Papa's Coming Home-Part II

I headed up the mountain to home, with a heavy feeling of dread, knowing that Papa would not be comfortable in that facility. He was obviously more alert than many of the other patients, and due to his condition he was not able to do much for himself, without assistance. I just knew he wouldn’t get the assistance he needed at the right time. How would he and his IV pole make it to the toilet, having to get through the cluttered room? That is, if he even managed to get himself out of the bed, without help.

My heart was so heavy. But, it was then that I remembered that I left Papa his cell phone. Thank God. I couldn’t believe it as I initially surveyed the room that the patients did not have telephones near their beds and I asked the intake nurse about it. She informed me that the facility had a cordless telephone that was available to the patients, and that if the patient wanted to make a call the telephone would be brought to them if they rang their call button. "Oh right. I can count on that!" I thought to myself. So, with her blessing, I left Papa his cell phone and put it right near his side. Feeling some comfort in knowing that he had his phone, I immediately went to bed once I got home and quickly fell asleep.

I was startled by my telephone ringing at 3:00 a.m. and immediately thought the worst. Someone had died! I panicked and quickly looked at my Caller ID. It indicated it was Papa’s cell phone calling! I thought maybe he couldn’t sleep, but what I heard was no surprise.

"You need to come get me! This place is just not for me!"

I asked him what happened, or didn’t happen to cause him to feel that way. He told me that he was not able to get any staff’s attention, despite ringing his bell. He said he was not getting his stomach medicine as he needed and he just didn’t like the way that they were doing business. I understood, and I was somewhat relieved that he made that decision. I told him that it would not be a good idea for me to pick him at that hour, since he had a catheter and gastric drainage bag that I didn’t know how to handle yet. He needed the IV feeding mixture for home, that had not been refilled since he went in to the hospital. I explained that he also needed other medication that had to be prescribed by the doctor in discharge orders. The HMO doctor and nurse were not scheduled to arrive until 9 a.m. so I assured him that I would pick him up in the morning.

The telephone rang again at 4:50 a.m. It was Papa again.

I could hear his IV pump alarm in the background. He said it had been beeping for hours. Papa said he saw the shift supervisor near the door to his room and hollered, "Hey, I’d like to talk to you for a minute!" and she replied that she’d be right back. She never returned! He was clearly agitated and wanted out of there NOW! Again I tried to explain that we’d be able to accomplish that much better during business hours. We compromised and agreed that I would call my youngest brother who lived in that area, and ask him to sit with him until I could get there. My brother was just getting up for a busy day on a very important project, that he said he really couldn’t miss. He assured me that if it was a true emergency that he’d be there in a minute. I understood and decided to head down the mountain myself. I called Papa back and he said, "Just get here as soon as you can!"

Shortly after 6:00 a.m. he again called and said, "You HAVEN’T left yet?"

I promptly got it together and once again headed down the mountain. It was very clear my Papa needed me. NOW!

 

To be continued………………….