When I walked into Dad’s room this morning he was up and sitting in a chair. He looked tired. I also noticed that he had a foley catheter back. The student doctor was talking to Dad. He asked I’d Dad was in pain. The answer was yes. The student listened to Dad’s lungs and then he checked his belly, a push here and there followed a thump here and there. The conclusion is that his belly is less distended due to less gas than it had yesterday. When Dad has burped in the past he has always announced it with a smile as good news. More burping means less gas.
His bed was clean and ready for him so he wanted to get back into bed. I was giving him a hand up like yesterday and his legs were not lifting him very well. He was extremely shaky. I sat him back down and the student doctor took one side and I took the other so we could get Dad back in bed.
Dad then got poked so they could check his blood sugar level. He did not bleed very well so the nurse got another poker and went for a different finger. His blood sugar was a little high so he would get another poke to give him insulin. Once all the poking, abdominal thumping and pressing was done, Dad and I chatted for a few minutes. I turned off the lights and closed the doors. It was time for the shift change reporting and that means a lot of talking out in the nursing area.
Dad was tired and began to close his eyes. I held his hand as he drifted off. I sat there for some time watching Dad rest. His eyes popped open; he looked at me and asked, you are getting me a call button. I let him know that I was. He wants an electronic button in his bed that he can ring when he needs help.
He wanted his feet uncovered so I uncovered his feet. He felt warm and I asked him if he knew if he was running a temperature. He said it was 101. He closed his eyes and drifted off again. I sat for some time, but time was getting short so gave Dad a kiss and a hug, told him I loved him. He responded back the same.
As of this evening I have a hospital bed call cord from work. I stopped by Electronics Warehouse and picked up some parts to construct a buzzer that rings when the button is pressed. It should work well. If it is not loud enough, they have this extremely obnoxious buzzer that is really loud that I can connect up as well. If that does not work we have the technology to let the neighborhood know that Dad wants some attention or needs something.
