As some of you probably saw on Facebook yesterday, if you could get on Facebook, we are HOME! But, it was quite the ordeal. I was a little late getting there and was surprised that he wasn't up having breakfast. So I got him up and dressed and still no breakfast. Maybe they knew he was leaving and since most leave as early as possible, they took him off the list, so no big deal. There's a Waffle House just down the street and we could have gone there. It finally came at 9:30 and they told us that only 2 people showed up to work in the kitchen.

Got all of his stuff packed up that I hadn't packed the day before and out to the car and then thought I would go down to administration to find out what was going on. I saw the Social Worker in the hall and asked her, and she had no idea that he was leaving! I told her all of the therapies had signed off on Tuesday and there was an order in the system for discharge, so she said she would look into it. She said they still needed to make an appointment with him with the dr. and call Home Health and get the paperwork and on and on and on. She asked Bill if he wanted to stay until she could get that done and he just looked at her. I told her I thought he would start walking if he had to stay.

I've got to give her credit, she made it happen! I made his dr. appointment with labs for Monday with out dr. I don't know if she called Home Health or not, but I have the contact information and can call and ask them if they got the order. The only problem that was left was his meds. They give each patient the medicine they have on hand, plus an extra week, that way they don't have to go out to get them filled as soon as they get home. I told them I probably had enough at home anyway. I was with the nurse when she called the pharmacy to see why his meds hadn't been delivered since the fax for discharge had been done Saturday or Sunday. She told me that they pay this pharmacy an extra $24,000 a month to ensure they get their meds when they are ordered, but that this was not the first time it happened. She said they could pay her $10,000 a month to deliver them on time and I said Ryan needed a job! When we left we still didn't have the meds. Margo was supposed to call me and then I was going to send Ryan to get them. She said that would be fine.

Before coming home we stopped at the grocery store and Bill stayed in the car while I ran through for a few supplies. Then the fun started. Ryan was going to meet us at the house to help get Bill and everything in while keeping the cat in at the same time, but I told him I thought we could manage. I went in first and turned his concentrator on and then grabbed Mouse and put him in the bedroom. He didn't know what to think!

Bill had a very hard time managing the 3 steps up to the door, even with me holding on to him. And he barely made it to his chair, his legs just gave out. He didn't end up on the floor, but pretty close. He made one last push and I got him turned and sitting down. I asked if they had worked with him on steps and he said no, so that's one thing to go over with Kevin and Tammie for home therapy. I let Mouse out and got the rest of the things in. Right now most of them are still sitting in the middle of the living room floor, but they'll get put away soon enough!

I can tell by how winded Bill is getting that he didn't do much walking during his therapies. So right now he's rather restricted to bedroom, bathroom, living room, dining room. Not even to the kitchen yet. There's a urinal beside his chair if he doesn't want to walk to the bathroom, and I can pull the bedside commode in also, but that, to me, just gives him less incentive to walk. So, for now he has to put up with me following him to the bathroom and waiting for him.

I managed to get all of his meds fixed yesterday and it was tough. They had written when they were giving some, and I knew that they were doing them wrong, so I split them up. It was the anti-rejection one they were playing with to get his level up. His level is back to a therapeutic one, but they were giving him the meds all at once in the morning and none in the evening, and I think the labs were being drawn after he had taken them. So I divided them like they are supposed to be and he's having the labs done again Monday and I'll hold his meds until after they draw the blood. I also added some that had been stopped such as his calcium, aspirin, and musinex and zyrtek.

The weather is really bad this morning and last night and his sinuses have been going crazy again. He's also doing a lot of coughing, but I can tell the rattle is all upper respiratory and not deep in his lungs. So I'm sure it's more just from sinus drainage.

We got these lovely flowers yesterday from my mom, step-dad, and extended family to welcome us home. I've been trying to get the picture to upload, but it doesn't want to cooperate. Maybe the next post.

I tricked Bill last night while we were eating. I did tell him what I did and he was OK with it. Since he has lost so much weight, his last weight Tuesday was 129.5, I'm on a mission to fatten him up. We had lasagna last night and usually we eat on breakfast size plates. But, last night I used the dinner plates and he ate 2 helpings! Using the larger plate made the size of the food look smaller, so he ate it all then wanted more. He also said, after I told him what I had done, that if it had been on the smaller plate, he wouldn't have eaten as much. So, we'll see how it goes the next few days. Tonight we're having salmon patties and tomorrow night meatloaf.  

I went back to bed this morning after the cats were fed, and we did let them in the bedroom. They went to bed when we did and stayed quiet all night. But, after they were fed, I shut the bedroom door and slept until about 7:15. We're having fierce winds and have a tornado watch until noon. It's also extremely warm. But, the sun has come out now and according to the weatherman our severe threat is actually passed now. All we should have the rest of the day is wind. But, I'm not planning on going anywhere, so it can blow if it wants.

All for now. Bill is still in bed but he's had his meds. I think we're both going to be a little lazy today and just get used to him being home. Kitty has adjusted already, Mouse doesn't know what to think about the walker and the oxygen tubing. He'll get used to it.

I don't know if I'll post anything tomorrow, but I definitely will Saturday morning. There will probably be a few extras thrown in from time to time if necessary, so just keep checking back. I've gotten some comments from folks that have gotten so used to reading it they miss it when there are no posts. They said it's like keeping up with family, and that's part of why I do it. When the family is as large and spread out as ours, a one-time post instead of lots of emails and phone calls gets everyone caught up at once...if they read it. So, thanks to all of you who do read it, family or not.