Weekend With Dad

Saturday, 29 July 2006

Before 7 am yoga, I called my mom to catch up and she was taking my grandma out of the nursing home to bring her back home after two weeks of recuperation. She was so happy to go home as it is her birthday today...Happy Birthday Popo! I had a great workout, and talked with other regulars about doing the 30 day yoga challenge. Went home to my house for the first time all week to relax. Jay should have gotten to Dadʻs after he got off work this morning. They called in the afternoon to see if I wanted to go to Samʻs Club. I met them there to get two new tires for my truck. Took a couple hours, so I window shopped as I waited. Jay and I ate a hot dog and pizza and my dad ran into a couple of friends he knew. People who havenʻt seen him in awhile are always shocked as to what has happened to him.

Jay worked overtime tonight, so I met them back at Dadʻs, fed Dad dinner, and we watched a few exciting episodes of "24" while hearing Bon Dance music from the Palolo Hongwanji in the distance.

Sunday, 30 July 2006

Woke up at 5:30 am and got ready to go to yoga, which means drinking plenty of water. Read the paper a little bit, then headed off after making sure Dad was okay in bed. It was another great workout....I think my hamstring is healed already, after my injury almost five months ago. I can do my standing bow pose (like doing the splits while balancing on one leg) pretty solidly on both sides now, which is more than I ever have done before. My poses are getting stronger. So, again, I talked with regulars about whether or not to do the 30 day challenge starting August 1st. I practically did it in July, and I had more time then. Not sure I have the time to do it now. Weʻll see...I have one more day to decide.

Jay and I got to Dadʻs at the same time. I agreed to stay with Dad while Jay went home to do much needed yard work. I did laundry and wanted to take Dad out to the Ukulele Festival or something, but he wasnʻt ready to go. I made breakfast, and we ended up watching Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel for a couple of hours after reading the paper. By then I started getting tired from the heat, and then when he was ready to go out, I wasnʻt ready. Like taking care of a baby, caregiving is such a selfless job. At times it can be exhausting and tiring. I couldnʻt even finish reading one newspaper article because every ten seconds Dad wanted me to turn the page for him. Every time I would get comfortable, he would need my assistance doing something, whether it be scratching his left eyebrow or reclining him in his chair, getting him ice cold water, or spreading his fingers apart so they didnʻt get too sticky or clammy.

So, our excursion today ended up being wheeling him out on the ramp in front of the front door. I brought the laptop out to update my blog. Iʻve been chatting with other caregivers and patients with ALS on a Yahoo! Groups site called "Living with ALS". I used to just read the messages for my dad, but now I decided to ask my own questions, specifically about how patients get used to using the Bi-Pap machine. Itʻs been nice to get replies back from patients all over the nation, sharing their suggestions and providing their words of support and telling me to keep encouraging Dad to use it because it really helps them breathe better and have more energy.

It was nice to sit out in the breeze with a cold drink of water. Dad tried to read the Time magazine, but the wind kept blowing the pages about. He remained content gazing around at the houses and the sky. After a few minutes of silence, he said, "You take for granted things like walking, standing, and stuff. You have to count your blessings each day."

Whenever he says things like that, it brings tears to my eyes. (Good thing I had sunglasses on.) Not only do I take my dadʻs words to heart, but these past couple of years have also taught me a lot about life, from seeing how people in other parts of the world live to learning to truly appreciate each minute and each hour of the day with family.

Since I donʻt have any dates lined up, Dad asked if we wanted to go out to dinner tonight. Sounds good to me.