Medication Changes

Rick started his new liquid Depakote yesterday morning. He had it morning and evening. Last night I got a call from Pascal, nurse at Heritage, saying Rick was running a fever of 100.2. He gave him some Tylenol and the next time they took it, it was normal. This morning when I went to see him, he was still in the bed. He was drooling and looked bleary – eyed. He was very unstable on his feet. He had wet in the bed. I got him up, washed and dressed him. We took his temperature because his skin felt hot. It was 98.4 axillary, which means 99.4, a low grade fever. He was very unstable on his feet the whole time. He lost his balance once and almost fell. Then I took him to the dining room for breakfast. He kept his eyes closed a lot. I fed him a few bites but he wasn’t eating very well. He would hold the food in his mouth a long time before swallowing it. Then Angelica came in with his medicine. She gave him the liquid Depakote first. He didn’t swallow it and it drooled out of his mouth. She gave him his other meds crushed in pudding. He didn’t swallow it, either, and he let it run out of his mouth. It kept running out and running out. It seemed like more than we had put in. So he didn’t get either his Depakote or his Keppra this morning. I took him back to his room and put him to bed. I asked that they have the nursing home doctor look at him. I told them that I would be contacting Dr Boggs this morning. On my way home, I called and spoke with Jill, Dr. Boggs’ nurse. I told her all this that was happening. She will contact Dr Boggs and get back with me.