November 18, 2015. Dad had a good night. I slept well and woke up a bit earlier than usual, getting an early start at work. I didn’t know when Gale and Dad woke up, but I started hearing Gale’s voice coming from the bedroom a few minutes before 7:00 A.M. The Imodium that I administered in Dad’s tube feed last night seemed to be working, and he looked very perky when I administered his meds.

Because he was feeling better, it seemed like a good time for me to take a break and change his trach. I set up my TV trays to do that. I still hated this weekly task, and I had a knot in my stomach throughout the procedure, but I was accomplishing it in less time.

Michell arrived for her week with us shortly before 11:00 A.M. Gale updated her on Dad’s recent health challenges and progress and showed her the handout of Dad’s new swallowing exercises. Shortly after Michell arrived, I administered another dose of Imodium into Dad’s feeding tube, along with his midday meds.

Brenda was scheduled to arrive for Dad’s physical therapy session at noon. When she hadn’t arrived by 12:30 P.M., Dad decided to lie down and rest. Brenda finally arrived at 1:00 P.M. for Dad’s session. Considering that he had not felt well enough to exercise the past few days, he did pretty well during his session and had a very good workout.

Kristen arrived promptly at 2:00 P.M. for Dad’s second swallow therapy session. Mom’s book club met on Monday, so Mom hadn’t been at home for Kristen’s first session with Dad, but Mom met Kristen today, and she really liked her. Kristen put Dad through his paces, exercising his neck muscles. Like Gale, Michell sat in on these sessions so that she could coach Dad with his exercises on days when he did not have therapy. Earlier in the day, Adan, the manager of the therapists with Scott & White Home Care, had called me to ask about our Monday session with Kristen. I told him that I had been very pleased and was very optimistic about Dad’s chances. He told me that to ensure that Dad would be successful, he, Kristen, and I would work together to determine the perfect time for Dad to have the modified barium swallow study (MBSS).

About 30 minutes after Kristen left, Sally and Ray, dear friends of my parents (and me) stopped by for a visit. In about a month from now, they would move from Temple to New Braunfels. I saw Sally only a few times a year, but she is a delightful person and fabulous quilter and crafter of cards. Her husband, Ray, is also an interesting person who had been involved in the space program, another one of my interests. I could practically recite the dialog from the Apollo 13 movie, and Ray had been involved with this launch at NASA. I would miss them both after they moved from Temple. Dad came out for a few minutes to visit with them. The visit lacked our usual spontaneous conversation. They hadn’t seen Dad in almost a year, and I suspect that his appearance was a little shocking and was the proverbial elephant in the room. It didn’t help that Dad wasn’t feeling well.

Shortly after Sally and Ray left, I administered another Imodium pill into Dad’s feeding tube. Although he was feeling a bit better, he still was not better.

After dinner, we played cards, and I won, which indicated that I was improving as a scorekeeper.

After Michell helped Dad get ready for bed, she went to her room to change her clothes for bed. While she was out of the room, I administered Dad’s nighttime meds and trach care. During the trach care, I noticed that his trach was moving around—a lot. I quickly saw that there wasn’t anything holding it in place. Seconds later he said that he felt sick. I grabbed a small red plastic basin from the bathroom, applied some pressure to his trach, and turned on the suction. Eventually, he felt well enough to hold the front of his trach while I tightened the collar which had somehow become loose. It took about 30 minutes to get him to the point where he felt well enough to lie down and try to sleep. From what I could surmise, one of two things had loosened his trach collar since this morning. Either the swallowing exercises had loosened the trach collar, or his shirt collar had been caught under his trach collar when I changed out his trach. Regardless of the reason, Dad and I were both a little rattled by the experience. Michell returned to the bedroom shortly after I had adjusted the ties on the trach collar. This incident was another example of how quickly his situation could change and why we couldn’t let down our guard for a minute.

November 19. I woke Michell and Dad at 4:00 A.M. Michell got up, but Dad continued to doze. Michell had a difficult time getting him out of bed, and when she did, he kept falling asleep on the commode. When Dad moved home after being discharged from the CCH, we had purchased a box of Depends. Dad had flatly refused to consider them, but today he didn’t want to go to dialysis without them, which was an indication of just how bad he felt. It seemed as if his condition was becoming serious. I was thankful that we had an appointment with a gastroenterologist tomorrow.

For the first time since he had come home, some 52 days ago, he was not ready when his transit service arrived.

During his dialysis session, Dad had the nurse call the EMS dispatch office 15 minutes before his session was scheduled to end so that he wouldn’t have to wait any longer than necessary for his ride home. When Michell told me that they had removed 2500 ml from him, I was flabbergasted. When he left there, his dry weight was 138.28 lbs. He was probably dehydrated when he got there, and then they removed over two liters of fluid from him. I couldn’t help but question the judgment of the nurse who made the decision to remove almost twice the usual amount of fluid.

When Dad and Michell arrived home at 11:15 A.M., Dad was wiped out and was not feeling well. Within a few minutes after getting back on the bed, he was nauseous, and his trach collar was loose again. I tightened the collar, but he still didn’t feel well. I was becoming very concerned about him and called the Home Care nurse. Stephanie was working today and arrived shortly before 1:00 P.M. in response to our call. After checking Dad, she said that heard congestion in his lungs that she had not heard before. Also, his oxygen saturation never exceeded 93% while she was there. My concern for Dad escalated when Stephanie advised me to call 911.

Stephanie stayed with us until the ambulance arrived and then provided the EMTs with his current status. When she left, the EMTs listened to his chest and ran a bedside EKG. They said that they didn’t notice the congestion that Stephanie had mentioned and that his EKG appeared to be normal. Dad was still complaining about his stomach and nausea. They said that they didn’t see any urgency in taking him to the emergency room, but they would take him if we wanted them to. Dad was already taking a cocktail of drugs that included antibiotics, so I decided to get him something for nausea and let the EMTs leave.

Although Dad’s condition wasn’t any better, I was somewhat relieved by the EMTs’ assessment, and that we were able to avoid the emergency room. Dad was scheduled to see the gastroenterologist tomorrow, so I just needed to get him through the night. I called Sue, and she refilled Dad’s prescription of ondansetron (Zofran). Mom drove to the pharmacy as soon as I got off the phone with Sue. By the time that she returned home with the prescription, Dad was in a deep sleep. I eventually administered the Zofran in his feeding tube shortly before 5:00 P.M.

We finally woke Dad around 7:00 P.M. He said that he felt better, and his sense of humor was on display. I gave him his evening meds and then encouraged him to get up, which was a mistake, because he thought that it was morning. He was very confused and disoriented and wanted to go into the bathroom so that he could wash his face and brush his teeth. Michell and I finally convinced him that it was nighttime, and got him into his night clothes and back in bed by 8:30 P.M.

November 20. After working for a couple of hours, I went to Dad’s room to wake him and Michell. Usually, they don’t have to get up early on Fridays, but today Dad had an appointment with the gastroenterologist, and the wheelchair transit van was scheduled to arrive at 8:30 A.M. Dad slept through the night, but he wasn’t feeling very well when I woke him. The diarrhea continued to plague him. Between his dehydration from the diarrhea and the dialysis session yesterday, he was shaky and unsteady.

We were ready when the van arrived five minutes early. The van transported Dad and Michell to the clinic, and Mom and I followed in the car. The clinic was located less than five miles from my parents’ home and after locating the doctor’s office and paying the co-pay, we were seated in the waiting room a good 20 minutes earlier than the 9:20 A.M. appointment. When they weighed my 6’1” father, his weight was 134.3 lb, which was less than it had been when he left dialysis yesterday. We waited almost an hour in the waiting room before we were escorted to an examination room. Exam rooms aren’t very large, and they can seem downright tiny the patient is in a wheelchair and is accompanied by a three-person entourage.

After waiting for a few minutes, Julianne and Talitha, the dietitian and nurse, arrived. I really liked them. They were very attentive, and among other things, they confirmed that Dad had a G-tube (and not a J-tube, as Dr. Klovenski had insisted on October 18). While we were there, they changed out Dad’s G-tube, which should be done every month. Julianne considered changing his formula from Nepro to something else but decided that they should test Dad first to ensure that his diarrhea wasn’t caused by his 5-1/2 month liquid diet of Nepro. When Dr. Timothy Pfanner arrived and reviewed Dad’s chart, he said that Dad could have bolus feeds, but not until he was over whatever was causing the diarrhea. To rule out CDiff, the doctor wrote an order for some lab work. I know Dad hadn’t been feeling well, but it was a nice coincidence that we happened to have an appointment with the gastroenterologist at this time. As we left, I scheduled a follow-up appointment for Dad and called the transit service to pick up Dad and Michell.

Mom and I arrived home shortly after 11:15 A.M. Dad and Michelle were not picked up by the van until 11:30 A.M., and it was almost noon before they arrived. Dad was pretty tired by the time he got home. He was scheduled for a physical therapy session in a couple of hours, so I administered some meds and Michell helped him back to bed for a nap.

Brenda arrived shortly after 1:00 P.M. for the physical therapy session, but Dad was wobbly and was unable to execute transfers between the bed and wheelchair with the walker.

Friday wasn’t his usual day for physical therapy, but next week was Thanksgiving, and the therapists were adjusting their schedules for the holiday. Dad was scheduled to have his 60-day evaluation with Kathleen next Wednesday, so he wouldn’t be able to have therapy again until after her evaluation. I told Brenda that we would work with Dad and have him walk between now and then. Brenda said that he should not be walking. I was a little surprised because the other therapist, Lara, had had him walking. I was tempted to tell her that we had already been walking with him, but thought better of it.

After Brenda had left, Dad napped for a short time before Janet arrived for his occupational therapy session. Occupational therapy treatment wouldn’t be reviewed by Kathleen for Dad’s 60-day evaluation, so Janet would return for another session next Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. After Janet left, Michell coached Dad through some of his speech exercises.

Stan left work early and drove from Houston to my parents’ home. He arrived shortly after 5:00 P.M. and just in time for happy hour. Shortly after 6:00 P.M., Dad went to his room and read the paper while we had dinner. After dinner, we played Oh Hell and hit the hay pretty early.

It had been a long week, and I was glad to have Stan with us for the weekend. Dad had seemed to have been progressing, with only little blips along the way. This week it felt like our progress had been derailed, and I hoped that after our visit with the doctor today Dad would get back on track.