He is home in his comfy leather chair eating ice cream as I type this (a small heart smart portion of course) He is so glad to be back on his mountain top!
A few things happened in the days leading up to his discharge.
Yesterday his hemoglobin was low and he was quite lethargic from it. To fix this he received two pints of blood which perked him right back up!
He was given new medication to get rid of the excess fluid, by yesterday evening he had only lost 2lbs....BUT overnight, he lost 10lbs! He was pretty worn out from getting up and down to go to the bathroom, but it was worth it, all that peeing was his ticket out of the hospital.
My Mom and Dad both attended a discharge orientation yesterday which detailed home care and signs to look out for in case of trouble. Today they attended an orientation on Coumadin, which is a blood thinner Dad will have to be on for the rest of his life. The orientation detailed associated risks and dietary requirements to follow while on Coumadin. My Dad was soooo happy when he learned he could never eat Kale again. I'm sure he would have jumped up and down if he was allowed :) He can't have any leafy greens which is a shame because there are actually a few that he likes!
Unfortunately, his schedule is very demanding now that he is home. He already has to go to the clinic in Sooke tomorrow to have blood work and then to the doctor the next day to have his stitches removed. He will have to go to town for blood work twice a week for the first little while. The blood work is to check his RNI levels (I think that is right) which affect how much Coumadin he needs to take. It is all very complicated! I think all the trips to town are really going to wear him out. At least he will sleep better now that he is in his own bed.
The next 4-6 weeks are going to be very tiring, and intense for both my parents, my Dad especially of course! I realize everyone will be excited to have him home and eager to get in touch, but for now it is best if we all express our excitement through emails to my Mom and blog comments.
I will be helping my Mom figure out a visiting schedule for those who are interested tentatively beginning in mid July.
That is all for now. My Mom will be doing some more blog posts from home and I will step in when she can't get to it. Sorry we left y'all hanging!
xo Janna
Terrific news! Welcome home, John.
ReplyDeleteGreat big (but oh-so-gentle) hugs to you.