The physical therapist rules

Today seems to have been a fairly good day, although when I first called I thought we might have a crisis on our hands. But that was just bad timing. Seems the physical therapist and the lady who came to help Dad bathe both came at the same time. Not sure what the bath lady contributed but I am once again reminded of why I like physical therapists – practical grounded people who worry about outcomes but not so much about the means of achieving them. For instance, Dad's guy made my mom feel that this is possible and that there are solutions. He came up with several this morning:

1. Bed rail (not hospital bed). Hospice was going to deliver a hospital bed for Dad tomorrow. There is no room for it in the bedroom without taking out their bed, which would have forced Mom to sleep downstairs. More to the point, Mom and Dad do NOT want to sleep in separate beds. Mom has been terribly upset that they would not be together. So when the PT guy says, "why are you getting a hospital bed, don't you want to sleep together?" he helped my mother immensely. He made me feel better because now I know they have someone who gets "it."
   
2. Fix wheel chair – Mom has been having a terrible time with the wheel chair. Dad's leg keeps falling off the foot rest (toward the center). PT guy took one look at it and told Mom they needed a different chair because this one has a tilt to that foot rest. He is ordering it for her.
   
3. Extended bench for shower. Dad would rather not have his privacy invaded by others. Mom has not been able to get him in the tub by herself but it turns out there is a bath bench which extends out of the tub (sounds like it slides). He got them one so Mom can help Dad into the tub.
   
4. Gait belt – finally, someone showed Mom how to use the Gait belt and how to fit it.
   
5. Raised platform for Dad's chair. One of the things the PT guy is unhappy about is Dad's chairs. They all either rock and swivel or roll and swivel. On top of that, Dad's favorite chair (also the best fit for him) is shorter than ideal. So he is having a carpenter in town make a platform for the chair. Turns out this guy works for hospice at $50 a platform and they are steady enough not to add to the danger.
   
6. And finally, Physical Therapy to help Dad help Mom help him. At last, someone who sees Dad as having the potential to help himself. If Dad can keep some of the muscle tone in his arms and legs, he can help Mom help him move. He probably also would have fewer crashes into the tub if those muscles were worked regularly. So that will be starting. I am so pleased by this because I know how much it will help Dad to 1) be treated as a person and 2) to be able to feel like he can help himself.
   

On other fronts, I found out the hospice does not have in-home continual care (yet). But Mom/we are working on solving the problems that causes. Mom is going to try to hire a home health aide for a couple of hours every day. In the mean time, their friend Mary came this morning while Dad in bath. Had her husband Mitch come on over as well which was a good thing because Dad fell into tub again. Tub was padded in the section he has been landing in but Dad landed in the other end, of course. He's not hurt (maybe a benefit of not being able to react?) but fixing this is a top priority. A bath chair so he can sit while he shaves, etc. is the new plan. Mean while, it turns out we are going to have a family conference while Jeff and I are both home. Have no idea about what.