Exciting stuff, this 'anti-clotting.' Translation: Lay in the hospital on big gun anti-coagulants and wait.
The nurses on the 4th floor are exceptional! Far above the 3rd floor. (No pun intended.) They came in, got Dad up and gave him a bath--without Mom having to ask. They also rounded up the Speech Pathologist and Dietician to come in. PT and OT also stopped by -- all this morning! Please be patient and understanding when phone calls and texts aren't answered right away-- Sometimes, there's just a lot going on! ;)
Dad has been having trouble swallowing, and therefore, eating. Again, Ms. Creative, has managed to pack a whopping 800-850 calories into her "special shakes." I'm pretty sure this involves throwing anything that packs calories and protein and resembles "Vanilla" into a blender. It's working, so far, and she manages to keep enough of these down him to keep his daily intake up. But, thinking ahead, she was afraid she wouldn't be successful at this for the entire duration, so she requested the Dietician's help--since they were laying in the hospital and all. Ms. Creative divulged more shake secrets to the Dietician and apparently got an A+ in "High Calorie Shake Making." They are also going to try some pureed foods in order to give some variety.
The Speech Pathologist came by and performed another swallow study. The issue with his eating has not been jaw pain--this would make it much easier to take the advice of all those who have gone before with a broken jaw. The issue is swallowing. When you don't feel like you can swallow, and when it hurts to swallow--it doesn't matter if your staring at eggs, oatmeal or soup.
The verdict from the swallow study is that it is just going to take a long time (up to 3 months) for all of the reconstruction to heal in his mouth and jaw. There is swelling and discomfort involved and it's just the nature of the beast. Mom also has requested an earlier follow up from the Otolaryngology department and will also be taking him to a highly-recommended dentist in town, to make sure that everything is "lined up" correctly and healing in the proper place.
MeMa, Garland and Janelle and the Adair's came to visit today and while Dad rested, Mom took the crew to tour and lunch out at Raider Ranch.
That about sums up the day from Raiderland--
oh, except that Mom and Cash ran into that new "coach" we have out there on the football field, and it was all Mom could do not to ask him when he'd be leaving town.
More to come later,
Dan's Dozen
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