Back to Excellent!

Actually, if you ask Robert he never left excellent. Richard and I, on the other hand, saw him go from his usual excellent self to sounding very croupy and congested to running a fever, wheezing, coughing up yukky stuff and barely able to stand.

It all happened very quickly!

Robert had a bad bout of pneumonia in the spring of 2015. We kept him home and treated him with the help (over the phone) of his wonderful pulmonary nurse, Lana. Robert was pretty darn healthy until last October when he had similar symptoms but not as severe.

That’s a really good run for him, considering a few years ago he was hospitalized two to three times a year for pneumonia!

He always has a lot of nasal and chest congestion so I am constantly on “pneumonia-watch.” We do everything we can to keep his lungs healthy – kind of like exercises for the lungs! We have an acapella device which he uses several times a day. We have an inhaler, a nebulizer machine and a humidifier. We encourage him to cough (which he hates to do and will turn red holding in a cough) and have him walk around the house with his walker to get some exercise.

Because of his seizures, he is prone to aspiration pneumonia so I also brush his teeth and take him to the dentist for teeth cleanings three or four times a year.

At his last pulmonary appointment, the doctor asked what I do to prevent aspiration pneumonia. I rattled off all of the above but forgot to mention the extra dental care which I think is probably the most substantial contributor to his reduction in pneumonia. (Typical to forget the most important point when talking to a doctor!)

Richard and I are committed to keeping Robert out of the hospital when he gets sick and his pulmonary team agrees completely. His doctor has prescribed antibiotics for him which I keep at home in case he goes downhill fast (which, of course, invariably happens over a weekend). I am reluctant to use these unless it is absolutely clear that he needs them. Robert is already resistant to several antibiotics and he doesn’t need to add any more to that list.

When Robert is sick we work closely with his pulmonary doctor and that fantastic nurse, Lana, mentioned above. Lana keeps in daily contact with me, listens to my concerns and we discuss, as a team, whether it is time to take him to the hospital. Our goal is to keep him out of the hospital but we have to be on the lookout for sepsis and septic shock which can be fatal. (I watch for a very low blood pressure, high pulse rate, extreme sleepiness and shivering.)

We cannot mess around!  

I know it sounds like I am anti-hospital but I will take Robert in to the hospital if needed. It is just that there is such a decline when he is hospitalized and it takes so long to get back to his regular baseline. Actually, I don’t know that he ever really gets back to his baseline. It’s more like he declines and recovers but only up to a new, lower baseline.

That is why we work so hard to keep him out of the hospital when possible.

Last week, Robert got sick very quickly. He sounded “froggy” for a few days and was a little grumpy at Day Program which is out of character for him. Then the fever hit, the deep, horrific cough and high pulse rate. After consulting with Lana, we put him on the antibiotics which have been known to work in the past for him. His pulmonary doctor is fairly new to Robert and after a day of being on the antibiotic that works for him decided he should be switched to another one that has not worked in the past. I agreed to try it but Lana and I discussed it and I told her I would switch him back if he didn’t improve or if he got worse.

This was Friday. By Saturday evening, he was much worse and I thought if he didn’t improve we would be going to the ER in the middle of the night.

I switched him back to his other antibiotic and checked his vitals through the night.

Thankfully, Robert’s fever went down and on Sunday he seemed better than he did on Saturday but he was still pretty sick. It took both Richard and I to stand him up and we used the transport chair to get from his bedroom to the bathroom (about 10 feet). Robert was foggy-headed and couldn’t get his legs to turn or stand straight so we ended up giving him quick baths while he sat in his shower chair.

Pneumonia is not only the worry when he’s this sick but falls are a real concern.

I worked from home Monday and Tuesday so there would be two of us moving him and getting him out of bed, to the toilet and then back in bed. Robert slept a lot!

Robert may get grumpy when the illness is starting to work on him but once it takes hold he is even more polite and sweet than normal. In fact, he woke up with the fever on Friday but Thursday evening he was extremely polite. Really polite. Richard and I looked at each other and said, “This is not good.”

Sure, we like him to be polite but when his politeness goes to another level we know we are in trouble!

When he was sick and lying in bed and I was taking his vitals, Taz was snuggled next to him in bed. Robert started petting Taz’s head and telling him he was such a good boy and then said, “I love you very much, Taz.”

Ha! We have come a long way from Robert being irritated with Taz and shouting “he is touching me!!”  

We had several days of letting Robert sleep, using the oxygen on him, letting him eat in bed (Taz had to leave for that part) and taking vitals every few hours. By Monday, we got him to the table to eat so he was sitting up and moving around a little. We needed to break up all the junk in his chest.

Robert has had sepsis before and has even been in septic shock. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that he miraculously survived every time. The man is a walking a miracle, after all. Because of this experience and subsequent research, I know that mental confusion and low urine output are also signs of sepsis. However, I am also aware these are signs of dehydration as well.

By Tuesday, he couldn’t sit up on the toilet and was leaning either far forward or far to the left. We had to literally hold his body up so he wouldn’t fall over. His briefs weren’t nearly as wet as usual and he was confused – not knowing his basic routine or understanding simple directions.

Is it sepsis or is he dehydrated? I called Lana and we talked. Richard and I talked. We were all concerned. Lana talked to the doctor who advised we should take him to the hospital.

I waited it out for a few hours and pushed a lot of fluids in him. He isn’t supposed to use straws because of his swallow disorder but he could barely hold a glass so we used a straw (you just have to do what you have to do sometimes!).

Thankfully, he improved as the day progressed. He continued to improve through the week but was pretty weak and still a fall risk. I was able to go to work on Wednesday and Richard stayed home with Robert. Richard has his own leg infection he’s dealing with so had a couple of appointments he couldn’t miss. I am very grateful we moved closer to work because it allowed me to drive back and forth the rest of the week.

I actually have a lot to be grateful for!

First and foremost: Richard. If Richard and I were not both able to care for Robert, he would have had to go to the hospital – no question. There is no way either one of us – alone – could physically assist a 220 lb. guy with standing or transferring to his bed.

Next up: Lana, the pulmonary nurse and case manager extraordinaire! Without her care for Robert and confidence in me, as the caregiver, Robert would have been in the hospital.

Honorable mentions: Our daughter, Rachel, who is a wonderful emotional support and knows how to give us some comic relief! My best friend, Joelle, who runs interference at work when I am not in the office all while handling her own challenging job. Richard’s mom who calls to check on Robert and who fervently prays for him to get better. Our fellow caregiving friends who check in on us daily to see how we are and how Robert is doing. In fact, one even sent us a Prayer Angel a while back which we have been using for both Robert and Richard!

I am also grateful for an employer who allows me the flexibility to work from home when it is absolutely necessary. Although, I did realize that I would much rather work from home all the time! I mean, it’s very hard to compete with a home office that comes with Puppy hanging out with me and sleeping on the office couch.

Lastly, I am grateful for Robert. He is a good patient, even when I am frustrated he can’t respond to my directions. He keeps his joking attitude even when my brow is furrowed with worry and I can’t laugh along with him.

There will come a time when he will have to go the hospital and I will be okay with that. I absolutely know that Richard and I have done our very best. We definitely gave this round our all and if this bout of pneumonia is not completely gone then he will have to go to the hospital.

For now, though, after 10 days of Robert being sick I am prepared to say he is pretty much back to normal – okay, let’s say excellent. Robert says he is doing “excellently great” and the plan is to resume our usual schedule in the morning and send him back to Day Program.

Fingers (and toes) crossed!