Suggestions, please?

[Madalot]

BB -- I just read your latest post. I am so sorry about the fall.

Does your dad have or you all thought about perhaps a walker or rollator? Rollators are very useful for people that CAN walk, but tend to be unsteady at times. I actually have two of them (one at each end of the house) for when I get out of my wheelchair and need to move around a bit.

Amazon sells one that is fairly inexpensive (all things considered). I have one from my DME (almost $200) and this one from Amazon:

http://smile.amazon.com/Drive-Medical-R ... s=rollator

Just an idea.

[BleepingBeauty]

BB -- I just read your latest post. I am so sorry about the fall.

Does your dad have or you all thought about perhaps a walker or rollator? Rollators are very useful for people that CAN walk, but tend to be unsteady at times. I actually have two of them (one at each end of the house) for when I get out of my wheelchair and need to move around a bit.

Amazon sells one that is fairly inexpensive (all things considered). I have one from my DME (almost $200) and this one from Amazon:

http://smile.amazon.com/Drive-Medical-R ... s=rollator

Just an idea.

Thanks, Maddie. Dad has a walker that he uses relatively easily. He's slow and methodical in his steps but is able to get around the house with it. The couple of times I've taken him outside, I've put him in the wheelchair.

I'm not sure (and neither is he) about why he felt light-headed today and will ask his doctor next week if one (or more) of the meds he's on may be responsible for that. Regardless, Mom and I have to keep reminding him to NOT walk if he doesn't feel up to it. He got a wheelchair when he came home from the hospital/rehab, and I got it out of the garage today and brought it into the house for him. He used it at dinnertime to get to the table, and it worked fine, so I'll continue to encourage its use.

I told my mother this morning about these rollators (I've seen people in stores with them) and thought it would be a better option for Dad since it has a seat on it. (I figured he could sit down if/when he didn't feel steady on his feet.) The only concern is that he'd have to turn himself around in order to sit, and that may not be possible if he's feeling unsteady.

That one you linked to on Amazon is doable, cost-wise. There's also an organization down here that loans out medical equipment (walkers, wheelchairs, rollators, canes, etc.) to people in need for free; when you're done using it, you give it back and they loan it out to someone else. They work off donations. That may be a good option for us, and I'll look into it. Dad has some stuff he doesn't need now (like the IV pole he used when he first came home in November and was on IV antibiotics for a few weeks) that I'm sure they can use for others. I'll call them tomorrow to see about the rollator (if it'll work for Dad) and offer whatever equipment we can give them.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[Morbius]

... if anyone has thoughts that I should be aware of,,,

Get a blood pressure cuff and monitor that.

Use the pulse oximeter when ambulating to see if he desats or gets tachy.

Get an H&H at the next physician visit.

What's the urine color?

[BleepingBeauty]

... if anyone has thoughts that I should be aware of,,,

Get a blood pressure cuff and monitor that.

Use the pulse oximeter when ambulating to see if he desats or gets tachy.

Get an H&H at the next physician visit.

What's the urine color?

Thanks. Mom (who was a nurse for many years) checks his BP occasionally, although I don't know that she's done it recently. I haven't seen her do it in the 10 days I've been here (she could have and I just didn't see it), but I know she has a cuff. I'll ask her about it tomorrow, and I'll start checking him daily.

I don't have a pulse ox yet but will utilize it during the day when the doc orders the overnight oximetry. Mom and I now have Dad using his wheelchair in the house instead of the walker. We're both concerned that he'll tumble again, so we're reluctant to let him walk around. (Truth be told, he's probably too sore to use the walker right now, anyway, as he banged up his elbow and both knees when he fell today.) I told him that I understand that he wants to be mobile (like he used to be) but that he has to exercise more caution and realize his limitations right now. He agreed, but I'm sure he'll question again tomorrow why he's limited...

What's an H&H? You've always been too cryptic for me; I'm nowhere near to being a medical professional.

His urine is normal (according to Mom). I mentioned to her recently that I thought it looked cloudy when I was emptying the urinal, but Mom checked it later on and said it's okay. I trust her judgment, but is there something about its color that I should be aware of?

[archangle]

Make sure he and mom know that black stools may indicate internal bleeding. I nearly lost a dear friend who knew he was supposed to watch for blood in his stool, but didn't know that it would be black. He was expecting it to be red.

Important to watch for for anyone taking blood thinners.

[Morbius]

If fluid intake is inadequate, urine becomes darker:



H&H is hemglobin & hemacrit. It drops during chronic bleeding.

[Morbius]

Make sure he and mom know that black stools may indicate internal bleeding. I nearly lost a dear friend who knew he was supposed to watch for blood in his stool, but didn't know that it would be black. He was expecting it to be red.

Important to watch for for anyone taking blood thinners.

Good idea, but/and get a Hemoccult Kit (detects sub-tler bleeding).

[Morbius]

What medication is on anyway? I'm really thinking you got a lot of NRAH there.

What's his weight and neck size?

[BleepingBeauty]

Make sure he and mom know that black stools may indicate internal bleeding. I nearly lost a dear friend who knew he was supposed to watch for blood in his stool, but didn't know that it would be black. He was expecting it to be red.

Important to watch for for anyone taking blood thinners.

Thanks for the suggestion, but Mom knows all about that (and so do we). Mom had colon cancer and had some of her bowel resected (removed) years ago. I know enough about the bloody stool issue to know that red blood indicates bleeding nearer to the anus (like from hemorrhoids) and is not of real concern and that darker blood indicates bleeding further up the tract (and is much more worrisome). But thanks for mentioning that.

If fluid intake is inadequate, urine becomes darker:

<snip chart>

H&H is hemglobin & hemacrit. It drops during chronic bleeding.

Thanks for the explanation. I've often heard Mom talk about hemoglobin and hematocrit (usually whenever I have blood work done). I'll ask her today if Dad is checked regularly by his doc and whether his levels are normal (or at least not problematic) thus far. I'll ask his doc next Tuesday, too. Thanks.

Make sure he and mom know that black stools may indicate internal bleeding. I nearly lost a dear friend who knew he was supposed to watch for blood in his stool, but didn't know that it would be black. He was expecting it to be red.

Important to watch for for anyone taking blood thinners.

Good idea, but/and get a Hemoccult Kit (detects sub-tler bleeding).

Thanks again. One more thing to ask his doc next week.

What medication is on anyway? I'm really thinking you got a lot of NRAH there.

What's his weight and neck size?

Re: the meds he's now on, that's a very good question. I only know there's a lot of them (and Dad is not happy about being on all of it). I'll grab his box of prescription bottles today and list them all for you. NRAH = Non-Responsive what? Is it Apnea/Hypopnea or something else?

He's lost a good deal of weight since this began in September. He says he was usually around 166-168; I weighed him last time I was here (in December), and he was only 150. His legs look like toothpicks these days - way too thin - and I plan to get him over to the clubhouse to put him on a stationary bike (if/when he's up to it, of course) to start exercising with the hopes of getting him a little stronger again. I haven't weighed him recently, but I will. And I'll get Mom's tape measure and size up his neck. He's definitely not overweight anywhere, but I'll get back to you on everything. Thanks.

[BleepingBeauty]

Oh, Morbius (or should that be Sybil? ):

About his urine color: Mom thinks (her expression) that I'm "picking pepper outta fly shit" and that his urine looks fine. Personally, I think it's darker than it should be (compared to the color chart you posted above), so I told Dad that he needs to drink more water just to be on the safe side. I told him what Mom thinks (since we trust her medical knowledge), but also said it won't hurt to drink more H2O. So I'll see to it that he does. TYVM.

[BleepingBeauty]

Here's Dad's list of current meds:

Clopidorgrel 75 mg (generic for Plavix) 1xday
Multaq 400 mg 1xday
Atorvastatin 10 mg (generic for Lipitor) 1xday
Isosorbide DN 20 mg 1xday
Levythyroxine 25 mcg (generic for Synthroid) 1x day
Pantoprazole SOD DR 20 mg (generic for Protonix) 1xday
Citalopram HBR 20 mg (generic for Celexa) 1xday (at bedtime)
Lisinopril 10 mg (generic for Zestril) 1xday (at bedtime)
Gabapentin 400 mg 1xday (at bedtime)

I hope I spelled them all right. He takes the first six I listed in the morning, and the last three at night.

Mom says this is less medication than he was taking when he first came home. (No wonder he's bummed about how many meds he's on.) Yeesh... I hope he can get off some of these pills soon (especially the Plavix). It's unnerving to see how much he bleeds with the slightest little cut. It doesn't hurt him any more than a slight cut would, but it looked like a crime scene after we got him off the floor yesterday.

[BleepingBeauty]

Dad wore the mask for over 16 hours yesterday (including daytime), about 13 of those hours overnight. I was pleasantly surprised to find the mask still in place this morning, as I heard silence from their room when I awoke and first checked on him. But the machine was running and the mask was still on.

A good amount of LL again, but not terrible. Still, I think I might try the FFM on him today to see if it seals better. Dad has large nostrils, and even the large pillows on the P10 are tricky for him when it comes to maintaining the seal.



If I'm reading the chart correctly, his leak rate with the P10 should be between about 29 and 37 at his pressure range. Is the P10 accurate in that regard or do the leak numbers tend to be higher than the intended leak chart would indicate? I used it for a few nights when I first received it, and the leak was higher than it should have been for me, too, at my pressure(s). Thoughts?

[palerider]

... if anyone has thoughts that I should be aware of,,,

Get an H&H at the next physician visit.

What's an H&H? You've always been too cryptic for me; I'm nowhere near to being a medical professional.

I can help with that! http://lmgtfy.com/?q=medical+h%26h

(you can take that as sarcastic, or as an example of how to get more targeted info out of google, faster than asking on the forum and waiting for an answer)

[BleepingBeauty]

... if anyone has thoughts that I should be aware of,,,

Get an H&H at the next physician visit.

What's an H&H? You've always been too cryptic for me; I'm nowhere near to being a medical professional.

I can help with that! http://lmgtfy.com/?q=medical+h%26h

(you can take that as sarcastic, or as an example of how to get more targeted info out of google, faster than asking on the forum and waiting for an answer)

Thanks. I use Google all the time and should have done that, myself. But it's fun to give Morbius (Sybil) a hard time occasionally, just to remind him that most of us are laypeople.

[palerider]

Thanks. I use Google all the time and should have done that, myself. But it's fun to give Morbius (Sybil) a hard time occasionally, just to remind him that most of us are laypeople.

he does like being cryptic