won't remember to do it unless they give them to him. Right now they are just on his tray table and he doesn't remember when I ask if he used them or not, so I'm going to tell them they need to do it. I suspect he's not been getting his inhalers, even though they are also on his table and they are listed in his medications. So, another task for me this morning.

There's still no time table for discharge and that's getting really discouraging for him. He feels better and wants to be home, but he still can't walk as far as the bathroom or bedroom without getting winded. He also doesn't understand that when his oxygen drops so low, he could pass out with no warning and who knows what would happen then. So, we'll see if they continue to work with him on building on strength.

That's about it. You all know that in some way, shape or form, I'll keep you all updated.