Monday Mid-Day

I got a call from Dad's case manager at Kaiser at around 10:30 this morning. She doesn't communicate very well, and I couldn't tell whether there was a problem. I had only left the hospital three hours earlier, and was working at my desk at home. She made it sound like there may have been a problem (there wasn't), or that I might need to make an immediate decision about where to move him (I don't). I rushed over there, and he was awake! Well, "awake" might not exactly be it. We definitely communicated. He looked at me, making clear eye contact including moving his eyes. When I took his hand, he squeezed it so hard -- I mean *really* hard -- that I had to pry it off and take off my wedding ring before taking his hand again. He wiggled his toes, the left more than the right. The doctor came in and told him to lift his right hand, which he can barely do. But he did it, and kept trying even though the response was weak. But there's nothing weak about that left hand, and we gripped each other while I recounted the events once more. He gets agitated, and while I was there his systolic blood pressure when up from 127 to 168, starting when they came in to take a blood sugar reading. They gave him insulin as a result. I don't think Dad has a history of diabetes. I hope that's a temporary spike and not a permanent problem.

We were very definitely communicating, and he was understanding me. When the doctors came in I said that he had wiggled his feet and toes, and he did it again in response to what I said. So he definitely understands me. And although the tube in his throat helps him to breathe by providing support, it doesn't initiate the breathing -- he's doing that all on his own.

I stayed longer this time, since he was clearly responding to me. I told him over and over that things would be ok. It was *extremely* difficult to leave.

Uncle Bob called and requested some documents -- the impound facility only wants to release the plane to the owner. Like that's going to happen. I scanned Dad's driver's license and a confirmation of aviation insurance to Bob, and he'll see if that's enough to get them to release it.

Kaiser wants to develop options for Dad's discharge now, so that they have time to investigate possibilities, and so that we don't have to do that thinking at the last minute. If it's feasible, I could have him stay with me, but he may need specialized support and rehab and physical therapy. He was having trouble negotiating the stairs at my house when he was here for Christmas, so if he comes here he will be limited to the upstairs bedroom. The other alternative is a live-in facility, and I asked the case manager to investigate what's available in the surrounding communities of Studio City, North Hollywood, Burbank, Sherman Oaks and Hollywood. There are two rehab facilities just down the street, but I guess I need to limit us to the ones who are under contract to Kaiser.