On March 17, Rocky went to the ER with a slight fever and exacerbation of his COPD. Two days there and he fell and cracked three ribs. It was all downhill from there.
The meds they gave him made him delusional and a little hard to handle. Finally he reached discharge stage and because we didn't think I could do what he needed here at home, he was transferred to a skilled nursing facility. The first night there, he had such abdominal pain that they sent him to the ER and he was re-admitted to the hospital again, this time with an infected gall bladder.
More pain, more meds, more delusions, lots of talk about dying. We prepared for him to die, and reviewed his desires about internment and memorial service. I read the 23rd Psalm to him and he asked me to read more Psalms. I read Tabori's poetry from The Shores Of Eternity, a collection of positive poems about the wonder of dying.
The Hospice folks came in and evaluated him and he qualifies. He stopped talking about dying and said he wants to live as long as he can as long as he can be comfortable. Finally, on April 5 his son, Geoff, and I decided an appropriate discharge was to move Rocky to the Select Specialty hospital, which is independent from Bristol Regional Hospital but leases space from them on the 5th floor.
On April 6, Rocky was transferred. He is no longer getting morphine. His gall bladder has been drained since he is not a candidate for surgery because of his COPD. He has received
lots of antibiotics and will receive even more since he now has developed two more infections and is in isolation. As of today, Geoff and I have to wear a gown and rubber gloves when we're in his room. Hope that doesn't last too long.
The goal for him that we've all agreed on is for him to gain strength and the ability to take care of his bathroom needs and walk short distances in the house. Then he will be discharged to our home with Hospice following.
Please pray for us.
