(Sorry for the length, but my future writing will be paid by the word.)
I drove to work yesterday (Tuesday) so I could get a simpler phone for my Dad, drive to his place to take him to dinner, setup the phone, and go to an urgent care clinic to have the cut on his right hand, on the palm, looked at.
I had no trouble getting the phone, I setup the phone while he started reading the user manual, then we went to dinner. I made sure to sit on his right side since we found out last Saturday that his left hearing aid wasn't working. We had a good dinner, and before we left I found a nearby urgent care clinic, and told him we could go there. He was agreeable, though he thought all that was needed was to put a new bandage on.
I thought we would be at the clinic for about 30 minutes, but it was shorter than that when they told us that hand injuries can involve ligaments and surgery, and suggested we go to the nearby emergency room (2 blocks away). That was convenient, so we went there without me thinking that his Kaiser Health Plan would consider it an out-of-network expense and charge him too much.
There weren't many people ahead of us (15, compared to 30 or 40 that Margaret and I have seen at our ER) but it took 2 hours (about 10:30pm) or a doctor to see us (triage was soon after we arrived). Shortly before that, Dad said we should leave, but I felt we had invested the time, and I wanted his hand examined since it was swollen and his friends who saw the wound said he should go to a doctor. A nurse removed the bandage, cleaned the wound, another nurse took him for an x-ray of his hand, the doctor put 3 stitches in, and another nurse bandaged it and gave him a wrist splint. He was given 2 prescriptions for antibiotics. We left around 1:30am. I had decided shortly before that that I was too tired to drive home, and would arrive so late that Margaret wouldn't get much sleep. So we went to Dad's and both slept.
I work from home on Wednesdays, so I sent a message to my manager and coworkers that I would be in late. I hoped that my Dad's friends, who had bandaged his hand, could also take him to get his prescriptions. But when he woke up Wednesday, Dad told me that his last working hearing aid wasn't, so I informed my work that I would take the day off.
I helped Dad try to clean the hearing aid, and after writing notes on paper, used my phone's speech to text feature, with a large font, to communicate with him. Then later found an Android app, Talk to Deaf Grandma (TDG) , that was easier to use. As the ER doctor requested, I called his doctor and made an appointment for Thursday morning.
He couldn't get the hearing aid to work. He asked if I was hungry, and suggested breakfast at McDonald's, but with TDG I suggested IHOP. We had a good breakfast with a waitress who recognized him from serving him years ago at another restaurant, then at IHOP. He suggested getting the prescriptions at Walgreens nearby, but after driving there, walking in with him, and waiting, they would not accept Kaiser cards. I TGDed that we'd go to Kaiser, so off we went.
Got the prescriptions, then he thought Kaiser might help with the hearing aids, but he led me to the eye glasses store. We found audiology, but they just did hearing tests. So off to Costco where he had bought the hearing aids.
They cleaned them while I did some shopping for Margaret (and some for me), but couldn't get the right ear one to work. Fortunately, it was under warranty, so they would send it off to be fixed, and call him in a few days. But finally he could hear me through his left ear!!
We headed to his place, and I asked him where he wanted to go to test GoGoGrandparent, a service I signed him up for, and put the number on his new phone, where you can use a non-smart phone to get a ride. He didn't suggest any place.
I gave him his prescriptions, and he had problems opening the bottles (he can't use his right hand much, especially with the splint). He's upset that he needs to take one prescription 4 times a day, but the other is just twice a day. He read all the instructions.
At home, I added the numbers for his friends to his phone, and asked him to try it out. He had lots of problems using it from thinking he could touch the screen, to typing the phone number for GoGoGrandparent (that's shown in the phone book) when he could have it dialed for him by pressing the YES button. We practiced several times, and I'm still not sure he can do it.
He also had problems hearing the recorded instructions from GoGoGrandparent, and hearing Margaret when I asked him to call her. But he just needs to press 1 to request pickup at home, then 2 to be picked up at the place he was dropped off. It's not essential that he see his doctor Thursday, but it will be a good test for him to use GoGoGrandparent. I hope after using it a few times he will be more comfortable with it. It could also be that he hears much better with his right ear, so having that hearing aid fixed will be a big improvement.
That's all for now. Will keep you posted.
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