Diary of a Brain Tumor Patient's Wife

Apr. 2, 1999


Renette Davis

Paul slept well last night until about 4:30 this morning. After that I don't think he slept very much. He was quite agitated from about 6:30 til about 8:00 this morning. Our friends Al & Barbara were here last night and when Paul started getting agitated this morning, we asked him if he wanted to sit up on the edge of the bed, and he said he did. So we sat him up for awhile.

He seemed to like that. After awhile he seemed ready to lay back down, but after we laid him down, he started struggling to get up again. We didn't know exactly what he was wanting to do. It appeared that he wanted to get up again, but he didn't want us to help him. It was really hard to watch him struggle, but there didn't seem to be much that we could do to help him.

After awhile he started getting tired, or maybe the Ativan that I got him to take started working. Anyway, when the person who I had hired for the day got here at 8:00, we were able to get him positioned back in bed comfortably. He then took his medicine ok and ate some breakfast. He's resting now.

The social worker from Hospice was here to discuss "next steps" for care for Paul. She said that we would get crisis care again if there was another medical crisis that needed monitoring or if death appeared imminent. She is still pursuing some help for us from the Illinois Department of Rehabilitation Services. She also mentioned nursing home and St. James Hospice unit as possibilities, neither of which I want to do.

I'm debating now whether to hire CNA's from an agency for the times when we don't have friends coming in, or to get a Polish live-in. A Polish live-in is nearly as cheap as 8-hours of a CNA from an agency. The advantage of a live-in is that I wouldn't have to figure out who was going to be here each night. The disadvantages are that many don't speak much English, we would lose our spare bedroom, and we would have someone that we don't know here all the time.

I'm planning to check out both possibilities today, and then hopefully I'll be able to decide what's best.

Continue to: Apr. 3, 1999

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Created: June 19, 1999
Last updated: July 21, 2010