Tuesday, July 6, 2010

the next step

I was surprised at how quickly my condition went bad. A week ago I woke with a pain in my right leg, which is one of the sites of cancer. I knew the pain would eventually come, and that it would be severe.

The first day I got around , like an orangutan by moving from one piece of furniture to the next. And it convinced me that now was the time to call hospice.

The intake nurse came on July 1. Nice and clean, I am starting the second half of this year in hospice. She checked all my present medications and indicated which ones hospice would cover. I would have to change to a different oxygen system. They ordered a walker with wheels, and a potty chair for me.

On the 2nd the equipment and the oxygen was delivered. A seamless change-over! The wheeled walker is wonderful, smooth moving and quiet and really sturdy. We stored the potty chair in the basement. In the evening a driver delivered a bag of medications. After I signed for it, I looked at the packing slip. I did not recognize a single medication, and I did not recognize the ordering doctor. Clearly they had sent the wrong order, and some one who needed these medications was not getting them!

A phone call to hospice the next morning cleared it up. This was my emergency package, with extreme medications for emergency, to save a trip in the ambulance.

Today, a visit from my visiting nurse, the same who had been here before. Just to get our schedules in sync. Now that I have “someone to watch over me” I am feeling more relaxed about this pain.

But it will have an impact on my gadding about. Anyone who takes me to lunch will have to take me and my walker and my new oxygen bottle. I am still happy and comfortable to have friends come visit, and admire my flowers and my porch.

Before the pain hit me, my niece and her husband came to visit. We had a wonderful 2 days, they kept the visits short and it was so good to see her after so many years.