Absent without leave - passive seizures

Dad has been very quiet for a few days. He thumbs a few pages of the newspaper but doesn't really read it, despite having read one every day of the 29 years that i have known him. He often stares at the television for long periods but we can't say how much he is actually interested and how much he is drawn to look in its direction simply because of the sound and motion. He is not interested in food, but mostly puts up with us spoon-feeding him and seems annoyed almost at our insitence that he tries to drink more too. He told me the other day "Stop trying to pump me full of water"
After Dad's recent seizures i realised that he has, i think, been having seizures for a while, but seizures of absence rather than active physical seizures. There are periods where he stares at nothing and it is impossible to get his attention through talking and waving at him. They tend to only last 10 - 20 seconds each time, but it has happened several times most days. He often says a few words of a sentence and then suddenly stops without finishing it. We had noticed that he 'zoned-out' every so often, but it was only after seeing him have an active seizure that i really thought about it. I'm sure he was only confused last night though, when he hiccupped loudly while the nurses were here and i said "Been on the sauce again Dad?" and he replied "No you've been on it for me!" Serves me right for being cheeky.

Lazy Bones

When i arrived last night Mum told me Dad had been in bed all day and the whole of the day before. I jokingly refer to him as 'lazy bones' when i see him in bed and on arriving last night, popped my head around the bedroom door to ask if he'd be joining us for dinner and eventually he did. With the return of his other symptoms (headaches and confusion) i think Dad's staying in bed is a result of his increasing passivity, rather than stubbornness. He seems to find it difficult to judge the passing of time. He can sit in one spot, with nothing to read, or without conversation, for a lot longer than he ever would have done before. Mum initially mistook Dad's reluctance to get up for stubbornness. She has the bedside manner of an angry elephant at the best of times, so there have been a few tense moments. We have learnt to give Dad oodles of extra time to get ready to go anywhere, especially appointments.
Dad had a measuring-session with the radiotherapy department today, in preparation for his next radiotherapy for the metastasis on his left side. He couldn't remember his birth date when asked (and laughed naughtily!) but was quick to recite the first line of his address. They have tattooed a tiny dot under his skin which they will align with other markers to ensure the radiotherapy is precisely targeting the metastasis. The radiotherapy will take place over 3 days next week.
Dad is mostly cheerful at the moment. He gets more pain in his head, but the oramorph seems to take care of that, for several hours at a time fortunately, so he is not taking much. He is sporting a bit of a silver-fox beard at the moment, which is strange to us as well as him as he has been clean-shaven his whole life. He is increasingly confused. Mum said she returned home from shopping yesterday to find him speaking on the phone. He said he was talking to the health insurance company and passed the phone to her. Mum found herself explaining the situation to a very confused insurance company employee as apparently Dad had called her, but behaved as if she had called him. He called his mother in the middle of the night a few months ago when he first had these symptoms too. In fact, Dad is sitting with me looking through the paper as i type this and he has just reached out, grabbed the phone and pressed a few buttons before putting it down again, so clearly it is something that attracts his interest. If you receive any strange late night calls from us we apologise in advance!

Morphine Time

Mum told me today that Dad has been extremely reluctant to get out of bed for the past few days and increasingly confused. Paracetamol is no longer touching his headaches either. The Macmillan nurse visited and has sought to up Dad's steroid dose, as well as provide him some morphine (as a nurse she cannot change medication but can tell doctors what she observes and recommend more appropriate medication if the situation has changed since you last saw the doctor) This has since been approved, so Dad is now on 8mg of dexamethasone daily and is taking morphine for his headaches. He says it is more effective than the paracetamol was, so that is something. I phoned Dad's Macmillan nurse to ask her about the change in Dad's situation and to ask her what to expect with Dad taking the morphine. She was very helpful with my questions about the drugs, but less keen to discuss how Dad may progress from here onwards. I had spoken to her briefly once before but it was the first time i've spoken to her at any length. She insisted i call her anytime i want to. I can't imagine doing her job. I think she and her colleagues must be very strong individuals.

Scan news

This week Dad had a full body scan, the first since September and the completion of his radiotherapy. We have noticed over the past fortnight that he is increasingly tired, confused and headaches have returned, so feared the worst, but in fact although it revealed that the metastasis on his left side is growing (two months ago it was 4cm and it is now 6cm) it also showed that the whole brain radiotherapy has slightly reduced the size of the metastases in his brain. The oncologist, recognising the return of symptoms, has increased Dad's steroid dose again. He is now on 4mg of dexamethasone a day (originally put on 16mg a day back in August and since weaned down to 2mg a day week by week) This should reduce the swelling surrounding each metastasis in his brain, reducing the pressure on his brain and hopefully the symptoms. We were told Dad is not well enough for an operation  but he will be given radiotherapy for the metastasis on his left side.
Scans aside, Mum and Dad are doing well for cake at the moment, as their neighbour is kindly providing a regular supply of home-baked goodies. Dad has always had a sweet tooth, so he is very much enjoying this. He even has enough appetite to wolf down several at a time! Some golfing buddies came round and my cousin visited too with his girlfriend. Dad enjoys seeing people but gets tired quickly at the moment and zones-out a bit during conversations. Having said that, he was cheerful at lunch out on Saturday and when asked how the doctor's visit was he replied "He was very well thankyou!"