Okay, so dad did do much better for a very long time. Instead of lying in bed all the time he was only in bed at night and for an hour nap. The rest of the time was spent sitting in his lift chair, getting help with exercises, walking around the house or outside with the help of his walker, taking a spin around the block with the sitter and of course watching television. To manage dad’s diabetes we counted carbohydrates and proteins instead of sugars. This became a very effective way to manage his blood sugars. We got very good at it. Our greatest challenge was getting him to drink enough water. It was a great chore to keep him hydrated. Everyone worked hard to get him to drink plenty of fluids.
Remember now that my little brother had said dad would not be living much longer right before turning dad over to me and that dad had been in and out of the hospital with pneumonia several times that year. For about 5 years I believe dad never spent the night in the hospital. Never even had pneumonia.
Despite all of the advancements we had made with dad though his mental state did not ever change much. It was still hard to understand him and he still didn't talk much. This was particularly hard on me. Especially in times of great distress. Nothing is harder in my opinion for a daughter to need her mom or dads support, have one in the house even and not be able to run to their arms for comfort. Oh I could go to dad but dad wasn’t there. He would be of no help. It left me with such an empty feeling. I mourned that loss many times.
At some point after those many years now dad did start to decline physically again. Bouts of physical and occupational therapy helped but his insurance wouldn’t pay forever and although my caregivers continued to keep working with dad it wasn’t the same. Something else I had noticed. He didn’t seem to urinate as much. The doctor had said there seemed to be some renal problems. I don’t think that’s uncommon for a diabetic though. We had also been having a time trying to keep his blood sugars manageable. We still had one thing to be happy about and that was no pneumonia.
During my dad’s decline I also had started having problems of my own. I myself had been diagnosed with degenerative disk disease and arthritis in my low back and neck. About 2002 I had a 4 vertebral fusion in my neck from an auto accident. I had my gallbladder removed, ankle surgery and adhesion surgery. I am positive I am leaving out a few things like terrible allergies and asthma. I had also started having migraines. They had been going on for years. I was on a preventative for the migraines. I also took a special pill when I had one and if that didn’t work took trips to the ER. My sciatic flared up so bad one time I couldn’t walk. I had no energy, hurt all the time, and spent 80% of my time in my bedroom. At age 42 I wanted to die. We were a mess. I thank God everyday for my dad’s caregivers. In truth they sometimes took care of me too.
June 17, 2007 everything changed. Everything. Dad and I would never, ever be the same. Stay tuned to see what made that change happen.
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