Graham left the hospital on a pain patch that hadn't faded, a new outlook on what his life could be, and an exhaustion of being in the hospital and not at home. There were high hopes in the beginning with Graham coming home. A home-health company was going to come in, physical therapy was going to start, all new O2 containers and Bi-Pap machine were on their way, and Graham's Dad was going to be able to stay with him during the day until all of this started up. We were on a rare (slight as it might be) high. We could do this!
So not 24 hours later...home health was not going to be able to fulfill Graham's needs (45 minutes a day, and not at any specific time...just randomly show up); the patch is to be replaced every 3 days, it wears off by morning of the 3rd day and it takes a good 1/2 day on the first day to take effect, therefore he is in pain for a day and a half. And he went 3 days without his happy pill. Depression with all that was going on began to set in again. His Dad really has made a difference. I no longer have to stress that Graham is home alone and unable to do something then become stuck. But it is still frustrating that Home Health can't provide us what we need to become more independent.
Walking is becoming more and more of a challenge too. Anytime he gets up, he needs his O2 cranked up somewhere between 6 and 8 Liters and it takes him quite sometime to recuperate from the activity. Many times he needs a high flow O2 tank and a rebreather mask just to recover. Physical Therapy has finally started and hopefully this will begin to strengthen him. Now to just get even more calories in him; all this work will have him burn even more!
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