Wed. Feb. 24

Oh my goodness. I just re-read the post from last night and was ashamed at all the errors in it. All I can say is, "I'm sorry". I must have been even more tired than I thought. I haven't taken my sleeping aid yet tonight so maybe this one will be more correct.

I'm so grateful for Tessha being down there with Dan and relaying information to me. Also, Jan, the Social Worker and Dr. Caton, the Mental Health doctor have been great to stay in touch with me by phone. Jan has worked endlessly to make sure Dan can get the rehab help he needs without breaking our bank. We went through a bunch of numbers yesterday and she said she'd review it all and let me know what the Rehab will cost us.

Well she called back today to say that the VA will pick up the first 20 days at no cost to us. Miracle!! Then from day 21 through 31 it will cost me $15/ day. I was amazed. That is actually something we can do. It was originally $140/day. Another miracle!!! We are being blessed through it all.

Dr. Caton called to see if I had any questions about Dan's meds. I asked him about the Depacote and if Dan was still on all the other meds. We talked about the side effects of everything and decided this was worth the risk. He said Dan was still on the other meds and would probably stay on them. I have to say, I like this dr. He has offered for me to call anytime I have a question and he may be the one who follows Dan in the clinic down there. We'll have to see about that one.

Tessha texted this morning that Dan "is confused and unsettled about checking out. He isn't retaining info. like that he's in the VA and more specifically SLC. You tell him he is checking out soon and going to rehab and he gets flustered and asks again, so the nurses and I tell him each time they see him, which is multiple times in an hour. He still has the catheter in. He is sitting up in bed and yesterday sat in a chair for a while. The back MRI came out clean, there is no disk compression."

His new address is Willow Wood Care Center 1206 E. 4725 S. SLC. Turn on to Bonner Way once you're on 1300 E. There is a Mountain CU. Go north through a light and turn west into a housing neighborhood.

"Good news. There isn't a fracture in his hand/per the x-ray. The Dr. put a comssioon glove on which is tight on his big hands and is irritating. The nurse put a call into the PT, who may let him have a break from it. I fed him lunch and we talked. He lost words but kept his cool, which is better that an hour ago. He remembered he is in the VA but referenced Murray (the location of rehab) vs SLC. Sunday he thought he was in Honolulu and yesterday it was Vienna, Austria."

"I drove out to the rehab where he's going to be with the Social Worker. He still has to get discharged from the hospital so it might be tomorrow. His room is right across from the Nurses Station. It's not fancy but it's clean."

Phone call ~ "Hi Mom, it's Tessha. I have some good news for you. I just saw Dr. Bower, the neurologist. He said that since we've taken Dad off the lithium he's seeing some of his movements start to even out. He said the lithium sometimes looks like Parkinson's and there's a possibly that he might not actually have Parkinson's. Don't get your hopes up but it is possible that in the next few weeks he might even overcome some of the Parkinson's stuff. You might get your guy back. They've also started him on something for his prostate so maybe he'll get a good night sleep tonight. They haven't actually confirmed when they'll move him out. It might be sometime this afternoon or maybe even tomorrow."

I got this voice message just after I got home from school and got the mail. In with everything else was a small yellow envelope with a little card inside. It said
"Hope this helps with your next trip to see you Sweetheart! Lots of Love and Prayers." I have no idea who is it from but they put $100 and a Jamba Juice gift card and an Applebee's gift Card inside. It was post marked Pocatello and I was blown away by the kindness. I can't even begin to imagine who would have been so kind. I will just have to think that it could have been just about anyone. Wow!!! There are angels and they are all around us. Thank you all!!

I can't go to bed without saying how thankful we are for all the sweet people who bring in dinners, rolls, loaves of bread and all kinds of yummies for us to enjoy.
Alisha hasn't had it this good for quite a while now and she's loving it.

Like she said, "Yah, we are being watched over."