Rub My Belly

Friday, 17 November 2006

Rubbing my father's belly while he's sitting on the can has become a daily routine for me, as his Metamucil cocktail is not quite enough to do the trick. It really works though, and although it sounds like a crazy task, we try and bring humor to the situation (and once in awhile figure out crossword puzzle clues while we're at it....Us Mau's are good multi-taskers!).

Dad: "Pretty good, eh, you can hear the piano playing?"

Me: "Huh?"

Dad: "You push the keys, and then music comes out."

(Laughter ensues)

Me: "Oh, yeah, but I didn't know it was supposed to stink...Smells like roses, huh."

This afternoon, the respiratory technician came by the house to adjust Dad's bi-pap machine, per the pulmonologist's prescription change. So now the pressure is 16/8, which doesn't really mean anything to me, except that the "16" has been upped from the previous "14". This means that when he inhales, there is more pressure or air going in his airway, but the exhale pressure of "8" will stay the same. I'm not sure at what point they determine that the numbers are too high to warrant transitioning to a ventilator, but the pulmonologist also recommended that he use the bi-pap during the day, so Dad's been using it for a couple of hours in the afternoon as well as sleeping with it at night.

Dad told me today that he and my stepmom are going to start researching hospices and see what services are available. My friend works at one of those, so I will ask her more about it.

Tonight, a bunch of his Parks & Rec coworkers are taking him to the opening night of "007: Casino Royale". Bernie is going with him because they haven't lifted him before and Dad doesn't want to make them responsible for him in case he has difficulty breathing throughout the night.

I commented to Dad that Jay hasn't bathed him in awhile, but when he told my brother, Jay responded that I haven't gotten Dad out of bed in the morning and made and fed him breakfast in awhile either. Okay, I guess we're even as far as physical labor tasks go.

I'd like to see if he would rub the belly though.