3.18.11

ROSS:

My dad had the whole morning planned out. He didn't have to be at work until 10 am, so he was going to give mom her pills in the morning and then go back to sleep for a couple hours before he had to start getting ready to leave for work. Yes sir, he had it all planned out... Of course, that all changed once a nurse tripped and and spilled a bucket of my mom's urine on his bed. Yes, my mom had to use the bathroom at 6 am this morning, so my dad secured the commode at her bedside. Once my mom had finished, they called in the nurse to help clean up. As my dad, half awake, was tucking my mom back into bed, he heard a yelp from the nurse followed by a loud CRASH. Piss went everywhere, much of it landing right on my dad's bed. The nurse felt terrible. She hurried to pick up the bucket and quickly dump what was left of the contents into the toilet as pee continued to drip out. On her way to the bathroom, she crossed my dad's bed, and my dad watched as pee dripped across all three of his pillows. My dad seemed proud of himself for what he described as "keeping calm." I stayed pretty calm wouldn't you say, honey?" he asked mom as he retold the story to me tonight. My mom grinned, "Sure, honey." she replied. He told my sister the story and she asked if he requested new sheets. He told her he requested a whole new bed (which took the staff an hour and a half). Needless to say, he did not get those extra hours of sleep as planned.

Today was a better day for my mom. She was quite uncomfortable all day, nauseous and did not have much of an appetite from lunch on. For dinner she had only 6 oz of matzah ball soup. She didn't do physical or occupational therapy and was pretty tired all day. Just uncomfortable. She is going to really work towards eating more tomorrow. I know she will. When she puts her mind to something, she does it. She has had to remind my dad that she is now capable of getting out of bed and standing up under her own power. There is real determination in her to build strength and self reliance. The truest hurdle she must jump over is getting calories in her. food, food, food.