On Tuesday, October 28th he was transferred to the Parc Nursing Home in Joliet. Ruth, mom and I were very nervous about nursing homes in general because through mom and others we've had some not-so-good experiences. Especially when someone is as helpless to fend for themselves as was Ross one prays constantly for the skill, knowledge and dedication of the nursing home staff and God's grace to pave the way.
As it turns out, Ross was so disoriented and, coupled with his incredibly active restless leg syndrome, he fell out of bed in the early morning hours of his first night. The nursing home called Ruth at about 6:00 a.m. and told him that he "kinda' sorta' fell out of bed this morning". No worries, they said, they had put him back in bed and he was fine. Ruth (rightfully) went ballistic and told them that they should NEVER move someone with a spinal fracture and they should have called 911 to have him transported to the hospital to be checked over. Since they had not done the right thing, she called 911 and had him taken to Presence St. Joe's. Ross was re-xrayed and all was well. Ross was taken back to the Parc and Ruth had a long discussion with the nursing home director about putting up bed rails to prevent this from happening again.
After such a good discussion we felt reassured that Ross would be in good hands from then on. Imagine our horror when Ruth received a phone call a little before 4:00 a.m. that Ross had once again fallen out of bed!! They had already had Ross taken to the hospital. Ruth was so groggy that she could not immediately drive to the hospital and was at the end of her emotional rope. So she called me to come home. I was packed and driving by 6:30 a.m.
The first two weeks at home were a nightmare of worry. Ruth refused to let Ross go back to the Parc. God seemed to be working things out for the best - in the hospital it was discovered that RML's orders for Ross to lay still were horrible as Ross had developed a purulent infection in his left heel and a bad sore on his right heel, too, as well as other bedsores. Ross had debridement surgery with Dr. Easley and his hospitalist eventually met with us and tried prescribing medication to quell Ross's restless leg syndrome. The hospital did not want Ross to stay very long, so I helped the social worker by running around trying to find a suitable nursing home to no avail. The nursing homes refused to take him because a) he has a halo, or, after the halo was removed, because b) he had a neck brace, or c) they had no bariatric beds, or d) they were unwilling to transport him to offsite dialysis, or . . . . the excuses were numerous. Every nursing home was reluctant to take him because in general he was medically fragile.
We have learned to live with the fact that in Illinois nursing homes cannot use full bed rails because they are considered a "restraint". This irks us no end because to prevent Ross from falling out of bed when he is so tired and disoriented puts him at risk for re-fracturing his neck. Grrrrr!
Eventually, Ross was transferred to the Villa Franciscan nursing home, a subsidiary of the Presence hospital system. The nurses and staff there are phenomenally dedicated and professional! They give the best care and we can relax knowing that he is in great hands. I try to make home-baked cookies and things for them every week. They do such a great job! As of this writing he has been in the Villa for just over two weeks and his first "care meeting" is scheduled for December 8th (one month after he arrived there). He goes to Da Vita every Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon for dialysis. He has almost no stamina and sometimes collapses during physical therapy. We're not sure why, but dialysis causes great fatigue in some patients, but Ross also has atrial fibrillation and is tired from pain medications used to alleviate the pain from the foot sore, too. Hopefully, he will retain some stamina as time goes on. In the meantime most days he cracks jokes with all the staff and very much appreciates everything they do for him.
On the other side of town at the Alden-Shorewood rehab nursing home, mom is approaching the end of her time there. Either 90-100 Medicare days depending on the decision-makers. By mid-December she will be moving out - probably for 2 weeks of respite care at Willow Falls. There, she will be evaluated and become accustomed with the facilities and options there - either the appropriate level of assisted living or independent living. All decisions on what to keep from the house depend on where she stays. Then comes preparing the house for sale and getting it on the market. God Bless my friends Roy and Cindy who will help with the sale.
Ruth is over-the-moon happy with her new apartment! She has a soaker tub, washer/dryer in the apartment, onsite workout room, swimming pool, close to work and Naperville amenities, etc.
Meanwhile, back at the SD ranch . . .even though Zuni may miss her cat cousins, she seemed very happy to be home in our apartment! When I left so suddenly I had forgotten that Zuni's new cat tree was due to be delivered. My neighbor, Curt, helped by taking delivery. Then a week later, near-zero weather set in and he helped out by turning on the heat so pipes would not freeze. Of course, that meant overnighting my key so he could get into the apartment!
Our heating system is electric baseboard so I am a little worried about sky-high bills.
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| When I saw Zuni curled up with her nose tucked in for warmth, I knew I was keeping the apartment too cool and upped the heat to 68! Now she sleeps a little more comfortably. |
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| Zuni curled up on my duffel bag as if to say, "You are NOT leaving me here alone!" the morning that I was packing to drive to Illinois. |
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| Yikes! About a million parts to the cat tree! |
Video above - Zuni destroying the cat tree box. Like most "kids" probably a more cherished toy than the cat tree itself!
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| Zuni chewing up the box! |
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| Giant cat tree - almost like decorating a Christmas tree, huh! |
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| Putting on the finishing touches - the strings of all but ONE toy were bitten off within 3 minutes of their installation. Oh, well. Strings confiscated to prevent choking and other GI problems! |
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| Exploring the new tree! |
I will be spending Thanksgiving with Helen and her family and friends in Sioux Falls. Ruth will be dining with Mom at a special dinner at Alden and probably visiting Ross at the Villa. So many blessings to be thankful for!
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