My poor dad is just having a rough go of things health wise right now.  Dad is pretty weak, and this is the worst we have seen him be this weak for this amount of time without seeing improvement.  The x-ray that they ordered did not show pneumonia, but it did show atelectasis.  They have dad doing some breathing exercises, the Claratin he still has two more days off and I think she said 3 more days of Mucinex.  He just looks whipped!

This is the first I ever seen whiskers on my dad’s face that are as long as they are now.  He hasn’t even had enough energy to shave.  Seriously in all the previous times he has not been well or sick he has never gone this long without shaving.  He did get up out of bed today and into the wheel chair.  My dad had his slippers on and no socks.  NO socks!  My dad always, always has socks on!  I noticed a purple coloring in his feet/ankles and when I touch them it was cold to touch.  I went and mentioned to the nurse and she told me its just poor circulation.  She said which is normal for how he is I guess health wise.  I went back to his room and they had brought dinner and they nurse assistant said to him, please eat for me.  Dad wanted nothing but I asked her to get him another jello and told dad to please eat the jello’s and to put his feet/legs up on his bed to rest them to help with the circulation flow.

You can tell he lost some weight.  And wouldn’t you know it after all this time the bus has been in the repair shop, since February mind you, that they have it back and the first outing activity is Wednesday and he is gonna have to miss it.  He is so very upset about that  They way he is now, there is no way he can go!  He is gonna have to skip this one and hope he is much stronger to go on the next trip!

Yesterday I had a horrible migraine, it had me out for the count for the day!  I wasn’t able to go visit dad but as it turns out when I called him yesterday he was feeling much worse than the day before when we talked.  I thought I heard some congestion on Sunday when I was there, but with COPD sometimes its up and down.  He called me Tuesday and he sounded whipped.  He never calls me, but he called to tell me how bad he was feeling and said he was going to go to sleep.  When we talked yesterday we told each other to rest up.  Since I wasn’t going to being going up, I did call and talk to the nurse to make sure they were aware of dad not feeling well and  voiced my concerns and he told me he had it already scheduled for him to be checked out in the afternoon.  Then he called me back later in the day to tell me they were starting him on mucinex and claritin.

This morning just before or around 7am I got a call, I tell you calls, before 9am from the nursing facility always scares me.  It was a nurse calling to let me know about dads night, he was up and down a lot to the bathroom and the last time he had the walker and an aide and his legs were just so week he just fell just moving just a bit.  They had to call the doctor on call at 4am and he ordered some lab work (blood and urine).   She told me she was very concerned because of the weakness in his legs.  His vitals were stable.

I got another call just after I was finishing up my chores and starting to work on our bills from the nurse to let me know that because dad is so weak they don’t want him getting out of bed and dad wasn’t giving them any issues about it and just wanted me to know.  He said dad is pretty weak, and quiet, just laying there in bed.  They were still waiting on results of the lab work.  He also told me they made an appointment with the vascular doctor.  I decided to head on over and see dad.

I didn’t stay very long, as I wanted him to rest but I needed to go up and see him and hold his hand a little bit.  He sounds terrible.  Definitely all congested in his head and down in his throat area, he has a bit of a cough but I can’t tell if its in his lungs just yet because he wasn’t even strong enough to really cough.  He didn’t want to eat his lunch. I went down to the kitchen and asked for some gelatin and brought it back and kept the piece of lemon meringue pie off his tray and set on his tray table and told him I wanted him to eat those and drink some water before he feel asleep again.  He didn’t make eye contact with me today, he really didn’t move his head too much.  I can tell he is so very miserable.

Lab work came back and nothing really “popped” up.  Fever wise when you take pain medication and Tylenol like he does for the arthritis, he isn’t really showing a fever.  His vitals still good.  He is very exhausted and weak.  He seemed to sort of stare off like spacey to  me.

My fear?  Pneumonia!  My dad can go from having a cold to pneumonia just like that (snap your fingers).  As matter of fact the day he went missing and I had to call the police and then they called squad once he was home and they had me talk in him into going to the hospital, he had aspiration pneumonia!

However they are “treating the symptoms” and I guess its a course of plan they are following or follow.  I just called a few minutes ago and they said he just been resting off and on and dinner time the aide said he didn’t even eat 25% of his meal.  The nurse promised if anything changed, they would call me.

This is his 4th time falling since placed in the long term care of facility in January.  :(

The weekend seem to just fly by.  Actually since Thursday evening it seems the days were shorter with time to sit and blog, but I guess tonight is a good time.

When I went to see dad on Thursday as soon as I walked in his room and he seen me it was Oh am I glad you are here.  They had washed the wheel chairs during the night and they didn’t give him the cushion back.  So I asked his nurse and she brought him one but it wasn’t the same one.  Then he was asking if I would take him to a store to get a new remote for his TV the other one didn’t work.  I told him I couldn’t take him to the store but I would pick one up and bring with me Sunday (today).  It was a beautiful day and I wanted to take him outside for a walk as I promised him I would.  We walked around the building and chatted.

When I called him yesterday he was complaining again about the remote and a few other things.  I told him I take care of things when I came up tomorrow (today).

Hubby and I got a new remote (bigger buttons than the one that came with his TV – which works just fine for hubby and I) and we took it with us to program it.  When we arrived I wanted to get the remote up and running (programmed), then it was off to find a different cushion for his chair, he didn’t like his lunch so I went to the kitchen to get him a grilled cheese (requested they make one).  He was eating a bite of his brownie and I wish I could draw this, let me try and explain.  Picture holding the fork in your hand and you have something laying on it to put into your mouth (not poked but just laying on it).  When dad was taking that bite to his mouth he flipped the fork over and it fell and he dropped his fork, then he started cussing.  So I got a hot wash cloth cleaned his shirt and wheel chair up, picked up what he was eating off the floor and cleaned that up, then I washed his fork to give back to him and he said some more curse words and refused to eat anymore.

After a little bit I asked dad if he wanted to go for a walk and show hubby the patio area.  He grabbed the “new” remote and the TV wouldn’t shut off and he which button is it?  He had the right button but he isn’t “able” to press hard enough to turn the TV off.  This is the same issue he had with the “original” remote.  So now he thinks something wrong with the new remote.

Its not the remote.  Its his hands.  He just sometimes can and then sometimes can’t push the buttons hard enough.  He thinks its the TV that is broke or the remote or the fork’s fault.  He isn’t grasping its the losing strength n such.

I had to deal with dirty clothes that all he had to do was tell a nurse assistant they were there.  He could of gotten a different cushion for his chair sooner if he just asked!

The staff tells me oh he didn’t complain, oh he didn’t tell us this or that.  He knows the days I come and just depends on me to do it.  Again I don’t get much time to just visit because I spend my time taking care of things.

Hubby told me this evening, that he noticed dad was eating his lunch just fine until we came in and then all of sudden he didn’t like it and having me fetch him a grilled cheese sandwich.  He thinks had we not walked in, he would of ate what he originally was brought.   Hubby sees the pattern but…

At least he likes it there now that he is moved to the new room.  I just wish there wasn’t a but…  or all these other things to run around doing.  I won’t say I envy others who get to come in and spend their time just visiting, but I can’t say I don’t wish my visits, all my visits can be like that.

I have been waiting for months for Pink Poppies to open!  What is Pink Poppies you ask?  Well its the best place to go where you can go and get your “girly” on!  (and attitude)  We are talking all kinds of goodies!!   This is a picture of my first official doors are opened order:  (yes I got to do a mini pre-order before she opened to feed my need )

Look at all those yummies!  To me these are the best treasure a gal can have!  A pink purse (AAAHHH),  Nail Polishes – includes crackle, glitters and matte), Nail polish Strips (these are so cool and I love them very much), Lip gloss, lotions, lip liner and a crystal nail file!  Check out that adorable tote, that was gifted to me with my order!  Not to mention some stinkers (melts) for my warmers!  Oh yeah this is the good life for a gal!  ALL for ME!

Now that my children are grown, and help with caregiving now that dad has been moved to a nursing care facility, I finally after all these years have time for the little things for “me”.  Painting my nails!  This is such a treat.  I could sit every day and paint my nails!  I love getting creative and mix and matching.    I really love the nail polish strips, the designs are so much fun!    My hubby thinks i am a kid in the candy store, like I have a new treat just for me that bring such a smile to my face, and he said he loves seeing me like this (like when I do my nails and get so excited I show him and take pictures of them lol)

Its fun.  Having some time to do these things, is fun.  I love this path I am on finding me!  Finding the “girly” girl inside, who has been tucked away for much much too long!!