in the early afternoon i went with my father to check out the courtyard nursing care center in medford. this was for my grand uncle, who was already wait listed at 2 other places (santa maria in cambridge, meadow green in waltham). once he's on hold at a 3 places and they still can't find him a spot, only then will the insurance pay for out of network care. i've done some research online, the reviews said courtyard was an average senior home, which made us a little concerned, that's why we wanted to see the place first before adding it to our list.
courtyard is located just south of the middlesex fells, next to lawrence memorial hospital. it's a nice area, quiet suburb, up on a hill, behind the hospital. we had no plan, and originally my father was thinking we'd just take a look from the outside, but we went in and the receptionist immediately knew what we wanted, and got somebody to give us a tour. the whole place had a cozy warm atmosphere, seniors and nurses walking around, the place adorned in christmas decorations. an italian woman named jesika met us, she couldn't have been nicer. we first talked in a conference room, where she got some details about my grand uncle. she said that the wait list for a long term room is about one year. we told her we just needed to get on the list so the insurance company can see we've exhausted all our options and will then allow us to choose out of network care.
jesika then took us on a tour of the facility. they have everything, from rehab where people just come in for the day, to extended rehab, to long-term, to final life-support. we saw seniors that were pretty spry, hobbling about on walkers, to other seniors that seemed to be out of it, passed out on hospital beds. they had activities, like movies, and we saw a bunch of seniors enjoying a screening of some black and white film. courtyard is so called because it's built like a rectangle, with a central courtyard where seniors can enjoy the outdoors when the weather is nice and the staff not have to worry about them wandering off campus. courtyard is in fact the largest senior home in massachusetts with over 200 beds. it looked really nice, and afterwards my father told me it's the best senior home he's ever seen.
we returned to the cafe to pick up my mother before going to belmont. my father had to be back around 6:30pm so could give me a ride home afterwards. it was such a cold day anyway, better than i didn't bicycle, although i wouldn't have minded. it's the exercise that i need.
the tram NMO to UHF antenna adapter arrived yesterday. it's actually not bad, has a rubber gasket underneath to prevent water from getting in. all we need now is an NMO magnetic antenna base. the one that we want is available at dxengineering for $16, but we need to buy $99 worth of items to qualify for free shipping otherwise it's $10.
the other thing that came today was the dr.meter pulse oximeter. my father had asked for one for my grand uncle, i wasn't planning on getting one until i saw it was on sale for $10 (typically $20+) so i got it on whim, and just so happens my grand uncle can use it. my father took his measurement earlier, it was 91% oxygen level, which is on the low side because of his lung infection. i measured myself, a perfect 100% oxygen level with a pulse rate of 54 bpm.
my mother kept telling my father to get some sleep but he never did. we ate early - some soba noodles - before leaving a bit after 6pm.