Today marks two weeks that Dads been home, unbelievable how fast the time has gone! But it makes sense, with how busy it’s been for us all! 

His first week home, he tried to get re-adjusted to “home” life, the change from nursing home (or hospital) to his own home & life without constant care. Plus back to living with a 7 year old, the noise & chaos it brings, plus becoming more independent as the days pass. The first week he had 3 visits from the home healthcare nurse to check on him & all his new equipment; also the home healthcare aide came twice to help with bathing & ostomy changes. Things went good overall, with only a few “episodes” with problems, but we worked as a team and got through it. 

By the second week, we had made a few stops to local greenhouses & picked up a few tomato plants, flowers to plant, much less than years past but it was Dads goal to get a garden in & flowers planted. His brother Mike came over & tilled up half of his backyard garden plot, also the neighbor Jack came over & mowed, bagged & sprayed for dandelions. This was all a huge help & we are so grateful!! Dad made his way outside many afternoons to do odd jobs & wanted to push himself to the limit, I think he did, he’s too stubborn to listen 😉 Midweek he had his neurology appointment with the vein testing, as his arms & hands have been bothering him for a long time, where they get numb & lots of pain. The dr did say he has carpal tunnel, but a lot of the pain is coming from his neck. So she ordered PT on his neck, which he will start getting via home healthcare, which will be wonderful as they come to the house vs him having to go to GF or Grafton. His next step is to go in for an MRI so they can get a better look. He had the nurse come twice, the aide twice as well. This will continue for awhile longer, which is very nice & definitely helps!! His eating has been pretty good, some foods are still hard to swallow but he’s adjusting with this too. I push the ensure-type drinks as much as he will allow, one or two a day. His independence with his catheter & ostomy, also flushing his g-tube, have been going great. It’s a lot for him to learn, also such a different life than what he’s used too, with all the new equipment & the ups & downs that go with it. 

I am so proud of Dad for his strong will to make it all work & push forward!! He’s had highs & very low lows, but he’s home!! Please continue to pray for him, it’s very welcomed! What I really need to work on is my patience, especially with him...he often forgets this or that so it can be frustrating but he can’t help it. They say patience is a virtue right?!? 😊