Going home for Christmas [Confessions of a Liberal Puritan]

Mom sent this new update on "Dad's Knee Surgery Adventure" yesterday, suggesting that he'll be in the hospital longer than expected, but will hopefully be able to come home by Christmas:

"Dad's knee is coming along nicely. He's bending it pretty good and walking short distances with the walker. However, it's still swollen, and he is just beginning to eat a few more bites (doesn't finish his light meals yet). Because he was in such poor physical shape when he had the surgery, they are transferring him to the rehab floor today, with the goal of being home by Christmas. He needs to be able to walk up and down the hall. Also began to practice going up and down steps yesterday (three of them, while he has 15 here at home to get upstairs to our bedroom.) But all in all, things are going well."

In other encouraging news, until

keswindhover mentioned it yesterday, I had no idea that Ben Browder is supposed to be signing on with Stargate: SG1 sometime in the New Year. When was this announced, and where was I? That's important, encouraging news. If I can't have a decent amount of O'Neill/MacGyver in the new episodes (and I've felt the short rations in the first half of season 8, much as I enjoyed many of those episodes), then having John Crichton on board to supply the macho-but-sensitive-under-that-wildly-funny-irreverent-exterior-and-cuter-than-a-bug's-ear quotient is the next best thing, I guess. Yay!

[update -- I finally tracked down a brief announcement on Sci-Fi Wire, about Browder signing on for the ninth season of SG1:

"SCI FI Channel confirmed that Farscape star Ben Browder will join the cast of SCI FI's original series Stargate SG-1. Browder will join the cast in the show's upcoming ninth season; no information on Browder's role was available. Meanwhile, the show's producer, MGM, is still working on a deal to bring back SG-1 star Richard Dean Anderson (Gen. O'Neill) in some capacity.

SG-1 will air the remaining new eighth-season episodes, starting Jan. 21, 2005, in a new Friday 8 p.m. ET/PT timeslot . . ." ]

And

x_h00ine's summary of the first seven seasons of Stargate had me laughing out loud this morning. Would have been shooting coffee out my nose, if I hadn't had the forethought to finish breakfast before reading it.

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Very glad to hear your dad's recuperation is coming along well.

About SG1: I can't believe it's going into its 9th year and Angel only had 5 years...Wonders never cease.

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That's cable vs. broadcast networks for you, I guess. Although . . . the Sci-Fi Channel went and cancelled "Farscape" after only 4 years, so . . . I don't know.

I guess there's no understanding it. Except that "Stargate" benefitted from being on a premium channel for its first five years (where ratings numbers don't matter as much, since you're not selling advertising), and so came to Sci-Fi with five years worth of build-up and interest. It might not have lasted more than one season, if it had started out on Sci-Fi.

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I haven't watched Stargate regularly in years, but I'm coming back for Ben!

And Claudia Black is going to be guest-starring later this season!

Yay! Watching Peacekeeper Wars reminded me of how much I miss seeing Aeryn and Crichton on a regular basis -- it'll be good to see the actors, at least, now and then.

I hope your dad makes it home for Christmas.

Does your folks' place have a first floor bathroom (or at least a half bath)? I'm just thinking about those 15 stairs, and knowing from illness and injury in my only family that once he conquers the three steps at rehab, it still may be a little while before he conquers the whole 15.

As a contingency, is there anywhere on the first floor where your dad can sleep, in case he can't make the steps right at the beginning? If there's space but no sleep-able (for him) furniture, I know hospital beds can be rented on a short term basis. Depending on his condition at discharge, this might even be something an insurer would cover, or at least reimburse. Do you have any siblings who live near your parents, if your mom needs help making arrangements, etc.?

This isn't meant to stress you out, by the way. It's just a Oh-these-are-things-we-had-to-look-at list. Some hospitals and rehabs are thorough in educating the family, such that they're prepared--for and to--meet the patient's recovery needs at home. Sometimes, they're not. And sometimes, people of our parents' generation aren't accustomed to patients being discharged before they're completely ready to live at home, comfortably.

If the hospital has a social worker, who can work in conjuntion with the doctors, and physical and occupational therapists, they'll be able to develop a comprehensive discharge plan for your dad, such that no matter what his ability when he's released, he and your mother should be able to cope with his recovery at home.

I appreciate the experienced perspective!

My folks have been through this before during the last ten years (Dad's other knee two years ago, and a couple of hip operations before that), but that was at their previous house, where their bedroom and bathroom was on the ground floor. Now, they've sold their house and moved in with my brother (who lives in town, instead of out in the country like their previous home -- no acreage to mow, and less likely to get snowed in).

As it stands now, they have a very roomy half bath on the ground floor (it doubles as the laundry room, so there's lots of maneuvering room and plenty of space for a walker and helpers), and there's a big sofa with one end doubling as a lazy boy, so Dad could sleep there if necessary.

I'm sure the hospital will try to get Dad home in time for Christmas, since they don't want to have to keep any more staff on that day than absolutely necessary. Just in case, I'll ask Mom what options are being considered, in case Dad's progress towards being able to climb those 15 stairs is slower than hoped for.

Thanks!

I'm glad they're with your brother. I just thought of your mother having to deal with all of this and having a patient/husband (who are sometimes not so patient) to care for, at Christmas.

My father fell a couple of years before he died, and got a severe bone bruise. The hospital kept him for a couple of days (he had other health problems). He contracted pneumonia the day they were to transfer him to the rehab. The rehab was full. They sent him to a local nursing home which had a full rehabilitation program. My mother had a different strain of pneumonia which took three prescriptions to clear up, and two of my three kids had yet a viral pneumonia (as the result of a virus little ones get--RSV), and I had a sinus infection, and would have had a breakdown, if I could have found the time. *g*

I think there should be a general health warning on

user's LJ about reading coffee and reading it simultaneously.

And, ooh! Claudia Black. Even if she is only guesting.

Exactly!

Confessions of a Liberal Puritan

Going home for Christmas

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October