Wednesday July 6th 2005.
What a weird and funny day it’s been.
When we first went into see my dad this morning like yesterday he was really tired in fact he seemed more so because usually he’s chatty while we wash him but this morning he just seemed like he couldn’t be bothered and just sat there and let us get on with it.
For breakfast he did really well and ate all of his bran flakes whereas usually he leaves some but one thing that was different was that even though I have to feed him he can use a feeding mug to drink himself, today he asked me to do it.
After we had finished we went to do some housework but kept checking on him during the morning. His sleep seemed to be a lot deeper then normal and when it came to lunch time I knew that he wouldn’t be able to eat anything of substance so I gave him a fortisip that the doctor had prescribed and earlier in the morning I had made him a rice pudding and he quite enjoyed that, once again he had me doing everything and when we spoke to him it was an effort for him as soon as he’d finished eating he went to sleep, again into a very deep sleep that had me worried so I called my brother and said it might be a good idea for him to come and visit as I felt that this was the end.
When my brother arrived he went to say hi to dad but dad barely said hello before he drifted off again, so we went into the kitchen to chat we decided there wasn’t any point calling out the doctor as there wasn’t anything they could do and also the district nurse was due to give dad his daily injection and if she thought it was necessary then that was okay when my brother decided to leave he went to say bye to dad and dad didn’t acknowledge him, we were certain he wouldn’t last much longer.
An hour later at 2pm the district nurse arrived as we walked towards the bedroom I explained how he was and told her I thought this was it. When she talked to dad when she walked in he also wasn’t responsive and she thought it wasn’t worth giving him his injection and riving about but she had to call the head nurse to see if that was okay she said it was if we agreed which of course we did as we didn’t want to put him through being pulled around before she left his room she had another go at talking to him and this time he became quite upset like he was saying leave me alone.
When we went into the kitchen I asked what she thought and she said that if he’d been totally unresponsive he’d only have hours left but with him reacting a little it could be one or two days. She said that if he didn’t feel like eating or drinking then not to worry because as your organs start to shut down they don’t need food or drink and he won’t be thirsty and won’t be suffering in anyway all we could do is keep his lips moist with water.
She also explained the procedere for when he died about calling the doctor, first then the undertaker then of course the family. She stayed a little longer chatting and had a cup of tea.
I needed to do some shopping so I called hubby to see if he could come home a little sooner from work as I didn’t want to leave my daughter alone just in case anything did happen, I was away just over an hour and when I got back dad was just the same, it was about 4.40pm.
We made sure dad was comfortable and then we had our tea, when we had finished it was around 5.50pm, we went to check on him and he was awake, so I asked him if he fancied anything to eat he asked what was there so I reeled a few things off and he settled on some porridge which he really enjoyed but what really surprised us was that he was chatting and laughing and he also managed to give himself a drink. In fact he was back to what he’d been like a couple of days ago, We couldn't believe it. If like us you had seen him earlier in the day and what he’d been like or gone by what I have said above then seen him after he’d had his tea you would have thought I’d made it all up, I’m so pleased the nurse saw him that way because if he’s still like he is tonight then she will see how much he’s change because like us she also thought that the end was near.
I‘m not that stupid to not know that he could go back to how he was earlier so I‘m not taking any chances so sleeping in his room tonight so that I can keep an eye on him.
As I write this on my laptop it’s 9.20pm and he‘s sleeping peacefully at the moment. So I think I
will shut everything down and get some sleep while I can..…night all..More tomorrow.