6/14/05 10:15am
Hey Everyone,

Got lots of stuff to tell you about this time. We have been pretty busy, so I haven't had time to e-mail.

On Memorial day - May 30, Dad started running a fever. Liz was working that day and she called the home health nurse and I called the doctor. Liz thought that he had a bladder infection, so the nurse got a urine sample and had it tested. The doctor went ahead and called in an antibiotic for a urinary tract infection (UTI). He got about 2 doses of the antibiotic and his fever was higher. I called the doctor again and made an appointment for him to be seen. It turns out that he had pneumonia again.

The doctor put him on a second antibiotic and had some blood work and x-rays done. Dad got to feel a bit better and we went back to see the doctor on that friday. She said he now has pneumonia in both lungs. So he was put on bed rest and no activities at all. He was not permitted to sit in the garage (in the heat). He did real well and his lungs are now pretty clear. He just finished the last of the antibiotics, yesterday, and he is back to his old normal self. The doctor felt that we caught the pneumonia very, very early and we saved him from being admitted to the hospital. He doesn't do well in the hospital at all, so that was good.

Mom is ok, but is having some stomach issues again. She is gassy and is having some dirreaha. The nurse came by late yesterday and looked at her and gave some hints for us until the doctor gets back with her. Mostly, keep her liquified up (she was getting a little dehydrated) with some pedialite. She also said she had some crackling in her lungs, which may just be that she isn't breathing deeply enough to keep the lungs clear. She isn't running any fever or have any other symptoms at this time. We haven't heard back from the doctor yet, but it could just be that she needs some imodium.

Our other big news is that we are getting a new border on Saturday! Aunt Jay has finally agreed to come and stay with us. She is Dad's younger sister. She has been having some health issues and there really isn't anyone checking on her daily.

The assisted living place, where she lives doesn't give comprensive nursing services there, they really are only there to help with basic needs like medication assistance, bathing, bathroom help etc. Aunt Jay has gotten a few very bad UTI's. One was so bad that they thought she had a stroke because she was slurring her words, couldn't swallow etc. They took her to the emergency room for treatment and found the UTI and no stroke, YEA!

She was also getting rashes around her privates. Usually that means she is sitting in soiled depends and not being changed enough. Her leg also has issues and with her being a diabetic that can be bad. So anyway, Aunt Jay has agreed to come live with Mom and Dad! We really thought it was going to be hard to get her to come, but she was ready. For all of you who don't know Aunt Jay, she is 1 month older than Mom and she had a mild left side stroke in the late 90's. She can speak and has less dementia than Dad. She is using a wheelchair now, but maybe we can get some therapy and get her moving some. I haven't seen her since we moved Mom and Dad, but Joan (who has been an angel and taking care of her from Atlanta) says she can put weight on her good foot to help pivot to move her.

So Anna, Kelley, Jerry and I have been getting a room ready for her. Anna has decided that she would get more rest by moving out to our house. So she and Tiger are back in the garage and we have a place for the nurses kids (sometimes the kids have to spend the night at the house if their babysitter craps out on them) to sleep in needed.

The room that Jay will have was Anna's spare room and had mostly books in it. We got a storage unit and move most of the books there and made a library out of the storage unit. It has AC so she could go over there and work if she needed to access the books.

Joan is in charge of getting Jay to Houston and all that stuff. Joan went down to take Jay back to see her doctor (in early June) and cleared out her room and sent us 4 boxes of her stuff. Jay has another doctor's appt on this Friday at 2 (in FLA) and Joan will get her medical record and medication prescriptions. Then she and Jo will hop a plane in Orlando Sat and arrive around 2pm here in Houston.

We are way excited to get her here. I think she will do so much better. Joan has been checking on her every few months and taking her to see the doctor when she is there. It is pretty tough to do that long distance. What Jo would do, is fly out to Houston and then to Orlando on the way back to check on Jay. I have her set up to see Mom and Dad's doctor on Monday so we can get her started on Home Health, PT and get her leg looked at.

So we have been pretty busy with Dad and Jay this past month.

I will let everyone know how it goes with the Jay move and Mom's doctor appt.

Love and hugs to all,

Mary et.al