Yesterday wasn't as good a day as they had been. Bill was still awake and aware when I got there, just something off again. He was a little flushed, but he didn't hurt anywhere. He still responded when asked but he just looked like he didn't feel good.

Austin put his bed in chair mode instead of putting him in the chair itself. He looked really comfortable, but I don't know if he was or not. He was reclined more than he would have been in the chair.

The heparin was on standby because about 10:30 Wednesday night his urine got pretty red so they stopped it. Austin was waiting to hear from the urologist and when he did get a decision, I don't know if it was the urologist or Dr. Edwards. But, the decision was made to restart the heparin and unless his urine went to complete blood, the benefits still outweighed the risks. It was just dark again when I left and it had been running a few hours by that time.

The IV antibiotics have stopped but Andrea from respiratory noticed that the secretions they were suctioning were changing from white/clear to a slight yellow tinge. He was also asking to be suctioned more, which for Bill is odd. He also was not able to cough them up as easily. So, maybe that's what was off, he's getting ready to go into a bad phase again. Dr. Threlkeld just said we'll keep watching it.

His PEG tube has just about quit draining as much and his skin is clearing up, as long as they keep putting the creams on. Most of the swelling in his arms and legs has gone down, but his left arm was still swollen about the elbow and his right arm is weeping.

I was totally blindsided in the afternoon when the pulmonology resident came in and did his usual check of the vent. He then said he noticed in the chart that they were working on discharge and getting him placed in a vent compatible facility and he asked what they were telling me! All I could say was nothing! This was the first I had heard about it! About 30 minutes later I got a call from a social worker that said she was working on his discharge and there were some problems because he doesn't have any Medicare days left and Tricare won't pay unless there is Medicare or Medicaid and she wanted to know if we had applied for Medicaid yet. I told her no, that this was the first I had heard of any of this, and I told her to also call the VA to see what they offered as in-patient. I didn't hear anything else the rest of the day.

After wanting to throw up the lovely Italian Chicken Salad I had for lunch and then bursting into tears, I got mad, and then my brain started to work. I started listing all of his conditions, beginning with the central line. I did forget a few, but thought of them on the way home. I also started to do some research, but didn't have my laptop with me and it was hard to do on my phone. If I read it right, I think that if a person is over 65 in Arkansas and is going to be in a facility, Medicaid is automatic without having to meet the different income/asset tests. But, that's more research for today. Needless to say, the laptop is going with me today. I just hope the internet holds up. I'm also not sure, but it seems to me, that if the state of Arkansas is going to pay for his care, they would want him to be in a facility in the state. There is an acute care/long term hospital in Jonesboro that lists all of Bill's many conditions as something all they. It is right across the street from the nursing home he was in last year. They also, according to their website, are still allowing 1 visitor per day per patient during this time, as long as they can check temperature when entering and PPE is used. If you don't let them take your temp, you don't get it. Not a problem for me, been doing that for awhile.

So, lots of things on my mind already this morning. And if anyone has any suggestions, tips, tricks, info that would help, let me know. This is totally uncharted territory for me and I don't like it.

There are also a lot of things I could say about the treatment someone who gave nearly 30 years of his life to defending his country and now the insurance won't pay, but I won't say it...yet. I'm also hoping that they aren't doing it just because they need the bed. I didn't look at the board close enough yesterday to see how full they are. I know the day before they had several rooms open. So, we'll see what I find today. I really want to know which dr. put in the order. I can't believe it would be Dr. Edwards since he told me that Bill needs a higher level of care than he could get in a long term facility. But, maybe the higher ups are on his case about revenue. 

OK, that's it for this morning. Since I'm taking the laptop today, if there are any major changes I'll let you know. I have a feeling it's not going to be a good day, at least for me!