Sunday, March 20, 2011

Yawni and Apple Jelly

Susan and I have been here with Dad for about three hours. I have a newfound understanding for my siblings who were here earlier today. I waited (unpatiently) between each blog post, wondering what was taking so long. But, in the last three hours, there has been so much going on, it has been hard to find time to sit down at all, let along type a post. We just had a visit from the doctor and the nurse, and Dad is sleeping peacefully, so I'm taking advantage of the break to type a quick update.

First of all...let me explain the title of this post. Susan and I have nicknamed Dad "Yawni" because he has yawned about 25 times (no joke) since we got here...big, huge yawns. I love it. Next, the apple jelly. Dad can't have water yet, because he's still a little too sleepy to swallow effectively. So, he can suck on a sponge to "drink" water. Katie, his night nurse (who is AWESOME, btw), said he could try some apple "juice" instead. I asked him if he wanted to try it and he said yes. She gave me the container and I opened it. Calling it juice is sort of a stretch. It is a gel consistency, very similar to the jelly in a Spam jar (sorry... Susan's desciption).  Regardless of its unappetizing appearance, he seemed to really enjoy it and asked for several tastes. It's good to see him be able to eat and enjoy something besides sips of water.

I'll tell you what the normal routine has been (I apologize for any repeats from previous posts):

Every hour - nurse visits
Katie comes in on the hour and wakes Dad up. She asks him a few questions and then asks him to squeeze her hand with each of his, and then wiggle his fingers and toes on both sides. He has done consistently well on his left side (except for this last visit when he was SO sleepy, he really didn't want to do anything), but is a little less consistent on his right. One time, he moved his right toes immediately on command, which was great. If he doesn't move his fingers or toes on command, she will tickle or lightly pinch him and he always moves them then. She said this is good.

He answers yes and no consistently. When asked his name and other questions, he responds and is sometimes understandable, but usually pretty garbled.

Doctor visits (not sure how often... we've seen him once so far)
Dr. French came in. Diane was right... he is such a wonderful guy! He basically just came to answer any questions and do a quick check on Dad. He said that his earlier chest xray showed a little bit of fluid in the lungs, but that the diuretic they gave him afterward had been very successful. He was pleased with Dad's breathing.

We had been a little worried that, because the siblings are taking shifts, we were maybe bugging Dad too much with questions or talking. Each time someone new takes over, they are anxious to see what progress he's made, so the natural tendency is to ask him questions and try to get him to talk and move. We started worrying that maybe Dad understood that he couldn't communicate as he normally does and was getting frustrated (and just wants us to leave him alone). So, we asked the doctor if it is better to just let him rest quietly or if we should talk to him. Dr. French said that while Dad does need rest sometimes, it is good to try to get him to be alert and responsive as much as possible. He said not to hold back on asking him questions and, while it might indeed be frustrating to Dad, it's ultimately good for him and will help him. This is good news because it's what we're already doing. :)

So, dad is sleeping peacefully now. It's good to see him resting and even better to see that he has been more responsive and aware tonight. A huge difference from last night!

I'll post once more before I leave tonight.

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