4/24/10 Part II
Which brings us to today. Before I left, I called JD to see if anything was needed at Dad's. Oddly enough, the answer was “steak.” Dad had mentioned steak a few times this week – very odd for a man who can go a year without eating red meat. Worried that it would be hard for him to chew, I had tried to placate him with ground beef, and then with pot roast. But apparently today he kept asking for steak.
So, I took my vegetarian self to Whole Foods and asked the butcher for the tenderest steak he had. It was thoroughly disgusting and shockingly expensive, but for Dad, anything. Luckily, JD was on hand to prepare it because I wouldn't have known how. He used fresh ground pepper, salt and cumin.
When I got here, I found the Queer Family was out in force – JD, Jaelynn, Suzy, and Dawson, a former client, were all here, and Dad was resting on the couch. Apparently he got very agitated about being confined to bed, so they brought him to the living room, where he stayed most of the day. He kept struggling, switching positions, and getting so anxious about the pain that he was wheezing, but we finally got him comfortable. JD fed him his steak, he pissed, and I put on some soothing pan flute music.
While he was eating, he kept asking “What are all these kids?” pointing to an empty space near JD. He's hallucinated children before, but hasn't mentioned it in a while. I wonder if the pain meds are making him a little loopy. He seemed worried about these kids, so I tried to reassure him, “they're just paintings, Dad, they're not real, it's artwork.” “Really? Amazing!” he said, relaxing.
After eating, he seemed to be awake, but drifting. “I was watching these ships go by,” he said. “Ships go by?” I asked. “Yeah, how often do they go by?” he wanted to know. “I don't know, just relax and enjoy them,” I told him and he did.
JD decided to follow up the steak with homemade chocolate chip cookies, the first thing that Dad really seemed enthusiastic about all day. “Smells good,” he said. I guess he's on the mend.
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You ladies really rock. Kate, your dad is a lucky fellow to have you all take care of him.
ReplyDeleteI hope you will get some much needed rest and peace in the next couple of days.
I live with a man who has a very rare neurological disease (hubby), and I know how tough it is to handle that next pothole, or the next trapdoor when you least expect it. You have such wonderful support there. You can do it!
You are very brave. and a loving daughter.