1/7/12
Dad went into the hospital last week for a couple days. He's doing much better since he went. Yesterday he had another appointment at the VA and they checked his oxygen level. He was pleasantly surprised to hear that his oxygen level didn't drop below 93% after 10 minutes without having it on. The therapist said that the doctor will probably tell him that he doesn't have to have oxygen 24/7. He's pretty excited about that! It's great to get some good news for a change.
2/1/12
Tonight Dad got up and is having a hard time breathing again. He's been doing pretty good for most of this last month. He's still trying to do stuff during the day and get away from the oxygen bottle, but I think it's a bad idea. He does what he wants, not what he's told.
2/21/12
Dad got hammered last night, he wiped out half a bottle of whiskey. He didn't even feel like eating supper. He's feeling pretty lousy today because of it too! The weather is finally clear and the humidity has dropped so his breathing will improve again. He got out this morning and mowed two lawns on the riding lawn mower. Overall, I would say he's doing pretty good though!
3/9/12
Last night he woke up unable to breathe again. It took about an hour and six prednisone to get him out of panic mode. The doc has prescribed him Xanax for panic attacks. When he's unable to catch his breath, it seriously freaks him out. (And everyone else too) He got his breathing back to normal and slept for about 5 hours. This morning he woke up feeling pretty good again.
4/6/12
Dad is doing pretty well! He was sick for about 10 days but he's much better now. He's working furiously on his garden, spending most of the days outside. He always gets so excited about it and works his butt off to get it started. After Easter though, the heat begins each year and it is just too hot for him to work on it all the time. This will keep him very busy until mid summer.
5/19/12
After a lung wash, Dad found out that he has a bacterial infection and they've had him on the wrong antibiotics. Two and a half weeks later, we finally got the right medicine. He's having a very difficult time lately. Yesterday he spent the entire evening using his nebulizer. He's up early this morning doing the same thing. Hopefully, he will be breathing better today. The humidity is down and that generally makes it easier for his breathing. Two days ago he had one of his worst episodes that I've seen but he finally caught his breath. It started around 5:30 am and he finally calmed down around 7.
6/25/12
The Texas summer heat and humidity is grinding on Dad. He's been having much more trouble breathing lately. It's definitely scary sometimes. My cousins came to visit last night and Dad had to go back and forth to bed rather than be able to visit. He's spending a lot more time using his bipap machine. People with experience with COPD sufferers know that they have trouble exhaling. The bipap helps with that but he still is having a very rough time.
6/27/12
Another trip to the Dr. this morning. She was much better about explaining Dad's condition today. It's expected that he will have some hard times because he has destroyed his lungs. He's on all the medications that they can give him now. She told him that even on his good days he should conserve energy and give up gardening and to stay indoors and keep cool.That didn't sit well with him at all.
Watching him gasp for air is one of the hardest things I've had to deal with in my life. Sometimes when he's having a hard time, I want to just run away so I don't have to see it. Taking care of someone you love while they die slowly is challenging to say the least. I need a break...it's getting to me.
7/9/12
Dad has had a hard time for more than a week again. He only sleeps for a couple of hours at a time. The medicine they've given him for anxiety makes him drowsy for a few hours. It makes him pretty groggy too. A couple of nights ago he was acting like he was about to give up. He's getting depressed because he can't do the things he wants to be able to do. He's not capable of tending to his entire garden with the heat and humidity so high. He's getting miserable and it sucks.
7/11/12
Yesterday was a much better day. He felt better and was very interested in a greenhouse and growing a garden year round. He didn't have a good night though and this morning he's trembling and unable to concentrate again. We may be making another trip to the hospital for a few days. Dad hates to go but he always comes home feeling much better once he's able to sleep. At the hospital, they wake him every 2 hours for breathing treatments so he gets no rest while he's there. Home health care is sending an RN to check him out this morning. We'll see how that goes.
7/31/12
For the last 15-20 days Dad has gotten very excited about us building an aquaponic greenhouse. His health has improved because he is passionate about seeing this through. We've accomplished a lot with very little money spent. He gets more excited every day when we are able to get materials needed for nearly free. This project has him excited and happy. He always does better when he has something to look forward to and can expect quick results. One of my best ideas..ever! He's doing pretty well!
On 1/17/13
Dad died at 1:10 pm. I watched him take his last breath and exhale. I lost my favorite person in the world.