Another Change

Today I decided to change Hospice companies. The last nurse didn't offer the support that I felt like I needed. Last night I really felt like I needed the nurse to come to the house when I felt like Kent had, had a stroke. She told me to read the pamphlet and she would come out the next day. Tammy and Michelle flipped out, and they were really pushing me to change as well.
The old nurse did come today, and I still didn't feel comfortable with everything she said. She came this morning before I had the chance to call and change. Later this evening the new nurse came. Her name is Carma. She was fun, and really kind. We went over all of the previous companies medication idea's and other information. Me and both of the girls were overwhelmed at how much better we feel with this new company. She told us to feed Kent, to give him the heart medication that make him be not a-fib. Everything just felt better. She kept saying yes he is dying, but he is alive now. Overall she felt like he was healthy. His heart and vital signs were high, but stable. She did however put him back onto his heart medication. She felt it was a bad desision to take him off of his heart meds. The doctor agreed. They make him comfortable.

This all sounds like good news, but there is some bad as well. Kent does display all of the symptoms of another stroke. According to the nurse her guess would be stroke. His speech is slurred, he is very confused and agitated. But then the rest of the time he is so sleepy that he cant keep his eyes open. He stares at us when we ask questions, often not even acknowledging that we have asked anything. He cannot walk on his own. He is leaning to one side, and his face is a little droopy on one side. We are using the wheel chair or walking with 2 people, one on each side. We are back to feeding him, and soft food. But he still enjoys his diet Pepsi. He seems calm, and not to emotional. That is comforting.

In all of this we are changing his medications again. The nurse thinks that he is quite over medicated. And that this last stroke may not be as bad as it seems. She thinks this because of the overwhelming amount of medications that the last hospice has had Kent on. Only time will tell what will happen now. We are just looking forward each day with hope that Kent will be able to communicate a little better.