I went for the first time (not counting check-in) to visit my brother at the new nursing home. I found him slumped in a chair and drooling, not his usual m.o. He is back on oxygen and seems to need it, but the physical therapist was able to get him walking a bit, which amazed me. I think he thinks he is dying. Maybe he is, who knows. I got a mobile oxygen tank and took him for a wheelchair tour of the building. That seemed to get him a little more engaged for a short period of time.
He is on the first floor for the short term folks, and they all take meals in their rooms. I asked that they start taking him to the second floor for meals with the long term folks and for activities. There seem to be several people there who are pretty alert but just physically handicapped. The receptionist was very thoughtful and offered to have some of these folks come down to the first floor and introduce themselves.
Tomorrow I am going to DC for a few days. My husband will visit my brother at least once. Transitions are always very difficult for my brother, I am still hoping that he may in the long run get more interaction with folks in the nursing home than in assisted living, where no one was really paying any attention to him at all.
Today I also retrieved his medical records. They say that his heart is fairly enlarged since the last time he was in the hospital for heart trouble last year. I am waiting for his personal cardiologist to come visit him and then I plan to talk with him over my brother's long term prognosis.
I am amazed by how well I am compartmentalizing this time around. I wonder how I can go about doing regular day to day activities while he is in jail at the nursing home. I think I am beginning to put him out of my thoughts more because otherwise my heart would be constantly breaking.
Watching a slow death is like watching someone disappear a little bit everyday. The blog is helping.
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