So, where were we...

When I last posted, my dad had been brought to the resthome and I was going to bring the TV.

I brought him his TV first thing Friday morning, and had it hooked up in minutes. I had intended to leave to go to work, but all did not look well with my dad. He was listless, and complaining of pain to his ribs. He could barely speak, and movement was nearly impossible. He complained of a sore neck as well. I thought that he might have fallen out of bed during the night, or been injured by the staff of the nursing home. But, he confirmed to me that the damage had occurred when he was being quickly transferred to and from the ambulance the previous day. It seems that Emergency Response Team members are more concerned with getting you to the hospital quickly than ensuring you are comfortably transported.

He didn't seem to have much of an appetite, and for the first time, he was having trouble taking his medications. The nurse assigned to him was having some success getting him to take the meds, but it was clear that she was falling behind her schedule while looking after my dad, and it was beginning to show in her attitude.

My sister and mother visited my dad while I was still there, and he seemed to enjoy the company. The only thing is... my mom was not very happy about our decision to place my dad in the resthome, and she was arguing with us within earshot of my dad. I'm certain the disagreement was causing him distress, as he seemed to be having more and more trouble breathing.

I couldn't take the combative atmosphere, and finally excused myself sometime around 1:00PM to finally get to work. Having not yet eaten breakfast, I took a bit of a leisurely lunch break before heading back to my home-office. I had only been working for 15 minutes when my sister called. My dad's laboured breathing was being caused by fluid in the lungs, according to a nurse at the home, and he was running a high temperature (105 F). My sister had instructed the nurse to call for an ambulance.

During one of the worst thunderstorms / tornado watches I can recall, the ambulance came and rushed my dad to the hospital ... AGAIN!

My sister, bless her soul, was, by this time, being labeled the family villain. My mother resented the decision to put my dad in the resthome, and my dad resented her for arguing with my mom. My sister finally hit the breaking point, saying she would have nothing further to do with managing my dad's health care. She basically drove my mom home, and said adios. I really don't blame her. You don't know my mom. She's a real piece of work, but that's a story for my therapist, not this blog.

I had been informed that my dad would not be returning to the resthome. If he were ever released from the hospital, he would be returning home to the care of a live-in nurse. So, while the ambulance sped off with my dad, and my sister drove my mom home, I was left to clean out his room at the resthome.

I spent much of Friday night at the hospital in the emergency room. I had been thinking I would avoid the hospital that night, because there would be too many people there. It turned out that when I arrived around 7:30PM, my mom was there, but not my sister. My mom had been there since 4:00PM and stayed another half hour. At that point, I took my position at the side of the bed, and decided to stay with him in the emergency room.