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.

Gastro drama

I went to see Mum & Dad this weekend as usual, only to find they were both suffering from a nasty gastrointestinal infection. It was a weekend of uncertainty involving many hurried trips to the loo or to spew. Surprisingly, Dad fared slightly better, making a speedier recovery than Mum whose stomach gurgling was audible across the room. We quickly changed our plan to go for a swim. In terms of Dad's progress, the only difference i noticed in Dad was that with the decreased dose of steroids he is a bit forgetful. He asked me three times over three days when my brother was coming to see him, when he wasn't planning a visit this weekend. Mum says Dad has never been a great listener though, so it's hard to identify this as any sort of development. Both seemed better gastro-wise as the weekend progressed but of course now i have it!