First Night Over with Dad

Monday, 24 July 2006

Went to yoga this morning and mentioned to my teacher Anthony how I did yoga yesterday in Kaua'i (The teacher there had known him from teacher training.) His class didn't kill me today, and I had a chance to pack my bag again for a week at Dad's. Got to Dad's in the late afternoon, Bernice and Lindsey left for Las Vegas for a week for their annual basketball tournament, and I prepared for my first night with Dad. Bernice told me he had been having sleepless nights due to breathing problems all weekend long, and how he refuses to use the Bi-Pap machine at night. She told me where the doctors' numbers were located and told me to call her if anything happened while she was gone.

Dad and I had dinner of leftovers. He agreed to try and use the Bi-Pap machine. Initially when I put it on him, he freaked out though when the air blasted through it, and he got really irritable and short and yelled at me to take it off of him. But, then I tried again, and he calmed down. He used the breathing device for about an hour and a half. Then I got him ready for bed, brushing his teeth, transferring him from the recliner chair to the wheelchair to the bed, and getting him situated. His legs need to be a certain width apart, and he doesn’t like his index finger to touch his thumb. I try my best to flatten out his curled digits, and then make sure the sheet is not touching his neck, and that his hands are on top of the sheet.

It's going to be a long week I'm sure.