Since I knew my dad would be going to the hospital in October of 2012 I planned to go up there on the week he was supposed to be released. I went up on 10-26-2012 and was scheduled to return on 11-2-2012. I picked a hotel that was about half way between Everett and Seattle since I was not sure of the exact day of his release. It was a standard (substandard) hotel in Aurora. I would save some money by using my dad's truck (parked at his apartment). I did NOT want to stay in his Apartment. So this trip ended up costing me about $700. I had not been on an airplane in about 4 or 5 years and was dreading all the new security.
I picked a nonstop flight and the flight was mostly boring as I could not get a window seat. I did get to listen to some woman ramble on and on and on and on and on throughout the whole flight. I arrived in Seattle got my baggage, caught a shuttle to my dad's apartment and picked up his truck, after a quick check on his apartment (yup still crammed with stuff). I found the hotel and checked in, then went to the hospital.
Well my Dad had not made much improvement from the previous week. he had a tube in his nose down to his stomach to suck out junk from his stomach since his innards were not working right (this is supposedly normal after this type of surgery). I hung out for a while, then left, had dinner, and went back to my hotel. I made what would become a daily status report to all who were interested (about 3 calls) The next morning I was taking a shower and reached for the soap and.... threw out my back YAY! I toughed it out. Went to the hospital and hung out there since this trip all ran together I will summarize some of it.
I would help my dad out during the day with his walks and whatever he needed. Take some breaks for lunch and dinner and usually leave around 5 or 6 pm. My back was seriously killing me and I found a Chiropractor in Bothel that I really wish was here in Phoenix. They fixed me up, but a day later my back went out again. They fixed me up again and I think I went for a third visit on Halloween whereupon I had my back worked on by a Jedi. The costume was quite good except for the mag-light light sabre.
It became apparent that a couple days in to my stay that My dad would not be getting out while I was up there. So I put my nephew on call as he could come up for a few days past when I had to leave. My nephews "father" works for a small airline that can get free tickets and so my Nephew can go places on a moment's notice.
It was during this trip that I began to notice something was not right with my Dad. He has always been a story repeater, but this time he was repeating stories within an hour of the last time he told it instead of days, weeks, or months. Now, we had been trying to convince him to move back to Phoenix for about a year or two but he was always reluctant. Before he went in for surgery I had him mostly convinced to move back. Seems he thought that he would have to move all his stuff by himself. Once I told him people would come up and help him he became more receptive to the idea. HA HA HA (silly me) "help him" (wipes tear from eye).
I was filling out an application for an apartment for him, for his move back to Phoenix. When I asked him how long he had been living at his current apartment he said since 2003...
No that's not right. He lived there
since about 1998. I reminded him that he moved there in 1998 then around 2003
he had to change apartments so they could renovate his old one (#8) and install
a bathroom. he informed me that no that was not true. He had always been in
apartment 3. The rest of the conversation is too confusing to write down.
Suffice it to say he was completely confused about where he lived, how long or
when he moved up there. In fact after more questioning it was apparent that he
was having severe memory problems. I brought this up with the nurse and the
doctors and they dismissed it as being a symptom of the after effects of the
anesthesia he had been given (2 weeks ago).....riiiiiigggghhhhT.I later learned that, that can be the case, but in my dad's situation something else was going on. This is about the time I began recording all the conversations between me and the hospital staff, Mostly because of the daily briefings I had to give my wife, my sister, and my nephew.
Next post
"Shift Change", or "why it is very important to have family with you as much as possible when in hospital"
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