Categories: uncategorized
Date: 07 December 2006 09:01:05
Hmmm... I can see an increasing problem with this respite business.
It would help if my Dad didn't know my phone number.
Bless him, he is getting himself all worked up over his tablets, rather than simply relaxing and letting the staff there organise them. He used to have full control over his tablets, it was his last bastion of independence... but as they increased in number and complexity and as the morphine started to have its effect on his ability to keep track of things, the responsibility has slowly progressed to me. Now, of course, they are all being kept in the drawer in his room, with a list of what he should have when, and my phone is ringing every hour or so as he tries to get a grasp of what tablet is which. Not too helpful as he'll hold one up and say "What's this one?". It's hard because I'm fighting both frustration/irritation and guilt/empathy simultaneously, but it feels as though it'd almost be easier to have him at home.
But no. I have done loads of Christmas shopping with no stress at all, the first time in years, because he and the boys were out of the way, I could go at the least busy times of day, and I had all the time in the world to browse (and drink coffee). And today's little treat would be impossible were he at home.
Dreading Saturday, though, when his current care worker who comes daily to do his shower in the morning and help him dress and have breakfast, and who has become almost another member of the family, breaks the news to him that it's her last day as she's moving to a different agency. :(