Ooooohhh, my poor little Papa...

Couldn't get a hold of Mom at home, so I called her cell. Found her visiting Dad. Now his left hand is also swollen! He was yelling in pain when the staff was changing his sheets. One nurse had to hold up both his hands to prevent them from not being elevated and causing pain due to the swelling.

Poor Dad can't even feed himself or go to the restroom, so he must rely on the staff to do that for him. Mom said his new "do" looks good. It is not a buzz cut, it is a crew cut. Hopefully one of my siblings will take a photo with their cell phones and send it to me. Mom has no clue how to use her cell camera much less send it via email...

I told Mom his left hand was swollen right after he went into the nursing home in Glendora. They put ice on it and it went down after a couple of days. When I was talking to Mom, I could hear the nurse come in and tell Mom they were going to do an x-ray and take blood tests.

I left another message for Dad's primary doctor, and AGAIN he did not call me back. I am going to call every hour on the hour until he calls or one of the nurses gives me the common courtesy of some kind of a response!! I left messages every day this week for Pete's sake!!! I wanted the doctor to know the same thing happened in early June with his left hand being swollen.

When I called the charge nurse this afternoon, he still did not have the blood results, but he said the x-ray showed osteoarthritis in his left hand (no change since June 8, 2009). He said the right hand was degenerative joint disease. He thought the swelling had gone down in Dad's right hand, and Dad did not want a pain pill earlier... so hopefully, he will be better soon.

I spoke with Dad earlier when I called Mom. Dad was very talkative and his voice was deep and fairly normal. He was very fixated on the pain in his hands. When I tried to change the subject and told him everyone thinks he looks very handsome with his new hair cut, he applied what I said to his hands. Then his lunch came... I know I come second to food these days, so I barely had time to tell him I loved him before Mom chimed in, telling me she had to hang up because his lunch had arrived.

At least he is eating well, taking his meds and seems more resigned to living in a nursing home. I feel very comfortable with the nursing staff and CNAs. They seem very caring and compassionate. I have never seen Dad looking neglected. Even Mom said the staff kept coming in and checking on Dad...sure glad, because he definitely cannot ring his buzzer!!!

Sweet dreams little Papa...we all love you so very, very much....