All Your Wonderful Thoughts & Prayers

There's just no way I can begin to tell you how much I've appreciated all the thoughtful comments you dear friends have been leaving, just to let me know you were thinking of me, and to express your condolences.

It's hard to know how to get started again, after so much has gone on, but I guess the best thing to do is just start ....

I'm more rested, we're dealing with the long To Do list that is involved in closing out Daddy's affairs, and I've had a birthday.

I'm still resisting changing my PD meds, as we started going to the local walking track this week. I want to give myself a chance to build back some strength through exercise and Tai Chi first. My right arm and knee are still bothering me, but I'm taking less and less pain meds, so they must be getting better.

When I said on my last post that one journey ended and another was beginning, I was referring to myself just as much as Daddy. DH and I have had someone to take care of almost constantly for the last 10 years or more. It's strange to be able to make plans without having to take someone else's needs into account.

I have lots to do to get back up to speed with our blogs, BLOG VILLAGE, and our online sales, but I'm not pressuring myself. I'll get it done gradually.

I look forward to getting back to reading all your great blogs that I've been missing, so bear with me, as it may be awhile before you see me commenting on everyone's posts.

Strange Things Are Hapnin'

I went to my Neurologist last Friday, and I explained to him all that had been going on the whole time I was trying out the Zelepar. He agreed that the medicine had not received a fair chance at working. So, he gave me a prescription for it, with instructions to use if for a month. If I was not pleased with the way it relieved my symptoms, I could then add the Requip I have taken before back to my schedule. Now that my digestive system is behaving, I told him I thought I could handle the Requip just fine.

Of course, being the little town that ours is, our Pharmacy didn't have the Zelepar in stock. He has to order unusual medicines, but they come the next business day, and that works OK, most of the time. Of course this was Friday afternoon, when we dropped off the prescription, so I was without all weekend. I did the only thing I knew to do - I used the Requip I already had. My tummy didn't complain a bit, either.

My throat is still irritated, and I finished the antibiotic today, so I'm thinking I'll see if the nurse will swab my throat again, or just refill the prescription. I'm not convinced that the strep is gone, and I can't afford a relapse. I had rheumatic fever as a baby, so my heart is particularly vulnerable to strep infections.

I'm feeling good about the medicines Dr. S. has me on for the Parkinson's now, and I'm sure my GP will take care of my throat, so things are settling down for me.

It's just as well, because Daddy continues to decline. His arm is much better, thanks to the arm band, but his mind, and his body in general, continue to go down hill. We've had some difficulty all along getting his bowels to move, as one might expect from a 101 year old. I was using the glycerin suppositories I had to help him go, plus he is on Colace as a stool softener. The last time I used the suppository, it didn't help, which I thought was strange. So, I figured, since I use two of them, I'd use two on him. To my surprise, I discovered the first suppository still in place - not melted in the least! His body temp is so low that it didn't dissolve!!

So, even though I had been trying to put it off, I felt I had to call the Hospice Nurse, and request help giving him an enema. The enema was an ordeal for him, but it helped. That was yesterday. Today, his strength is noticeably less, and his confusion is noticeably more. His mind and body just can't cope with any kind of assault now, even if it's for his own good. Going to the Orthopedist sent him downhill, and the enema just pushed him that much further.

I can only pray that I will do well on the Zelepar, or the Zelepar and Requip combination, as I think it's clear that Daddy has taken a definite turn for the worse. In God's good time, this will all work out. I just have to take one step at a time, and leave the end results to Him.

Update on Daddy

We took Daddy to the Orthopedist Tuesday, with help from our paid care giver, Frances. That was money well spent, as he still is extremely difficult to transfer from the wheelchair to the car and back. Also, there was so much paperwork to fill out that they were ready to take him downstairs for X-rays before I was through with it all. Thank goodness Frances was there to take him, as DH had gone to the store while we were at the doctor's.

Daddy fell the day after Thanksgiving, but the severe pain and stiffness in his right arm didn't show up until Jan. 3. We figured it was due to using the walker and from putting so much pressure on his arms when he was getting up and down from chairs.

Well, that probably is the reason the pain started later, but it turns out that he has a small chip of the bone at his elbow! Thank goodness the Orthopedist did not put him in a sling. Instead, he's having us put one of those tennis elbow type braces below his elbow. It's supposed to take the pressure off the tendon that connects to the end of his elbow. I tried it the first day under his long sleeved shirt, but by evening his arm and hand were swollen, and it was all I could do the get to the brace from under his sleeve. I've been putting it on the outside of his shirt ever since, and it seems to work just as well. I didn't even have to adjust it last night, as his arm was not so swollen.

The brace seems to be helping, thank goodness. We go back to see Dr. J in a month to see how he's progressing.

So, the arm is better. I wish I could leave it at that. But that would be only half the story. The stress of trying to get him in and out of the car, plus all the strange goings on with the X-rays, a strange doctor, and a strange place, and his pain on top of all that, have left Daddy confused. He has said several things that made it clear that he no longer thinks he's at home. He's also been talking about those children who are making all the noise and running around. Maybe he's had another small stroke. Maybe his depression is worse. I don't know. I just know that he is altered.

We continue to take one step forward and two back, it seems.