Nancy is now in a facility in Ellensburg. A crew picked her up at about 2:45 this afternoon and by 4 P.M. she had made it into a room which will be her new home for a few days. As I write she is answering questions for the medical staff. I’ll post this and grab a few things for her and head down the road. The only glitch today was that the person who had to sign discharge papers was nowhere to be found. She had gone into a meeting and turned off her cell phone and anyone that would know her whereabouts was apparently in the same meeting.
I’ll get more posted either late tonight (10 or 11) or early in the morning. I’m on Pacific Time.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>update
After visiting with Nancy I am trying to stay hopeful but it is not easy. As she just got there and has not interacted with any physical therapist there is, as yet, no way to judge what will happen next. Such as it is, that’s the good news.
The day’s problems began with the missing necessary signature as mentioned earlier. Next the insurance company representative would agree to sending Nancy to Ellensburg in a wheel chair type van. Nancy has not been using a wheel chair and cannot get up or down or out of bed without aid. She didn’t want the wheel chair deal so we went with the next option which we have to pay for. $1,000 later Nancy is in Ellensburg.
Upon arriving in the facility one person indicates she is expected to stay only 3 days. A second person says, no, it is seven days with a second week likely. It was too late in the day to question this – no one was around that would know.
She was told that the report they received on her indicated she was sufficiently strong to get out of bed and to the potty on her own. Where did that come from? The reason for not allowing her to go to the 5th floor rehab unit was that she could not do such a thing and thus would not benefit from the sort of rehabilitation offered there. Besides, the previous afternoon Nancy had told the director she could not traipse to the potty on her own.
This next thing isn’t regarding Nancy but I think it is relevant. Here is the story: In early December an elderly Ellensburg man has a stroke and is taken to Yakima for treatment. Several days later the wife falls in her home and breaks her hip. For the past two weeks, until this morning, they were sharing a 2-person room. Now the man has been moved out to a room down the hall and Nancy has been moved in. These are very nice folks, both in wheel chairs. I was there at supper time and the staff served Nancy and the pair their dinners in the room while I was there. We had a pleasant visit but later the lady got into bed and the man wheeled himself off to watch TV for awhile before going to his new room. I acknowledge that Nancy and I do not know the reasons for this situation – it was not explained to Nancy today – but it did not seem right.
We hope to have answers tomorrow.