The frequent flyer.
The one who goes home after a stay in the hospital, only to return to the hospital after a period of time. Some of them return because they are just lonely. They live alone and have a hard time doing the normal activities of daily living. Some of them return, because they cannot or are unwilling to follow the instructions for care at home. The illnesses they have become overwhelming even for some with help at home to try.
At every hospital, there are patients who know all of the staff because of many stays over a period of time.
George was one of those patients.
End stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); a chronic or long term disease that causes inflammation in the airways and usually a result of smoking. It can be debilitating and result in the need for continuous oxygen use and sometimes severe enough to require several respiratory medications. A patient with long-term COPD has a hard time getting air out of the lungs, rather than into the lungs, and it can frequently lead to recurrent respiratory infections including pneumonia.
George was in the hospital at least three times this year (and it's only February) for pneumonia and problems related to his COPD.
He was funny. He loved to laugh and had a sense of humor that either made you laugh or annoyed you. I thought he was hysterical most days and would usually preface our shifts together with comments about when he was going to start getting his mail delivered to his room. It didn't matter how many shifts a week I cared for him, he laughed every time I said something about his mail.
George was also a bit particular about what he wanted and was not able to do much for himself. He would get extremely short of breath with any activity and was reliant on oxygen almost continuously. George was also a fan of eating ice chips. While this activity is common in some folks, George was notorious for how much ice he needed during a shift. Of course, this also led to needing assistance keeping urinals empty frequently as well.
About every 2 hours, George would need a fresh container of ice and his urinal empty. If you did one and not the other, it wouldn't be long before he was on the call light to remind you to come back to his room and take care of whatever he needed.
George also didn't sleep. Whether a chronic problem with insomnia or a side effect of the steroids he was taking to help with his lungs, he was awake almost all of the time. There was a lot of time during night shifts where George was the only patient awake.
George was talking about hospice. He was tired.
The last night I was able to care for George, you could see how tired he was... you could tell his laugh wasn't as boisterous as it has been in a few weeks.
George wanted to get up out of the bed. Using a mechanical lift, we put him where he wanted to be and he said he wanted to sit a while.
I checked on him 10 minutes later and he was no longer breathing.
I was glad I was there to be with George on this last night. I was sad to share it and heartbroken to have to tell his George Jr. that he was gone.
February was tough.
The one who goes home after a stay in the hospital, only to return to the hospital after a period of time. Some of them return because they are just lonely. They live alone and have a hard time doing the normal activities of daily living. Some of them return, because they cannot or are unwilling to follow the instructions for care at home. The illnesses they have become overwhelming even for some with help at home to try.
At every hospital, there are patients who know all of the staff because of many stays over a period of time.
George was one of those patients.
End stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); a chronic or long term disease that causes inflammation in the airways and usually a result of smoking. It can be debilitating and result in the need for continuous oxygen use and sometimes severe enough to require several respiratory medications. A patient with long-term COPD has a hard time getting air out of the lungs, rather than into the lungs, and it can frequently lead to recurrent respiratory infections including pneumonia.
George was in the hospital at least three times this year (and it's only February) for pneumonia and problems related to his COPD.
He was funny. He loved to laugh and had a sense of humor that either made you laugh or annoyed you. I thought he was hysterical most days and would usually preface our shifts together with comments about when he was going to start getting his mail delivered to his room. It didn't matter how many shifts a week I cared for him, he laughed every time I said something about his mail.
George was also a bit particular about what he wanted and was not able to do much for himself. He would get extremely short of breath with any activity and was reliant on oxygen almost continuously. George was also a fan of eating ice chips. While this activity is common in some folks, George was notorious for how much ice he needed during a shift. Of course, this also led to needing assistance keeping urinals empty frequently as well.
About every 2 hours, George would need a fresh container of ice and his urinal empty. If you did one and not the other, it wouldn't be long before he was on the call light to remind you to come back to his room and take care of whatever he needed.
George also didn't sleep. Whether a chronic problem with insomnia or a side effect of the steroids he was taking to help with his lungs, he was awake almost all of the time. There was a lot of time during night shifts where George was the only patient awake.
George was talking about hospice. He was tired.
The last night I was able to care for George, you could see how tired he was... you could tell his laugh wasn't as boisterous as it has been in a few weeks.
George wanted to get up out of the bed. Using a mechanical lift, we put him where he wanted to be and he said he wanted to sit a while.
I checked on him 10 minutes later and he was no longer breathing.
I was glad I was there to be with George on this last night. I was sad to share it and heartbroken to have to tell his George Jr. that he was gone.
February was tough.
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