Seized

Just as i posted that last entry Dad had another small seizure. We haven't seen him have any seizures since he had three in 24 hours about ten days ago, despite watching him like hawks since. During the seizure his head stayed firmly to the left this time, but his jaw twitched, opening and closing his mouth, as he stared straight ahead. He fell asleep straight away and i have let him rest and waited a little while before trying to rouse him from sleep just enough to give him another dose of morphine, but he is so deeply asleep that i cannot wake him even pinching his earlobe, so i will head to bed.

Looking awkward

Today has been a day of activity. My brother and my boyfriend were here so we put them to work fixing the fridge this morning. The panel-cover was coming away from the door and there was an almighty midnight-snack-exposing creak which needed fixing too. After the fridge came the firewood which needed chopping smaller. Dad has been quiet all day again. He fell asleep yesterday evening with his head facing sharply to the left and looked uncomfortable. Today he stayed in that position all day and seemed in pain when we tried to help him move to face anything other than the wall. We called the NHS out of hours service again and a doctor came to see Dad. She told us there could be several reasons for the neck pain and concluded there is no danger in moving Dad but that it is simply a question of comfort. We now have a prescription for a morphine patch which we can get from the pharmacy tomorrow. It will release 12mg an hour into his system, through his skin, for 72 hours so is a much more constant dose than we are currently able to give him. The doctor said that if it is only pain-related this may enable Dad to sit holding his head straight again. It is also possible however that it is caused somehow by the metastases in his brain and will not be remedied. At least we can relieve his pain, even if he sits a bit wonky.

Talk and Cakes

Mum and Dad's neighbour has been very generously baking cakes and treats for Mum and Dad over the past few months. Quite independently this morning Dad cheekily said we were overdue a visit from the neighbour. As if by magic, she later appeared with a plate of chocolate brownies and scones. Yum. Dad has since been asleep. He has been very quiet today and only eaten the yoghurt we gave him for breakfast. He has complained more definitely of pain in his head today, so has had four spoons of morphine so far. This morning Dad was talking about 'going away' and being 'almost there' which alarmed Mum as she remembers Grandpa doing the same shortly before he died. Grandpa was lucid to the end though, whereas Dad's mental capacity is obviously impaired, so maybe he means nothing by it.

Fits but no giggles

Dad had a seizure last night. It wasn't a full body seizure; it only seemed to affect his head, neck and shoulder, but it was still alarming. My brother and i were sitting with him watching television and we suddenly realised Dad was making a lip-smacking noise and shuddering. It lasted about a minute. We waited for the seizure to end and i looked inside his mouth to check he hadn't bitten his tongue, then lay him down to sleep. Mum called the NHS out of hours service and a doctor called us back about 15 minutes later. We spoke through everything and he reassured us that we were doing the right thing to let him sleep and that there wasn't anything more we could do. Having taught first aid for years i am familiar with treatment for epileptic seizures, but knowing Dad doesn't have epilepsy, wanted to double check the same treatment was correct for Dad's situation. Mum decided to sleep downstairs and i rigged up the two-way radio by my bed. I fell asleep listening to Dad's breathing. In the middle of the night i suddenly woke with a quick noise and the same lip-smacking sound Dad had made earlier coming from the radio. I raced downstairs and looked at Dad whose back i could just make out in the darkness was moving with his breathing, but who was otherwise still. Mum seemed unaware but had been asleep herself. This morning there were a few saliva-spots on Dad's pillow which i think is further evidence that he had at least one more seizure in the night. Of course none of us saw him fit after that first one, so we're just not certain.
He has been very quiet and very passive so far today. The nurses commented that shaving him had been far easier. I only managed to get one spoon of breakfast into him this morning. He retched a bit and we were worried he would be sick, so gave him some anti-nausea medicine and have put him in the recovery position so he cannot choke. He is sleeping now, snoring gently.