Mom is resting...

Praise God, Sister Claudia, Mom and Dad's dear friend and the nun from St John's Church, has been coming as often as she can, almost daily, to give us communion. Her visit is a great comfort, especially to Mom. As Sister was leaving, she told Mom in no uncertain terms that she was to go right back to bed and rest, and, believe it or not, Mom listened!! Again, praise God!


So let me tell you what has been going on with Dad since Thursday night. That night, we were still administering Dad's pain medication on a 4-hour regimen. As of Friday morning, the pain medication was so fully in his system that it got to be too much for him to handle. He was very disoriented and kept rubbing his head and forehead showing us that he didn't like the way he felt. Throughout the day, we discontinued the pain medication and Dad remained pain-free.


We had a lot of company, Aunt Mary and Aunt Dorene, Dad's sisters, cousins Peggy and Bobby Radford, Ronnie and Tiffany Lawson, Troy and Terri Smith, and friends Carolyn and Jack Alexander, Mildred Smith, and Leslie and Kim Stephens, and Deacon Pat and Charlie Schneider from Church When visitors came, we tried to let Dad know that they were here, but he was still in such a stupor from the drug that he had an impossible time staying awake. While we loved each and every one of them for coming to visit, we determined that, with all that goes on with Dad's care and with how tired Mom already is, we are going to discourage visitors and ask, instead, that they focus on praying for God's mercy on Dad and health and strength for Mom.


So, Dad seemed to rest well during the day, but during the night was a different story altogether. Christina, the night-time caretaker, said he was up every 30-45 minutes to go to the restroom. He is back to wanting to get in the wheelchair and go into the bathroom, so it is an undertaking to get him up, in the wheelchair, to the toilet, back into the wheelchair and then, finally, back to bed. About the time she would get him settled, the process would start all over again. He becomes very agitated in the night, totally different from his peaceful and restful demeanor in the daytime. This has nothing to do with medications, because he was doing this same routine with Mother prior to his recent decline. We administered Ativan in small doses off and on throughout the night, which is a medication to help Dad calm down enough to sleep, but his bladder issues kept interrupting his sleep. Mom vehimently did not want any pain medication given. He tells us he is not in pain, so, for now, we will keep him off of it. Cousin Ronnie, who is an oncologist, has given me suggestions on how to administer small doses rather than a lot at once. But , today, Dad is not in pain, just miserable from getting up and down so much. And, again, he is resting in between trips to the bathroom. He ate a bit of an egg for breakfast and we are supplementing with Boost. We were told that Boost is a good calorie and nitritional substitute for a meal.


Mom is resting in her bed on the opposite side of the house from Dad and I told her that I didn't want to see her for two hours! At least she is resting, and I will settle for any amount of time! She wanted to nap in her chair in the living room, but I know that she would then be able to hear every peep Dad made and she wouldn't stay in the chair for long. I "tucked her in" the bed with the vow to go to Dad if I heard him and supervise the caretaker, Monica, who is here for the weekend. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Yes, Lord, in Your holy name we pray.


“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) Amen.