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.
My father has melanoma (skin cancer) and has recently been told it is stage IV and terminal. This blog is a record of his progress for family and friends.
Showing posts with label worried. Show all posts
Showing posts with label worried. Show all posts
Saturday, 13 November 2010
Sunday, 7 November 2010
Busted
There was a bit of night-time activity last night. Mum told me that Dad sat upright in the middle of the night waking her; he explained he was checking the carpet was ok. She later got up to go to the loo but hurried back as Dad started shouting and he said quite seriously "Be careful the ground doesn't swallow you up" Dad is clearly much less well than he was a fortnight ago. He seems happy enough during the day reading the paper or listening to the radio in bed, but is alert enough to be a bit bored upstairs and mentions coming downstairs. Currently though we are worried that if we do manage to get him dressed and downstairs safely we may not manage to get him back upstairs. Dad has been quite chatty today. When he wants to talk i make sure i let him finish saying whatever he has to say. His voice is weak so you must listen carefully and he doesn't often make sense. Sometimes i tell him i don't understand and at other times i worry he will catch me out if i try to make a sensible response to something crazy he has said. This evening he gave me a funny look at just such an occasion and when i asked him why he was giving me that look he replied with a raised eyebrow "i think you are talking in riddles" Hmmm... that's me busted!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)