Today started normally....

Today started normally....no wait, it was not normal. Gary had peed overnight in his diaper but had not gotten up nor did a "bed wash" (when Gary is aware that he needs to pee, but is not aware that he is wearing a diaper and pulls out his penis and pees freely around the diaper, thus saturating his clothes and the mattress pad) all night.  We were able to sleep.

While I looked forward to sleeping past 7:00 am, he started counting and reading the Bible verse on the wall.  He read this over and over and counted in between.  I begged him to be quiet and when he finally did, then DIva needed to go out.  That requires arising, adorning glasses, going down a large flight of steps, harnessing the dog and going out while waiting on her to complete her good morning Beagle sniff and pee.  Then back up the stairs which is just enough to get the heart rate going, wake up and have no prayer of going back to sleep.  So, I made coffee and brought it and our morning vitamins and pills to our bedside.

Even though I have done this thousands of times over the years, Gary could not figure out how to manipulate his body to sit up, scoot his butt back against the large pillow and be prepared to swallow pills and coffee. That process was tiring, at best.

Once he had his coffee, I settled in next to him with my phone to post various Father's Day and Adventure pictures of Gary on Facebook.  A while later, we had finished our coffee and I got Gary up to take showers.

Again, hundreds of times we have gone through the same process.  (Post Dementia).  I wash him, shave him, rinse him and he gets out to towel off while I finish rinsing.  Today was different.

Next to our shower is a recessed Jacuzzi which is never used due to it being rather unsafe to get in and out of....so it houses a large Orange HOme Depot 5 gallon bucket, a mop and a long handle shower scrubber.  In slow motion, Gary put the towel over his head, stepped backward either due to leg tremors or just unbalance and fell in slow motion backward into the recessed tub, past the home depot bucket and hit his head squarely on the brass component sticking out the side of the tub.  Naked and wet, his eyes crossed and I said, "Gary, are you hurt?"  Well, it was more like, "GARY, ARE YOU HURT?"  

For those who now him recently he repeats everything he hears multiple times.  So, when I said, "Gary, are you hurt?" one would expect him to say back "Gary, are you hurt?"  Today he said, "Yes, I am hurt."  So buck naked, I knew I needed help and grabbed the closest robe, donned it to cover my nekkkked ass, and screaming for Joshua and Heather to come.

As the three of us managed to maneuver Gary into position and Joshua pulled him out of the tub and onto the now towel covered floor, I saw that he had a huge purple knot on this head where the brass knob gouged him.  He had a large hematoma starting on this side where he had hit the bucket and the mop. 

We got him dressed....I'm sorry to Joshua and especially Heather for the nudity but it had to be....

I dressed, we got him down the steps and into the car and off to the ER we went.  We checked into our normal room in the ER and said hello to the same doctor who saw us last time.  An Xray and CT scan later encountered no head injury and a hairline fracture on the 9th rib.  At 12:30 we left the hospital.

Prior to being discharged, I had the opportunity to tell Gary that I could no longer take care of him and that he needed to move into a "Happy Place".  When Gary was attempting to start the Circle of Life Holistic Healthcare Center a few years back, he nicknamed it the Happy Place.  He did not seem to understand but we went by for a familiarization tour.

He was very hungry so focused more on the Nectarine and cookie I gave him in the lobby.  We walked around and said hello to residents, looked at his room and met the man who will now be his roommate.  Of course, he didn't know it but was very out of sorts partially because he was hungry and was probably in pain. The unit manager picked up the Happy Place analogy and referenced the place immediately as just that.....he smiled.

We left and picked up fast food, went home and ate.  I arranged for Heather to watch him while I went out to the pharmacy to get his prescription of Narcotic pain killers.  I went to the store and found out that the prescription had not been called in.....frustrated, I called the Er and was told that I had the prescription in the discharge paperwork due to DEA regulations.  I spent some wasted time with the ER operator suggesting improved patient service by notifying the patient of said fact......yeah, deaf ears.

Anyway, I went back to the car to retrieve the prescription...sure enough, there is was.  I took it back to the Pharmacy knowing that I would have to wait. ..ok.

Then, I was told the Pharmacist was at lunch and because of DEA regulations (those people have much control) that the PHarmacist had to verify they had the prescription and that she was at lunch.  It would be at least 45 minutes before she returned from lunch and then .....they would text me that it was ready. No one cares that I have substitute caregivers watching my Demented husband at home who have no tolerance for urine issues....

So, I went home and waited.  I ordered several photograph prints off the internet for the wall in Gary's new room.  I chose to put up pictures of us, family but mostly our adventures over the years.  For now, they are all pictures he will recognize.

The phone buzzed signifying the prescription was done and I ascended back down the hill to retrieve the all important drugs.  The poor woman who had received my wrath after telling me I had to wait on the Pharmacist to return before greeted me with a smile and trepidation for what my mood my throw upon her.  I picked up the prescription and noticed that she was coughing horribly and sounded a lot like I did when I had pneumonia.  I caught her offguard when I told her that understood and asked, "Don't you just hate it when you are hacking up a lung and can't stop to the point of gagging and then you squirt pee?"  She was absolutely shocked and then started giggling.... it was a closely guarded secret and we now had something in common.  At least I still have my sense of humor. 

At home, I gave Gary his pain killer and watched him blissfully sit on the sofa for hours.   He never twitched, wiggled or moved.  The power of drugs.

So, during all that, I called the Memory Care facility and indicated that we need to accelerate his admission. I cannot keep him safe at home.  So while he lay like a zombie on the sofa, I began the painful paperwork.  34 pages in all.....I could not finish it all as I was having an important historical conversation with my granddaughter Samantha...our first real talk ever and it was priceless to me, but that is a story for another day.

Thank you Lord for letting my Gary walk away with minor injuries.  I take it as a sign that I need to move more quickly, despite my professional obligations for the next week.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.