Online "Guestbook"

Please feel free, if you haven't done so already, to leave a comment for/about my dad here.

Save the Date

We're planning a celebration of my father's life on Sunday, February 12 at the Grand Haven Community Center (421 Columbus Avenue) in Grand Haven, MI....probably from 2-4pm.  We may have a meal together and then share stories or memories of him.

In the meantime, if you want to plan something to say or if you want to dig up some photos, letters, or artifacts and scan, email, or snail mail them to me, you're welcome to do so. It'd be nice to get a good variety of artifacts; all of my photos betray my father's affinity for incredibly intelligent, adorable, half-Asian children. :)

Sad news

My dad passed away at about 12:20am. Victor was able to get into town at 3pm, and Rosalyn got here at 10:30 or 11pm or so. I was grateful that the whole family was together.

I'll keep you posted on arrangements. Thanks for all of your prayers and love.

Seizures?

I received a phone call from my dad's neurologist's office saying that my dad might be having seizures.

I had called yesterday to report an increase in my dad's tremors. The neurologist, my mom, and I had talked about this last Wednesday when we had the neurologist appointment, and the neurologist increased the intensity of my dad's deep brain stimulator.

I had really just started noticing this change last Tuesday, when we moved him to hospice. Every once in a while (maybe every 10 to 40 minutes), my dad would get a whole-body tremor . . . well, in his arms and legs. He usually had been resting or sleeping, but his eyes would fly open and he would look sort of scared or surprised or stricken for a little while (less than a minute) and then his body would relax again. My mom said he did that very regularly -- every ten minutes or so -- that first Tuesday night. I had thought it might be related to adjusting to the new catheter, especially because he had complained of pain in that region. That was a week ago. When we had the neurologist appointment last Wednesday, he said my dad could be having seizures, but it would be pretty difficult to tell. They seemed to die down a little bit after that, so I thought the deep brain stimulator had fixed it.

However, yesterday the episodes seemed to pick up again. Tonight I visited my dad around dinnertime, and in the hour that I was there, my dad had three or four of those episodes. I had called last night to describe what I was seeing, despite the adjustment to the deep brain stimulator, and this morning I had a message saying that this sounded like seizure activity. It's still kind of hard to tell because he has Parkinson's, but these episodes are pretty different from what I've seen before with his tremor.

I don't think my dad ate or drank too much today, either.

My dad didn't eat or drink anything today. He wasn't able to be coaxed to open his mouth for his lunchtime meds, though he managed to take his evening medications and chew on a couple of ice cubes. Ugh.

Visitors and Rest

Shirley and Pat

My dad has been resting a lot since he arrived at the Munson Hospice House. He has also had several visitors. Doug and Mary came to visit last Wednesday, on the 25th. I took my dad to an appointment at the neurologist that day, after they visited. Although the nurse helped me transfer him into the car from the Hospice House, I had to transfer him out of my car and then back into it at the doctor's office. That was horrendously difficult this time; he isn't able to support himself at all anymore, I think. Wednesday was probably the last time I'll try to move him on my own.

Marilyn and Pat

Thursday, he had four friends visit: Pat, Shirley, (another) Pat, and Marilyn. They're old friends of my father's from his neighborhood and from college, and I know my dad was thrilled to see them. They brought some photos to show my dad, especially some where my dad looked very much like my brother. On Thursday night, I think, or perhaps it was Friday night, my dad's friend from work, Phil, came to visit. He stayed for a nice long visit, and he also provided some really kind-hearted, useful advice. Thanks to all of you for coming up in the snow to visit!

Phil

There has been a pretty noticeable physical change since my dad moved to the Munson Hospice House. Although his sleep has ebbed and flowed over the course of these past several months, he has definitely been sleeping more. More noticeably, though, has been his change in appetite. He was still eating pretty hearty meals before moving to hospice, but now he just takes a little bit of soup. He hasn't been drinking much, either, though he still likes to chew on some ice cubes. He's still taking pretty much the same medication he was taking before, except that he isn't taking the blood thinners anymore and he IS taking some pain medication. The day he arrived, he began using a catheter, and he complained of some pain associated with that. (He hadn't really been complaining of pain until this point.) My father also has experienced some decreased responsiveness; he doesn't seem to try to talk anymore, and I haven't really seem him smile or laugh in a while, either.

The volunteers and nurses and aids are really nice. The daughter of one of the volunteers came to say hi and cheer my dad up, and another volunteer brought in a beautiful British Golden Retriever for some pet (no pun intended) therapy. My mom is still there with him pretty much all of the time, and I've gone to see him almost every day. I've been reading some John Shelby Spong to him, which I know he loves. He has at least been staying awake for it, and reading has at least been therapeutic for me.

Settled in

My dad left Birchwood today after he finished his lunch. It was pretty sad; it's funny how attached you can get to people after just a few months. They were helpful to my dad and really nice to us. My dad's childhood friends, Doug and Mary, have also been helpful. They helped my mom and me transport my dad's belongings. More to come soon! His birthday post and this one are both placeholders. Tomorrow my dad has a follow-up appointment with his neurologist here. Thursday some of his other childhood/college buddies will visit. More soon!