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The last couple of days...
Feb. 6th, 2003 10:49 pmIn my last post I mentioned a pending visit from my most annoying cousin. When I got to my parents' house, there he was with his slightly less annoying nephew. They'd been there talking non-stop for two hours. My mom was about to tear her hair out, but chose to go into the spa while I was there to take care of Dad. The nephew helped my dad try to use the urinal while Mom was in the spa. When she came in, I took them to dinner and sent them home. My best friend, Karen came by for a few minutes to see my dad. Her parents, Joyce's parents and my parents all consider the three of us to be daughters. Karen's mom couldn't bring herself to come see him. She wants to remember him as he was a couple of weeks ago when he told them about the Hawaii trip.
Yesterday I went to their house instead of to work. I helped with a lot of little tasks and watched Dad so Mom could take a shower and use her hair dryer. Then my Godmother Aunt came in and a few minutes later, my Aunt & Uncle from San Francisco arrived. Mom went out to run errands and we all took care of Dad.
Today I was there again. Hospice officially started today. The nurse came to assess the situation and ordered a lot of stuff. Dad is now on oxygen to ease his breathing and has morphine drops to ease his pain. There was a pile of paperwork that had to be filled out and signed. They tried to get Dad to sign the "Do Not Resisutate" paper and he tried, but he just couldn't do it. So Mom had to use her power of attorney to do it for him. She helped us change him and the bed because he'd soaked through his diaper at some point. She taught us a way to move him up in the bed without hurting our backs. We are now officially trained. The equipment guy came with a lot of stuff. The home health aide came to bathe him. I directed traffic and washed bedding and waited on Dad. Then I went to pick up his new prescriptions. The morphine wasn't in the bunch of prescriptions they gave me and as much pain as he is in, I wasn't leaving without it! So I went upstairs to the Oncology clinic and filled out a form requesting the prescription from his doctor. They had just faxed it before I got there, but they gave me the hard copy to show to the people in the pharmacy. His doctor came out to tell me how sorry he was that my dad hadn't been cured, that he was such a nice guy. I blubbered like a baby. He said he thought my dad had made the right decision to stop chemo. He wasn't a person who did well with it. I thanked him for his concern and left. It's kind of surprising that they let me pick up the morphine. I don't even have the same last name as my dad anymore. But I showed my ID and signed the form, then a pharmacist explained the usage to me and I was on my way.
I gave Dad the lowest dose of morphine when I got to their house. He was resting quietly by the time I left. No moaning! Ahhh! Mom and I started a log for medications so we'd remember how much he had and when.
The relatives from Montana and Chico were supposed to come to visit today. Mom put them off until tomorrow due to all the confusion. Tomorrow I'll be there again. It feels right to be there. I feel less helpless when I can DO something.
Your prayers and thoughts are giving me so much strength. Thank you so very much!!!!
Yesterday I went to their house instead of to work. I helped with a lot of little tasks and watched Dad so Mom could take a shower and use her hair dryer. Then my Godmother Aunt came in and a few minutes later, my Aunt & Uncle from San Francisco arrived. Mom went out to run errands and we all took care of Dad.
Today I was there again. Hospice officially started today. The nurse came to assess the situation and ordered a lot of stuff. Dad is now on oxygen to ease his breathing and has morphine drops to ease his pain. There was a pile of paperwork that had to be filled out and signed. They tried to get Dad to sign the "Do Not Resisutate" paper and he tried, but he just couldn't do it. So Mom had to use her power of attorney to do it for him. She helped us change him and the bed because he'd soaked through his diaper at some point. She taught us a way to move him up in the bed without hurting our backs. We are now officially trained. The equipment guy came with a lot of stuff. The home health aide came to bathe him. I directed traffic and washed bedding and waited on Dad. Then I went to pick up his new prescriptions. The morphine wasn't in the bunch of prescriptions they gave me and as much pain as he is in, I wasn't leaving without it! So I went upstairs to the Oncology clinic and filled out a form requesting the prescription from his doctor. They had just faxed it before I got there, but they gave me the hard copy to show to the people in the pharmacy. His doctor came out to tell me how sorry he was that my dad hadn't been cured, that he was such a nice guy. I blubbered like a baby. He said he thought my dad had made the right decision to stop chemo. He wasn't a person who did well with it. I thanked him for his concern and left. It's kind of surprising that they let me pick up the morphine. I don't even have the same last name as my dad anymore. But I showed my ID and signed the form, then a pharmacist explained the usage to me and I was on my way.
I gave Dad the lowest dose of morphine when I got to their house. He was resting quietly by the time I left. No moaning! Ahhh! Mom and I started a log for medications so we'd remember how much he had and when.
The relatives from Montana and Chico were supposed to come to visit today. Mom put them off until tomorrow due to all the confusion. Tomorrow I'll be there again. It feels right to be there. I feel less helpless when I can DO something.
Your prayers and thoughts are giving me so much strength. Thank you so very much!!!!
