Lending A Hand

   Ben is an older man who goes to our church. He fell about a month or so and injured his shoulder. He didn't think it was any big deal, time and rest should take care of it. Turns out it was a big deal. After an MRI it turned out that he had injured his rotator cuff. He would have to have surgery to repair it.
    The challenge is that he lives alone. He needed to have someone drive him to and from his surgery. He also could not be alone for the first 24 hours after his surgery. He had put out a message with what he needed. As C and I live close to his home, C offered to drive him. He could stay with us.
   The day before his surgery was a flurry of house cleaning. We thought he would be comfortable downstairs. There was a good couch/ bed and a nearby bathroom that would be private. We vacuumed and swept and got everything ready.
   The next morning C picked up Ben and took him to the surgery center. Ben had two duffel bags that C brought to our house. One of them was filled with ice packs and some food. The other had his clothes and toiletries. I put them in the instrument room to keep the cats away from them.
   Later in the afternoon, C called the surgery center to see how things were going. Ben's procedure went well and he would be ready to leave in a half hour. I had planned to come along to hear the post-op instructions but had started baking some bread and had to stay home.
   C left to pick up Ben. About 45 minutes after he left, he called me. Ben was not supposed to lay down flat. C also felt that Ben might have trouble with the stairs. We decided that it was best if he stayed upstairs. He could rest on the chaise which was comfortable. He should be able to sleep on it.
   They arrived 30 minutes later. They had picked up some soup and a large bag of medication. There was a sheaf of discharge instructions. I started to look at them. Some of the meds needed to be started later in the evening. I sorted out what meds were what and made a schedule of times that each should be taken. One of the meds had to be taken every eight hours. This meant that a dose would need to be taken at 3:30 AM. I was certain that Ben would not remember to take it so I set an alarm clock up. I would need to get up and give it to him.
   We got him settled on the chaise. He was pretty groggy. C and I both looked after him. We brought him his meds and tried to get him to eat a little bit. Before C and I went to bed, I told Ben that he had one medication that needed to be taken very early in the morning. I told him not to worry as I would get up and give it to him.
  When my alarm went off, I put a sweatshirt over my pajama top and went into the kitchen. I got the pill and a little food and brought them to him. I refilled his water glass and sat with him for a couple of minutes before going back to bed.
   I woke up a lot less tired than I thought I would be. Ben was sleeping. I checked Ben's water glass to make sure it was full. Then I fed the cats, did my morning scripture study and usual workout. I moved quietly so Ben could sleep as long as he needed. While I was doing dishes he woke up. I asked him if he wanted some eggs for breakfast. He did. I scrambled some eggs and made an English muffin for him. He sat in the dining room to wait. I brought out his food and some jam for the muffin. I brought my own breakfast out and we ate together. We went over his meds. He needed to start some exercises to keep his shoulder mobile.
   Ben spent the rest of the day resting and watching TV. I made him a loaf of wheat bread. He had some with peanut butter for his dinner. I worried a little about the fact he wasn't eating much.
   The next day we went to the Toastmaster's meeting. When we got home he had his things packed and was ready to go home. The only thing he needed to do was pick his dog up from the kennel across the street from our house. C drove him and the dog home.
   We've been calling or checking on him once a day since. It has been a pleasure to help him out. I had forgotten how much I like to do things like this. It was good to be able to help someone out this way. I remembered years ago wishing that there was a visiting pharmacist group that I could work with. I thought it would be fun to go into people's homes and help them set up their medications and to see how they are doing on the medications.
   One of the things that I had hoped for when I started working part-time was to have opportunities to help others. When I worked full time I had very little free time, I always felt guilty for spending that time relaxing or catching up on housework instead of helping others.
   Ben is doing well at home. He's thanked us several times for our help. I'm glad we were able to lend a hand.