Homecoming Delayed

As you can imagine, Lion is not a happy boy. He insists the nurses and physical therapists didn’t allow him to get up and walk around. I think the anesthesia did a number on him and that, combined with surgical pain, made it difficult for him to even stand. Yesterday he took his first walk around the room.

After the surgical team, the PT/OT team and nursing staff had a powwow, and they consulted with Lion and I, we decided Lion should stay in the hospital till Monday. This will give him time to practice walking so he can get around at home easier. It will also give me time to get things n place at home.

The major problem is that Lion isn’t sleeping well. He takes lion-sized cat naps throughout the day, but it doesn’t add up to a night’s sleep. Without sleep, he’s even snarkier than usual. He wants things the way he wants them and that doesn’t happen in a hospital.

I’d been planning on visiting Lion during the day. Apparently Lion had other ideas. He wants me to be at the hospital all the time. Come early, stay late. Come even earlier, stay even later. As a result, I’m exhausted too. This morning I was trying to get things ready for him to come home Monday. We hadn’t planned on his right arm not working well or that he would be so unsteady walking. Lion called and asked how fast I could get to the hospital. He needed someone to advocate for him. Translation: the nurses wouldn’t do what he wanted them to do.

I dropped everything and headed for Lion. On the way, I decided he needed to be read the riot act. He doesn’t know everything. The medical staff has been well trained. They’re trying to help him be safe. When they want to delay his discharge, they aren’t being mean. He may have his ideas about what he needs, but they have experience with lots of patients with similar issues. I told him he needs to get back in his own lane. Yay for me, right?

When the doctor came in, the decision was made to discharge Lion tomorrow assuming he can walk better when PT comes around today. The plus side is that maybe we can both sleep if he’s home.