Solemn Day

Solemn day

My father passed away peacefully around 1545 today. We brought him home from the nursing home and he died within two hours of being there. My sisters and I were having lunch in the kitchen area when he passed. It’s been a difficult day. When he died, I felt nothing. I was looking at him when he died and was in shock. I think I still am because I haven’t cried or felt tearful. The hospice nurse was excellent. I just felt bad for the social worker that came to see us but my father passed before she got to his house.

Now the hard part is writing an obituary for the guy. My sisters and I were cracking up making jokes about how he was. I guess it was better than crying. I couldn’t stop laughing. Every time things got serious, I would say something sarcastic to get us going again.

I have no idea what we are going to do with his stuff. We can donate his clothing but stuff like his kitchen utensils and table, bedding, etc. what do you do? Tomorrow I have to go over my father’s so that the oxygen people can collect their stuff. It’s going to be weird being at his house without him there. We have 30 days to move all the stuff out.

My leg was no better today. I was walking with my cane most of the day. I also been taking my pain meds every few hours. Last night it took eight different pills to settle my pain. It was rough and then I woke up with it again this morning. I want to chop my leg off. I don’t know why the pain is so damn bad. The weather has been fair so I don’t understand it.

I feel relieved that my father is gone. I no longer feel sad, least for right now anyway. My psychiatrist asked how I was and I couldn’t think of anything to say for like two hours. I don’t know if I am going to be okay or not. I am worried about my sisters. The next few days are going to be rough. I don’t know when the arrangements are going to be yet. I guess there is a special way they prepare the body for cremation so we have to wait two days before we can have the wake and funeral mass.

I keep on having anxiety so I just asked my psych if I can take 2 mg of Ativan for tonight. I almost had a panic attack when I found out my father died. I have been on edge all day. I hope she says it is okay.

Difficult Sunday

The side of my leg has been killing me the last few days. Today was the worse of it. I don’t know why it hurts so much. I am not having back pain with it nor is it radiating pain. It’s like this patch on my leg is throbbing really bad. It’s worse if I am sitting in a chair. I have been visiting my father for the last few hours. He only has a few more days to live.

I talked with my cousin today and she is going to let his surviving brother know, though he isn’t in too great of health either. He is 90 and has dementia. I have let my other cousins know via Facebook that live in France. I don’t know how else to communicate with them as I don’t have their numbers and I don’t speak French. I had to use Google translator to send them the message. I didn’t want to do it this way but I am out of options.

Tomorrow is going to be tough because I have to deal with setting up my father going home. I was able to extend his insurance through an appeal but the nursing home can deny it and bill us anyways so it’s better to take him home with us to die. The social worker said that they will set up services and stuff before discharging him so I am hoping that to be the case. This just buys us some time to actually get those services where he lives. Hospice is coming in the morning so I have to be at the nursing home early. I just hope my leg pain is gone by then.

I have been going through some difficult emotions today when I saw my father. He was sleeping and then would become agitated and restless. We had to give him morphine because he was in pain and Ativan to keep him calm. He is not communicative anymore so we have no idea where it hurts. He also has been having the hiccups which seem to be painful for him. It gets him all upset afterwards and my sister has to calm him down. It was hard to watch as I felt so helpless. My youngest sister was in tears watching him today. I don’t know how much more she can take. She tries to be strong but I know she is hurting inside. I wish I could talk to her but I don’t know what to say as I am going through it, too.

I am feeling really distraught over this. Being in physical pain isn’t helping. Last night, I found out I have bruises on my ankle and I have no idea how I got them but it’s making my ankle pain through the roof. I just want to take a bunch of pills and see if I sleep till oblivion. But I can’t do that because I have other obligations. I really need to be in the hospital but I can’t until after the funeral.

Anxiety surrounding death

Anxiety surrounding death

My sisters visited my father today. They spent around three hours watching him sleep. It was totally different than the day before. My sister wants hospice so I called the nurse today to set things up. We will need to sign a consent for the admission to hospice tomorrow. My anxiety surrounding my father’s imminent death is driving me nuts. I have been having palpitations and nervousness that I have never felt before. I am also scared of losing my father.

No one prepares you for losing a parent. This has been so damn hard. I am glad that I have the support of my psych team and my sisters as well as you, the blog readers. I am not sure what I would do without this support. I would feel utterly alone.

Something is telling me that my father is going to pass before Monday. Just hearing the description my sister was giving me made me really sad. I have such a heavy heart and it’s only going to get worse. I also have been in pain most of the day with my fucking ankle. It has made getting around the house difficult. I am glad that I have some pretzels in my room so I didn’t have to go back down the stairs to eat something.

A childhood friend that just lost her mother a few months ago, reached out to me today on Facebook. I was appreciative of the gesture. She is a good friend. I would have gone to her mother’s wake had I had a vehicle. It wasn’t in an area that was T accessible.

My father’s niece who is in Florida contacted me. She wanted one more dance with him. I thought that was sweet of her. My father loved dancing. I remember at my Aunt’s 90th birthday party, he was dancing so hard. He kept saying he was tired but that didn’t stop him. She wants to be informed and is happy we are taking him home to pass. I just wish we had a few more days in the nursing home. I hope the appeal goes through and we do have that time so we don’t have to move him. But knowing our luck, it won’t happen that way.

I keep thinking about the eulogy. Frankly, no matter who says it, I know that I am going to be a basket case. I have been holding on for so long to stay out of the hospital that after the funeral and all is said and done, I will be going in. There will be nothing holding me back. I will finally be able to care for myself and if people think that I am selfish for going in, so be it. They don’t understand my mood disorder and how precipitous it has been the last few weeks. I just hope I don’t get agitated with this anxiety that I am feeling because that will just suck.

My menses are still going strong. I thought by now it will be over and it’s not. It must be because of the stress I am under.

Disappointment

Disappointment

This is today’s Daily Prompt from WordPress. I have been trying to think of something to say about this but I got nothing yet have a lot to say. It’s hard to get the words out. Today is one of those days where I am just staring at the screen wondering what to say. So I will just say what is on my mind and hope that I find the words to tell it.

My mother’s sister is a bitch. I do not like her at all because she is so conniving. She likes to talk about anything and everything yet it’s always about other people and how they acted. She is the biggest hypocrite out there. What really pissed me off this week is that she has been telling people about my father. She hates my father as much as he hates her. Now I hate her even more for talking about my father behind his back. I found this out because I told my cousin that lives in Texas that my father was dying. He said that he already knew because of my aunt. When she was over the house yesterday at my niece’s party, I so wanted to say something but I knew I would be upset and start crying and there were other people at the party so I kept my mouth shut. It still bothers me that she wants to find out things about him to invoke sympathy for her, not for us. That is her game. I don’t like it at all.

I really wanted a tuna sandwich today but I am out of the tuna I like. I felt like going to the store to get it but I really need a shower and I just don’t feel like taking one. I will eventually today, but not right now. I am waiting for someone to call me back about hospice for my father.

I am not in good space. I really feel like I need to talk to someone about the stress I feel about the upcoming few days. It doesn’t look like my father is going to die in the next 48 hours so he will most likely be sent home on Monday with services. This is because his insurance will no longer pay for his stay at the nursing home. It’s a tough situation and it’s putting extra stress on me and my sisters. It doesn’t help that my ankle is being a brat right now and I am in mega pain. I took some pain meds and I am getting sleepy from it. I so want to take a nap but I am waiting for a callback from hospice to see if they provide services my father’s town that he lives in.

For the first time in months, my hunger has returned. I have been eating today. Not a lot but enough to get by. I think the physical symptoms of depression are now behind me. But we’ll see. Tomorrow might be totally different.