Sunday, October 31, 2010

Another month gone.
We are thankful for several blessings today - first, John slept all night last night. Secondly, although he did not have a good day today, he did not have a really bad one either. He was not feeling very well, but the meds did seem to work and hold until the next dose.
He was not feeling at all well in the morning, so although I dressed for church, he was not nearly well enough for me to leave him, so I did not go.
Mostly, we had a very quiet day.
Please continue to pray for sleep for both of us.
Also, that I might find somebody to come and stay with John on a Sunday morning so I can get to church. The only people who have offered to stay with him are all Christians and have their own churches to attend on Sunday. I need a good athiest!!!!

Not sure how to measure today.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Not a good day today. John slept very little last night and could not settle down because of the excess saliva and phlegm. He was better sitting up and tried to sleep for a little while in his chair but without much success. He really did not get to sleep until after 7am this morning - and since I had to be up to give him meds at 8am, it made for a very short night. He managed to sleep for most of the morning, but did not feel well all day. The meds did not kick in with the 9:00 pm dose tonight meaning that he was still feeling pretty awful when bedtime came. He is in bed but ringing the bell for me to come every 5 minutes because he cannot get comfortable. It was a hard night and a hard day and it looks as if tonight may be hard too.
Please pray for strength, patience and perseverance for both of us.

Two thumbs down.

Friday, October 29,2010

The last two days have had their ups and downs. For much of the day John has been good but on both days he had a really bad "crash" = meds not working. Yesterday it happened right after his 2pm meds and was really bad. I gave him an extra dose of the meds instead of a feeding at 2:45 and that seemed to bring him out of it. Today it was after the 6:30pm meds and even the extra dose did not seem to help. He did not start to improve until the 8:00pm meds. And he was still not good when I got him ready for bed. He wanted to tell me something but could not get the words out at all. I waited as long as I could and then had to tell him he could tell me in the morning.
He slept poorly last night needing more meds at 2am and had to be moved to the couch at 4 am - earlier than usual. He was very uncertain on his feet and almost fell trying to lay down but fortunately I had a belt around him and was uable to keep him upright. He also gets really bad hickups in the night which wakes him up and I have to sit him up in order for them to go away. This happens several times some nights.

Please pray he will sleep through tonight. We both need it.

One thumbs down

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Best day in several months!! Although John did not sleep well last night, and so slept most of the morning, once he got up he felt quite good. In fact, in the afternoon he suggested that we take out the power wheelchair and go for a walk. We were out for nearly the whole 90 minutes between meds. Not only did he get lots of fresh air and beautiful autumn sunshine, but he also walked (with his walker) all the way to the garage where we keep the wheel chair. Although our parking spot is close via the stairway, it is a long walk when you use the elevator and enter the garage via the main lobby. Last time he sat on the walker while I brought the chair to him Today he walked all the way to the chair.
Two thumbs up for today!!

Tuesday, October 26,2010

John had a very difficult time getting to sleep last night. At 3am I gave him another sleeping pill and that seemed to do the job. He slept until late in the morning.
He had a good day today ( in terms of he did not have a bad day) and rested quite comfortably except for the excess saliva  etc. This meant that I could leave him alone for an hour while I ran out and got some shopping done.

A one thumbs up day.

Monday, October 25, 2010

John had a better night last night. Slept for the majority of the night with just a few short times of waking and needing meds etc. However, when he finally woke up in the morning he said he felt pretty rough. Although the Parkinson's meds seemed to be working relatively well, he said he was having trouble breathing and did not even try to sit up in his chair until after 2pm this afternoon. He is still coughing up large amounts of phlegm although the doctor says his chest sounds clear. The rest of the day did not get any worse, but it did not get any better either. He was still coughing and feeling punk when I put him to bed.

One thumbs down today.

.

Sunday, October 24,2010

Last night at bedtime was not good. John was feeling very poorly and I had to sit with him for over an hour before he finally got to sleep. He slept for under 2 hours and woke up needing more meds. He finally got back to sleep but was awake again at 7:30 asking to be moved to the couch because his back was sore. He coughed quite a lot after that so I sat with him for awhile and gave him his 8am meds. Then I tried to snatch a little more sleep but did not get much. John slept until 10:00am and then tried to get up. But he felt to awful so he lay down again and did not wake up until 11:30am. He felt much better by then but it did mean I did not get to church again this week. The rest of the day was quiet and fairly good as far as the meds working. However, he is still coughing up huge amounts of very sticky phlegm (when the kleenex land on the floor they stick to it!!!) and the flow of the saliva was excessive meaning he was sitting there sucking on it most of the afternoon and evening.

Bedtime was good tonight - he got there without much problem and settled down right away. So I am off to bed right away and hoping we will get lots of sleep tonight.

Please pray for sleep for both of us.

One thumbs down for last night and this morning, and one thumbs up for the rest of the day.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

John had another relatively good day today. He started out poorly early in the morning but after going to sleep again, he felt much better when he got up. The meds have held fairly well throughout the day.
He was able to talk on the phone several times today - he called his sister Ruth to wish her a happy birthday and also talked to our grandson, Tivon, in Ontario.
John complained of a lot of saliva and tingling around his mouth today, but it would seem that those are things we cannot prevent or do anything about.
Debbie and Margie were both over to see us today. John was doing well enough for us to slip out for 90 minutes, between meds, and do some shopping.
Please pray John's body will continue to absorb the meds properly, and that he will sleep through the night. He had a pretty good night last night.
Also pray that he will be well enough on Sunday for me to go to church.

One thumbs up!!

Friday, October 22,2010

We are thankful for a relatively good day today. John had a short crash in the afternoon but took a nap and woke up feeling better and he started to feel not as good towards bedtime. But the rest of the day was not bad at all.
Please pray that this will continue.

Another one thumbs up day. Hurrah!!

Thursday, October 21,2010

John did not sleep well last night. I only got a little over 5 hours sleep all told. However, John slept in later this morning and when he woke up, he had a big smile and bright blue eyes. When the meds are not working his one eye closes up altogether and the other one is only half open. So this showed great promise.
And, in fact, he had a fairly good day. I was able to leave him for a half hour and pop downstairs for the Thursday coffee hour. Then in the afternoon Gus came and stayed with him while I went to get his meds for the month and do some grocery shopping.
He is still coughing up phlegm but that is improving too.
However, the 5pm meds did not take hold. I gave him a full dose of extra meds (I usually give a half) instead of his 4:45pm feeding and that seemed to pull him out of it, By his 6:30 meds he was feeling well enough that Margie and I could go out to Curves for 45 mintes and leave him on his own (the centre is only 2 blocks away from the apartment so I can get back quickly if needed).

Thanks for the prayers, encouraging notes etc.

In spite of the slight setbacks, this was such an improvement over the last few days, I will give it a one thumbs up!!

Wednesday October 20,2010

This was the worst day John has had -  he had a terrible morning - not able to even sit up and just wanted me to sit beside him and hold his hand. In the afternoon he did make it up to his chair but he was really not good all day as the meds never took much effect at all. When they are not working, his body stiffens up and he slides down in his lazy boy chair. Most of the afternoon and evening I was having to get him up and re-seated every 15 minutes. The only better part of the day was that he got to bed with less problems than we have had for the last few nights and he went to sleep in about 15 minutes.
Please pray the nurse clinician from the Parkinsons Centre in Vancouver will call me back and talk to the neurologist about this.
Pray that he will have wisdom in finding something that will help John more.

Two thumbs down

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Another bad day for John. This one never got good. He woke up feeling poorly and stayed laying down on the couch until after lunchtime. The meds never seemed to click in at all during the whole day. He either felt bad or awful - depending on if the meds were working a little bit or not at all. I had to give him extra meds throughout the day - which means he only got 3 of the 6 feedings he is supposed to have in a day.
I tried to do some shopping but I just got a couple of items put in my cart and John called and said he needed me at home and the line was too long, so I just left the cart and came home. John asked me not to go to Curves with Margie this evening as he did not want to be left alone for the 45 min. it takes us.
This afternoon we went to see our doctor. Apparently he is still away somewhere and we had an alternate. This man did not know John or any of his history. He did listen to his lungs and said they are getting better. The pneumonia is clearing. However, he did not have time or patience to listen to what John wanted to ask him (it takes time and patience to understand him) and he basically just wanted to talk over John and talk to me. We were not impressed. So he was not much help to us. I will have to phone the nurse clinician tomorrow and see if she has any suggestions. However, I already have a pretty good idea what she will say - she has no answers, she will talk to the doctor and get back to me if he has any suggestions - and I will never hear from her again.
John asked the doctor what he might die of with Parkinsons, and the doctor replied, "old age". Parkinsons itself is a nasty disease but not a fatal one, in itself.
We had two special phone calls today. John's brother, Jim, called from Barrie and John was able to talk to him for a few minutes. And our grandson, Quinton, called from Kitchener. We have not talked to him for a little while and it was great to hear about what he is doing. He especially wanted to talk to his Papa. He is now 13, his voice is now quite low, and he sounds very mature and grown up when he talks to us.
Bedtime was difficult again tonight although a little better than last night. We tried to do everything for him to get ready for bed earlier in the evening. I moved the antibiotics to an earlier time in the evening so I did not have to give them to him with the protein feeding near bedtime, and I gave him his meds 15 min early hoping to get ahead of the worst of the reaction. However, he was still in pretty bad shape by the time he was into bed. The good news was that I only had to lay down and hold his arms from going spastic for about 15 minutes and then  he was asleep. John said, if any 72 year old men want their wives to hug them to sleep they need to get Parkinsons. He still has his sense of humour!!!
Please pray for the pneumonia to be completely gone; for the meds to start to work properly and for John to get all 6 feedings (which only comes to 1800 calories)
Pray that I will not get discouraged.

A two thumbs down kind of day.

Monday October 18, 2010

John continues to struggle with the meds not holding, the congestion and coughing. He slept until 5:30am but then asked me to move him out to the couch. His hips and back get sore and moving to the couch seems to help. However, then he was coughing badly so we went through a number of sitting up and laying down excercises until about 7:30 when he finally drifted off to sleep and slept for 3 more hours. The day today was never good, but not as bad as the really bad days. However, bedtime tonight was awful again. The meds just do not hold until then and by the time I get him into bed he is panting for breath and the his muscles, especially in his arms are very spastic. He would just start to relax and then would go into a coughing spell and have to sit up and then we would start all over again. It is now nearly midnight and I have just left him and he is settling down. He said to me tonight, "How much worse can this get?" And I do not have an answer for that.
  Please pray for better bedimtes!!!

Two thumbs down for sure.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

John had a very hard time when he got to bed last night - coughing for well over an hour before he got to sleep. The coughing brings up the phlegm but then he chokes on it and has trouble getting it out. However, once he got to sleep he slept until 7am when he asked to be moved to the couch in the living room. Then he slept until after 11am. That meant I did not go to church. However, when he woke up he was not good so I was glad I did not go. He got up but had to lay down again. Later he got up and had a pretty good afternoon. But in the evening the meds started to not hold. I had to give him extra meds again. This means he missed several feedings, including the one that he would have had with the antibiotics. But he felt so bad that he went to bed early. I will stay up and give him another feeding with the antibiotics at 12:30 am when it won't interfere with the meds. 
He did not cough as much this afternoon or when he went to bed tonight. So that was encouraging.
Prayer requests stay the same.

One thumbs down for today - especially tonight.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

When John finally went to sleep last night he slept through until 10:30am this morning. When he got up he seemed bright eyed and bushy tailed (well, for him). However, the rest of the day, although much better than yesterday, still had it's ups and downs. Then the 6:30pm meds did not kick in at all and I had to start to give him extra meds. I skipped several feedings and just gave him extra meds instead until he felt some better. I did not want another night like last night.
Margie and I managed to slip out to go to Curves in the morning and a little shopping in the afternoon. Then we spent the rest of the day sitting on the balcony enjoying the lovely sunny weather.
John's cough continues to sound quite phlegmy (I know that is not a real word!!) and I am not sure why it is not clearing up more than it is. It always has in the past.
He does have an appointment with our doctor on Tuesday so if it is not better by then I hope he will change the antibiotics to something stronger. It is hard to find ones that work well for John because they have to be dissolvable and many are not. Right now the one he is on is actually a liquid they give to kids - but in a larger doses than a kid would get.
Please pray for the pneumonia to clear up the coughing and choking to stop.

A neutral day - not good, not real bad.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Rough day today and tonight was terrible - the worst I can remember. The meds were just not holding at all. John was coughing and choking on the phlegm and gasping for breath from the meds not working. Not a good combination.  I had to give John a lot of extra meds but it was after midnight before he could even breath well enough to lay down in bed and try to sleep. He seems to be asleep now.
My Aunt Dot sent us a lovely orchid plant today (she know my weakness) so that was a highlight for us for today. Gus called and offered to stay with John if I needed to shop but I did not feel he was doing well enough for me to leave him today.
Can I make this three thumbs down?????

Thursday, October 14, 2010

 Well, what can I say about today? - not as good as yesterday but not as bad as some days.
The congestion and coughing have definitely improved. However, today John just did not feel well. At first he thought his blood pressure might be low - but it was fine. Perhaps it is a mild reaction to the antibiotics??
I only got three of his six cans of his protein drink into him today and he only let me give him two of those because he has to take the antibiotics with them. I did have to give him extra meds as well. He did sleep better last night as well.
Please continue to pray for:
- a good nights sleep for both of us
- continued healing from the pneumonia
- more strength for John
- that the meds will hold for a full 90 minutes each time.

A one thumbs down today

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Well, as expected, last night was not good. John slept for two hours and then needed to get up and sit in his chair. He wasn't tired so we sat up for awhile. However, when he eventually got tired and went back to bed, he was able to sleep through until about 10am this morning. One of the blessings of tube feeding is that I can give him his meds without even waking him up.
Today was a good day for John. I think the antibiotics are already working, and he is coughing much less.
This afternoon I popped out to the post office and when I got back he was working on his computer, which he has not felt like doing in some days. Then he decided to come and sit with me on the balcony and enjoy the great weather. It was lovely.
This evening Zeke and Ita came to visit. They are staff from Gateway. They were impressed with how much louder John's voice was than their last visit and could see that the voice therapy has worked. Considering that this was in the evening when he often cannot speak, this was a VERY good day.
Thanks for the many prayers.

The other day a friend came to visit and commented that she did not know if she should contact me on my e-mail because of the blog. Please do. This is not for personal communication, just a way to keep people updated on John's condition and needs.

You can contact me any time at blombard688@gmail.com or by signing up as a follower on the blog site.

Better make this a two thumbs up day!!!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

John had another bad night last night with the the congestion etc. Spent a lot of the night in his chair.First thing this morning I called the doctor to get an appointment - only to learn that he will not be back all this week. So it was either go to emergency or a walk in clinic. Opted for the clinic in hopes that the wait would be shorter. It was. Only a 2 hour wait. Sure enough, he has pneumonia so the doctor prescribed antibiotics and hopefully he will begin to improve by tomorrow. I am expecting a bad night tonight. In fact, his bedtime was really bad - between the meds not kicking in fast enough, and the coughing, he had a hard time settling in. I had to lay and try and hold him to keep his arms from thrashing around quite violently. In about 20 minutes he finally went to sleep. How long that will last I don't know.
Please pray for healing for the pneumonia.

Two thumbs down today.

Thanksgiving Monday, Octoner 11,2010

Happy Thanksgibing. Hope you all enjoyed a wonderful thanksgiving with family an friends.
John had a long and eventful might last night. the colghing just would not stop when he lay down so eventually he moved out to his chair and slept in it for most of the night. Tonight he is trying bed again and so far he is not coughing as much as last night.
We made it to Gateway for Thanksgiiving dinner and it was great to see everyone. John has some sweet potatoes with marshmellow topping. I was so busy visiting with people that I lost track of the time and missed his meds. That meant that by the time I realized it he was in pretty bad shape. So we had to pack up and ocme home quickly .
Well we have nothing much planned for this week so hopefully he can rest up and feel better.
;A one thumbs up for making it and one thumbs down for the rest of the evening.
'Plse pray I will be able to get a doctor;s appointment tomorrow to see if he has pneumonia.
Thanks. so muh.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Yesterday was our daughter Tanya's birthday. Happy Birthday, honey.
John did not have a good day again yesterday. We did not try to go to Abbotsford as planned. Last night was especially bad and I had to skip several feedings and give him extra meds instead. The coughing and congestion continues to be a real problem. Last night he could not get the mucus coughed up in bed and was choking on it so he moved out to his recliner chair and slept there for awhile. He was able to sleep the rest of the night in bed but asked me to move him back out to the chair at 7am this morning.
Although he felt quite poorly in the morning, as the day progressed, he did much better. He was feeling quite good in the afternoon - not coughing as much - and so we decided to go out with Margie to I-Hop for supper. John ordered a straberry crepe but ended up only being able to eat the whipped cream and ice cream part of it. Margie and I shared the crepe for our dessert!! He was having a lot of difficulty with the coughing and choking throughout the meal. We cannot go to the doctor to see if it is pneumonia until Tuesday.
There have been so many ups and downs I am not sure how to rate this.

Friday, October 8, 2010

John slept all night again last night... and had another bad day today. Much the same as yesterday - only a little worse. Tonight I have had to give him extra meds and skip his feeding. He is still choking and coughing and spitting up a lot of mucus. I am wondering if there is some pneumonia there again.
Gus came this afternoon to stay with John while I went up to the hospital to get more of the nutritional supplement I feed him. Also got a few groceries.
Then later in the afternoon we had a visit from some more Gateway graduates. This time it was Greg and Kathie Cox and their two younger children, David and Sarah Jane. They did their overseas mission in Peru and are now working at a Christian ranch outside of Edmonton. Sarah Jane, was quite young when they were at Gateway and had a special bond with John. They are here visiting their second oldest daughter, Kaylyn, who is studying at PLBC, the same Bible College that they attended when they were students at Gateway. Their oldest daughter, Sheela, is studying at Providence Bible College in Winnipeg. It was really good to see them but John was not feeling well and could not talk. He tried so hard to tell them things but his mouth would just not open for him to talk. It was frustrating for him, and difficult for them.
Tomorrow I had hoped to go to Abbotsford with Margie but that is too far away for me to go unless John is well enough to come with us. If tomorrow is like the last few days, we will have to forget about that trip.

Please pray for the meds to work better and for the congestion and coughing to stop.
Pray that he will be well enough to be able to attend the Thanksgiving dinner at Gateway on Monday.

Another two thumbs down kind of day.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

John slept through the whole of last night. However, today was not a good day. He has remarked before that it seems like if he has a good night he has a bad day. Whatever the reason, the meds just did not hold well today and he did a lot of choking and coughing up of mucus.
Bishop Ron came to give him communion but John could not talk or carry on any conversation with him. He appreciated the visit but could not contribute to it or take part in the service.
Perhaps tomorrow will be better.

Two thumbs down for today.

Please continue to life John up in prayer - for healing and strength.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

John had another bad night last night - did not sleep much. But today was good.
This afternoon Stacy Kuhns, a Gateway grad who has been working in Mexico, came to visit us. John really enjoyed seeing her and hearing what she has been doing and what she will be doing in the future.
A one thumbs up day!!

Tuesdau, October 5,2010

Last night was not a good night. John only slept a couple of hours. It makes a long night for him. He was already up on the chesterfield when I woke up this morning but he slept for another few hours there before he got up.

Not a bad day today. Basically a quiet day. John never knows just what his muscles are going to do. Today he was complaining that the muscles in his back were "moving" and although not really painful, quiet distracting. He thought I should be able to see them moving but I couldn't.

Please continue with the same prayer requests as yesterday.

Not sure how to rate it.

Monday, October 4, 2010

We had the Thanksgiving dinner for our condo tonight. It was very nice and John was able to attend the dinner. He enjoyed his big piece of pumpkin pie and whipped cream while the rest of us sampled all the various pot luck dishes. One of the ladies at our table offered to come and stay with John if I needed to go out. However, like most others, she did  not feel she could give him his meds so that still means I cannot be away for more than 90 minutes. However, it does mean I can go a little futher afield. When I leave John on his own, I try to stay within the immediate vicinity of the apartment so I can get back quickly if he needs me. Living in the downtown area makes that quite possible.
John had a fairly good day today in terms of the meds working OK.
He commented this morning that he always feels so awful when he wakes up that it is hard to go to sleep knowing he will feel worse when he wakes up.
Tonight he went to sleep quickly but has woken up twice since - once to know if there was something special he had to do and once because he thought he heard a loud bang in the hallway. I think both were caused by the vivid dreams he is experiencing. The sleeping pills make him very drowsy and his speech slurred for an hour or so after he has taken them - so it is very hard to communicate and figure out what he is trying to tell me. Later on he will wake up and feel good and be quite clear headed. But he knows once he goes back to sleep he will wake up feeling lousy. Not  a lot of fun.
We were invited tonight to go for Thanksgiving dinner to Gateway next Monday.
Please pray that John will have a good day that day and be able to go to the dinner and perhaps enjoy another piece of pumpkin pie.
Continue to pray for the meds to work properly and for hiim to sleep through the whole night.
Thanks again
A one thumbs up for today.

Sunday, October 3,2010

Happy Birthday to our son, Ted.
John is still struggling with the meds not working as they should. Today was not as bad as some days - but when I got home from church -  15 min before he was due for his next meds - he was in some distress and needed them right away. Tonight when I put him to bed I gave him the meds a little early again as he was in really bad shape.
His scrapes etc. from his fall are all healing and the bandages were able to come off today. But we will have to watch some of them as he bleeds so easily if they get bumped again.
My cold is about three quarters gone so I am doing MUCH better.
Thanks to each one of you for your love, concern and prayers.
I am amazed at the number of friends who tell me they check this blog regularly so they can pray for us.
What a blessing
Please continue to pray for John's meds to hold for the 90 minutes each time, for him to sleep through the night (last night was pretty good) and for protection from falls.

A one thumbs down kind of day and evening.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Last night when John could not sleep he got out of bed and had a fall. Although he did not hurt himself badly (as in no broken bones), he has a number of open abrasions(arms, hands. knee, head)  caused from the fall. His skin is very fragile and so the least bump tends to break open and bleed. I heard him when he fell and got him up and into bed OK. I did not realize until this morning how many bumps and bruises he had. He also says his shoulder and back are sore from the fall too.
As a result, he did not feel very well today. He had lots of football to watch so that helped. However he did feel well enough that Margie and I managed to get to a few yard sales in the morning and some shopping in the afternoon between meds. I got a really nice black purse for winter and it cost a whole $1,00
My cold has improved significantly - PTL. Hopefully I will be pretty much back to normal by tomorrow.
Really have to give the last 24 hours a 2 thumbs down,

Friday, October 1, 2010

New month - old story. John has not had a good day today. Tonight was especially bad. The meds just were not holding long enough. I eventually had to give him some sooner than I should have. That did not seem to help a lot the first time. Later I did it again and it seemed to pull him out of it. It is difficult because it throws the carefully timed schedule out. I really am not sure at this point when I should give him his next meds - so I will just go with bedtime!!
I am still struggling with this cold - not getting any worse but not much better either. Taking all the vitamins etc. I can manage. This too will pass.
Please continue to pray for John to sleep well - he was only up about about an hour and a half last night - and for me to feel better - and for the meds to work properly.

One thumbs down.