Hospital Stay Day 7

Eddy at the big house

Eddy has been in the hospital for a week now. He went in last Tuesday with a high fever and has been transferred to Acute Elder Care. I am trying to stay positive but it's challenging. So much of getting better depends on the sick person themselves to feel hopeful that they will recover. Eddy is not happy, he is not speaking much to us and I am reading his mood as angry and fearful. His dementia keeps him in the present so it's hard for him to recall the information about the infection he has. He can't look back at the days and see that he is feeling better as we can. He just feels the way he feels in the moment and he can't feel great. He still has a slight temperature but is off the intravenous medication. Other smaller problems are developing as well as a result of being bedridden.

We found out a few days into his stay that his own Doctor does not have hospital privileges so we have had to rely on the ward Doctor's and RN's for answers on his condition and it's all been vague and frustrating. Test results take time, the infection spread to his blood and we are not sure where it started, was it the urinary tract or the lungs. He is getting good care but I wish he was home in his room where the dog could lick his hand and he could look at his maps and pictures as he faded in and out. Instead he is in a detail-less sterile room mostly on his own, wondering why he is there and worrying about whether he will ever leave.