Friday the 13th started out with a bang … literally! A new aide at Cane Island dropped dad while helping him out of bed and Dad banged his foot on the bed frame and cut it open right under his little toe. Dad has been on a blood thinner since December when he was diagnosed with a blood clot, so he bled pretty badly. He called Mom at work about 10 a.m. and told her that he might need stitches, so she headed down to Cane Island. The nurse practitioner was still in Dad’s room when she got there and she told her that they decided not to do stitches since the bleeding had stopped, but they were putting him on an antibiotic to prevent infection. This incident solidified Mom’s decision to pull Dad out of Cane Island! On Thursday, after learning that Dr. Bing had indeed signed Dad’s discharge orders and had gotten the wheels in motion for home health, she met with the therapy team, the social worker and the director of nursing and told them that since dad had not made any noticeable improvement since being at Cane Island, she was taking him home. They made a “last ditch” effort to try to convince her to keep him there until the 20th, or at least until Monday, but after this incident, Dad was not going to spend another night there. It took nearly the entire day to process the paperwork and make arrangements, but at 5:30 p.m., Mom wheeled Dad out of C
ane Island and never looked back! Shelley, Tracy and Sandy are members of Cane Island’s nursing staff that are very sweet and truly trying their best to make improvements in patient care, but until management lights a fire under the therapy team and hires enough qualified staff at the facility, Mom feels we
were just burning benefits. Now, while all of this was going on at Cane Island, there was activity going on back at the ranch! Bill Deerhake, a member of St. Peter’s, was at home putting the finishing touches on the wheelchair ramp he built for the back porch. This will allow us to get Dad in/out of the back door much easier so he can go out and play ball with Brady or just enjoy some sunshine … so thank you, Bill, and also Butch Scherer who got the project started! Another thank
you to St. Peter’s Care Team for the delivery of Dad’s cheery valentine
balloons … how sweet of you to think of him!! The excitement was far from over on this Friday, the 13th. Besides celebrating Dad’s homecoming, we were also celebrating my father-in-law’s BIG birthday with a fajita dinner with all of the trimmings. The plan was for Dave & I to pick up the food and dessert and meet everyone at my parent’s house. Mom and Dad arrived home first and Mom already had Dad in the wheelchair and in the house when Dave’s parent’s pulled up. As they came in the door, they heard Mom & Grandma wondering what all the red marks were on
the carpet, when they realized that Dad had not picked up his foot, and the cut had broken open once again. So, everyone went scrambling for ice and old towels so they could apply pressure and control the bleeding. Dave & I walked in on the chaos, so Dave helped Mom get Dad into bed so his foot could be elevated, while Barb continued to keep the pressure steady.
What a way to make an entrance, Dad! And then Dan, my poor father-in-law, got the job of trying to get the blood out of the carpet, while Grandma and I brought the rest of the food in. Thank God, the bleeding stopped, but we didn’t dare let Dad get back out of
bed to eat, so I sat the card table up in the bedroom, and we all ate in there! Poor Dan, didn’t even get the time to read all of the birthday signs Mom had hung up that morning for him until much later in the evening. We finally let Dad out of bed to come have dessert in the kitchen. Here’s a picture of the birthday boy celebrating his BIG 6-0; I’m sure he won’t forget this birthday evening for years to come!!
ane Island and never looked back! Shelley, Tracy and Sandy are members of Cane Island’s nursing staff that are very sweet and truly trying their best to make improvements in patient care, but until management lights a fire under the therapy team and hires enough qualified staff at the facility, Mom feels we were just burning benefits. Now, while all of this was going on at Cane Island, there was activity going on back at the ranch! Bill Deerhake, a member of St. Peter’s, was at home putting the finishing touches on the wheelchair ramp he built for the back porch. This will allow us to get Dad in/out of the back door much easier so he can go out and play ball with Brady or just enjoy some sunshine … so thank you, Bill, and also Butch Scherer who got the project started! Another thank
you to St. Peter’s Care Team for the delivery of Dad’s cheery valentine balloons … how sweet of you to think of him!! The excitement was far from over on this Friday, the 13th. Besides celebrating Dad’s homecoming, we were also celebrating my father-in-law’s BIG birthday with a fajita dinner with all of the trimmings. The plan was for Dave & I to pick up the food and dessert and meet everyone at my parent’s house. Mom and Dad arrived home first and Mom already had Dad in the wheelchair and in the house when Dave’s parent’s pulled up. As they came in the door, they heard Mom & Grandma wondering what all the red marks were on 
the carpet, when they realized that Dad had not picked up his foot, and the cut had broken open once again. So, everyone went scrambling for ice and old towels so they could apply pressure and control the bleeding. Dave & I walked in on the chaos, so Dave helped Mom get Dad into bed so his foot could be elevated, while Barb continued to keep the pressure steady. What a way to make an entrance, Dad! And then Dan, my poor father-in-law, got the job of trying to get the blood out of the carpet, while Grandma and I brought the rest of the food in. Thank God, the bleeding stopped, but we didn’t dare let Dad get back out of
bed to eat, so I sat the card table up in the bedroom, and we all ate in there! Poor Dan, didn’t even get the time to read all of the birthday signs Mom had hung up that morning for him until much later in the evening. We finally let Dad out of bed to come have dessert in the kitchen. Here’s a picture of the birthday boy celebrating his BIG 6-0; I’m sure he won’t forget this birthday evening for years to come!!
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