Tuvel Communications Blog

January 29, 2008

You know you're spending to much time in the hospital when..

This week has been like homecoming at the local hospital. My dad feel in the bathroom and put his head through the wall. My mom feel by the bathroom and ended up with a few staples in the head.

You know that you're spending to much time at the hospital when...

strangers know your name.

You're not fazed by the sight of bad accidents.

You even think of giving an accident victim a hard time for cutting in line.

You actually think the police care about your illegally parked car while a medivac helicopter is landing.

You instinctively sit by the outlet in case you run out of juice for devices.

The guard lets you back in the emergency room without checking in.

The cashier in the cafe knows you by name.

You can swap personal stories with the emergency room staff- at any hr!

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January 21, 2008

Older people do dumb things

Sometimes, you have to choose between family and family. Do you choose your immediate family, help your parents or... try to do 3 things at once?

We spent friday afternoon in Baltimore, Md. at the Drs office. Anyone that knows Baltimore-Washington, DC traffic patterns knows how out of hand things get on a Friday. Adding insult to injury, the immediate family (read to mean wife and son) had a dinner invite for early evening. We left the Drs office, strapped on our flying gear and somehow made it back to Washington, DC in time for dinner. I didn't stop shaking until dessert though. Comforting though was the fact that I thought my folks were tucked in safe and sound for the weekend.

Saturday was more nerve wracking. Turns out that my dad turned off the heat in the middle of the night. I noticed this but not until the next morning. Why do older people wait for you to find things out instead of telling you? And, when they tell you, there's always a story to go along with. After awile, the stories don't really matter.

Of course, temps outside are sub-freezing and dear old dad is walking around without a shirt. That might not sound so bad but the temps inside are way below normal and dad has flu like symptoms and problems to go along with it. All's well that begins well with the heat (of course) and my heartbeat returning in time for Sunday football.

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January 17, 2008

Insulin in the snow

One thing about elderly people is that they're incredibly calm. Washington, DC has had bad weather. Truding through the snow, like in a bad fairy tale, I made arrangements to move my folks temporarily into our house. My parents though, insist on staying put to 'wait it out. Go figure. Faced with the possibility of not being able to gove my dad insulin shots, I packed them up and took 'em home. it took me longer to pack meds than it did the clothes...

Tomorrow, we're off to the Dr. in between client calls.

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January 16, 2008

When did that happen?

I have officially become a full-time caregiver. A funny thing happened in-between cleaning, cooking, drs appts & hospital stays... I used to marvel at friends and family that found time to take care of loved ones. Where did they find the time?

Now, I realize that there's just no other way but to do what you have to do. I've also leaned, along the way, a hell of alot more about time management. I've also learned how important MY family is (more on that later).

On the good news front, it seems that my dad has Polychondritis. Why is this good? Because it sure beats the alternatives mentioned!

The other nice thing is that people are starting to mention this blog in conversation and relate similar experiences of their own. More on that later as well.

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January 15, 2008

Rubberband Man

Its always nice when a client faces similar real life experiences along with you. Such is the case with a current customer. It's always good to make a connection and there's no better way to do this than with family. How one interacts with family says a lot about the person (and, I know I'm getting older when I say things like that!).

Everyone does what's right for them and there are all types of circumstances but... I've always thought that family was an indicator & foundation that people were built on.

For myself, lately I've been humming Rubberband Man, a 70's hit (?) from the Spinners.

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January 07, 2008

Shots to go

Yesterday's departure from Hopkins Hospital was an experience. I learned that a Dr uttering the words "you can go home now" is only the first step to discharge. Finding well stocked weekend Pharmacy's is a challenge. Finding pharmacists that are in a good mood on a Sunday night is impossible.

As we await more test results, I dispense 16 different meds and now give my dad insulin shots twice a day. And, all of this comes from a kid that used to cry at the sight of a needle.

Getting my parents on the same track to assisted living continues to be mision impossible.

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January 03, 2008

Decisions, decisions

What do you do when 1 parent wants to go to assisted living and the other doesn't? Who decides? What do you do if letting them figure it out on their own and intervention doesn't work? There doesn't seem to be a good answer to this question. At the end of the day, you hope it's figured out before time fades away.

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January 02, 2008

Another day, more tests...

Spent the afternoon at Hopkin's. The staff was in less of a cheery mood now that the holidays have officially passed. I have grown to respect the docss that can translate complex medical terminology into English. Turns out that my dad will have another spinal tab and kidney biopsy tomorrow. This is actually sounds worse than it is?!@#$.

Spinal tap is done in his room and the kidney test consists of a needle. They need to test more fluid. Results take several days and this should confirm what's wrong. The steroid treatments have helped but come with side effects.

One of the more interesting aspects of hospital life is process. The whiteboard serves as a clearing house and includes docs, nurses and applications. The pecking order is interesting and people are careful not to step on ea others toes. There seems to be little mix-up considering how many times the beds are turned.

Can you tell I'm spending way to much time in hospitals?

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January 01, 2008

Sandwhich time

Today was our son's 9th birthday. he is a New Year's baby. I got a cell call from Johns Hopkins Hospital today, asking me to pick my mom up. Seems that guests aren't allowed to spend the night... I ending up cutting our son's birthday short to take a road trip to Baltimore. Especially painful was that we were 3 hrs away at the time.

It is befitting that I was reminded once again of the joys of belonging to the sandwhich generation. If only I could split myself in 3.

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