Home Health Care, Transport and Seizure - February 11, 2011

The nurse from Bayota arrived right around 9 AM as promised. She did an evaluation of Pete's circumstances and agreed that he needed a hospital bed and other medical equipment. She recommended a home health aid to help with Pete's personal needs 5 days per week, the maximum number allowed, and also that a physical therapist be assigned. She explained, though, that Bayota does not provide nursing care and that a hospice organization would be where that would come in.

She left a little before noon. The medical transport van was scheduled to arrive at 12:30, so we has about a half hour to get Pete ready for that. Bruce and I managed to get Pete into the wheelchair and he was just finished getting his jacket on when the driver arrived. Pete seemed very uptight and nervous about the trip. I could see how tense his body was as the driver guided the wheelchair down the ramp and onto the lift at the back of the van. The drive up to Dr. W's office in Little Silver went smoothly, though I could sense that the whole process of transferring Pete into the chair, getting him down the ramp for the first time, using the power lift and riding while seated in the wheelchari were all very stressful for Pete. As we headed down the road I was so sorry that I hadn't suggested that Pete take a Xanax before we left home.

Pete's blood work showed a 20 point increase in the platelet count and only 3 other numbers were slightly outside the normal range, so that's all very good. The doctor faxed over scripts for everything on the list that the nurse had given us. We were back home probably around 3-3:30. The transport driver was wonderful. He tried to put Pete at ease and was just so pleasant and caring.

Pete wanted to sit in the chair for a bit and asked if he could have a small bowl of chili that one of our neighbors had sent over early in the morning. I heated some up and he really seemed to enjoy it. After he was finished he wanted to get back in bed, so Bruce and I managed to get him out of the chair and onto the bed, but it's getting a bit more difficult because he has now lost the use of his right leg. He wanted to just lay there and rest a few minutes before we tried to move him up onto the bed (we had gotten him onto the bed from the chair so his feet were still on the floor and his body was lying down on the bed). All of a sudden, he began to twitch and his eyes got very wide, the lids began to flutter and his arms started to jerk and pull up. I knew he was seizing again, but this one only lasted about 20 seconds and he never lost consciousness.

Bruce called 911. Pete was not aware of what had just happened it was so quick. The paramedics arrived and checked his vitals and helped move him up onto the bed into a more comfortable postition. I really think that all the stress of getting him to the doctor's office is what triggered it. After he had a few more minutes to rest he called the doctor and told him about what had just happened and asked him about taking Xanax or Ativan. The doctor suggested Ativan, so he faxed over a prescription which I picked it up later that evening.

Pete took some pain pills because he was experiencing a headache and for the rest of the evening he just dozed off and on. Around 7 he asked for more chili, but asked me to add some cheddar cheese on top, and also for some bread and butter. I made that up for him and he ate a really healthy sized bowl. He turned on the TV and again dozed off and on until I woke him around 10 to take his night time meds.

He usually sleeps on his side, but he didn't want to be rolled over, saying he wanted to just stay on his back. I fixed the pillows as best I could and lay down on the floor on my foam mat.