Tonight brings two reports and while there are still unknowns, I believe the reports are good. Tom's blood pressure has improved, his color is better, the fluids have really helped and there is no sign of pneumonia. The hospitalist came by tonight and said that medically he is ready to be discharged. Now we are waiting on a physician to evaluate Tom to see if he meets the criteria to receive therapy in the hospital and don't know if the weekend interferes with that process. He does not want to return to the nursing home and I don't want to move him back and forth.

I know of some older adult ministries who include in their outreach advocating for people in nursing homes who have no one else to speak up on their behalf. That is so important to have a person check to see if medications are distributed correctly and in a timely fashion--especially when timing matters. Patients need to be offered water or other fluids throughout the day so they will not become dehydrated. For a time Tom could only have thickened liquids, was not allowed to get up unassisted, but the liquids were across the room. There are privacy issues, but there are ways to work on those. As group advocacy, we need to impress upon the administration that doctors get a schedule for meds to meet the needs of the patient, not for the convenience of staff and there is a great need to keep hospitals from discharging older patients to a facility other than home late in the afternoon or night. They often can't the medication needed that late and there is a tendency for older folks and/or those who have cognitive impairment or illnesses such as Parkinson's affected by stress to be confused. (sorry for the complicated sentence) If anyone out there knows how to start an advocacy group that would address any of these issues let me hear from you.

Mine is the other report. A friend took me to Corinth for labs, to see the doctor and for a treatment today. My CA125 taken two weeks ago has gone down 3.5 points and it is now below 20. My current doctor wants it under 35, but Dr. Scudder at UCD wanted it under 20--glad to know both would approve. Next treatment date is in two weeks and I expect everything to be just fine.

I had opportunity today in the infusion room to share what I believe to two different people--one of the oncology nurses and another patient who sat by me for a few minutes. God is in charge and His grace is sufficient. The nurse agreed wholeheartedly; don't know about the other person, but at least I was able to tell her about hope and the Hope.

Thanks for keeping up!
Blessings,
Pastor Margaret