DH is much better

DH is symptom free. He has beaten the pneumonia, the staff infection and his kidneys are back to his baseline level. He is still very weak.

DH will be transferred to a rehab facility in Cincinnati today. His doctor expects him to be there for two weeks. It is further away from our home and I will only be able to visit in the evening. The important this is that DH is getting better! Thank you for all your prayers.

Yesterday evening DH seemed a little disoriented. He was talking about things I had never heard him discuss before. I don't know if it is the dementia or not. I do not know exactly what the rehab facility will be ordered to do, but I hope a full dementia exam will be part of it. DH's doctor had talked about it four weeks ago. We will have to see what is ordered.

I made a friend while DH was in ICU. Her name is Carol. Her husband is very ill with congestive heart failure and pulmonary failure. I met her as I was walking into the hospital today and she indicated that she thought he had taken a turn for the worse overnight. Please pray for Carol as she goes through loosing a husband of close to 50 years.

Please continue to pray for family members of dementia patients and the patients themselves. It is hard to see a loved one loose there memory. It is harder to see them realize that it is happening and there is no reversal. God bless you and have a wonderful weekend.

Geting Better

DH is slowly getting better. He has not run a temperature since Saturday and is doing well breathing on his own. They will be getting him out of bed for a short time today.

MIL is coming to visit for the day. A family member will be driving her up from home to the hospital. We expect then around noon. MIL is not in good health herself, but she is managing. I am sure that DH being very ill has not been good for her.

I am getting as much sleep as I can, but this has taken a lot out of me too. I know that DH will not be coming directly home, but going to a rehab facility not too far from our home. He is very weak and will need some assistance that I cannot give him for the first few days after he is released from the hospital.

Please continue to pray for all dementia patients and their families.

Update

We have been through a very rough weekend. Friday morning I called 911 and the ambulance took DH to the hospital. He had a temperature of 104 and his kidneys were shutting down. He had a very bad infection and pneumonia. We almost lost him.

At 10 Friday morning they put him on a ventilator and started massive antibiotics and other medications to jump start his kidneys. He was still delirious and not communicating.

Friday evening they had to sedate him because he was trying to remove the tubes from the ventilator. He was communicating and indicating anxiety and confusion. He slept all day Saturday and Sunday as they decreased the amount of oxygen he was on and he started assisting the ventilator.

This morning they changed his sedation medication and started to ween him off. At 10:30 they took him off the ventilator and he was talking a little. We have him on the road to recovery.

He will have to go from the hospital to rehab for a period. I am not sure when he will be returning home.

Please continue to pray for all caregivers and dementia patients. Thank you.

Ask for help

Last night was even worse. We almost didn't make it into the bedroom and then I had to totally undress DH and put him in bed. He was not really able to communicate when I got him in bed and I almost called 911.

This morning I had to dress him, wash his face and oversee his breakfast and pills. I have been crying ever since.

I just called our doctor and they are going to see about getting more help for me. Adult day care is a possibility, but getting DH out of the house may be more than I can physically do. My right knee is getting worse every day, but I cannot have surgery at this time.

My MIL called last night and was very upset. She asked what is wrong with Jimmy. I told her he was having a bad day and it was caused by the dementia. She was crying.

Pray for all of us. We need every prayer you can make, please.

Home for lunch

Today I went home at lunch to check on DH. He is not doing well. He could not stay awake between bites of sandwich or answer questions. I will be going straight home after work to be his care-giver.

Bless you

Lucid or not

Last evening was the hardest so far. DH had taken his pills out of order and I had to almost carry him on my shoulders down the hall to bed. I had to undress him and put on his CPAP. This is almost beyond my abilities. When he was getting up this morning he asked why I didn't just let him sleep in the recliner in the living room. That may be a solution.

After a long conversation with my daughter we decided that James can no longer be left at home alone over night. This is the end of my retreats. We agreed that one night a week after supper I can justify going to a guild meeting or neighborhood quilt group. I may rejoin the knitting group at my church ocassionally on weeks when my quilt groups do not meet. I do need some time away from home that is not at work.

My schedule is undergoing a drastic change in that I will have to make sure that DH has his breakfast and morning pills before I leave for work. Fortunately I live near work so I can go home at lunch and make sure he eats and takes his noon meds. Then straight home after work, unless there is grocery shopping to do. This seems such a slight thing to do for DH. Many would consider it a major chore. I find the more I do for him the more I love him.

DD doesn't understand the concept of respite. She cannot differentiate between being responsible right now and having someone else take care of DH while I am away relaxing and still worrying, but not responsible. She will be a verbal support, but that is all she can offer.

I hope we are not close to the next step of Adult Day Care. We are only eligible for two days a week at no cost. The other three will be our financial responsibility and I do not think we can find it in our budget.

Please continue to pray for all Alzheimer and other dementia patients and their care-givers.

Nothing good to report

Yesterday DH tried to work on his car. At the end of the day he indicated that he had done too much.

Last night I helped him down the hall to the bedroom. As he was removing his jeans he fell hard onto his left hip and shoulder. It was difficult to get him up off the floor.

Today he seems a little confused. I don't know if he is going down to another level of not being involved with the world around him. He seems to be drifting.

Still waiting for the doctor to call me back. I need some direction.

Bless you and keep you safe for another day.