Dad did not have a good night last night. He was very tired when he went to bed, but chattered on and on - to himself - until about 2 AM. Sometimes he seemed to be answering questions, sometimes he would come up with a word such as "assimilation" then spell it. What was amazing was that he was speaking perfectly naturally with none of the hesitation and struggle to put sentences together he does during the day. At 2 AM he said he was having chest and back pain, so I gave him the standard (smallest) dose of liquid morphine. He was out like a light and snored for the next 4.5 hours. When he awakened at 6:30, he was ready to get up, and not rest any more.
Dad was very groggy and sleepy, though. It took 3 hours for him to take his pills, brush his teeth, sip coffee, let me wash his face, arms, chest and back and put clean clothes on him, then get in the wheelchair and roll into the living room. Dave was helping! He is very slow to follow instructions, and wants to "wait a minute" constantly. Once he got into the Big Blue Chair, he ate a bite, maybe two of oatmeal, then slept until noon. He woke up long enough to eat peaches and jello, then fell asleep again until about 4. He ate a few bites of pears, then a piece of bread. He is now drinking a malt.
Dad seems to be very weak and uncoordinated. He has trouble moving his feet, and I had to feed him his peaches and pears. He could not get the fruit on his spoon. Part of this problem may be his eyesight, but he is having trouble using his hands.
He knows he is having problems. He asked me why he can't control his speech. I told him I didn't know, but maybe he is tired. Heck, I couldn't control MY speech when Mom, Molly, Geoff and Jon called me today. (I cried -- it's hard to talk about Dad having so many problems, and his anxiety at night.) He also seems to be having something going on in his throat. He keeps clearing his throat, loudly and "roughly" and now says he has a sore throat.
I spoke to his nurse today, and we agreed Dad should get more morphine when he goes to bed, and not wait until 2 AM. He can't rest if his mind won't rest. Hopefully, he will be less anxious during the night and have a better day tomorrow.
He has been very polite, very complimentary of everyone that has been here to see him, and there's been no salty language. However, he was just watching a commercial on CNN and started saying he was going to give the guy a punch in the nose because he deserved it (???). His thought patterns have run the gamut and we never know what to expect. My wish is for him to be comfortable tonight!
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