Friday the 13th
Friday, January 13th, 2023 11:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudioAll of us slept in later than normal this morning, but I did get up and walk Yvette around 11AM, and by the time I was back, Tim was up and drinking his coffee.
Sheila called me while I was walking the dog and wanted to know how Dad was doing. I had to tell her that he's declining more every day, but it's still not clear how long he has left.
I laid it out to her the way Tim's been laying it out to his family... that you only have a few choices...
All are valid choices!
She wasn't really happy with any of the choices, of course, but it did help her to hear that Tim's daughter Veda really wanted to see her Grampa one last time, but was having trouble financially.
Sheila said she could at least help Veda to get out here, and I relayed that to Tim, when I got back from the walk.
--<>--
Back on deck, in the house, I got the new wireless doorbell for the side door set up, for the hospice workers and extraordinary ministers to use from here on out.
Kevin showed up in Dad's car with a toaster he'd bought from Walmart... because we've accumulated an extreme excess of bagels over the past week, and Dad had no toaster down here.
But Kevin also bought a sippy cup at Walmart that showed promise for Dad to use by himself to drink, without spilling, or getting so much that he aspirates and chokes... now that he's lost the ablity to drink from a normal straw.
We tested it out and it worked okay, sorta kinda.
--<>--
Kevin was supposed to take Dad's car in for the emissions test as well, but he first took it to an auto shop near his Air B&B to check if it could pass emissions and found that no... it cannot!
It needs some kind of thingy replaced, which will cost $200.00, and we're still not sure what to do about it, but there is still time. The car is still legal to drive until the end of the month.
I mounted the new smoke detector in the hall outside Dad's room, as Tim and Kevin sat at the kitchen table with their coffee, and then sat down to join them, but there wasn't much time to chat before I had to go to work.
------------{=0=}------------
While at work, I got it into my head that Tim needed thermal underwear, and new socks, because he had none of the former, and only two pairs of the latter.
I've been needing new socks for a while, with all my old ones having holes in the heels, but Tim needed some real protection against the cold if he was walking Yvette, or walking to the local bodega for cigs, so an underwear run to WalMart was definitely needed!
I did just that, after work, and spent $100.00 on six pairs of socks for each of us, and for Tim, two pairs of long johns, and two long-sleeved thermal undershirts.
--<>--
Back at home, I went upstairs first, through the front door, to let Snoop & Prowly downstairs, and then joined Tim & Kevin down there with Dad.
In the time I'd been away, Tim had come up with a brilliant solution to Dad's new problem drinking fluids, which was just to dip the straw into the drink... put your thumb over the top of the straw.. and deliver a straw's worth of the fluid into Dad's mouth!
That strategy worked great the rest of the night, even with his Guinness, but... if this is what we're resorting to... how much longer does he have?
--<>--
Kevin suggested we order a pizza, since it was Friday night, so we did that, and we ate it out in the kitchen, while taking turns checking in on Dad, before we all finally retired to the back room for the evening to hang out.
Kevin had been planning to drive Dad's car out to DeKalb to see Brian on Sunday, but he'd gotten a text from Brian tonight in which Brian said that he'd decided it would be better if he visited us, here in town.
Seeing Dad struggling to bring a drink to his mouth last night had sunk in! Brian finally realized it was probably better to show up here... than party with Kevin in his own comfort zone.
--<>--
Sheila did contact Veda, and Tim reported that the $250.00 she threw Veda's way, was the last bit of help they needed to get not only Veda, but a few other of his kids out here... next Friday.
It was good news but... the three of us also knew... next Friday?... is a thousand years in the future, with Dad, right now.
Even Colleen... coming on Monday... feels like a LOOONG way off!
In the land of the living, weeks and days are short periods of time, and they're moving as fast as the economics, and the schedules of the living will allow them to move.
But they are running to us in slow motion, through an atmosphere of molasses.
--<>--
After midnight, Kevin took Dad's car back to his Air B&B... it being only 20F out there, and us not needing the car, now that I'm off for three days.
But after checking on Dad again, and using the straw trick to get him more fluids... and seeing him kinda cough and choke on even that... Tim and I had to seriously consider the option of morphine.
------------{=0=}------------
Back when Dad was first enrolled in the home hospice program, they gave me a kit of emergency drugs, including morphine, and a nurse walked me through how to administer it.
It's in the kitchen cabinet right now, and... I was told that, once I start using it, I need to let them know... not because morphine is a controlled substance and it's a big deal to use it... but because they needed to make sure I didn't run out!
Tim was actually given morphine years ago, in the ER, when he was passing a kidney stone and so can attest, that once it's in your system... everything is WONDERFUL!
Dad's past the point where he can take pills anymore, including pain killers.
He's still barely able to stay hydrated with the straw trick.
And so... we're thinking tomorrow may be the day we finally bust out the morphine!
--<>--
How much longer can he last on morphine?..
I'm gonna say he dies on Groundhog Day?
It was always one of his favorite holidays! And one we joked and talked about a lot the past few years.
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
Sheila called me while I was walking the dog and wanted to know how Dad was doing. I had to tell her that he's declining more every day, but it's still not clear how long he has left.
I laid it out to her the way Tim's been laying it out to his family... that you only have a few choices...
- come immediately and see him one last time alive.
- Wait until he's really in the last hours and be here for the funeral.
- Accept that you saw him the last time already, and that you just can't make the funeral.
All are valid choices!
She wasn't really happy with any of the choices, of course, but it did help her to hear that Tim's daughter Veda really wanted to see her Grampa one last time, but was having trouble financially.
Sheila said she could at least help Veda to get out here, and I relayed that to Tim, when I got back from the walk.
Back on deck, in the house, I got the new wireless doorbell for the side door set up, for the hospice workers and extraordinary ministers to use from here on out.
Kevin showed up in Dad's car with a toaster he'd bought from Walmart... because we've accumulated an extreme excess of bagels over the past week, and Dad had no toaster down here.
But Kevin also bought a sippy cup at Walmart that showed promise for Dad to use by himself to drink, without spilling, or getting so much that he aspirates and chokes... now that he's lost the ablity to drink from a normal straw.
We tested it out and it worked okay, sorta kinda.
Kevin was supposed to take Dad's car in for the emissions test as well, but he first took it to an auto shop near his Air B&B to check if it could pass emissions and found that no... it cannot!
It needs some kind of thingy replaced, which will cost $200.00, and we're still not sure what to do about it, but there is still time. The car is still legal to drive until the end of the month.
I mounted the new smoke detector in the hall outside Dad's room, as Tim and Kevin sat at the kitchen table with their coffee, and then sat down to join them, but there wasn't much time to chat before I had to go to work.
While at work, I got it into my head that Tim needed thermal underwear, and new socks, because he had none of the former, and only two pairs of the latter.
I've been needing new socks for a while, with all my old ones having holes in the heels, but Tim needed some real protection against the cold if he was walking Yvette, or walking to the local bodega for cigs, so an underwear run to WalMart was definitely needed!
I did just that, after work, and spent $100.00 on six pairs of socks for each of us, and for Tim, two pairs of long johns, and two long-sleeved thermal undershirts.
Back at home, I went upstairs first, through the front door, to let Snoop & Prowly downstairs, and then joined Tim & Kevin down there with Dad.
In the time I'd been away, Tim had come up with a brilliant solution to Dad's new problem drinking fluids, which was just to dip the straw into the drink... put your thumb over the top of the straw.. and deliver a straw's worth of the fluid into Dad's mouth!
That strategy worked great the rest of the night, even with his Guinness, but... if this is what we're resorting to... how much longer does he have?
Kevin suggested we order a pizza, since it was Friday night, so we did that, and we ate it out in the kitchen, while taking turns checking in on Dad, before we all finally retired to the back room for the evening to hang out.
Kevin had been planning to drive Dad's car out to DeKalb to see Brian on Sunday, but he'd gotten a text from Brian tonight in which Brian said that he'd decided it would be better if he visited us, here in town.
Seeing Dad struggling to bring a drink to his mouth last night had sunk in! Brian finally realized it was probably better to show up here... than party with Kevin in his own comfort zone.
Sheila did contact Veda, and Tim reported that the $250.00 she threw Veda's way, was the last bit of help they needed to get not only Veda, but a few other of his kids out here... next Friday.
It was good news but... the three of us also knew... next Friday?... is a thousand years in the future, with Dad, right now.
Even Colleen... coming on Monday... feels like a LOOONG way off!
In the land of the living, weeks and days are short periods of time, and they're moving as fast as the economics, and the schedules of the living will allow them to move.
But they are running to us in slow motion, through an atmosphere of molasses.
After midnight, Kevin took Dad's car back to his Air B&B... it being only 20F out there, and us not needing the car, now that I'm off for three days.
But after checking on Dad again, and using the straw trick to get him more fluids... and seeing him kinda cough and choke on even that... Tim and I had to seriously consider the option of morphine.
Back when Dad was first enrolled in the home hospice program, they gave me a kit of emergency drugs, including morphine, and a nurse walked me through how to administer it.
It's in the kitchen cabinet right now, and... I was told that, once I start using it, I need to let them know... not because morphine is a controlled substance and it's a big deal to use it... but because they needed to make sure I didn't run out!
Tim was actually given morphine years ago, in the ER, when he was passing a kidney stone and so can attest, that once it's in your system... everything is WONDERFUL!
Dad's past the point where he can take pills anymore, including pain killers.
He's still barely able to stay hydrated with the straw trick.
And so... we're thinking tomorrow may be the day we finally bust out the morphine!
How much longer can he last on morphine?..
I'm gonna say he dies on Groundhog Day?
It was always one of his favorite holidays! And one we joked and talked about a lot the past few years.
°¦}
