Sunday 23 November 2014

Some drastic changes

So, some massive changes and some difficult times.

The Reiki retreat was a challenge - I was slightly late arriving because I'd had a difficult visit with dad who wasn't well again, and everyone else was fairly settled.  I was sharing a room so apart from walks, didn't really get much time on my own for the few days we were there.  And I was exhausted.  I slept every possible opportunity.  Every break, either before or after meals, each time my head hit the pillow, I was out cold.  And yet, never truly felt rested.  

The sessions were very interesting and I was fascinated to see how I could merge my shamanic work more thoroughly with Reiki.  We did treatments on each other and they were very powerful.  One of my last ones, I had 'nerves in my legs' healed, which really gave me a jolt.  Both mum and dad's illnesses have been to do with attacks on the central nervous system and I have been petrified of it happening to me!  

Not long after I got back, I had a call from dad's cleaner telling me he was really unwell and she didn't know what to do.  Later it transpired he had answered the door naked, and the whole house was covered in poo.  Quite literally.  Aga and I had a horrid time cleaning it all up - I did 7 loads of washing over 2 days to deal with it all :-(   And after being passed from pillar to post, GP to 111 to 999, eventually dad was admitted to a&e for rehydration.  Except that it turned out that although he was dehydrated, it was constipation that was the issue, not the runs, and he also was unable to pass urine.  After having nearly 1.5 litres drained from his bladder (with a little left in to prevent bladder collapse), a catheter was inserted and dad and I were left in a side room overnight.  I eventually left at 3am and went back to find that dad had been admitted properly with a UTI that was causing him massive confusion and delirium.  And basically this turned out to be the start of several months of stress and trauma.  Dad remained in hospital, moving between different wards, for nearly 7 weeks.  His medication was assessed and reassessed through hallucinations, psychosis and debilitating side effects.  He is now home but barely able to walk, at severe risk of falls, with carers attending several times a day.  Plus he is on 'acknowledged risk' feeding where there is a high risk of choking or taking food or drink into his lungs due his swallowing reflex failing.  Eating is one of the few pleasures he has left, so once it became obvious there was nothing more anyone could do for him, the restrictions were lifted.  We know it will reduce his life expectancy, probably quite drastically, assuming a bad fall or major infection don't get there first.  But we want him to have whatever quality of life we can manage, for whatever time he has left.  

It has become very obvious that he is not coping at home so we are trying to find a care home place for him as quickly as possible.  We always suspected that going home from hospital to his house was only an interim measure, to make the transition to a home less drastic, and now that has proved to be the case. 

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