Dad had a bit of a rough morning. He reported difficulty breathing and mom called the Hospice nurse right away. She told her to give .25 of morphine and increase the oxygen to 5. She put on the big mask in place of the one in his nose. After about 15 minutes he relaxed and his breathing was back to normal. The nurse came out to see him around 11am and thought things were ok. His pulse was 76 his blood pressure was good and he was responsive. She took some time with him and brushed his teeth, washed his face and Jere gave him a shave. (Gina and Jere and boys are here for the weekend) The nurse indicated that while she can't really know for sure, he seems to have gotten a bit weaker but his heart is still strong. She didn't think anything would happen in the next day or two. We didn't tell dad that as he gets very discouraged. The first thing he said to her this morning was "turn out the lights, I want to go". She told him that she was unable to fill that request. All of the hospice nurses have been so wonderful. They take such good care of the patient and then spend time talking with the family. She wrote down all the new instructions on what meds to use and when to use them. She made sure mom knew that she did the right thing by calling and told her to call anytime. The nurse will check in with us tomorrow by phone to see how things are going.
Bonnie, Annie, Jeff, Scott, Ami, Jesse, Ben, Bethanie, Josh, Gina, Jere, Owen and Luke were all here for lunch. Dad came out of the bedroom and will spend some time in his chair. The nurse encouraged us to move him between the bed and the chair so he doesn't sit in one position too long. He is still strong enough to make that trip with the help of the walked and two people assisting. The nurse asked if he wanted the wheel chair and he said "I can still walk".
More later.
No comments:
Post a Comment