Mike Messages: Recap of Respite Week

So as I said in my last post Dad was at Providence Mt. St Vincent in West Seattle all week. It sounds like it was a really productive week for him. On Sunday Mom, Angie and I got up early to watch Johnny's 5K (the color run). Then mom rushed off so she could go to church with Dad... Allison and her boyfriend also joined them. Angie and I got tacos for everyone and brought them to dads place. We all sat in his room and chit chatted and ate which was nice. Dad was REALLY quiet and it was extremely difficult for any of us to hear what he was saying. Mom made an alphabet board for him with a few key phrases as well but mostly so he could spell out what he wanted. We all got a kick out of it. Poor dad though was extremely frustrated and told us that he is having a hard time breathing and that's why it is so hard to get the words out. This is the first I think any of us have heard about this. This disease is so hard because he seems like he is doing great and then he tells us something like that and it sadly means more is going on than any of us know about. Johnny came a little later and we all went outside for a nice walk. Dad pushed me in the chair and Johnny was really impressed with how well he walks that way! I left shortly after that, it sounds like Angie and Johnny did as well. Mom stayed until the nurses finally kicked her out :)

Monday night Dad had called and asked me to bring him a few things from their apartment. I knew Allison was going over there so I tried to see if she could get the stuff, only to realize that none of us had access to the apartment. Mom had taken a babysitting job to earn a little cash so she wasn't going to be able to let us in :( I believe Allison had a nice visit and then I went over first thing Tuesday morning to bring dad the shoes and pills he requested. When I walked into his room he had a huge smile on his face before he even realized it was me... so even though he might complain about his week away I think he secretly liked it! :) He said that he hadn't been sleeping well, however he looked more refreshed then I have seen him look in a long time! He was telling me that he had already had two sessions of therapy that morning working on his voice and word skills. I could tell his brain was a bit fried from it but for the most part he seems really good. I told him I needed to get going and he said, no problem I'm just going to wash my hair in the sink! Um... ok well let me help you! So we as grandma June would say "warshed his head" in the sink :) Then as I was saying my goodbyes he decided he wanted to walk me to the elevators but he was having a really hard time walking he just couldn't make his legs go and I was not comfortable with leaving him at the elevators if he couldn't walk back! So I had him push me in his chair and then I pushed him back to his room and said goodbye.

Sounds like Allison went back over there on Tuesday night and brought dad a new microphone for his voice amplifier. He was really excited about it last night, and it works much better!

Thursday night I stopped by for a bit. He was sitting in his room having a beer :) We watched Evening magazine together and of course there was a really touching segment about childrens hospital on there which made him get emotional and then whatever hollywood gossip show that came on next was talking about Donna summers and he totally lost it! I asked him if he was ok? He started laughing and just said ya I don't know why I do that! He's acting really strong but I think he is terrified of everything that is happening to him. :( He told me that this week had been really good for him and he felt like even though he was physically and mentally drained he had gotten a lot of out it. He learned that with weighted silverware he can feed himself, he is remembering how to retrain his voice to be LOUD, and he walked me with no problem to the elevator last night :) All really good things!
Mom is picking him up at 2:30 today and Angie has planted a bunch of new pots on their balcony and we are going to go straighten up their place before they get home so they have a clean house! Their friends Pat and Mike Charles are coming on Sunday night which they are both over the moon about! We are going to BBQ here with everyone on Monday night so dad was really excited to hear that!
I think both Mom and Dad got a lot out of the week. As I said last week I think it was really good for dad to be monitored 24 hours a day so people know exactly what he needs and can help mom create a schedule for him. I think it was nice for mom to have a break even though I think she babysat more than she was supposed to! She is really excited to pick him up today! Tomorrow they celebrate their 28th wedding anniversary! Crazy :)