Ch Ch Ch Changes...

This week has been a blur.  My dad had been having issues with hearing me lately and though he has had hearing issues his whole life it was much worse.  So on a whim I decided to take him to the ENT last Friday to have his ears cleaned and checked.  When he sat up in the chair I noticed his ankle looked swollen.  I lifted his pant leg up and was horrified by what I saw.  His leg was swollen twice the size, extremely red with a massive 3" oozing sore.  His leg was clearly infected.   I wigged out and told him we were leaving and immediately going to the ER.  He didn't understand why.  I asked him why he didn't say anything about the sore and he said  the sore was there for a while and it didn't hurt.  He didn't understand what I meant by it was infected and thought it was no big deal.  Um.... people can die or lose their legs from things like that!

So off we went and it was a good thing we were already downtown because he basically had no choice but to go.  If we had been home there is no way I would have been able to convince him to go to the hospital.  So I thank the Lord I had the urge to take him to the ENT or I maybe wouldn't have ever noticed that leg for a while longer.  The ER put him on IV antibiotics.  We were there for 7 hours.  We had to take him back again Saturday and Sunday for more IV antibiotics.  I also had to get a prescription for another antibiotic.  The doctors kept asking him how it happened but he couldn't remember if he'd fallen and bumped it or if it was a scratch or what.  I of course had no idea either.  So then Monday we had to take him to a hyperbaric wound clinic.  While we were there I noticed his other leg looked a bit swollen too so it didn't make sense to me.  Then it dawned on me that he may not be taking his lasik pills which he had been given over a year ago to help with excess fluid in his lungs and legs.  

I went home and checked his pill bottles.  All of his pills checked out with the amount in the bottle compared to the fill date except his lasik pills.  The last fill date was December 8.  He's to take one a day.  There were still 25 pills in the bottle which tells me he hadn't taken that pill for over a month. So that is exactly what has happened to his legs.  Excess fluid builds up and has nowhere else to go but out through the skin by ulcerating.  The sore was an ulcer and we could see more beginning.  So I have been going up to his house twice a day now all week to make sure he takes his pills.  He's also having trouble walking around and took a tumble and scraped up his arm on Monday.  Unbelievable how quickly his mind has gone down hill and he can't remember simple things.  So I've been running nonstop between taking him to doctors, checking on their pills, taking my mom grocery shopping, etc...  Not to mention the stress of it all has about worn me out.  

My brother is going to help me take him to the wound clinic tomorrow.  Getting his clothes changed is a difficult task now for my mom so we are considering home health care.  I really think with his quick decline he should be in assisted living but he said he'd rather go die in the road.  Ha!  I told him I'd go live in assisted living if I could. Ha!  Actually as exhausted as I am and as loopy as I feel I may be ready for the funny farm.  

Watching parents age is hard. It's hard to see a man who was a brilliant engineer have trouble comprehending what I'm talking about when I talk of moving his lazy boy chair from the living room to the bedroom.   It is extremely frustrating when you have to explain things and then explain them again 10-20 times and they still don't understand.  My dad has become like an ADD kid. He can't concentrate.  He's distracted easily.  He won't bathe, won't change clothes, won't put his feet up like the doctor wants.  But though he acts more like a child I can't toss him in the tub or put him in time out like I can a kid.  It's rough.   My mom is still very physically able to shower, change clothes and care for herself but her mind is shot too.  She forgets things very easily so I can't trust her to watch him take his pills anymore.  Somehow they both were missing that lasik pill and that simply cannot happen.  They get mad when I go up there a lot because they don't think it's necessary.  I've just been telling them that the doctor ordered me to do it and they believe me.  Hey, whatever it takes.  Ha!

I was born patient and it's a good thing.  By far I am the most patient of us kids.  I believe the reason is because I am the main caretaker.  It takes patience.  I feel so bad for the elderly out there who have nobody to help them or even worse have kids who are cruel to them.  Makes me irate to think of elderly being abused. 

To top off the day today my parents got one of those scam phone calls saying they were from the IRS an they were going to throw them in jail for tax fraud/tax evasion.  The dumb ass couldn't even speak English.  Thankfully my dad didn't answer the phone and so it went to the answering machine.  I had been counseling them a lot lately to never answer the phone unless it's us kids. Thankfully he listened and also remembered.  

So I'm hoping we can get things settled a bit in the house to make it easier for everyone and I hope I can have a spare day to catch up on sleep because I am more exhausted than I've been in a very long time.  Ugh.