Before I go . . .

Ok, here's the latest that I have, although I expect I'll have plenty more later today:
Carol and Barb blew in from down south on Wednesday and spent some time with Dad, then spent the night in their RV at the hospital and visited with him again in the morning. Good thing, as I didn't make it to the hospital yesterday, although I talked with him and with Dr. Coch on the phone.
At that point Dr. Coch said he didn't believe Dad had adrenal insufficiency (they injected him with cortisone to stress his adrenal gland and evidently got a normal response), but instead is afflicted with SIADH, or Syndrome of Inappropriate Antidiuretic Hormone Secretion. Quoting a website, SIADH occurs when excessive levels of antidiuretic hormones (hormones that help the kidneys, and body, conserve the correct amount of water) are produced. The syndrome causes the body to retain water and certain levels of electrolytes in the blood to fall (such as sodium). So Dad's muscles got weak because they didn't have the right balance of electolytes, leading to his falling. Coch is convinced that it's not because of what he takes in, but due to a glandular problem, and he's taken Dad off of the ASE Inhibitor (for his Congestive Heart Failure) and the Fluoxitine, because he's concerned they may contributing to the SIADH. One step forward; two steps back.
Dad has rejected the idea of repairing his leaky heart valves, and Coch has dismissed the use of kyphoplasty to treat the compression fracture in his lumbar vertebra. It is a minimally invasive spinal surgery procedure using a balloon to restore the vertebral body height and shape. This is followed by bone cement to strengthen it.
Dad is scheduled to be moved to Wellsville Manor at about 11:00 today, so I'm trying to wrap things up so I can go over with him.
Cathy called last night and said Bruce has an appointment in Rochester next Monday, so they may fly up tomorrow so they can see Dad. I told her Ian has the Pinewood Derby (Cub Scout gravity-powered car race) in the morning, then we have church, then a birthday celebration for Virginia Bassett. Ian has been invited to a skating birthday party on Sunday too, so I told Cathy we would see them when we could. On top of that, we're supposed to start getting a bunch of snow at noon today and running through Saturday night. Meanwhile, flooding has required the closing of the roads between Hornell and Almond, so they'll have to drive in via Crosby Creek or Interstate 86. Anyway, we'll make up Dad's bed with fresh linens . . .