What's happenning...

Still nothing. Infrequent visits from the doctors. No information. No ideas. What so we do now? I know Dad will be home. But in the back of my mind I brace for the possibility that this may be long term.

A few days and nothing...

After a few days it's obvious that no ones what the problem is. Dad's gone for a few tests. Problem is that he moves almost constantly. That means they were unsuccessful in getting an MRI. And unsuccessful at getting a CAT scan. They did full blood work and urine. They even did a spinal tap.

The neurologist is suggesting a series of mini strokes or TIA. But this usually lasts less than 24 hours. Perhaps a deep seated central stroke. Perhaps still some kind of infection.

Because he now can't feed himself and he has trouble swallowing, they've put him on permanent IV with no food. He controls his glucose level for diabetes by getting insulin as he can't take his oral medication.

Mom told brother that Dad's not eating. Brother says to Mom that "maybe Dad's lost his will to live". Nice. Real nice.

Admitted to the hospital...

We left lastnight feeling that Dad would be better in the hospital and that he would be geeting the help he needed.

A call at 5:00am this morning showed we were wrong. Dad through the night managed to get himself out of bed. Several times. They gave him a "relaxant" or what is also called a sedative. It was the hope of the night nurse that he would not get out of bed. She hoped that he would be knocked out. But Dad is extremely stubborn. He got out of bed, walked partly down the hall and fell.

When we arrived he was by the emerg station and not in his room. He had a bruise on his cheek and leg from the fall. His cheek was a bit swollen.

They put a catheder in as he can no longer make it to the bathroom and he is having problems using the bottle.

Mom and I waited until they got him to his room. It was in the acute care ward, 4D. Some relief as he now was in the care of professional. They would know what to do. They have the resources to find out what the problem was. Stroke continues to be the word of the day.

Dad had a few visitors. His sisters came. Everyone kept saying that the hospital would now what to do. He would be out soon.

We assisted Dad in eating as he wasn't able to eat by himself. We gave him water through a straw. We did this morning, noon and night. Food is brought three times a day.

Where are the doctors?

Helping Mom...

Woke up this morning. Tired. Not my comfy bed. Fed Dad some soup and sandwich. Opened up my laptop and started doing some work. I took a few days off, but really I'll try and complete outstanding items as necessary. Dad doesn't seem to remember many things. His last few jobs. Where he lives. What his birthday is.

Mom calls me to see Dad. She tells me to call 911. She said "Dad says he doesn't feel well.".
I call 911. Fire department arrive. Then ambulance attendenants. We go to the emerg at the hospital. It's 9:00am.

Dad is put in room #4. Well bed #4, there aren't really any rooms. We give Dad water. He pees using a bottle. He can't make it to the bathroom without assistance. He sleeps mostly. He doesn't know how many children he has. The doctor finally arrives. He'll requisition blood work and CAT scan. We wait. It's 1:00pm.

We wait. It's 4:00pm. Dad's sister and her husband arrive. They leave.

We wait. It's 8:00pm

Doctor of internal medicine arrives. He wants to admint Dad. Finally. It's 9:00pm.

We leave, exhausted.

Seeing Dad with my own eyes...

I arrived in the morning at my parents home. Dad was sleeping. Mom was frantic. She doesn't handle stressful situations very well.
Dad wasn't eating on his own. He needed help. We kept force feeding him every few hours. I'm trying to get all the facts from the last few days as Mom didn't tell me what was going on.
We took Dad's glucose in the morning. It took several tries, but we did it.
Mom's a mess. Dad is not himself. I'm taking the next 3 days off work. I'll sleep over and help look after Dad.

Brother didn't like me confronting him about how he spoke to Mom. He had is 4 year old son with him. He told me to fuck off. I asked him if that was acceptable to speak that way infront of his son. He told me to stop being such an ass. A big ass. Oh - and if he comes over to the house and sees my car in the driveway, he's going to turn around and go back home.

One other thing. He left with his son. Slammed the door. I heard a thud outside. I knew what he did. After he I went outside. He had left a lovely dent in my car on the passenger front side. This isn't the first time he's done something like this. He was driving with his daughter in the back, she was sleeping. A driver honked his horn at my brother. He got out of his car and pounded the hood of the other driver leaving a dent. He has the best social skills.

To top things off today - the power went off. It came back off 4 hours later.

Here's what I gathered on this day:
Last night my Brother told my Mom to go fuck herself because it was her fault Dad had become so ill. He felt that it was her responsibility to make sure he ate due to his diabetes.

Looking at my Dad's glucose level chart, it seems that on October 17, 2005 he made 4 entries for his glucose level. That means he tested is glucose level 4 times. Going back in the chart he has one entry for every day. Religously. Except for October 17, 2005.

We don't know what happenned to Dad from when Mom left the house until when Dad showed up at my brothers.

Tuesday October 18, 2005

Dad was still disoriented. Couldn't really get out of bed. Was sleeping most of the time. Mom and my brother's wife took him back to the hospital emergency ward.
After many hours they did the usual blood work and a CAT scan. The CAT scan showed some abnormalities, but the radiologist couldn't confirm what is was. The report said there may have been a slight stroke. The emerg doctor said Dad needed to eat but he didn't have to stay in the hospital. The doctor gave Dad the choice to staying in the hospital or going home. Dad chose to go home. Wouldn't you? Dad went home to the comfort of his own bed.

Mom called me that evening to let me know Dad wasn't feeling well. I said I would be there in the morning.

The phone call...

On the evening of October 18, 2005 my mother had called and left a message to say that my father had been to the hospital and was back at home. She said he wasn't feeling well and that he was resting in bed.

I called her when I got home and got some more details:

On Monday October 17, 2005 he dropped off Mom to my brother's house where she was looking after the grandson. She did this regularly every week day. My Dad also picked up my brother's daughter from the school bus at 3:30pm. Dad was supposed to pick up Mom by 12:30pm. When he didn't show up Mom called him at home but the line was busy. By 1:00pm Mom decided to walk home, it was 20 minutes away. She got home and found that the cordless phone wasn't hung up and Dad wasn't there. She waited wondering where he was.

At 3:30pm, my brother brought Dad home in my brother's car, with a friend of my brothers driving back Dad's car. Dad was disoriented, wasn't sure where he was going or what he was supposed to do. I'm not sure who acompanied my Mom to the hospital emergency ward, but emerg took a look at him and said it may have been due to lack of eating. My Dad has diabetes. They suspected that his blood sugar level had gotten low and that he needed to go home and eat.

The hospital sent him home.

Recounting the last few weeks....

I'll try my best to recount the last few weeks. Some of it is a bit fuzzy given what has transpired. Like many blogs, this is part diary and part therapy.

Some time around October 17, 2005 - My Dad Had A Stroke