About the same...

I keep thinking Mom will get worse or get better...Of course I am hoping for getting better. But, she continues to stay about the same. Something gets better, and something gets worse. At this point, I think her biggest challenge is to get enough nutrition for her body to run. She is so weak that she is exhausted after a few bites of soup or a few sips of Ensure...Especially if you make her use a straw. So, we talked it over, and she is going to have a feeding tube put in her stomach tomorrow. This will allow her to continue to try to eat with her mouth, but it will allow her to get enough fuel to make her body stronger. They can also give her pills this way so she doesn't have to eat the applesauce with ground up pills in it...Yeck.

She continues to be very tired (also probably from lack of food), and is still having a hard time with pain. She is asking more questions about the future, and what she has in store, and she is much happier when I am there. She calls me each morning about 9:30 (with the help of a nurse) and asks if I am coming and when I will be there. And when I get there, she says "I am so happy you are here, I feel so much safer." And then she usually dozes off if she is comfortable...This is beginning to be a pattern with both parents.:) She still continues to do the open-eye sleeping thing from time to time...And let me tell you, it is creepy! She told me that she scared the heck out of one of the nurses when she came to check on her and she was staring up at the ceiling...Sound asleep. I almost think she forgets to close her eyes. But she counters that with "it feels so good to be able to open both eyes and see!" That has been a good thing...Her left eye is probably 99% back and she is no longer seeing double...If it is not one thing, I guess it is another.

I did get to spend some time with Dad yesterday. I tried to get him to wake up and talk to me, but not so much. We go to the doctor next week, but I don't know why he is so sleepy all the time. I do know that the chemo and radiation can have long term effects and fatigue and lethargy are common. We are weaning him off a steroid that he has been on since before the surgery, which may help. The skin on his arms has been very bad, but seems to be clearing up. This skin is so thin that he gets bruises, almost like big blood blisters, and then the skin splits and he has all of these open ulcers. But, the nursing staff has been diligent about keeping them clean and treated, and they are so much better. This could be a side effect of the steroid, which he should be done with soon. You can't just quit a steroid. Your body has to slowly get used to manufacturing that naturally. So, he should be done in a week or two, and that should help with the skin issues.

Today, he woke and talked to me for about 5 minutes, and then dozed off...And then, so did I. LOL...What a scene we must have been! Him in bed, and me in the chair...Snooozin'. Ah well, when I did go to leave, I went to tell him goodbye, and he got a little chatty. But that was short-lived, and I am sure he was asleep by the time I was out of the building.

Here is to hoping for a week of good progress and successes.

Much love!