URGENT!!!! Can anyone help Rainbow?

Helen, I just had a thought... ouch!



Is it a cell phone he talks on? If it is, there are hands-free headsets
available, and that way no one would have to hold the phone for him.

Brew,
I had a thought once and.....

Actually, that's a great idea. I wonder why no one has thought about that including the hospital staff? I can only suppose your thought was prompted by eating Okra. Is that brain food? Better let Dick know if it is.

Great idea, Brew. I just called his social worker Sylvia, and she's going to check and see if they can get him a speaker phone in the room. She said the phone's are very simple, and there's no place to put in a headset, but she's going to check and see what she can do about the phone situation.

Protective Services is getting him on a waiting list for the nursing home or hospice. Let's just hope it's a short list!!

Ugh to okra!

Hi Helen,

The dispatch note just came through:

We thought you'd like to know that your Lulu order has been dispatched. (You can check out all the details below.)

Shipped on Tue, 23 Sep 2008 via UPS Ground
All items in your order have been dispatched.


In This Shipment
===========================
1 of Forever Friends by Shelagh Watkins (Printed)

Shipped To:
Doctors Hospital of Laredo
10700 McPherson Rd. - Room 323
Laredo, TX 78045-6268


Label Number:
1ZR0935V0303156784

Thanks for shopping at Lulu!

Shelagh that's fabulous!

That is truly great, Shelagh. You are so very thoughful and considerate. I know he will appreciate it.

Shelagh,

He's thrilled that he'll be getting a copy of the anthology. I'll have to let his social worker know that it's coming so she'll be on the lookout for it.

I was thinking about the lost comments where Abe and Sue talked about their phone calls with Rainbow. It's too bad that those very touching comments are gone. You both mentioned how much more it would mean to read his books after hearing him speak with that wonderfully melodious (my words) British accent. When I told him you both were interested in buying his book, he asked which one.

I just started reading his first book, "Rainbow's Expressions and Observations or Only Visiting This Planet in Search of a Brain, or I know the Answer's 42, But What's the Piggin' Question?" I was supposed to do a review of it when the Amazon thing took place and I put it on hold. It's filled with verse from his life in England from 1987 to 1997. Very witty and spoken from the heart. It's the kind of book that you can just open to a page and read it and smile. But I'm starting from the beginning now.

His latest book, which I did a review and helped in editing, is called "Battle-Scarred Heart - A Brit's Witty Look at Lost Love." Both books tell his tale of searching for his soul mate and his adventures along the way. They give much insight into this sometimes (okay, most of the time) off-the-wall, intelligent, dramatic, compassionate man who calls himself Rainbow.

His Author's Den site has the last posts that he made that were going to go into a third book at http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewshortstory.asp?AuthorID=71008&id=35156
It's got everything he's written and his videos on there. His life and who he is is an open book. It'll certainly bring a smile to your face. Even when he writes about painful times, he does it with great humor!

Rainbow Rick is being moved to a nursing home today. His social worker called and told me the news. I told her that he's an author and has a book that he's contributed to on it's way to the hospital. She said she'll be on the lookout for it, and when it comes in, it'll give her a good excuse to go and visit him. It's not far from where he is now in Laredo. It's good news for him, and hopefully he'll be given better care.

Thanks for the update, Helen. And it sounds as if the nurse truly cares for him.

Thanks Helen.
I think I can speak for others when I say, although we don't ask about him on a daily basis doesn't mean we don't think about him. Keeping us posted is appreciated.

Abe

Hi Abe!

Thanks, Abe. I needed to hear that.

And your welcome, Brenda. His social worker, Sylvia, seems like a real sweetheart. She's not part of the nursing staff, who do not treat him very well. Sylvia actually told Rick's friend Bill yesterday that the nursing staff doesn't care about him. They're very rough on him when they bathe or move him, and with no more muscles, he's just skin and bones and is hurt very easily. Rick calls them "bitches."

Bill offered to wrap Rick up in the sheets from his bed and lower him down three floors out the window and take him to a place that has dancing girls. A nurse walked in then, and Bill said, "Here's one now." When they explained what they were talking about, she said she wasn't the dancing girl type, but then Sylvia walked in and she said, "Now here's a dancing girl!" Bill said that Rick got a good laugh out of it.

Helen that's so good of you to keep us posted. All I can do is imagine what Rainbow is going through, and although I'm not on here everyday, he is certainly in my thoughts everyday. It's great to see that Bill is visiting regularly, and that he has found some support through Sylvia, too. Hopefully the nursing home will be much better suited to what he needs.

Helen, be sure to give us his updated contact information. The note I sent came back as no such address. Maybe they couldn't read my printing.

Now you have me worried Zada.

Maybe a typewritten address will make it through okay, Shelagh. My returned note looked okay to me, but you never know. As soon as we have his new address, I will try it again.

Zada, I don't know why your note came back. It took my card 11 days to finally get to him and he said he got one from PA on the same day. His new address is

Richard Baum
Regent Care Center
7001 McPherson Rd. - Room 313B
Laredo, TX 78041

Shelagh, I told Sylvia the book is coming this week. I tracked it, and it was in Laredo yesterday. Sylvia said she'll take it to him at the nursing home. I'll call her on Monday and let her know that it should be there.

I called last night and he said he wasn't being very well taken care of, but this morning he said that they're getting their act together.

When I first called today, I asked to speak to someone in patient services so that I could let them know that Rick has many friends from around the world and that I was the one reporting on his condition daily to them. I told the woman I spoke with that he is an author. She asked me what he's written, and I told her that he's written two books on his experiences coming from England to the States and that he has a third book that he's a part of coming to him next week from the hospital. I told her that I hoped that someone there would be able to read some of it to him. I let her know that 4 months ago he was healthy and walking around with no clue where his health was headed, and that what's happening to him is devastating to him and all of us. I wanted her to know that I'd be calling every day to check on him and if there was a better time to call where someone could take the phone in to him and hold it for just a couple minutes while we talk. She said between 7 and 8 at night is best. I told her I didn't want to be a bother to them, but he doesn't have much time left. She assured me that it was no bother. I thought it was good to let them know who he is and hopefully get them to treat him with some respect. When I told him what I said, he was very appreciative--always the gentleman. He is short of breath now and tells me that he can't talk for long. It's getting harder for him to talk. I think he's staying on oxygen most of the time.

Bill is afraid that he'll come back to town next Wed. and they'll tell him that he died on Sunday. He's glad to know that I call every day so that we can be the tag team sharing information.

Thanks Helen,
I'm glad you told them about his being an author. Perhaps he'll get some respect. It should also be pleasing to him to know that he is held in respect by a large number of people around the world.

Thank you so much for the update, Helen! He is in my thoughts daily. Do you think you could a phone number so we could call him there?

Yes, Abe. I wanted them to know that he was someone to be respected, and to let them know right away.

Sue, his phone number is 956 723-7001. You can just ask for him by name because there are no phones in the room, but they'll take a cordless in to him. And she assured me that it wasn't a problem. His room is 311B. He has a roommate, but he says that he thinks he's quite ill and doesn't talk.

Thank you, Helen, for the number and the update.

Helen, you are another wonder woman!

Zada,

Thanks for your wondrous comment. But I made a mistake with the room number at the nursing home. I was doing it from memory because I left all my paperwork at home. He's in Room 313B and not 311B.

I received an email from his son who is working on getting his new passport and will let me know the details of when he's on his way.

Good thing you caught that as I was getting ready to address an envelope to try resending him my note!