Dear all,
Dad’s losing mobility and must walk with one person when he’s not in the house. From room to room he potters around holding himself along the walls, but does not want help or an aid. The right leg lets him down, dragging constantly and the left is affected now, too. It annoys him badly and he gets mad as! He’s great at sitting up to the table and plopping on the lounge, and test drives all the chairs in the lounge room from time to time. He plays a bit with the TV and video, but not really watching.
Dad is eating well and sleeping a lot of the time. He has a few bright hours in the mornings, then
sleeps on/off until he goes to bed for afternoon nap (till dinner) then has after dinner nap till bedtime. We are truly grateful he is so comfortable, despite the distress of losing mobility and abilities.
We went to have his new hearing aid moulds put in, and they tested his hearing. The aids are working at optimal level, but the processing and understanding of speech in the brain is causing him difficulty understanding.
He is due to attend radiotherapy on Thurs (24 May), Fri, Mon, Tues, Wed this week and next. Only 5 days, low dose, whole brain treatment. The aim is to reduce the size of the melanomas in the brain and alleviate the symptoms for a while. He may lose his hair (Tom and Steve want to shave if he does) but we are assured that side effects will be otherwise minimal. It make take a while for any benefit, ??days or more??
Some really wonderful news: All of us very relieved and grateful, tears again… Dad’s melanoma was assessed by Veterans affairs and they phoned the other evening to say it would be recognised as war related. (Skin Specialist wrote terrific supporting letter). This means he will be recognised as extremely disabled and later Mum will be taken care of by Vets Affairs (medical and financial assistance).
Mum has had a gruelling weekend of needles, dietary preparation, fluids and purging for the miserable joy of a hospital day case endoscopy tomorrow (21 May) Late lunch will be sweet for her. She’d started to feel a bit better and anticipate a cuppa before this business, so will be very happy to have a real cup of tea afterwards (it’s been about 2 weeks . . . ) Chris is off work tomorrow too.
It’s very difficult for Mum (+us) as Dad drifts. One day he’ll be up, coat on, ready to go, taptap! at 730am (for a 930 appointment) and the next he’s still trying to get organised and wash as we run late for something else. Not his style at all! He won’t let anyone push him, and is very reluctant to let anyone help. Finding the misplaced teeth and hearing aids is an entertaining way to spend some time. Working the sleep apnoea CPAP machine (when he’s fiddled with the settings in the night) has been another steep learning curve, because he’s always done that himself, too.
Chris and Mark are still on the hunt for a sound car, a small Toyota Corolla sedan. After deciding to buy one last week, a REVS check turned up a financial encumbrance (going back 9 years, could have been a lot of money then) so that’s another one to pass up. Tom and I had bought a 7 seater wagon (Inga the Swedish blonde…) which is great also for running Mum and Dad. Chris and Mark have had our old car to use, but they don’t want to buy the Seca hatch off us. So, still looking. Must be frustrating.
With thanks for all the loving thoughts, messages and prayers.
Beth for Tom, Steve, Leah, Ruben
Ron, Joan
Chris, Mark, Michelle
Dad’s losing mobility and must walk with one person when he’s not in the house. From room to room he potters around holding himself along the walls, but does not want help or an aid. The right leg lets him down, dragging constantly and the left is affected now, too. It annoys him badly and he gets mad as! He’s great at sitting up to the table and plopping on the lounge, and test drives all the chairs in the lounge room from time to time. He plays a bit with the TV and video, but not really watching.
Dad is eating well and sleeping a lot of the time. He has a few bright hours in the mornings, then
sleeps on/off until he goes to bed for afternoon nap (till dinner) then has after dinner nap till bedtime. We are truly grateful he is so comfortable, despite the distress of losing mobility and abilities.We went to have his new hearing aid moulds put in, and they tested his hearing. The aids are working at optimal level, but the processing and understanding of speech in the brain is causing him difficulty understanding.
He is due to attend radiotherapy on Thurs (24 May), Fri, Mon, Tues, Wed this week and next. Only 5 days, low dose, whole brain treatment. The aim is to reduce the size of the melanomas in the brain and alleviate the symptoms for a while. He may lose his hair (Tom and Steve want to shave if he does) but we are assured that side effects will be otherwise minimal. It make take a while for any benefit, ??days or more??
Some really wonderful news: All of us very relieved and grateful, tears again… Dad’s melanoma was assessed by Veterans affairs and they phoned the other evening to say it would be recognised as war related. (Skin Specialist wrote terrific supporting letter). This means he will be recognised as extremely disabled and later Mum will be taken care of by Vets Affairs (medical and financial assistance).
Mum has had a gruelling weekend of needles, dietary preparation, fluids and purging for the miserable joy of a hospital day case endoscopy tomorrow (21 May) Late lunch will be sweet for her. She’d started to feel a bit better and anticipate a cuppa before this business, so will be very happy to have a real cup of tea afterwards (it’s been about 2 weeks . . . ) Chris is off work tomorrow too.
It’s very difficult for Mum (+us) as Dad drifts. One day he’ll be up, coat on, ready to go, taptap! at 730am (for a 930 appointment) and the next he’s still trying to get organised and wash as we run late for something else. Not his style at all! He won’t let anyone push him, and is very reluctant to let anyone help. Finding the misplaced teeth and hearing aids is an entertaining way to spend some time. Working the sleep apnoea CPAP machine (when he’s fiddled with the settings in the night) has been another steep learning curve, because he’s always done that himself, too.
Chris and Mark are still on the hunt for a sound car, a small Toyota Corolla sedan. After deciding to buy one last week, a REVS check turned up a financial encumbrance (going back 9 years, could have been a lot of money then) so that’s another one to pass up. Tom and I had bought a 7 seater wagon (Inga the Swedish blonde…) which is great also for running Mum and Dad. Chris and Mark have had our old car to use, but they don’t want to buy the Seca hatch off us. So, still looking. Must be frustrating.
With thanks for all the loving thoughts, messages and prayers.
Beth for Tom, Steve, Leah, Ruben
Ron, Joan
Chris, Mark, Michelle
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