This has certainly been a strange last couple of days for me. It started with my laptop suddenly getting the dreaded Blue Screen of Death over and over, for no apparent reason, right before Thanksgiving. We had all the family coming for dinner, and that meant moving all the eBay stuff out of the guest bedroom, so the grandkids could spend the night. That meant there was no time to work on the ole ‘puter, so I had my first taste of computer withdrawal LOL.
I behaved myself, and only worked on the computer in between housework, as I found out very quickly that I have no stamina at all. I used to be able to move all the stuff quite easily, dust and vacuum, and generally straighten the house with no trouble, but not any more. It seemed like I needed to sit down every few minutes and catch my breath. Thank goodness my dear hubby was doing all he could to straighten up the place, and of course he did all the shopping.
Our family helped out a lot on Thanksgiving, instead of just coming and sitting down to the meal, the way they always have before. Our SIL cooked the turkey, and our daughters took care of the deserts, so DH fixed the vegetables, and I didn’t have to do anything. It’s just as well, as I woke up with those bad stomach cramps and the bloating again on Thanksgiving Day. I spent most of the day with a hot pad on my tummy, ate almost nothing at lunch, but did enjoy having everybody here. Daddy ate almost nothing, and no amount of prodding would get another bite in him. The kids were particularly good this year, as they stayed quiet all day. I asked DD if she had threatened them within an inch of their lives, but she said she hadn’t said a thing to them. So they hadn’t made Daddy nervous, as they sometimes do with their playful noise, so it didn’t make sense that he wasn’t eating.
We had a wonderful time enjoying getting to visit with everybody all at once, particularly since our older daughter and her hubby will be with his parents for Christmas this year. Younger daughter and the girls spent the night and didn’t go home until Friday afternoon, so we did get on our other laptop and do some Wishlist shopping for the girls, so I’ll have some things to pick from that they really want.
After such a pleasant day and a half, even with my stomach cramping, our whole world turned upside down when I got up to Daddy’s to fix his supper Friday evening. I found him in the living room floor, conscious, but unable to get out of the floor. He was not hurt, evidently, and doesn’t remember falling, but he’d been on the floor most of the day. Mind you, he has one of those “I’ve Fallen, and I Can’t Get Up” buttons in his shirt pockets, but he wouldn’t use it! I’ve never been able to get him to use it. No matter how many times I explain it to him, he thinks it’s going to call an ambulance and take him to the hospital. But I have it set to call us, and then a neighbor, and only call the EMT’s as a last resort.
So I called my DH, and he all but ran up there, and got him out of the floor, by the hardest. He was very weak, as he had not eaten since breakfast, and he’s diabetic. We got some juice and a banana into him, and soon realized that he must have had a mild stroke, as his speech was slurred.
So, I’ve been taking care of him now for the last few days. He seems to be getting stronger, and his appetite is improving. His speech is still slurred and I’m being really careful to feed him thick foods like oatmeal, so he won’t choke. I’m not sure what we will do today. It would be extremely difficult to take him to the doctor, and I’m not so sure it would accomplish anything if we did.
As for me, I can really tell the stress has put a strain on my Parkinson’s meds. My balance is poor, because I’m really tired, and my back is bothering me from trying to help him stand up. Luckily, I’ve had lots of practice at care giving, and I do know the correct way to do things, body mechanics wise.
Daddy will be 102 in March, so it’s going to be very difficult for him to recover from whatever happened Friday. He wants to stay home, and I want to be able to help him do that if it’s at all possible. If I could be fairly certain that taking him to the doctor would get us some Hospice help, then it would be worth the trouble of getting him in and out of the car and the doctor’s office.