Doesn't Taste Like Chicken

It's Alison. I'm hanging out with Dad for the evening shift. When I got here at 6pm, they had just moved him out of the Critical Care unit to the Acute Care unit, or something like that.
Diane told me at "shift change" that they had ordered his dinner and it should be arriving soon. After an hour of waiting, I asked. I guess they had delivered it to his old room (which yes, is now empty) and it had been sitting there. So, they brought it over. I offered Dad the chicken and he said yes. After the first forkful, he made a face. I looked at the menu and it said salmon. Oops! I said, "You don't like salmon I take it?" He made a face again and shook his head. So, he had a vegetarian meal tonight... potatoes and corn. He wasn't super hungry and after he said he didn't want anymore I said, "Do you want dessert?" He raised his eyebrows and said, "Sure." Then I told him it was a peach (pureed peach shaped like a peach), and he scowled. LOL He ate a few bites anyway.

The TV was on ESPN and he kept pointing at the TV and asking something. After several guesses, I figured out that he was asking about the BYU game tomorrow. I said, "You want to know when it is?" Yes. "It's tomorrow." (More questions and talking.) "You want to know what TIME it is?" Yes. I told him the time of the game and assured him that we'd make sure he could watch it. He nodded and relaxed. I was glad to finally guess something right.

I brought an iPad for Dad to use, thinking that maybe he could use it with his left hand. He perked right up when I got it out and told him it was his. I showed him an app I bought that helps with non-verbal communication. (You point to a picture of a toilet, a drink, a bed, etc. and it says what you want.) Then I showed him the March Madness app and he said, "Cool." I opened Facebook and read him notes and comments left by people. Every couple of minutes, I asked if he wanted to continue, and he did, until we finished. Before I read each comment, I'd say the person's name, and he'd nod that he knew who they were. After we finished, I said, "Should I say something back to all of them from you?" He nodded. I said, "Should I say thank you and that you love them?" He scowled like, "that's boring." LOL! I said, "Yeah, I probably would have to think of something much more sarcastic for any chance that they'd believe it was you." He laughed at that one. (Brad, he especially likely your message and gave it a very enthusiastic nod. Thank you.)

After dinner, he started pulling up on the bed rail, looking like he was trying to sit up. I sat the bed up, but he kept doing it. Then, he picked up his left leg and tried to swing it off the side of the bed. I asked if he wanted to sit on the edge of the bed and he said yes. Well... easier said than done. We tried for several minutes. He's still hooked to several wires and tubes, and let's be honest, wasn't doing a lot to help me try to sit him up. :) I kept laughing and he chuckled with me. I told him not to tell anyone that I was not only the worst guesser (at what he tries to say), but the most inept nurse as well. He laughed again. It's so good to hear him laugh. I finally called the nurse to come and help us. She helped sit him on the side of the bed for a few minutes, which he enjoyed.

Afterward, we watched American Idol for a few minutes. He started getting sleepy. Luckily, the move to acute care (and apparent shortage of nurses) means he only has to get checked every four hours instead of every 1-2 hours. The room is darker and quieter too. Yay! I'm hopeful that he'll be able to get some real, good, restorative sleep tonight.

That's about it. Susan will be taking over for the night shift in a while, so I think she'll do the next update.