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I am so hard hearted [May. 23rd, 2006|08:12 pm]
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[mood | crappy]



I realize he's scared, and frustrated and scared and feeling out of control - I totally feel for him but I am ready to run not walk out of town. He is not even home from the hospital yet and he is driving me crazy.

My typical day now is I leave home for work between 6/6:30 leave work around 5/5:30 and drive from Pittsburgh to Greensburg in rush hour traffic to visit him - I park in the hospital garage run up to his room give him the paper and he gives me orders on what he wants me to do. Now. Right now. If I do not immediatly turn on my heel and bolt out to carry them out, if I try to reason with him or suggest it be done latter he calls someone... or rather makes me look up their number and dial the phone for him so he can give the order to someone else... like one of our neighbors, because he can't depend on me to do it. I don't know why I keep going every day, I'm there like 15 or 20 minutes and he says 'you can go home'. Even his roommate notices and said 'the other girl just comes and sits with him' - yeah that's the sister monster. I'm the one who had to go to 4 stores to get him new slippers - he never asks her to do anything, I get told to move him up in bed, adjust his feet, find the phonebook & dial the phone, then 'you can go'.

He only gets out of the bed to go to physical therapy, he won't even sit up in the bed or in the chair in the room but he is being sent home probably this weekend. I can not take it if he keeps this up. He has just will not do stuff for himself, but he likes to think he's independent. If it were a pain issue I would get it but it's not - the nurses, the doctor, even he says he isn't in pain - he just doesn't *want* to walk or sit.

I'm lazy. I admit it. But if it were the difference between having a life of my own and being bedridden I would push myself.

I came home, an hour or so later due to going to the hospital, moved furniture - tomorrow I'll have to do the same and Thursday the brother and I are going to move some stuff to his place so we have room for a hospital bed downstairs (which the old man is pissed about and punishing me 'cause the brother just ignores him when he gets cranky) He hasn't even seen it and he doesn't like it.

I am so tempted to stay home tomorrow and just call him - tell him I thought I would save gas and let him issue his orders over the phone.



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Comments:
[User Picture]From: [info]shakatany
2006-05-24 12:49 am (UTC)

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You poor dear. You're in such a difficult position and if, ghod forbid, he passes on there'll be all this guilt for those thoughts. My mother died when I was 15 and I still feel guilty for all the resentment and things I failed to do for her.
Hopefully he'll come to realize that being bedridden has too many drawbacks and will make the effort to get out of bed (preferably before he drives you completely crazy).
Wish I could do something to make it better *sigh*

Hugs
Shakatany
[User Picture]From: [info]wordsmithslash
2006-05-24 12:58 am (UTC)

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Thanks for the kind thoughts

I think I can manage the guilt. Mum died from a slow (8 months) decline from a stroke about 11 years ago (and conincidentally its her birthday). We did the whole home health care thing with her (although to hear dad tell it - he did it all) and with her I had no regretes, I did for her while she was here instead of wailing about it after she was gone - I'm sad that my last memories of them will be in such bad shape but with mum time has been kind and the memories of her when she didn't know me are far less vivid than of the dynamo she was when I was growing up.

Hopefully he has a couple more years in him but the quality of that life is largely going to be in his hands - at least physically, his mind is starting to slip and that worries me as I know he won't be happy if he ends up in a long term care facility, he's too set in his ways.
[User Picture]From: [info]shakatany
2006-05-24 01:10 am (UTC)

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When I was 10, my mother too had a stroke and died 5 years later when they operated on her to try to fix her heart. I was really too young to understand and behaved pretty badly which haunts me to this day.

Good luck with your father

More hugs
Shakatany
[User Picture]From: [info]pyrotechnik
2006-05-24 01:48 am (UTC)

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That sucks. I can completely empathise. Are you going to be getting any help from your sibs? If not with time, at least are they going to help financially? After all, he's their father, too. I hope things start looking up for you.