On Saturday, 7th June, Dad was taken to hospital by ambulance. He had been deteriorating a little more each day in the week prior, and he was so ill when he went in (unable to get himself out of bed, let alone empty his bladder or stoma bags), we all wondered whether he would ever be well enough to return home. So it was good timing for two of his brothers, John, and Geoff to pay a visit. Geoff had already planned his visit before Dad went in, but John decided to join him at the last minute, knowing it might be his last chance to see Dad again, and they both arrived on the 10th June.
Dad could not keep any food down for the first day or so, but amazingly, with lots of rest, a tablet to stop him throwing up, more family support around him than usual, and an increase in the strength of his morphine patch, he built a little more strength every day, and on Saturday, 14th he was given the OK to come home. Unfortunately he missed the family get together BBQ at Phil & Shelly's place the night before (Friday 13th).
Once Dad was home again, Geoff and John spent most of the day at our place, sharing lunches and dinners with us, and a really enjoyable time was had by all. Geoff wanted to take lots of photos so he could take them home and share them with his family, and all the pics in this update were taken using his fabulous camera. He even got a couple of Mum on her stair lift, so I have put them in here for the people who have never seen it before, and may have been wondering what it was like.
Last Wednesday (28th May) was Shellie's Birthday, and she, Phil, Harley, & Alison all came to our place for dinner on Tuesday night (27th May). We suprised her with a lovely cake, and again went with the A La Carte Kentucky Fried Chicken. The plastic plates may not have been as classy as the cuisine, but they sure saved on washing up, which suited me just fine LOL!
Phil behaved especially well that night (it was Shellie's night, after all . . . and she did have the knife), and an enjoyable time was had by all.
Sadly, Dad missed out because on the Saturday before (24th May) I had to take him in to hospital. He simply did not have the strength to get off the bed, and he was also very confused and muddled about where he was and what he was doing. Once admitted, he was found to be very dehydrated with a high temperature, possibly caused by a bladder infection. He went on antibiotics for that, and while he was in there they also doubled the strength of his morphine patches. I brought him home on Thursday (29th), and although he was still pretty weak, he's been picking up a bit more each day since then, and is going pretty well at the time of posting this update (4th June).Mum is finding the going pretty tough, though, as she has a few ulcers on her remaining foot that don't seem to be able to heal, due to really poor circulation, and they are the source of a great deal of pain for her. Her chesty cough has returned as well, and so she has also been having trouble breathing, and is using oxygen at least once a day now to help with that. The doctor came to see her yesterday (2nd June) and prescribed morphine patches for her, as well, so they are now a pain patched pair :)
