Setback

So last night I was coming back inside from lighting the barbecue in time to see dad go crashing to the floor. He was feeling pretty good yesterday so he decided to take off from his chair without his walker. Then I guess he decided he should go back and get it. The turning process didn't go well and I there was no way I could get to him before he went down. He's ok for the most part. He ripped the skin away from his elbow. Not bad enough to need stitches but pretty ugly looking. Our friend Judy, whose a nurse, came over and said that if we weren't concerned with the aesthetic aspect of a scar she didn't think we needed to worry about stitches. I think we are past that at this point.

It made me very angry that he decided he was all better and didn't need the walker. I then caught him again last night being ocd and trying to accordion fold the bedspread while only balancing against the bed with one hand and no walker. Just as I got to him he got tangled up in his feet and started to fall. Fortunately I was right there and was able to hip check him, changing his course so he fell on the bed instead of the floor. Despite only weighing 141 lbs. right now, he is still too heavy for me. I had a hard time picking him up off the floor when he fell the first time yesterday. We have these old library stools around our house that my mom got when she worked at the library. So I used one of the short ones from a kid's table to put dad on so I didn't have to lift him very high. But there was still an instant where I thought I wasn't going to be able to make it which would have been bad.

I have an appointment with an in-home care agency on Tues. to start finding a replacement for me in his care giving. He is just so much more cognisant when he is at home compared to other places. Even at the doctor's office he is much more confused. So I guess as long as he can afford it, we are going to try and make this work instead of the carehome.