Dayna's Place: The Longest Post

This is a long post. Lots of information, lots going on. But, worth the read. It gets good!

Dean's Birthday 11/14
So, Friday was Dean's birthday. He was doing alright by the time I got to see him, which was of course later in the evening. We got to the hospital around 5:30. Jake actually got a nap today, so he was doing quite well at the hospital today.

We got to enjoy some home made chicken fajitas with all the trimmings, and enjoyed some yummy Pineapple Upside Down Cake that I made with Jake's help. Just as we finish, Dean's parents come in. this is where it gets strange.

His parents are walking in slowly, just so they don't rush into any thing, and I look up and say hi then I see something strange. Another patient was walking in the room! He looked confused and really really ANGRY. Furious in fact. He was really confused and I'm sure he didn't know where he was. He pushed past Linda and Durwood and my mother tried to stop him but as he was getting past her I got to him and guided him out of the room. I had to use some force, but I got him out of the room. There was NOBODY in the hallway, not a nurse, tech, or anybody. so, I was trying to push him into the more open hallway so I can ask for help. Then it got even MORE weird. He grew angry with me and pushed me away and swung a restraint belt at me, hitting me on my leg. It stung a little but it was more of a graze than a full on hit. He then turned on a nurse who was walking down the hall. He swung multiple times then he lost his balance and fell HARD on his hip and shoulder, but didn't his his head. That's when another nurse (a guy) finally came around the corner and that's when we closed the door so he wouldn't get in again and we were no longer involved.

Let's just say this is a terrible thing to happen. We have been worried about the quality of Dean's care for some time, but now since this patient walked in his room, who's going to stop him from doing it again? He could have injured any of us in the room, me, my mom, Dean's parents, my son, and Dean. I reported the incident to one of the nursing supervisors on the floor, and I know they had someone watching him when we left, but still, it's very frightening.

MRI Results
They still showed a very small infection spot. However, Dr D does not recommend surgery at this time, and Dr A and Dr Z (Internal disease doctor) are in agreement. So where does that leave us. Well, Dr Z is going to have some radiologist study his latest MRI and his previous MRI to decide if the spot is smaller, the same size, or bigger than it was before. If it's smaller or the same size, and we are talking pretty small, he will most likely be sent home and have a regime of IV antibiotics every 8 to 12 hours to be done by a home health care provider. If it's bigger, he could be recommended to start an intense antibiotic treatment for 4 weeks at the hospital. They would have to monitor him since the antibiotics can harm the kidneys if they are not watched. We will most likely have an option to do the 4 more weeks or come home and do the lesser antibiotics.

Daycare Changes
Of course this is not all that happened this week. I decided Wednesday that I had had it with Jake's Daycare, Kids R Kids of Fall Creek. I tried to drop him off and again his teacher was not there. See, his room didn't have assigned teachers that get there before 8 am. Seems like a good idea since most people who use a daycare can drop their kids off after 8 am, right? WRONG! This has been going on for about 6 weeks or more. So, I went to the cafe to get him milk and I didn't see a teacher who was staying with him, so I went to another class, that teacher told me to go to the Cafe. When I get to the cafe, I see 1 teacher leading kids away and she says no, you need to go to the other class room. So, I basically LOST it, took Jake home to stay with my mother. I did yell at the desk lady that they need to get this teacher issue FIXED NOW and stormed out of the building. She actually followed me out and was asking what's wrong, like she didn't know, and I told her to get away from me.

Later that morning I called the owner, told him I was dis-enrolling my son, and demanded my next year's enrollment fee back that I just paid and the current weeks tuition. He didn't even flinch and promised me the refund after I told him what happened that morning and what was going on in the last few weeks.

We got to visit 2 other day cares in the area, Children's Learning Adventure and Primrose. Both were nice, both were more expensive than KRK but at least I feel that the teacher will be there and on time! We ended up picking Children's Learning Adventure. He starts his new school Monday. I do hope he will be okay. I've been talking about going to the new daycare for a few days now, and will continue until we go on Monday. He keeps telling me he will cry a little but be okay after that.

One thing I will really miss is that KRK had online real time video camera streaming. It was great to be able to log in and take a look at him anytime. Of course lately it was always in front of a video screen or smart board while the teacher walks them through ABC Mouse instead of having them use the computers they have available for the students to use. We were already going to start looking for a new day care after the new year, but we really wanted to hold out until then. But, that was the last straw and I'm kind of glad I never have to set foot in that place again! EVER!

Last week at Kindred
So, after all that above (which I wrote at midnight on 11/15) the next day things got even more frustrating. While I was visiting Dean in the morning (Queenie and Jake stayed home for the morning) the CEO of Kindred came in to see how we were doing. We both assumed he was coming in to address the incident that happened the day before. But, guess what. YOU guessed it! He had not heard a THING! He heard (from the night nurse supervisor) that "a patient fell" and the day nurse supervisor heard the same thing. When we told him the story, all he said was that he was sorry and that he would make sure they would keep a sitter in his room 24/7.

Dean has been telling this story to everybody that came in for the next 2 or 3 days. Dr. Z even said if he was hearing this from anybody else he wouldn't believe it! It was so unreal! This hospital needs some serious wake up calls! HELLO! Take care of your patients! Give them Edible food! Treat them with respect!

The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful. Mother, Jake and I got to go to the Nutcracker Market. We successfully road the train to NRG park and back without any kind of assault or anything! YEY! We didn't get to see it all, we went after the 1/2 price cut off and there was A LOT to take in, but we had a great time.

Sutures came out Monday. Dr A did it himself. Glad we didn't leave it up to the hospital staff, and really glad we didn't have to wait until Friday 11/21

Daycare Update
Monday, was new school day for Jake. We had been trying to get him ready for the new school in any way we could. I knew it was going to be hard, but I was hoping it wouldn't be too bad. When we got up and talked about it, he kept saying he would cry and I said that was ok, but it will all be fine. When we got there he was fine, I filled out some paperwork and he was fine, and I signed in he was fine, got to the classroom he was fine, then, he realized, oh, I'm staying and you are leaving and there it was, crying. I talked to him a little, his teacher picked him up, they walked me to the door and I said bye, and left and managed to not cry until I got to the truck!

It was REALLY REALLY hard to not just go to the video and watch online! Wow, that's a huge perk I really wish they had. But, since I needed to get his flu shot that afternoon (i know, bad timing, but it's all I could do) he was getting ready to go to the playground! And, the teacher said he did great! He even got to go bowling since it was so cold that morning and they didn't go outside! YEY! He did really great getting his shot too, he did cry, and wondered why the nurse left a hole in him, but he limped to the car (such a drama king!) and we got a "flushie" at sonic. A Pineapple one, its what he wanted, I'm good with that.

Tuesday was better. He got a little weepy, but the teacher was playing with a puzzle and told him it was too hard for her to do alone. (GOOD TEACHER!) He walked me to the door, said our I LOVE YOUs and he closed the door and walked to the teacher and puzzle. He really is a good kid!

More MRI Results
They came back the same, like I said before. He has a very small spot on his tail bone that's still showing signs of infection. It's small, so small the surgeon doesn't want to operate.

Dr Z said he had 2 options:

Get on some really powerful antibiotics, these may hurt his kidneys, he would require blood tests daily, stay in hospital 4 more weeks, get an MRI to compare at that time. If gone, stop and go home. If still there, do 4 more weeks, get MRI, continue until done.
Stop antibiotics, get home before Thanksgiving, come back in a month to get another MRI. If the MRI shows no to very little growth, he will schedule another MRI early next year. At that point if the spot is same or very little growth, schedule MRI again in 3 months. If it's wide spread, do the 4 week regimen above.

We have decided on option 2. HE WILL BE HOME BEFORE THANKSGIVING!

This week has been full of logistics, removing the sutures and getting any and all appointments and home health care necessary in order. We are working on getting a new bed, new patient lift, and a new cushion.

Tuesday we hear the best news ever.
DEAN IS COMING HOME ON THURSDAY!!!

Now, to finish getting the house ready for the big day. AND, a week before Thanksgiving! He won't be able to be in his chair for 2 more weeks, but at least I get to take care of him and he can eat real food!

A reason to be thankful for Thanksgiving. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. It's been a long road, and we still have obstacles, but together we will get through anything!