I know that my poor mother has been slowly pulled down the rabbit-hole of caretaking my dad as he slowly deteriorates in the grip of vascular dementia/Type 3 diabetes for almost 10 years now (I can’t tell you how many times we’ve asserted that no, he is NOT diabetic although Alzheimer’s has been classified as “Type 3”... It's not typical Alzheimer’s either, or I think the course would have been more rapid.)
In many ways it would have been more merciful if a “big stroke” would have taken him away - I know he would NEVER have wanted to end up in this weakened, incontinent, forgetful situation.
"Day 15: Real Life Intrudes"
Monday, May 24, 2010
Today is one of those Mondays where it's almost a RELIEF to get to work, sit down & shuffle paperwork for a while!
The weekend passed in an amazing blur of activity; rudely interrupted yesterday by what my spidey-sense knew was coming - a frantic phone call from my mom.
Yesterday afternoon, my dad overheated on the tennis court (yes of course he's still playing @ age 81); his buddies panicked & called 911. The paramedics juiced him up w/IV fluids & took him to the ER, so that's where I spent most of yesterday afternoon!
Dad was already mad as hell, since he had told them he didn't WANT to go to the hosp, got fed up w/the whole "hurry up & wait" process & signed himself out "against medical advice" shortly after 5 PM... My mom was stressing out about it, but I thought he was OK after they cooled him out & got him rehydrated. I told him he couldn't abuse his body w/the same impunity that he used to in his younger days. (He went out Sun AM on an empty stomach - just drank a couple of cups of black coffee - w/his usual big jug o' ice water. I have nagged him for years to please drink a little Gatorade now & then, but he doesn't "LIKE" it!)
After all, he had just seen his new cardiologist (nagging probs w/high blood pressure, they added another med to his small pharmacy) a couple of weeks ago who pronounced his heart "fine". I got him to swallow a few electrolyte tabs, offered to leave him the bottle if he would TAKE a few when he went out in the heat, but I guess I'll just have to dose him myself in the future - he politely declined.
I told Mom that if he dropped dead on the tennis court, that's probably just the way he'd want it anyway.
I woke up hungry this AM, but am determined to get back on the bandwagon - another rude reality check yesterday evening, when I impulsively decided to step onto the Wii Balance Board & do a few yoga poses to wind down after a stressful day... It had been over a year since my little avatar had logged in, & the damn machine claims I've gained 5 lbs since then.
Damn!
The weekend passed in an amazing blur of activity; rudely interrupted yesterday by what my spidey-sense knew was coming - a frantic phone call from my mom.
Yesterday afternoon, my dad overheated on the tennis court (yes of course he's still playing @ age 81); his buddies panicked & called 911. The paramedics juiced him up w/IV fluids & took him to the ER, so that's where I spent most of yesterday afternoon!
Dad was already mad as hell, since he had told them he didn't WANT to go to the hosp, got fed up w/the whole "hurry up & wait" process & signed himself out "against medical advice" shortly after 5 PM... My mom was stressing out about it, but I thought he was OK after they cooled him out & got him rehydrated. I told him he couldn't abuse his body w/the same impunity that he used to in his younger days. (He went out Sun AM on an empty stomach - just drank a couple of cups of black coffee - w/his usual big jug o' ice water. I have nagged him for years to please drink a little Gatorade now & then, but he doesn't "LIKE" it!)
After all, he had just seen his new cardiologist (nagging probs w/high blood pressure, they added another med to his small pharmacy) a couple of weeks ago who pronounced his heart "fine". I got him to swallow a few electrolyte tabs, offered to leave him the bottle if he would TAKE a few when he went out in the heat, but I guess I'll just have to dose him myself in the future - he politely declined.
I told Mom that if he dropped dead on the tennis court, that's probably just the way he'd want it anyway.
I woke up hungry this AM, but am determined to get back on the bandwagon - another rude reality check yesterday evening, when I impulsively decided to step onto the Wii Balance Board & do a few yoga poses to wind down after a stressful day... It had been over a year since my little avatar had logged in, & the damn machine claims I've gained 5 lbs since then.
Damn!
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