Gee I don't even know where to start! Dad is back at the nursing home and seems to be doing okay. I went up yesterday morning (Tues) and he was back already and when I first got there he was in bed, sitting up and eating lunch. He was doing a good job with his fork and had eaten quite a bit. You could tell he was tired though and struggling to eat. Mom was in the dining room with Jeanie helping her to eat. Jeanie was saying Mom was having a really bad day and had been upset. When I went into the dining room she acted really excited to see me though and definitely knew me. I took over for Jeanie and stayed with her to help her eat. She did pretty good and maybe ate l/2 her food but she did drink most of her ensure and did eat some. After she ate I took her in to see Dad (she hadn't seen him yet) and HE had a blank look on his face like he wasn't going to recognize her! I was sick! But then he said "there's my baby" and reached out for her hand. It was so sweet! I went back for their supper meal and was totally surprised to see them in the dining room in wheelchairs and waiting on their food! It was good to see Dad up and moving around. They both did really good too! Dad ate everything except had l/2 glass of his milk left. He was drinking coffee before I left. Mom ate a whole tuna sandwich (I cut it into quarters and she does much better with finger foods and smaller pieces of things), she also ate all her peach slices, a couple bites of her potato soup and her crackers. They were good when I left after that. This morning I went back around 10 and asked what Dad had eaten for breakfast and they said 50% of his liquids and 25% of his food. I told the nurse and nurses' aide both that he HAD to eat! I brought he and Mom both a ice cream sundae (they LOVE those little dollar sundaes from Sonic which is right before you get to LNC). Dad was sleeping when I got there but Mom was sitting in her bed and fully alert and talking to her imaginary friend I guess!LOL I told her that I had brought her a sundae and a Hershey candy bar and she was sooooo excited! She hugged her candy and said "I love candy and I'll hide it so no one gets it". I fed her the ice cream and she ate it all. She's pitiful though cause she kept asking "What do I do, Where are we going, what do I need to do, are we ready to go, let's go, look at that person over there, etc, etc." She said today and yesterday both that she needed to pee but of course they got her up and she doesn't go. Dad finally woke up and I told him that I had ice cream for him and did he want to eat it and he said yes he did and that was just what he had been wanting to eat. I fed it to him and he ate it all plus a half glass of cranberry juice. I called this afternoon after lunch and asked how he had done at lunch and they looked and said he had taken 100% of his liquids and ate 50% of his food. That's not bad I don't think. She also told me that speech had done an evaluation on him and they were going to give him speech 5 times a week for 2 weeks. They had been there and helped him with lunch. I'm glad they're going to do that! She said that Medicare pays for that when they come out of the hospital. I suppose because of being deconditioned. Whatever the reason, I think it's good! That's all for now. It's really sad to see them in this condition but I realize that it's as good as it's going to get. I think I thought being in the nursing home was one step below the hospital but now realize it's only 1 step above being home alone together. It's at least better than it was when that's where they were! Love to all, Judy

Well he didn't go home yesterday or today but is suppose to go back tomorrow morning. Jeanie stayed with him from 5:30 or so Sunday and is spending the night again tonight. I'm driving up in the morning and going to make sure Dad gets back to the nursing home and everything is ordered correctly on his chart, etc. I also plan on checking on Mom of course too. Jeanie had a long talk with Dr. Hodges today (she really likes him and trusts his opinion as does Pam) He said that he was going to check his labs again today and then send him back tomorrow. He said he thought that in order to prevent this again, Dad needed to be monitored as far as eating and drinking and that if he didn't eat for a day, that LNC should do a Urine check and send blood for a potassium level right away and not wait for it to elevate. He also said that he was going to give him a Rx for Theraquil?? for bouts of anxiety and Jeanie says that is the exact thing they have changed Mom's too instead of Ativan. His creatinin was down today to 1.6 and Jeanie told his nurse "yea!" and she said it wasn't normal still cause they like it at 1.2~! HELLOOOOO!! This is a 90 year old man with diabetes for close to 20 years!! Get over 1.2! Jeanie, Pat and Pam have all told me that it was unbelievable how Dad's mental state has been and that we who haven't seen it couldn't imagine! He was significantly improved today though and ate all of his breakfast, dinner and supper. Jeanie said he ate with his fork by himself and ate every grain of food! That's all good. He's still agitated some though because tonight I called to talk to Jeanie about how he was and she said he had told her to turn the light off and not nicely either! heheh I told her that it could be worse and he could be fighting her! Let's hope that is OVER! Okay, that's it from 2nd hand for now! Love to all, Judy

Jerry went to the hospital early this morning. They had put Dad's IV back in because he was slightly dehydrated again. I got there around 10:00 and they changed his bed and put his gown back on and he went to sleep. He woke up around 12:30 and I fed him his lunch. He ate a lot! He also drank half of his tea. When I left about 1:30 he was calm. I haven't talked to Jerry yet about how he's been this afternoon. Pam and I had them write on his chart that he was not to have any more Ativan. I really don't think the Ativan is the whole issue, but I think it makes everything worse. I'm assuming they'll send him home tomorrow. We'll see how the rest of the day and night goes. love you, pat

Yes and Pam went by to see Mom and she was much better too!~ She was in bed at first but was awake and looked good. Pam cried because she was so precious! I know it's so hard on all of us having them like this but we all know we have no choice. Mom told Pam that her husband was missing and had been gone a long time. Pam tried to explain he was in the hospital but would be back soon and he was doing good. Mom got up and was waiting on supper when Pam left to go to the hospital. Mom said to go and take care of him--meaning Daddy. The bad news is that they gave another Ativan in the applesauce Jerry got him to eat and he went uncontrollable again. Pat was so sweet and went to be with Pam so she didn't have to deal with Dad by herself. I called Pam around 9 tonight and Dad had finally settled down a lot and was sleeping off and on. About 10 Pam called me again because the nurse was in to give him his cholesterol medicine and Pam wanted to make sure it was ok. Pat, Pam and I have decided the Ativan is the culprit for these out of control moments Dad is having. They told the nursing staff NO ativan for Dad. We'll see if he stays ok without it. Hopefully he will. Pam wondered if they were giving Dad Ativan at the nursing home and THAT was why he was having those bouts of agitation??? Which could account for the dehydration too since he doesn't eat or drink during these times. We'll see! Love to all, Judy

Okay, better news! I left the hospital around 1:30. Jerry came to relieve me and I desperately needed relief! Daddy was absolutely uncontrollable until he finally went to sleep around 12:00. Jerry just called me and said Dad was much better. He had eaten some applesauce and graham crackers. They also got him dressed. They took off the heart monitor and all the wires. I told Jerry to tell them NOT to give him Ativan again. I think it just reversed what it was supposed to do. Anyway, as of now, he is much better. Hopefully, this will continue. love you, pat

Okay I'm going to post at least a quick note but there has been SO much go on since Thursday I'll never get it all! Good news is that Dad's kidney counts are all back to normal range. They dc'd his IV since he kept pulling it out. His kidney ultrasound showed normal looking kidneys, evidently CT scan taken in ER was normal. The kidney doctor said today that he could go from his standpoint but of course with it being Sat he hasn't gone because his Internal Medicine guy that admitted him would be the attending physician and would be responsible for discharge. The bad news is the mental state of Dad since he's been totally OUT OF CONTROL as far as his actions. He was pretty good yesterday till around 9 p.m. or so and I think he was out of control all night (Jerry spent the night with him) and has been out of control almost all day. This has been in spite of Ativan given to him in at least 2 doses. Pat is currently with him until Pam gets there today. Jeanie has company from St. Louis for the weekend and I worked at the hospital Friday, going to take Brittney's kids to Frank's Mom and Dad tomorrow to spend the night and then Brittney and I are going to see Dean's brother and sister. I'll be back Monday and will drive up either Monday or Tuesday and stay a few days. Dad's actions are way out in left field. The doctor today and Leisa both think that it's because of an environment change for him and he will go back to his normal but when I talked to Pat last, he was naked, sitting in bed and shaking his bed rails! He has been talking out of his mind about bootlegging, red wine, jail, etc. Just totally NOT Dad stuff. Let's hope this clears soon! Love to all, Judy

I stayed with Dad tonight until about 10:00 when Jim got there. He seemed fine until about 9:00. We watched the ballgames on TV and he talked a lot. I couldn't always understand what he was saying, but I pretended I did. He also ate 2 cookies. About 9:00 he got really restless. He started trying to get out of bed and taking his gown off and stuff. I finally asked him if he wanted to go to sleep and he said yes and he wanted me to turn out all the lights and turn the TV off so I did. He then settled down and I covered him up and sat down in the chair and all of a sudden he said , "night, night, Patsy". It was so cute! I wanted to cry! Anyway, when I left he was sleeping. I do know that they gave him another dose of that stuff that causes him to poop out the potassium. I figure Jim is in for a fun night! I asked the nurse to look up and see what his last potassium reading was, but he never did come back and tell me. We'll find out tomorrow. Anyway, I'm off to bed! love you, pat