Difficult day... the good and the bad

Mom asked me to join her for a meeting today with the speech pathologist. We discuss the results of the swallow test that Dad had yesterday. I had planned on taking today and tomorrow off as I've been working weekends and pulling 16 hour days in the last 3 weeks. I needed some down time. Alas, whatever I had planned for today was quickly erased.

I arrived at the hospital at 1:30pm. Dad was supposed to have his Occupational Therapy, but she never showed up. Our meeting was for 3:00pm. Dad was feeling a bit tired from sitting so we laid him in his bed to rest. I took Mom to the cafeteria for a late lunch. Never go to the caf after lunch rush. What's left is reheated and gross. When we went back up to see Dad, he was in the middle of his Occupational Therapy session. It was remarkable to see his determination. I could feel tears well up in my eyes. I was dumbfounded. Dad was playing catch and moving his feet. The idea was to make him shift from two feet to one foot and still maintain his balance. It was incredible to see him in action. Once they were done it was time to go to the meeting.

It was clear that he was having trouble swallowing. There was at times, more often than not, coughing accompanying the eating of food. That's always a sign that the swallowing is not going well. The test he had the day prior was a barium test. He swallowed a liquid or food and they watched. He didn't do very well. The tester stopped early as he was choking and she didn't feel comfortable carrying on. The hospital wanted us to know that his swallowing wasn't safe. There is a risk involved if we continue to feed him. He is aspirating which could lead to pneumonia. Dad got that at the last hospital, not from eating, and it set him back weeks. The hospital won't tell him to stop. It's about quality of life. Remarkable. They know that it's his (and the family's) decision as to stop or continue the food intake. Dad for the longest time didn't know what to decide. He kept looking at Mom to tell him. But ultimately he decided to continue. He's been eating for 6 weeks now and hasn't shown any sign of aspiration. He feels it's a low risk. He'd like to continue.

I also agree to continue. We need to monitor what to eat. Brother had given him some bread last Sunday according to Dad. That's a big wrong as the bread is rather difficult to swallow and can get into his lungs. We should continue with the congee. We also got 2 exercises to do. Must be done daily. DAILY. I wish I could be there every day to go through the exercises with him, but I can't.

Good day and bad day.