March update #3

A very busy week

Nancy is very ill but the episode last week was brought under control and stabilized. The unanswerable question is how long this can last.
Lots of folks are working to improve the current situation. There is not a cure, so we go day by day.

Saturday and Sunday were just Nancy and me at home, with a couple of phone calls to old friends. We were active – meals, pills, and potty, plus animal chores.
The hospital bed, partially working, was helping but . . .
The head and shoulders part was wood-beam supported, so that part could not be easily changed. See previous post for photo. We managed.

Monday
The non-working bed parts parts were switched out for new. Thus, in addition to the time Friday, Monday also included another 2 hour session (with more equipment). Nancy was home for this episode, moving to the recliner where she could watch the setup, and talk with Dylan as he worked.
Delivered at the same time was an Oxygen Concentrator.
This is about the size and weight of a larger Badger, 37 pounds, not meant to be portable. The company claims it is quiet, and sells a higher priced one that may be. This is not.
These things take most of the Nitrogen out of room air – leaving the Oxygen and minor gases. The concentrated Oxygen is sent to the patients nose via a long clear tube, called a cannula. The face piece can be either a small mask or the 2-pronged insert.
Nancy tried the mask Monday night. At about 4 AM – potty time – she decided “enough of that” and the rest of sleep time did not have supplemental Oxygen. The alternative will be tried Tuesday.

NEXT nurse & Physical Therapist
Medical care at home is covered via Medicare, here:
Home health care
Click outside the pop-up window to see the page.

I assume this is paid for via the insurance cost deducted from the Social Security payment, that began for us in 2009. I don’t know the cost then, but in 2021 it is $148.50 per month for each of us.

Nurse Dani took the lead for Nancy, arriving this morning, doing a health check, and explaining the Kittitas Valley “Home Health Care” program. Following her assessment and report – she expected 2 hours of office work to follow the home visit – then the Physical Therapist, Seth, was authorized to begin. He came in the afternoon.

A digression: Our mail route has three addresses within a few miles of each other with 1’s and 4’s and 0’s. The carrier must have trouble with numbers – we often find other’s mail in the big blue box. Seth called from a neighbor’s to say he was early, but in front of our house.
By looking out the window I assured him he was not at our house.

Wednesday/Thursday
Both nurse and physical therapist returned. Somehow the blood drawn was not what the lab was expecting. Someone called here looking for Nurse Dani, who was long gone. I told the person to call the doctor or nurse at Cle Elum.
Seth got Nancy doing a few exercises. I guess he talks more authoritatively than do I. She does them a few times a day, and I got her moving and stretching her right arm (that with the recent break & cast).

Friday
When she left the hospital last Friday the discharge included an appointment in Cle Elum for 1 pm this Friday the 19th. The morning was busy with food, pills, and chores. For an unknown reason, just before leaving Nancy insisted she should wear the cast and sling. Not able to change her mind, that’s how we went. The first question Chelsea asked was “Why the cast and sling?” I told her it was a mental glitch, not physical.
After that we had a 40 minute discussion. Not much was new or resolved. The hospital doctor wanted it to happen, so it did.
Back home a message was on the recorder about Nancy’s 2nd dose of vaccine. {I got mine Thursday, am.) Again, the hospital wanted this to happen at home for her, but exactly when was hard to pin down. I returned the call and 20 minutes later Ellensburg Fire & Rescue Deputy Chief Rich Elliott appeared at our door. He stuck around about 15 minutes – there was no immediate reaction for Nancy. Six hours later, still nothing. Me? 36 hours and counting – nothing.

While I prepared supper, she watched much of a video of the Moody Blues live at the Royal Albert Hall. In a non-busy moment I may watch that. Then we came upon Joe Biden stumbling up the steps leading to Air Force One. We have missed most of the first two months of the new administration. Maybe that’s a good thing.

My old cheap flip phone quit synchronizing or connecting with my Bluetooth enabled Crosstrek. Nancy’s similar phone worked, so it is the phone, not the car. We needed another problem?

Nancy is now sleeping with Oxygen from the concentrator.

Check back next Saturday (I hope)
for news from the Naneum Fan

Best to all.
John & Nancy