Was greeted today by learning that Redjeb's discharge day is now Wednesday. Yes, Wednesday morning!! This is all unreal, but he will be coming home soon. That will present it's own learning curve and frustrations, but he'll be happy to be here and I will have a bed to lie on in the day when I get tired. (Today I went to the family lounge (actually a pretty place) and fell asleep on a soft chair...over stuffed I think they call them).
The discharge date is partly due to everyone's wanting to avoid Labor Day weekend when nothing happens anywhere.
So I stuck my list of what needs to be done on the bulletin board in his room, and the nurse Kelli and I have been trying to make things happen. I'm sure a lot of it will fall on me to do when I get home, but I am pretending that I expect them to do certain things, such as find a doctor to follow his neck surgery. If worse comes to worse he will have to travel an hour and a half each way to see the nice surgeon who did the surgery, but hopefully we can find someone closer. Need someone to tell him when he can get rid of the brace and what else he needs to know about his neck.
Redjeb's daughter Nicole came back from visiting her sister in Virginia and is with her mother in law Maia, who flys back to Georgia tomorrow. They are camped out with me in our apartment. This place really is small but we have made room. We three went out for dinner this eve in Maia's honor and also toasted Redjeb's progress.
Speaking of dinner, I really lost it this eve. Redjeb was hungry as his lunch was pretty sparse and awful, and then when dinner came it was shocking. Just two overly pureed vegetables on a plate and a side of apple sauce. Not wonder he is losing weight. I had been told under no circumstances go to the KITCHEN. But this did it. The nurse who was on duty (someone I had never seen) looked depressed and didn't seem to know or care much what to do. I brow beat her to call the kitchen, which she finally tried but the line was busy. So I went down stairs, got someone to tell me where the kitchen is and barged right in. It is the huge place, totally chaotic looking, and since this was the end of the day, in disarray as they were getting things put away etc. I said in the loudest voice I could muster: I want to speak to the person in charge. Someone pointed to a woman. End of story is that the woman was a nice person (as are most of the people I've dealt with) and of course the mistakes were someone else's responsibility and of course that person had already gone home. But I told her I was not leaving till I had some meat and a decent meal for him, even if it was pureed. Before I left she asked me what problems I had had with the kitchen and I rattled off my list. For what purpose I know not. But I did learn from someone that the kitchen is an outside company that does this on contract. What a racket. When I got back up on the floor the aids were all looking at me wide eyed. They seemed quite amazed that I had actually gone to the kitchen and arrived back with plate in hand, unscathed. I'm probably known as tiger lady there.
I also talked with the nurse about the inefficiency of the other systems and she said it is because they work in "teams" and no one is really in charge. I saw the same thing at Stony Brook. I guess this idea of teams is the new thing. I remember how I always hated group projects at school. Most people did nothing and a couple people (me usually one of them) did all the work. I avoid teams whenever possible, and these health care teams show that without a leader or coordinator the concept just doesn't work in real life.
Got to get up early and get up to the home to be sure all the last minute things get done, or at least some of them do. I have no illusions but keep hoping and pushing. Called Redjeb this eve to say good night and he was down on another floor in their little library, reading. So he is wandering around there. Not sure he's supposed to do so but that's Redjeb. He is ready to come home. Going out for breakfast coffee and making the 4 blocks to Barnes and Noble's I'm sure will be his immediate goals.
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