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.

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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.