Day Zero Plus Twenty-five – Quarter Way!

Today marks a quarter of the way through Jeff’s 100 days of Early Recovery.  We waited around all day to make sure it was safe for Jeff to return home.  Dr. Tsai wanted to wait until the afternoon to make sure Jeff’s food stayed with him.  It did!  However, as of Sunday there is a new flock of residents who are in the beginning of a learning curve.  Discharge was delayed a few hours.  More about that later. 

This morning Selena, the physical therapist, came to make sure Jeff could do stairs.  She took him to the stairwell and asked where the railing in our house was located, on the right or left going up.  Jeff grabbed the rail and charged up the stairs.  I think he was showing off.  Of course, she charged up right after him but when he got to the top and turned around he was shocked to see her right behind him.  Good marks for stairs. 

Then Tammy, the occupational therapist, came to see if she could help Jeff with his arm and hand.  His grip and pincer strength are both affected, particularly on the right side.  She gave him some cubes of exercise foam in various colors (density) and a foam tube which can be used over a utensil, pen or toothbrush to make it easier to grip and hold.  She suggested and demonstrated how to put on socks by using the thumb which is typically stronger than the fingers.  Jeff said he’ll have to get used to using his left hand to zip his fly. 

There was some confusion as to whether Jeff would be sent home with one or both of his ports.  Evidently, once Tacrolimus is administered through a port, it can skew any blood draws done from that port.  Capable nurses marked his port so it is easy to tell which one was used for the Tac.  Eventually it was decided to pull his PIC line and leave the Hickman catheter.  There was some confusion over one of his at-home medications; the resident couldn’t find the capsule form on the system.  We ended up with a liquid which must be refrigerated and measured out rather than the more convenient capsules.  There was a lengthy delay due to the new resident’s inability to reach Dr. Porter or Jackie, the transplant coordinator, to schedule Jeff’s follow-up appointment.  We eventually left without an appointment, with instructions to call tomorrow to schedule it or just show up in the office on Friday.

As I say, we waited and waited for discharge.  Jeff remarked, “I don’t know about this place.  You can’t check in and you can’t check out.”  (See also May 22 – Are We Off or On?)  They certainly could do better in those areas but I suppose the in-between is what really counts.  BMT is an ugly, scary process, and the nurses and staff at HUP are knowledgeable and skilled. 

We got home by 7 p.m. and I expected Jeff to go to bed with exhaustion.  Nope!  He sat in the living room with Giblet for a bit.  Then he sat in the kitchen and ate snacks.  This was surprising since he didn’t eat much after 3 or 4 p.m. at the hospital.  Then he put on mask and gloves to go outside and talk to a couple of our neighbors, check the raspberries (they’re ripe but he can’t pick them or eat them fresh), and then down to the basement to see the workbench Kerry finished while Jeff was away.  The neighbors tell us there is an “Under/Over” bet as to whether Jeff will make it to the wedding and another for how long it takes before Jeff has a tool in his hand.

Through the day we learned that Pop was moved to a nursing home near us.  Convenient for me and a little less so for Mother and my siblings, I think.  Maybe my family will loop from one of our patients to the other when they plan visits.

It is nice to have Jeff home.  Giblet couldn’t be happier.  I hope the two of them will put their weight back on and spend some quality time together.