Dad, another day in the Battle at LLUMC - Day 4

Janet and I stopped by to see my Dad this morning. He was in relatively good spirits. I did my usual morning opening of the curtains. We had a good chat and talked about several things. We talked about the addition of more art on the door. He is getting a rather large collection. He had said that he did not have a good night because he did not have his pain button for the pain medication. Dad also mentioned that he was a little upset that he had body odor. His face grimaced as he mentioned it and said that he smelled so bad that he could smell himself. He wanted a good scrub.

The nurse came in to check his sugar levels and asked Dad about pain. He said it was a six on a scale of one to ten. He was given a dose of pain medication. He was being prepared for his PET Scan and was going to be taken downstairs relatively soon.

Janet mentioned that she heard that he had ice cream. He responded with a facial expression that said can I have some now. He could not because he was going downstairs in a couple of minutes to drink some radioactive glucose for the PET Scan. We told Dad that we loved him and would be back soon to see him and he told us to enjoy our weekend.

During our travels we received word that the PET scan was not completed. Dad was in too much pain to stay still. We will have to find out if it is going to be rescheduled. We were also happy that we saw him before the PET Scan because we were able to give him a kiss. After he drank the radioactive glucose, he could not be touched. Additionally, he could not be bathed, nothing like glowing and stinking at the same time.

One other factor is the infection that he has. His white blood count was back up. We have to hope that the infection that he has gets under control.