day 50

can't sleep
Dad's getting a tube inserted through his abdomen and into his stomach
tomorrow
h was awake with us today for a few minutes
almost seemed like the same dad
i worked on his legs for an hour
and the a very nice student nurse came in
she said she'd been working with him
and she wanted to check in before she left
She looked at him lying on the bed and said
"How did you get his legs like this?! I thought he was contracted?"

I freaked out
since my Dad went to the hospital
he likes to lay in a sort of fetal position

when I said to 1 nurse
"is it ok if I stretch out his legs?"
"Oh NO! she said. His legs are contracted

"Contracted?" I asked, "What do you mean."

"Oh. We'd have to break his legs to get them straight at this point."

"At this point? What do you mean."

"His legs have been in this position too long"

"But... I am his son. 5 days ago he was standing in the kitchen."

"He was?" blink...blink

Turns out... Dad is NOT contracted. They just assumed this because he's wanting to lye in this certain position.
BUT I HAVE TOLS ABOUT 10 PEOPLE at the hospital
BEGGED them to every now and then stretch out his legs...
and yet... 2 weeks later... everyone still thinks he's contracted

so I got really upset with this nurse... she went to get another nurse to help her move my dad around a little (I stretched out his legs and they were sort of hanging over the side)
The new nurse (who is a nurse Ive spoken with dad about) came into the room
looked at dad and said
"How are his legs straight? He's suposed to be contracted!"

I almost killed her... I swear... I was like Shirley McClean in Terms of Endearment


The hospital is INSANE
every ten minutes a new person comes in to do something different
they all have individual jobs

blood presssure man
fever woman
food change woman
breathing apparatus man

NONE OF THEM KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MY FATHER
they wonder why he doesn't respond when they say hello
I say... He has alzheimer disease... OH they say

All these people are getting paid
And NONE of them know about my dad?

What makes me very angry about the whole thing is

If I hadn't been an ass

Dad's legs may very well have become contracted
and then they would have had to break his legs
if we ever wanted him to stand again

all because 100s of people enter the room to "help" my Dad
but 0 people know about him
and 0 people care

It is a HOSPITAL
they should be telling ME to be careful that my Dad's legs do not contract!
They should be DOCUMENTING and READING the documentation

every m-fing one of them