September 30th - A Kinder Mr. K

Dad was lying in bed awake when I arrived.  He said they got him up early, gave him antibiotics, and he thought he might as well get dressed and head for breakfast.  He was heading for the dining room when they stopped him and said the dining room won't open for another hour.  I asked him if he was going to eat without me and he looked me in the eye, smiled, and said, "A man's gotta eat."

Since he was already dressed, our trip to the dining room was quick.  His apple juice was in a little container and there was an empty glass in his place setting.  I watched as he opened the apple juice and poured it into the cup without spilling a drop.

Mr. K got pushed in by nurse Julie and as she was leaving Mr. K said "Thank you", with a smile no less.  Whaaaat!?  Cate and Amelia must be working their magic on the old man.

Dad chose the oat meal over the cream of wheat and asked for some sugar to put on top. This was a first for me.  My guess is the little amount he ate yesterday, the early up for breakfast, the apple juice and the sugar on oatmeal are signs he is hungry.  When we got back to the room I showed Cate the Liquid Protein supplement if she wanted to give it to him.  It might offer some higher quality calories in a form he can tolerate.  I also watched and saw for the first time how he carefully placed the apple juice cup to his mouth, took a couple of small sips without having to use the napkin.  As I watched with his coffee later, he was not so efficient.

Chuck came in and sat to our right.  He asked how everyone was doing and Dad in particular.  Dad gave him the "so-so" sign and said, "I'm not too sure yet".  Chuck said, "Don't worry, will sit here a bit, talk it out, and you'll see it will be alright."  It cheered me up anyway.  A moment later as he was pouring milk onto his cereal, he looked up at Cate and spilled a little bit.  As he cleaned up he said, "I caint look at a pretty women and do anything at the same time without making a mess."

We went out to the patio after not eating a whole lot.  Dad had asked for some milk and we got him some.  Cate went back to the room to get a blanket and Dad said, "This is the shits.  I don't know if it wants to come up or wants to go down.", referring to the food he had just eaten.

We weren't out there ten minutes when the milk had wreaked its havoc.  We had the same rush back to the bathroom as we had on Saturday.  Cate help Dad clean up and we got him to swear off milk.  While he was in there he also was able to throw some stuff up.  Cate said it was very "mucousy".

I had a birthday horseback ride to go on had to leave.  Cate asked Dad if he wanted a nap and he replied, "yeah, I can use a nap."  I kissed him and said good-bye.

On a philosophical note, Cate had messaged while I was having breakfast to ask if I preferred to spend my morning time alone with Dad.  She may not have meant it to come off this way, but it sounded a little apologetic.  I told her I liked having her there.  My position is similar to dinner at our house circa 1969.  Mom would put all the food out and everyone would get what they needed.  This is a situation  where we are all going to have to get what we need with whatever time we have left with Dad.  I'm filling my plate and I can see everyone else is too.  The more people at the table, the better I like it.  Like Mom, Dad will make sure there is enough to go around.