Over the past 3 days, Ed's vital signs have stabilized to the point that today, the nursing staff barely looked in on him, only checking his blood pressure, etc., once this morning and not the rest of the day. The hospice nurse did check him in the morning as well. He was mentally alert all day but very tired and got in quite a few naps. The hospice social worker talked with me at length about getting him home. She wants me to set up home caregiving quickly. It seems to me that because he has stabilized, now they aren't so concerned about keeping him in the hospital while my back still hurts. Instead they are focusing on my hiring home help to supplement the few visits hospice nurses and aides make. I wish I had more time to do research on home caregivers, but I guess I have to make quick decisions. I'm back to being convinced that a lot of the fault of Ed's mental impairment -- and some of the signs the hospice material says are signs of approaching death -- came from the narcotics he was taking for pain. He has been without narcotics since Tuesday night last week, and he has been mentally OK since Friday up to today. He has back pain, but he rang the call button to get Tylenol several times today and he says that takes the pain from a 5 to a 2 (on a scale of 10), and he doesn't mind the 2 level of pain. I'd rather he had no pain, but once again the hospice nurse is pushing the idea of a narcotic, morphine sulphate (Roxenal) to stay ahead of the pain. I haven't personally spoken to her about it (Judi was there this morning and talked with her), but it will take some real convincing on their part to get me to agree to regular doses of Roxenal. Judi is spending the night with Ed again, and Debbie has volunteered for tomorrow night. David also said he could take a night. Ed's kids obviously don't want him to ever be alone in the hospital. Judi, Becky, Debbie and Annie, and David were all there at one time or another again today.
My chiropractor is doing his best to get my back in shape. I saw him this morning and will again tomorrow morning.
Joni
Monday, June 4, 2007
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