saturday evening
Saturday/September/2008 11:56 PM Barrie`s
BlogBarrie`s
Blog
Hi everyone
Dad has not had the sedative reduced any further today since my earlier visit, but he was awake enough to be aware I was there for the whole visit.
I was really pleased to see that the cream I used earlier has already significantly improved Dad skin so I spent the whole visit finding little patches that I could safely rub some cream into! There aren't too many though because I'm being very careful to not go near any broken skin or too near any tubes or monitoring pads. I stopped short of seasoning him and wrapping him in foil! It was nice to be able to give his hands and a small part of his arm a gentle massage throughout the visit.
It's impossible to know whether or not he would prefer to be left alone but I hope it is actually a tiny comfort amidst his catalogue of problems.
Amazingly, there was a very basic and small degree of communication. At one point (without the stimulant of any freezing cold cream!) Dad opened his eyes right up and I know he was able to see me - this was the highlight of my trip so far and I left the hospital content and grateful for that alone! However, there were also just a few tiny facial expressions that Dad made momentarily, whilst I was talking to him, that, to me, constituted communication. At those moments, knowing his expressions so well, that was equivalent to him talking! He can't move his head because he's too sleepy so we can't communicate the way we did when I was last here, but that will come very soon.
All in all, a very positive visit under the circumstances. It's funny how the tiniest details are so amplified in these situations.
More news tomorrow. All positive again with a bit of luck!
Love
Nat
xxx
Dad has not had the sedative reduced any further today since my earlier visit, but he was awake enough to be aware I was there for the whole visit.
I was really pleased to see that the cream I used earlier has already significantly improved Dad skin so I spent the whole visit finding little patches that I could safely rub some cream into! There aren't too many though because I'm being very careful to not go near any broken skin or too near any tubes or monitoring pads. I stopped short of seasoning him and wrapping him in foil! It was nice to be able to give his hands and a small part of his arm a gentle massage throughout the visit.
It's impossible to know whether or not he would prefer to be left alone but I hope it is actually a tiny comfort amidst his catalogue of problems.
Amazingly, there was a very basic and small degree of communication. At one point (without the stimulant of any freezing cold cream!) Dad opened his eyes right up and I know he was able to see me - this was the highlight of my trip so far and I left the hospital content and grateful for that alone! However, there were also just a few tiny facial expressions that Dad made momentarily, whilst I was talking to him, that, to me, constituted communication. At those moments, knowing his expressions so well, that was equivalent to him talking! He can't move his head because he's too sleepy so we can't communicate the way we did when I was last here, but that will come very soon.
All in all, a very positive visit under the circumstances. It's funny how the tiniest details are so amplified in these situations.
More news tomorrow. All positive again with a bit of luck!
Love
Nat
xxx