The Good News Is I Will Never Be Late for Work Again!

Every morning my alarm goes off at 5:00 a.m. and I hit snooze until 5:45... which is not enough time for me to take care of Dad and get ready for work.... so I am always late. But the good news is I will never be late for work again! The bad news is that Dad can no longer get up by himself in the morning.

This was our old daily routine... Dad wakes up and inflates his handy dandy bed pump which puts him into an almost upright position... he lets his legs fall to the floor and then with the help of his rail and wheelchair he is able to get himself into a sitting position. Then I come in and use the lift to "bathe" and change him and get him back into bed for the day. In the evening I do the same bathing and changing routine.. and then at bedtime I manually lay him down on his side so he can go to sleep.

Bedtime has become progressively more difficult.. now I have to climb on to the bed to use my Wonder Woman strength to get him where he needs to be... and the last few mornings he was not able to sit up by himself so he called me to come in to help. I think it has been getting harder for a long time but he struggled through it - but today was the final day of the struggle. Dad called me at 5:15 because he needed help getting up. I was in a real bad spot and Husband had to come in to help me because Dad had slipped dangerously close to the edge of the bed. Without extra help Dad would have definitely hit the floor... although, then I can get him up easier with the second lift... but we really don't want to go there... I haven't mopped in a few weeks. :)

So.... he will now call me at 5:15 when he wakes up and I will go in there to put him into a sitting position and we will start our daily routine. See - we must see the positive side of this... no more rushing around like a maniac! This is also good news for my daughter... this means she will get yelled at less because I will not be a frazzled mess freaking out on her! See...yay, it works for everyone!

I think I felt this coming.... that would explain why I started crying the other day when Dad asked for a warm wash cloth to wash his face. I didn't get upset the other night when he was yelling and cussing up a storm.... but the wash cloth .. now that was a doozy! It is the weirdest thing that pushes you over the edge I guess. God bless Husband who has been putting up with my moods as they have become progressively worse. No, I am not better off dealing with this alone and no I do not want a divorce despite what I may say in the midst of a meltdown. And God bless Silvia... she comes in to help on the weekend mornings so I can sleep in. Obviously this will change... I will have to come up with a new plan.. she is such a tiny woman... I need to find a way to make this easier for both of us.. maybe a new bed with more support... a deluxe hospital bed not the cheap one the insurance company sent....... hmmm..... always thinking...

So reminder to all... the good news is.... I will never be late for work again! :)