The C Word – Planning to Go Home

Yesterday was quite a busy day.  Lots of visits from various staff. 

The Nursing Department head for this floor came in to ensure that all the staff were doing their job and to ask if we were pleased with how things have been going.  We have been happy with them.  We’ve had most of the same nurses on a daily basis.  Yida, our dayshift nurse, is quite cheerful, knowledgeable and has a good sense of humor.  Yesterday she had a “side-kick”, Rachel, who has just started to work part time here as she works mainly at O’Connor hospital.  She was this tiny gal that doesn’t look like she’s out of high school yet but her skills were impeccable.  Our evening shift nurse has been Maria and she did a good job as well.  The night shift was covered by Lorena.  She was typically very quiet when she came in and spoke softly so that George only needed to respond to her requests without fully awakening. 

The second visitor of the day was Occupational Therapy to check on how George is functioning and to ensure that he is going to be okay at home. 

The third visitor of the day was Dr. Bastidas.  We had a few questions for him.  During our previous hospital stay he had said he would try to set things up with Corum to administer TPN at home.  However, he was away when discharge was happening so the hospital set us up wit Silicon Valley Pharmacy.  We wanted to know if it was possible to change pharmacies when we go home.  We also said that we were not happy with Pathways care and had decided to go ahead and sign up with Hospice of the Valley and not need to worry about transitioning to them at a later date.  He said that all sounded fine but we should speak to the Case Manager as soon as possible so they can check into all the logistics.  He said he would stay on as the supervising doctor when we go home.  George was concerned about the “6 month rule” with hospice and Dr. B said it wasn’t a problem, you can “graduate” every six months meaning that if you still need care, they ask for an extension for another six months. 

The next visitor was Pastor Nick who came by to visit and chat. 

We then saw the Wound Care nurse as she wanted to check out the abscess “hole” and the PEG tube area.  She unpacked the abscess wound and checked it out.  She recommended this wound “rope” that has some gel in it to help lubricate the wound to allow for healing and also has silver in it to stop bacteria from growing.  She recommended that because the gauze dries out and thus is a bit painful to George when we take it out.  I looked online to purchase some for home and the stuff is $40 for 5 strips!  That would add up to over $280 for one month!  I think we will use it but maybe not every day. 

The sixth visitor was Catalina, the Case Manager.  I stepped out into the hallway with her (as Pastor Nick was still in the room) and made sure the details of our discharge were accurate.  I suggested that Wednesday or perhaps Thursday would be a target.  I thought we still needed the TPN to be closer to being in range.  She was already working on reaching out to Hospice of the Valley. 

I left the hospital to get a massage after that (so very much needed!) and had a wonderful Himalayan Salt Stone and Eucalyptus aromatherapy massage by Felisa.  Ninety minutes of just laying still and being pampered.  I went home to shower and bring the (junk) mail inside.

When I returned, I heard George had a seventh visitor, Dr. Guetzkow.  I think he is the attending physician for this floor.  He told George he was going to push Catalina to send us home today.  I told George that I was fine with waiting until Wednesday rather than feel rushed to get out of here. 

We both slept well last night.  Me from the relaxing massage and George because he is allowed to have medications via mouth now and he requested some Ambien to help him get to sleep. 

We shall see what happens today.  At least we know there is a plan for going home.