We took Daddy to the Orthopedist Tuesday, with help from our paid care giver, Frances. That was money well spent, as he still is extremely difficult to transfer from the wheelchair to the car and back. Also, there was so much paperwork to fill out that they were ready to take him downstairs for X-rays before I was through with it all. Thank goodness Frances was there to take him, as DH had gone to the store while we were at the doctor’s.

Daddy fell the day after Thanksgiving, but the severe pain and stiffness in his right arm didn’t show up until Jan. 3. We figured it was due to using the walker and from putting so much pressure on his arms when he was getting up and down from chairs.

Well, that probably is the reason the pain started later, but it turns out that he has a small chip of the bone at his elbow! Thank goodness the Orthopedist did not put him in a sling. Instead, he’s having us put one of those tennis elbow type braces below his elbow. It’s supposed to take the pressure off the tendon that connects to the end of his elbow. I tried it the first day under his long sleeved shirt, but by evening his arm and hand were swollen, and it was all I could do the get to the brace from under his sleeve. I’ve been putting it on the outside of his shirt ever since, and it seems to work just as well. I didn’t even have to adjust it last night, as his arm was not so swollen.

The brace seems to be helping, thank goodness. We go back to see Dr. J in a month to see how he’s progressing.

So, the arm is better. I wish I could leave it at that. But that would be only half the story. The stress of trying to get him in and out of the car, plus all the strange goings on with the X-rays, a strange doctor, and a strange place, and his pain on top of all that, have left Daddy confused. He has said several things that made it clear that he no longer thinks he’s at home. He’s also been talking about those children who are making all the noise and running around. Maybe he’s had another small stroke. Maybe his depression is worse. I don’t know. I just know that he is altered.

We continue to take one step forward and two back, it seems.