KEVIN

I mentioned in another post that Kevin was a big help to me.  I was fretting about how to put the hospital bed in our bedroom and was planning to take our bed down to store it. I asked Stella if she had room in her storage closet for our bed and mattress. Kevin suggested we put the hospital bed in our den/study where we have our computers and the high-def TV that Stella bought Neal for his birthday. 

Stella helped me draw a diagram showing where to situate the furniture. Sunday afternoon, Kevin and his sons, John and Michael, moved the furniture out of the den and arranged the remaining pieces to accommodate the hospital bed.  Colleen, Kevin’s wife, helped, too.  She and Jeaneal bought linens - extra long twin sheets. Colleen was there to receive the hospital bed when it arrived Monday morning. Stella, Kevin, and I were at the hospital waiting for the ambulance to transport Neal home.

After Neal came home, Stella and I had a baby monitor in the den with receivers in the bedroom and living room. Kevin bought a wireless doorbell and taped it within reach to Neal’s bedside table with the receiver in the kitchen.  Neal could ring the doorbell when he needed or wanted anything. He was never left alone for long, but he could ring the doorbell (“cuckoo”) whenever he needed us. 

Kevin showed Stella and me how to change Neal's linens with a minimum of turns. He suggested that we have as many layers as possible between Neal and the air mattress. He put a draw sheet under the fitted sheet and pulled it as tight as possible, then another draw sheet over the fitted sheet, next a waterproof flannel pad, a chux (disposable paper pad with waterproof liner), and finally a pillowcase next to Neal's skin. He explained that there was no need for anything more than that.  

When Neal came home from the hospital, his skin was broken down and the possibility of a bedsore was imminent. Kevin applied a mixture of antibiotic, vitamin D, and moisture barrier creams to the area and within several days the skin was healed up. Neal was catheterized and Kevin taught us how to drain the catheter bag and measure the urine. I've probably forgotten so many other things that he taught us.

Kevin and Colleen and family were here from Christmas Eve until New Year's Day. During that time, he and Colleen stayed several nights with Neal while Stella and I stayed in her condo (she has a condo in our same building) for some much needed rest.