Thursday, July 18, 2009

Overall, the past week was very difficult--no sleep turns us both into zombies--but gradually things are looking up a little. Tommy's inability to urinate was such an unexpected problem after that endoscopic procedure--and then, even when he had a catheter, he still was unable to urinate a lot of the time because the catheter was getting blocked up. It was difficult on several levels--I ended up getting that second opinion from Dr. DeMarco (very good move), who saw Tommy immediately on Monday; and Dr. DeMarco will now be Tommy's urologist. Then, yesterday, I changed Tommy's primary-care doctor (a huge move, but necessary for a growing list of reasons); and together, the new team is beginning to move us past this impasse. Tommy saw the new doctor, Dr. Giddins, yesterday; and after conferring with Dr. DeMarco's office, she prescribed a pain killer for Tommy so that he can sleep. Dr. Giddins also lined up a visiting nurse, a physical therapist, an occupational therapist and a bathing aide; each of them will come twice a week for a month and possibly longer. The home-health nurse is coming today, sometime between 12 and 1.
This month, I especially thank my lucky stars for Gaie (for her invaluable phone support) and "the three Musketeers" (Irv, for his unflagging help; Steve, for making it possible for me to attend the wedding in Michigan of my godson Jesse; and Marshall, my brother, who came for nine days and helped in myriad ways, including yeoman chef service).