Free Forever: A Lobster Kind Of Love by Jody Pardo, Jennifer Tocheny Page A

Gannon
    Age: 34
    History: Boating accident, Bangor General x 3 months, Woodhaven Rehab PT/OT x 9 months
    Recommendation: 10 hour in home care x 7 days, OT prn x 30 days

    This guy is just 3 years older than I am. Holy crap!

    Height: 5’10” Weight: 167 lbs.
    Dx: Paraplegia

    I wonder if he has a Hoyer lift? Is he bedridden?

    ADLs: Assistance with bathing and dressing. Limited range of motion to bilateral lower extremities.

    I was so used to taking care of children. They were small and easy to carry. I hoped I could handle this.

    Mental Status: Alert and Oriented x3

    Cool, at least we can hold a conversation.
    His list of medications is minimal, just vitamin supplements, B12 shot, Clonidine, Dulcolax suppository every other day, and straight catheterization every 12 hours.
    Adrienne came back into her office with two coffees, an arm full of papers, and a lanyard hanging from her wrist. She handed me a cup of coffee and dumped the rest of her load onto her already overflowing desk. “So, what do you think?”
    “It looks like an easy enough case. Are the supplies all there? Is there any family involvement? I’m used to dealing with kids, so this is all new to me. I haven’t had an adult patient in a long time.”
    “We have a large supply room here. We haven’t been out there yet. As far as I know, he is a single man, no children, and lives alone. So, will you take the case?” Adrienne asked.
    “Sure, yeah, of course I will take the case. I have no issues there. I just want to make sure I am prepared when I get to the house.”
    Adrienne reached across the desk and placed her hands over mine on top of the file. “Lydia, I will be sure you have everything you could possibly need. We have a stock room here. Take all you think you might need and when you get there, if you need more or something different, just give us a call and we will send it over to you.”
    “Okay and what about nursing notes? Do I have to come back here every week or two weeks?”
    “Oh no, we have nurses all over the state that call this office their base. We do everything electronically. You can either scan and email the notes or fax them over. The hard copies stay at the patient’s home for your relief nurse. You will be primary on the case. Going forward, we will be sending other nurses to orient with you on the case for back-up.”
    I tried to think if I was missing anything. “How many hours of service does he get?”
    Adrienne clicked around on her computer a bit before responding. “Right now we have full reign. He is a paraplegic, so he is eligible for unlimited one-on-one care. We are approving you for ten hours per day, five days a week. Let us know if he needs more. We have a relief nurse assigned for the weekends so you can have time off. So essentially, you have ten hours of overtime built in to your salary per week.”
    “I can deal with that.”
    “Your patient is alert and oriented. Talk to him and work out your schedule. We will leave that up to you two to work out. Just as long as the time sheet adds up to fifty hours at week’s end, it’s all good. Please, any issues or questions, don’t hesitate to call me.” Adrienne stood up and came around her desk to shake my hand once more.
    “Welcome to the team. Sandra at the front desk will show you our supply room. Take whatever you need, okay?”
    “Thanks Adrienne. See you soon.” I grabbed the patient file and went out to find Sandra. She was at her desk still pondering the Sudoku puzzle ripped off her 365 days of Sudoku desk calendar.
    “Hey, Sandra.”
    Her head popped up and her smile was back full force. “All done, hun?”
    “Yes ma’am. Adrienne said you would show me where the supply room was so I could stock up for Monday.”
    “Oh, sure. Let me just grab the keys and I will take you down there.” She pulled open her side drawer revealing a mixture of brightly colored pens, trinkets, fuzzy topped trolls, and protein bars. Sandra dug around for the