Updates for John Lombard: Friday, April 8, 2011

John apparently had a restless night last night, but he was sleeping peacefully when I arrived and continued to do so much of the day until 3:30pm - very similar to yesterday. Once he woke up he wanted some ice cream. Then I got him shaved, hair brushed etc. and he was all set for the day - well, what was left of it anyway. The muscle spasms and cramps did not start until 5pm today but they did not stop, in spite of 2 doses of Dilaudid (synthetic morphine), until he had his bedtime meds at 9:30pm.
I talked to the doctor today, and she explained what changes she has made in the meds up until now and what she suggests for the future. I spoke to her about the difficulty in getting the Parkinsons meds given on time, and so she has put a note on John's file saying that "wife may come and get meds if they are not delivered on time" . The nurse today was ahead of schedule most of the time and once I had to ask her to wait, because I had given John his protein feed earlier and we needed to wait for the full 45 minutes before he had the meds. This was the last time we will actually see this doctor as she is filling in for the regular palliative care doctor who will be back on Monday. So it will be interesting to see if she has the same game plan or makes other changes.
Also talked to their social worker and now I have all sorts of forms to fill out so they can figure out if I have to pay the full $900.00 a month or if we get a cheaper rate. She was very nice and quite helpful.
The staff and volunteers were great today. I really dreaded going this morning and facing another day of wrestling with the staff to get the meds on time. But once the doctor spoke to them there were no further problems.
Here are some pictures of the Hospice.

John's room - one end