Weekend Warrior...Yeah, Right!

09:43AM -- Larry is doing as well as he can for all the problems going on. He's suffering with several skin breakdowns: one on back of upper thigh; one on inside ankle and heel; one on lower front calf; and, his bedsore is acting up again. I change bandages daily; cleansing, drying, applying topical meds. He hasn't had a lot of need for his pain med, but the nausea is still giving him a fit. He's still weak, but with his appetite down like it is, that's almost expected. His ending b/p at dialysis on Tuesday was lower than usual (134/47) and his ending weight was 88.7 kilos. He didn't go to dialysis on Thursday, but is suppose to go today. Actually he needs to go today. There's no way he can't go. That would be pushing his luck. (Without dialysis, most patients will slip into a coma within a week or two.) He's having trouble turning over in bed in the mornings, so I have to help him. We discussed getting a hospital bed brought in with an air mattress and trapeze. The hospice nurse said all I have to do is say the word and the bed will be delivered the same day. Larry isn't ready for that so we have put it off. He said he wants to be able to reach out and touch me during the night so he knows I'm there. But, I have to pull him up to a sitting position; assist with moving his right leg because he can't; I have to help slide him (by lifting under his arms) up towards the top of the bed; I have to help slide him into bed from the wheelchair and vice versa; and, in and out of the car. He's still sleeping a lot although he did wake up yesterday morning by himself at 10:00am (which was a first in a LONG time).

Lyn and Alyce got here last night just after 10:00pm for a weekend visit. They had expected me to be out. I opted to stay home and got some housework done. I took a Paxil this morning so I wouldn't scare them off. LOL!!! The stress of this is finally getting to me and while I don't take Paxil every day, I do find myself taking it on average of 2 - 3 times a week now. It's 10:00am, so I am going to go wake Larry and get him ready for dialysis so he can spend a little time with the family. More later...