Playing Guitar for Dad

Last night I spoke with the physical therapist to get a report on his condition. Last week he was able to walk 20 feet with a lot of help. It started to look like he would be able to assist in getting himself to the bathroom and possibly on and off the pot. Last week he could follow directions to that extent. This week, things have nosedived. He is like a rag doll. He cannot provide any assistance with movement, getting off the wheelchair, getting into bed, etc. It's all the caregivers. She believes he now has the same UTI he's been having off and on because he was refusing meds in rehab and basically never finishing out the regimen. The two times she went to give him physical therapy this week, he was doubled over in the wheelchair and said he couldn't do any standing or walking with her. He said it was because his hip hurt. So they did an X-ray and there is nothing wrong with it. On Thursday he said it was because his knee hurt. I just think his mental deterioration and the meds are working against him.



I decided to take the day off and go visit him today (Friday.) When I walked in, he was asleep at the breakfast table with his chin on the table. I tried to talk to him and keep him awake enough to eat. He was sort of half asleep. Just zonked. He would take his cereal and tip the bowl onto the table. He almost had to be fed. The manager is good at getting him to take a bite of ground up meds in yogurt. He knows enough to give her a hard time about that. So 1/3 of his meds go on his shirt, 1/3 stay in the cup, and the other third go in his mouth. So he's not getting all his meds. Maybe that's a good thing (except for the antibiotics.) Then I asked him if I could take him into the backyard so I could play guitar for him.



We were trying to get his feet up on the foot rests of the wheelchair when he gave a small gasp of pain. So the manager gets him a painkiller. Not a Tylenol. Not an extra strength Tylenol, but a Hydrocodone. Crap. His torso will be in his lap in no time. I took him out in the backyard and played for an hour. He was in and out of consciousness, mumbling, and "singing" along to Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, and other songs. It was painful to watch, but hopefully once the UTI is kicked, he will regain some of his personality.



I will be going back on Tuesday to have his physical therapist work with me to teach me how to get him in and out of a car, onto a wheelchair and out, etc. If I do have to take him somewhere, I'd hate to drop him or be stuck helpless in a parking lot. I don't even know if the wheelchair is capable of going in the trunk. My goal is to NOT have to take him anywhere, but I don't think that's terribly realistic. Things like dentistry do not come to him. But the first plan is to pay a caregiver to take him places with me tagging along. I don't think he'll go with a nonfamiliar face.



My expectations are very low that he will be ambulatory again. We have so much working against us. (1) Two hours of therapy ain't gonna get him back to where he was. Whatever was accomplished in physical therapy has to be repeated all week. (2) The caregivers are not physical therapists themselves and do not have the time or the expertise to walk him around throughout the day. (3) Dad himself, although he would like to walk again, won't push himself when the opportunity arises (when the therapist shows up) and (4) His diseases progress every day and (5) Every day that he sits all day in the wheelchair (he doesn't even use his arms to push it) his lower body atrophies. A lot.



We'll see on Tuesday, but I think he will still be a rag doll. If you would like to call and talk to him, please email me or my sister for his phone number. I can't put it on the blog. The caregivers WILL put him on the phone. Guys, there may not be that many more chances.