I return to work today, leaving Mom and Dad alone for the day. It will be interesting to find out how it went. I’m sure there won’t be any problems. For myself personally, it will be nice to go home right after work and not have to shoot across town to visit Dad in some kind of facility.
Though, I can’t help but wonder about Dad and how he will do. To report, as of last night, he still does really well walking throughout the house and has those two steps leading from the TV room to the kitchen, down pat now. Sometimes it’s not pretty to watch, but he does it consistently the correct way. Now, let’s get the embarrassing details over and done with and say he doesn’t need to wear adult diapers anymore! And there is no stigma at having to wear adult diapers, they are made for adults for a reason. There is a temporary commode in their bedroom and it’s been working great if Dad gets up in the middle of the night. The few modifications I made with regards to the shower stall, allowed Dad to successfully bath himself. He was very hesitant and nervous at first, but with a little encouragement managed just fine. I on the other hand was a nervous wreck and had visions of him falling and breaking a leg or something. While his right arm is still in a sling, he is still able to move his right thumb, fluidly. Yesterday it actually felt like spring in Maine and so I suggested Dad sit out in the sun. He did twice, during the day, chair facing the warm rays, a slight breeze occasionally blowing by and he loved it.
All of this good news isn’t without its downside. His appetite still hasn’t returned, even with the inclusion of favorite foods. To be honest, from the sounds of it, his taste buds aren’t there and I don’t know if they will return or not. While he gets excited for food, after a bite or two he says it basically all tastes the same. It was revealed to us that Dad’s CT scan on 3/5/13 did show some slight bleeding on the brain still, ending the mystery as to why he was not back on blood thinners for his AFIB. This past Monday I took him for another CT scan and he is scheduled for his first follow up with his PCP next Friday, so we will get the results and what the plan will be then. All we can do is pray his body continues to recover and the bleeding has finally stopped. Always one day at a time, this is the way it is and will be from now on with Dad. Language, it seems, continues to be our biggest challenge. Yes’s and No’s are better, phrases and the beginnings of sentences are there, but all this is stuff I’ve written about before. Once in a while something clear and concise come out. For example, the other night Dad didn’t want dinner so I asked him what he would like instead (you name it, chances are I can whip it up for you). He said he wasn’t hungry. I thought, no we are not doing this. I’ve already been through someone telling me one thing but meaning something else, so I said to him, “I’m not having it. You have to eat.” He then said to me, “Christa, come on, cut it out.” Well I had to smile and laugh at that. It was a really well-spoken sentence! He ended up having some soup and toast and finishing all of it. Needless to say, communication is still difficult and frustrating for everyone, Dad most of all. I cannot even begin to imagine. But we will get there.
We all took the last five days off and even though I was running around making sure they had this or that, for the most part we just were for five days and that was good. We all needed it. Now it’s time to get back to the grind, get back to therapy, get back to moving forward until the next big thing. I told Dad, when I first brought him home, that he needed to meet certain criteria I had in my mind, before I felt comfortable returning to work and he exceeded all my expectations, as I knew he would.
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