On Tuesday Cowboy seemed a little better and we actually went to dinner after my daughter arrived. She had come down to look after Cowboy while I have a minor procedure on my eyelids on Wednesday.
Cowboy went to bed about 7PM on Tuesday night and I stayed up and visited with my daughter for a couple of hours. When I went in the bedroom to check on Cowboy about 8PM he was not in the bed. I found him in the bathroom floor naked. He had gotten up to go to the bathroom and fell again. My daughter and I managed to get him into bed and then I tried to figure out a way to call our PCP to get some adivce. I first tried to take his temperature but the battery on my thermometer failed. I then called a neighbor to see if I could borrow a thermometer. They didn't have one but offered to go get one for me.
I then called the emergency room doctor to get him to help me but they would not let me talk with him nor would they agree to contact my PCP so I could talk to him. I was instructed to bring him back to the ER. I knew I could not get him up so I again called the ambulance.
When the paramedics arrived we learned his temperature was 102.7, his blood sugar was high and his heart rate was elevated. Back to the hospital we went. I rode in the ambulance and my daughter followed.
I talked to the ER physician with the intent of making sure they admitted him. His first comment was that Medicare has all kinds of criteria for that. I pressed on and he finally agreed to talk to the internist in charge of doing the paperwork for admissions. The end result was they agreed to admit him.
My daughter and I along with Cowboy discussed what to do about my procedure and it was decided I should go ahead and get it done. Cowboy was safe in the hospital, my daughter was here to help out and waiting might make it even more difficult to arrange.
After being up til midnight on Tuesday night we had to rise at 4AM on Wednesday to go to the hospital for my eyelid procedure.
Wednesday I had some skin removed from my upper lids to improve my field of vision and to eliminate a problem with my eyelashes curling up into my lids. Piece of cake. While I was in getting this done my dauighter went and checked on Cowboy. Then when I was done we both went over to the hospital room and stayed with him for a bit. The orthopedist came in and said they needed to perform surgery to clean out the wound so it could heal.
Thursday in the afternoon the surgery was performed. The procedure went as planned and Cowboy is doing well Well, sort of. He refused to eat any supper, kept trying to get out of bed, setting off an alarm they had on the bed and insisting he needed all the tubes and wires taken off.
My daughter and I left to go get some dinner. When we returned he said he was sure he would allowed to go home and wanted to get up and get dressed. I explained he wasn't going anywhere, not even up to go to the bathroom. He was not happy. Then his IV alarm went off and was very annoying and no one came for the liongest time. My daugher needed to head home so we came on home. When I told Cowboy he said to tell the nurse to "get herself in there right now". It was a little amusing and we knew he felt better or he wouldn't be so feisty.
My understanding is tomorrow they will get him up and start trying to walk him around a bit. The wound will have to be irrigated and packed and rewrapped every day for some time. Sort of like my wound but on a much bigger scale. I talked with his youngest daughter on the phone and she said to be sure that he was sent directly from the hospital to the rehab facility or Medicare would not pay for it. That may turn out to be a useful piece of information. Supposedly tomorrow the "hospitalist" and a social worker with meet with us to discuss what happens next.
To be continued..........
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