Once we get through my father’s care, I will have next deal with convincing my mother she needs a hearing aid! She would always complain my dad couldn’t hear, which wasn’t true; as I have been with her for a week straight, I have noticed how much she doesn’t hear.
Dad is home and on constant morphine and Ativan. He starts to stir and he gets more. The hernia started causing pain again Tuesday night; about the same time he became agitated. Having a nurse here has been wonderful, although the evening one was better than the afternoon one. They both are keeping him sedated and just sit and watch him while making notes. The hospice nurse comes each morning to evaluate him; she is the one that can order a change in meds for the LPN to follow. Until tomorrow we will be able to keep the LPN; at his morning evaluation, we will be told if we have to step down to a sitter.
While I hate he is totally drugged, I know he was in pain before, so this is for the best. I may have said this before, but it never crossed our mind that he would die from a hernia, not congestive heart failure or his kidney disease. As he is not eating or drinking, the blockage in the bowel shouldn’t cause other issue. While no one has a crystal ball, I do not expect we have more that a day or so. Mom and I are at the house, he has had a few visitors that stay for only a few minutes. It has been said they can hear, so people are talking to him.
A very sweet story, sorry in advance for the length- My parents have been in this apartment complex for 4 year; it is a mix of ages, from the just entering the working world to those my parents age. The same people have worked in the office and maintenance since they moved in. The head maintenance guy, Kevin, lived on site right below my parents until about a year ago… About 2 years ago, Kevin was in a horrible automobile accident; he should not have survived. He suffered a broken back, broken neck, internal injuries, 6 fractured ribs, a broken ankle, broken wrists, fractured cheekbones, a fractured chin, and he also lost multiple teeth due to facial injuries. Due to his tracheotomy and lung infection, surgery to begin to reset and repair broken bones and repair internal injuries had been delayed and he was mostly unresponsive. After a year, he was still in a wheelchair, but more recently, has been able to walk. He had to stay on disability and never returned to work. Anyway…one of the other maintenance guys was here this morning to work on the AC, so I asked how Kevin was; I lived in an apartment here for 6 months waiting for my town home to be finish. He said Kevin was doing well and left. Not 5 minutes later the doorbells rings and there is Kevin standing there! I asked if we had willed him there; he said he came to the apartment to visit my dad. He went into dad’s room, held his hand, and told dad he loved him. He just stood there with dad’s hand in his for several minutes. He gave my mother and I a very long hug. This isn’t a long time friend, just a worker at the apartments. It was such a touching moment; maybe it was a paying it forward moment from his recovery, knowing that others did the same for him. Yes, my parents donated to his Go Fund Me, but only a very small amount. I think this is what I will remember the most of this whole episode.
I fly home tomorrow.