Ups and Downs

First for the good news. G is walking better. And, much further. He is now back to walking as far as he was before the surgery. He says his balance is better.

He is also starting to try to use the keyboard on the computer, something he has not done for some time. I think his coordination was quite bad.

Now for the bad news. The catheter for dialysis is again not running well. And, the surgeon saw G on Friday and said to come back in 6 weeks, and by then he thinks they will be able to use the new fistula site. So, this catheter has to hold out until then.

G said he would take a pillow to sit on Monday, as he hasn't done that the last week or more, as the catheter was running OK. As the catheter is in his groin area, sitting on a pillow will make the area flatter, as where he goes for dialysis they only have recliners to sit in, no beds to lie on.

So, once again, keeping fingers crossed.

Waiting for Transport

Normally a Van comes to pick-up G around 10:00 for dialysis. If it's the VA Van, they come at 10:10. If it's the company the VA contracts with, they come at 10:00.

This morning, by 10:08 no one was there. So, I called the VA. They said the contract company was to come, they would call and check.

Finally, when no one phoned me back, and I tried 3 times and could not get through to the contact at the VA, I phoned the contract company directly (just happened to get their phone number last week). They called back quickly, apologized, said it was their fault (at least they admitted it).

A couple of weeks ago no one came to pick up G for some appointments at the VA. This, despite the fact that I phoned at 8:00 to confirm there would be a pick up, and then 3 times close to the time he should have been picked up.....finally someone got there so late G just cancelled. And, no one took responsibility, but I was pretty sure it was the VA who screwed up.

Anyway, someone finally showed up about 10:25. G would be a little late getting to dialysis, but not too much.

Hope things goes well today. The catheter didn't run too well on Friday. G says it ran better in the hospital, where he was flat on a bed. So we sent a couple of pillows with him today, hoping they can put these under him in the recliner to make him "flat".

Fingers crossed.