Father and Son...

Father and Son...

Flying down to Tucson from Oregon, John, (Red's oldest son) wanted to surprise his mom and dad with an unannounced visit. He arrived late on Thursday evening, after his parents had gone to bed. Usually, in the morning, part of my routine is to bring them their breakfast trays, once the meds were distributed. While Red (Kerry’s dad) sat at the table waiting for his food, it was John who delivered his eggs and toast (with sausage and fried tomatoes). Surprise Surprise Surprise.

It was an interesting day. So far, Red was doing great. His son was here and only a few weeks earlier Tina (Kerry’s sister) was here for 2 weeks giving us a much needed break from our caregiver routines (see Tina Helps With Her Dad – Sunday May 6^th posting).

Now that both Chris (Kerry’s mom) and Red were fed, and John was here, and considering all was going well, I decided to go to the gym for an hour.  Kerry was also off of work for the day so I knew the household was in good hands.

While on the treadmill, almost approaching my 3 mile goal my cell phone started to ring. Panting like a dog, I was able to answer, "Hello.” It was Kerry. She wanted to know what dose I gave her dad this morning for pain control and at what time. I gave her the information she needed and then asked what was going on. Apparently her dad was experiencing great pain (on a scale of 1 – 10, 10 being child birth, he was rapidly approaching a 9, and climbing).

How can things change so rapidly? Only 30 minutes earlier he was sitting there basking in the joys of seeing his son while devouring a great breakfast. I immediately headed home from the gym.

The nurses’ aide was here, to do his bi-weekly shower and shave and as I entered Red’s bedroom, I found him curled up on the bed, in agony. The aide looked concerned and told me that she called for the RN on call. The pain meds Kerry gave him were now starting to kick in. John was getting a sample of what our “bad” days look like – this was becoming a very bad day.

The nurse arrived and did what she had to do. By then, everything was more or less under control. Kerry and I know what to do under these circumstances, and that is exactly what was done. Red was starting to feel much better. This was Johns first day with us (a Friday). The rest of the day John watched (and helped whenever he could). John recently watched his father-in-law pass away from cancer. John’s wife June was the warrior who provided care for her dad during his final stage of life. What we were doing here was no surprise to John – He actually said that his folks looked better than he expected (even though his mom was still healing from her recent fall (see Help Me I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Get Up – Wednesday May 16^th posting).

The rest of Friday was uneventful, and Saturday was pretty much the same. Both Red and Chris were healing (semi "good" days). John spent a lot of time with his folks and especially with his dad. They talked about flying and the war (something Red enjoys very much). Sunday morning, just before noon, John headed back to Oregon. It was a good visit, for Red, for Chris and for Kerry and me as well. But more important, it was a good visit for John.