10-4-22 Quick update

(Tricia)

I just wanted to post an update about how things have gone since Linda was discharged from hospice last week. We took Linda in to see Dr. Kevorkian on Saturday, and he decided he wanted to wait to remove the drain in her right side until she was at home and lying down. So, he's actually going to make a home visit this Thursday for the drain removal.

He also has now established the start of insurance-covered PT--they will be coming in to evaluate Linda on Friday. This is bittersweet, because we really like the private pay therapist who has been working with Linda to this point. She has helped Linda improve considerably, and she seemed genuinely sad today when I told her about the switch.  But I am having her come at least one more time (on Thursday). From there, we'll see how St. Luke's Home Health's PT services work for Linda. 

Today was a PT day as well, and it went very well. Linda sat up on the side of the bed with some assistance for 10 minutes--a record!  We then stood her up briefly, but she asked to sit down very quickly. That revealed something new: Linda wanted to sit down so bad, and we sat her down so quickly, that we had her back on the bed for a good 15 seconds before we realized she was sitting upright, unassisted, without holding on to anything. Then, as soon as we drew her attention to that fact, she slumped over.  Once she stops focusing on "I can't...., I can't...., I can't....." suddenly, she can. Getting her to refocus is to be our next challenge.

After that point, the three of us helped her transfer from bed to the wheelchair without the Hoyer lift, and that went MUCH better than I expected!  She was actually able to help more than we thought, so we got her to the wheelchair without much trouble. It was a great first step toward the next goal I have for Linda--getting her strong enough that she can help us transfer her from sitting to standing and back to sitting. It we can get her there, that will open up so many possibilities.

The PT also made another observation. Linda has been complaining of pain in her right knee for quite a while now.  Today, we noticed that it was also swollen. The PT speculates that Linda injured her knee a long time ago, perhaps even prior to falling and breaking her hip. There's even a possibility that she injured her knee in an earlier fall, and that injury contributed to her falling to break her hip.  Then, the hip injury was so acute that no one ever paid attention to the fact that Linda had knee pain. 

When Dr. Kevorkian comes to the house on Thursday, I'm going to ask him to take a closer look at the knee.

On a less hopeful note, last night, the caregiver realized that Linda is developing yet another UTI. She's not showing many symptoms yet, but a test strip came back positive. That means she is going to have to go back on a third antibiotic, which is just so darn frustrating.  I know the elderly are prone to UTIs, but there has to be a way to prevent them.

I think that's everything that's new! As I said, I'm really sad to be losing her current physical therapist. That's my fault--because I chose the current agency on a private-pay basis, I wasn't looking too closely at whether or not it was in Linda's insurance network. Hindsight, as always, is 20-20. And, as always, I will try to do better in the future!