In and Out

Tuesday, 10 April 2007

10:15 pm

Uncle Frank came over tonight to stay with Dad and visit, as his usual Tuesday and Thursday visit. He was having difficulty understanding Dad, so even though he told me that I could go to the ALS support group meeting, I decided to stay at home with them. I was worried he wouldn't understand Dad's needs. I'm so used to his little idiosyncracies, that I felt it was better if I stayed. Uncle Frank asked if we've considered putting him in a Hospice facility, that other visitors might not know how to communicate with him. I got sad thinking about the inevitable, and he comforted me. I've been staring at the list of warning signs of death (given by Hospice) all night. Does Dad have these signs? I hope not.

But, Dad was in and out of consciousness all day today. I gave him a drink of water, and he asked for his pills. I told him it wasn't time yet. It was only 6:50 pm, and he takes his pills at bedtime. He asked for S & S Saimin (That's what he usually eats at home, but I told him we didn't have any here, but I could make him cup of noodles.) Then, ten minutes later, after I made it, and I woke him up, he said he didn't want it. He ate a couple spoonfuls, but he wanted fruit instead - bananas. He ate one apple banana. That may have been all he ate all day.

This evening, we had about 11 people in the house, with Frank, then Cori and Steve visiting, Uncle Gary and Auntie Stevi and cousin Geoff, then Bernice, Jason, and Shelly coming home after watching Lindsey's basketball game, and Chris coming home from work. It was like a party in the living room, as they watched the video of Lindsey playing basketball - Kamehameha beat first-ranked Iolani tonight.

Dad's voice came back in spurts, but he slept most of the night and struggled to exhale. He would ask what time it was and would mumble things here and there, but they were pretty random comments, and he seemed disoriented most of the time. I talked to the Hospice nurse about his condition, and she said to call the on-call nurse if anything drastic happens during the night.

Bernice will stay the night tonight on the couch. The crowd of people have now left, and it's quieter in the house now. Dad's inhale is apparent through the drone of the bi-pap machine, and you can hear him grind his teeth when he's in a deep sleep. I hope he gets some rest tonight and that his day is better tomorrow. He has a full day of visitors tomorrow as well.