Ok...I apologize for ignoring this blog, but it has been a crazy two weeks. I will try to not let it happen again. Lets start at the beginning.
My Dad (Papa) has not really been feeling well for over a year. He has slowly been getting weaker and weaker. His breathing was getting more labored and he was getting forgetful (well more forgetful then usual). He would go to different doctors but nobody could find anything wrong. As I have learned with all of my medical issues, sometimes you have to learn to be your own doctor. A blood test found that he had only half the blood that he should have. That meant he was bleeding from somewhere in his body. Finally two weeks ago a Doctor had him do an endoscopy and colonoscopy...Poor Papa had the full Roto-Rooter treatment. The colonoscopy was fine but they found a bleeding polyp in his stomach. He was scheduled to have another endoscopy to remove the polyp that Thursday.
Unfortunately the second procedure was unsuccessful and they decided that they would have to remove the polyp surgically. The surgery went perfectly well. The polyp was non-cancerous...all great news. I went to visit Papa in ICU the first day after his surgery. He was sleepy, itchy and uncomfortable, but in good spirits. I had planned to come back on Monday morning...That's when the fun started.
I arrived at the hospital and searched for his new room since he was no longer in ICU. When I walked into his room and greeted him, he gave me a very strange look. He told me that in his mind he was telling me not to come see him. He was angry, uncomfortable and just wanted to be left alone. I went to console him and he told me not to touch him. Then he basically threw me out of his room. I went into the hallway and just sat there in shock. Looking back...I'm surprised there was not smoke, coldness and furniture moving in his room by itself..I would swear a demon had Possessed my Papa. The person in the room looked like my Dad, but that was not him in the room. I had nowhere to go to since my Medivan would not return for 3 hours. So I sat in the Hall until Kathy arrived to have lunch with me. I sat listening to him moaning, groaning and occasionally cursing. His nurses were angels. That Monday my Dad threw out not only me, but also my brother, my sister-in-law and his best friend.
Tuesday turned out to be not much better. At times my dad didn't know where he was. He kept ripping out tubes and being quite a handful. This was so unlike my father who is normally a gentle very reasonable person. He would call my brother at all hours to come pick him up. Finally, they had to give him a 24 hour nurse. That made my brother and I feel much better. Now, this is all a very different role for me. I am very used to being the patient, not the caretaker. To be honest, I think I prefer being the patient. It's much less stressful.
Finally on Wednesday, when I walked into his room, I started seeing glimpses of my Papa coming back. He didn't remember much of the previous days. He was still very weak and a bit out of it, but it was Papa. He smiled when Kathy came in . We watched him try to eat Jello with his eyes closed, which is not easy to do. When he thought he was pulling up his sheet, he was actually pulling up his gown...so I saw way too much of Papa that day.
By Thursday he was both physically and mentally better. The Doctors suggested a rehab facility for him, but he overrode that. He is most comfortable in his own home. My Dad came home Friday and with the help of aftercare people, my wonderful nephew who flew in from College and my saintly friend Kathy...He is getting stronger every day. I expect a full recovery.
I want to thank all the wonderful friends and family who sent prayers and good wishes our way. I want to thank my old but new friend Wendy for our nightly gab sessions on Facebook..you helped me keep perspective. To my friend/sister Kathy...you rock! And to my Papa. I am sooo thankful that you are the person you are. I look forward to many more years with you around!
Remember to appreciatte every day and all those around you.
That's all for now!
Be Thankful, Be Considerate and Be Superb!
R
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
My Crazy Week.
It has been one crazy week here in Green Bay.
My Tuesday started fairly normally with my morning aide waking me up. Now there are 3 different aides who do my morning cares. The one who came on Tuesday is famous for telling me all her problems. We joke that she should pay me to be her therapist. Now I don't mind this, but its not the way I like to wake up every day. Anyway, on days that I don't go anywhere I wear a hospital gown like thing. It's very comfy. That is if it does not come undone in back, which it did on Tuesday. Now Kathy was nice enough to stop by early to tie me up..oh wait..well, you know what I mean. Then I go to check my emails, my computer now tell me I have a virus..So I run my anti-virus and find that my whole system has been deleted. OH SHIT!!!! That's the nicest thing I had to say at that moment. Now I had to search for my discs and everything I needed to replace the whole system. Oh this should only take a few....Months!
Now, these are the times when my disabilities get to me. Part of the Muscular Dystrophy I have is severe neuropathy in my hands. It kinds of feels like the pins and needles you get when you leg falls asleep...only it's constant. Now dropping things have become a usual hobby of mine. Well on Tuesday, I dropped my phone 3 times and almost ran it over once with my wheelchair. Now when I drop something, I have a reacher to pick it up. It's like a 3 foot pole with a claw at the end that opens and closes. I actually have 3 reachers...why 3 you ask? Well, say I drop a fork, I go grab the reacher and as I'm picking up the fork...I drop the reacher...then I need a reacher to pick up both the reacher and the fork...excetera...There was a time that I just said "Screw It" after dropping all three reachers. Then on Tuesday..the best thing to drop...A FULL CUP OF CRYSTAL LIGHT PUNCH. I guess you can say that the pink just fits my personality. I now have pink spots on both the Dining Room and Bedroom carpets.
I still have quite a bit to load back into my computer, but i am patient. Yes it was a bad day, but it wasn't the end of the world. One of my friends has asked for a picture of my bald head. It has grown back a bit but I will try to have my Dad take one at lunch on Saturday. He still has the Polaroid camera that he gave me for a birthday when I was little. I swear one day I will get a digital Camera. I have a flip cam but it won't let me download onto my computer. One day I will hopefully do a talky blog if I can.
Oh BTW..We had 78 degree weather on Tuesday and yesterday we had 5 inches of snow. WTF.
I hope you are all enjoying your Spring!
Be strong, be loving and Be Superb!
R
My Tuesday started fairly normally with my morning aide waking me up. Now there are 3 different aides who do my morning cares. The one who came on Tuesday is famous for telling me all her problems. We joke that she should pay me to be her therapist. Now I don't mind this, but its not the way I like to wake up every day. Anyway, on days that I don't go anywhere I wear a hospital gown like thing. It's very comfy. That is if it does not come undone in back, which it did on Tuesday. Now Kathy was nice enough to stop by early to tie me up..oh wait..well, you know what I mean. Then I go to check my emails, my computer now tell me I have a virus..So I run my anti-virus and find that my whole system has been deleted. OH SHIT!!!! That's the nicest thing I had to say at that moment. Now I had to search for my discs and everything I needed to replace the whole system. Oh this should only take a few....Months!
Now, these are the times when my disabilities get to me. Part of the Muscular Dystrophy I have is severe neuropathy in my hands. It kinds of feels like the pins and needles you get when you leg falls asleep...only it's constant. Now dropping things have become a usual hobby of mine. Well on Tuesday, I dropped my phone 3 times and almost ran it over once with my wheelchair. Now when I drop something, I have a reacher to pick it up. It's like a 3 foot pole with a claw at the end that opens and closes. I actually have 3 reachers...why 3 you ask? Well, say I drop a fork, I go grab the reacher and as I'm picking up the fork...I drop the reacher...then I need a reacher to pick up both the reacher and the fork...excetera...There was a time that I just said "Screw It" after dropping all three reachers. Then on Tuesday..the best thing to drop...A FULL CUP OF CRYSTAL LIGHT PUNCH. I guess you can say that the pink just fits my personality. I now have pink spots on both the Dining Room and Bedroom carpets.
I still have quite a bit to load back into my computer, but i am patient. Yes it was a bad day, but it wasn't the end of the world. One of my friends has asked for a picture of my bald head. It has grown back a bit but I will try to have my Dad take one at lunch on Saturday. He still has the Polaroid camera that he gave me for a birthday when I was little. I swear one day I will get a digital Camera. I have a flip cam but it won't let me download onto my computer. One day I will hopefully do a talky blog if I can.
Oh BTW..We had 78 degree weather on Tuesday and yesterday we had 5 inches of snow. WTF.
I hope you are all enjoying your Spring!
Be strong, be loving and Be Superb!
R
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Holidays Abound
A Happy Easter and Passover To all!
What a beautiful time of year this is. Children are scampering around the green lawn looking for pastel colored eggs and the Jewish folks are all constipated from the 10,000 Matzoh we have eaten since Monday. Matzoh, for those who don't know, is a tasty version of cardboard. It is the only type of bread we are able to eat over the 8 days of passover. In all seriousness, This is a great time of year. Us Midwesterners had a better winter than many of the other parts of the country.
The Seder on Tuesday night went very well, everyone enjoyed the foods that Kathy and I made. I did have to endure more BALD joke from my family but the hair is growing back...slowly. We had the typical adult and children's table. Sitting at the Children's table were my two nephews 15 and 20 y/o and my father and myself 77 and 46 y/o. And we all acted like a bunch 13 y/o children , we giggled and laughed through the whole thing. It started when my nephew's tried to find a yarmulke (Jewish Beanie) for me. First of all, they all seemed to fall off my bald head. We considered glue, pins and staples. Finally we found one that stayed on. It was fine until I was enjoying my lovely bowl of Homemade Matzoh Ball Soup. I bent down to take my first spoonful and like a skier going down the slick snow of the mountain, so did my yarmulke sliding right down my hairless forehead and landing directly in my hot bowl of soup. My nephew swooped in to rescue the beanie from the soup. The soup and matzoh ball minus the yarmulke was delicious. It was actually the most fun I have had at the Seder in a long time.
Now, I have never celebrated Easter, but I have dressed up as the Easter Bunny. In my 3rd year of College, I was lucky enough to Co-write, Direct and act in the Parent's Weekend Show. It was a trip through a year of Holidays with two different families. The scene had the two families doing the bunny hop for their Children's Easter Pageant. Now acquiring a Bunny costume for a big guy was not easy. They added a lot of panels to my costume. I do have to admit that my fuzzy tail was adorable. Now we had some quick costume changes so I had to get in and out of my bunny suit quite quickly. Of course on the night of the performance I got stuck in my damn Rabbit suit. I think it took about four people to get me out of the bunny suit. It was not a pretty site!
Now to the most Important Holiday of the week...Papa's Birthday. My Dad turned a young 77 on the 3rd. Since it's Passover we couldn't have his favorite butter cream frosted cake. Now my Dad gets everyone a butter cream cake on our birthdays, not because we like it, but because He LOVES it. My nephew Ben got him the best gift. My Dad had put together the family story over the years and My nephew put it all into hard cover book and has published it. I helped by including some family pictures. It is a wonderful gift that will live on in our Family for ages.
Do you have a funny Holiday story..If so, please share it. In the mean time, Have a great Holiday!
Be renewed, Be joyous and Be Superb!
R
What a beautiful time of year this is. Children are scampering around the green lawn looking for pastel colored eggs and the Jewish folks are all constipated from the 10,000 Matzoh we have eaten since Monday. Matzoh, for those who don't know, is a tasty version of cardboard. It is the only type of bread we are able to eat over the 8 days of passover. In all seriousness, This is a great time of year. Us Midwesterners had a better winter than many of the other parts of the country.
The Seder on Tuesday night went very well, everyone enjoyed the foods that Kathy and I made. I did have to endure more BALD joke from my family but the hair is growing back...slowly. We had the typical adult and children's table. Sitting at the Children's table were my two nephews 15 and 20 y/o and my father and myself 77 and 46 y/o. And we all acted like a bunch 13 y/o children , we giggled and laughed through the whole thing. It started when my nephew's tried to find a yarmulke (Jewish Beanie) for me. First of all, they all seemed to fall off my bald head. We considered glue, pins and staples. Finally we found one that stayed on. It was fine until I was enjoying my lovely bowl of Homemade Matzoh Ball Soup. I bent down to take my first spoonful and like a skier going down the slick snow of the mountain, so did my yarmulke sliding right down my hairless forehead and landing directly in my hot bowl of soup. My nephew swooped in to rescue the beanie from the soup. The soup and matzoh ball minus the yarmulke was delicious. It was actually the most fun I have had at the Seder in a long time.
Now, I have never celebrated Easter, but I have dressed up as the Easter Bunny. In my 3rd year of College, I was lucky enough to Co-write, Direct and act in the Parent's Weekend Show. It was a trip through a year of Holidays with two different families. The scene had the two families doing the bunny hop for their Children's Easter Pageant. Now acquiring a Bunny costume for a big guy was not easy. They added a lot of panels to my costume. I do have to admit that my fuzzy tail was adorable. Now we had some quick costume changes so I had to get in and out of my bunny suit quite quickly. Of course on the night of the performance I got stuck in my damn Rabbit suit. I think it took about four people to get me out of the bunny suit. It was not a pretty site!
Now to the most Important Holiday of the week...Papa's Birthday. My Dad turned a young 77 on the 3rd. Since it's Passover we couldn't have his favorite butter cream frosted cake. Now my Dad gets everyone a butter cream cake on our birthdays, not because we like it, but because He LOVES it. My nephew Ben got him the best gift. My Dad had put together the family story over the years and My nephew put it all into hard cover book and has published it. I helped by including some family pictures. It is a wonderful gift that will live on in our Family for ages.
Do you have a funny Holiday story..If so, please share it. In the mean time, Have a great Holiday!
Be renewed, Be joyous and Be Superb!
R
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