The stroke journey of my Papa

Hi

Thx for the more informative version of Pa2's journey...more informative being that when i speak with Mum all she's concerned with is how well he's eaten, doesn't tell me what u've described.

But did mention that u n Amber took him out in the w/chair.

Only this week his eating habit has improved according to Mum, she cooked porridge and he ate that plus papaya, banana and was OK with it...she sounded a lot happier than the last few weeks, but last nite, i may have stressed too much of the pressure areas, to tell/nag the nurses/amah to get Pa2 to sit up even for a couple of minutes to change position, we r paying for the care, correct, bro? Why r these people not doing their job, she's just too scared to tell them what to do, I simply stated it's common sense, if u sit too long on ur ass u'll feel numb, plus he doesn't have that feeling anymore on the affected side.

Mum seems to understand him, but obviously, he has to re-learn how to speak again.

Did u rec. my sms last wk, saying that i'm returning on the 18Nov. Will be good if u can come that w/e., please.

Don't think ur depressed, so am I! It's not only u OK, so don't go into one....

Take care

C2

Yo Chi Chi,

I guess mum is going into "denial". She refuses to accept that "somebody" has to foot da big, fat medical bills eventually!

It just does not get through to her! She even proudly announced to me that the bill for the so-far 11-day stay is a whopping RM1,600.

*jaw dropping sound*

Her taxi journey is RM14 a day. That works out to be 420 a month. I requested her to go on alternative days - not happening.

If you ask me to rate the nursing care, I'll say "D". So now he's off the drip, maybe we should consider sending him off to a less expensive place. But then again, I guess not yet - he can't even stand on his one leg with help! Too weak.

Tonight, I'll have to call mum and drill into her "what if" question. What if I can't pay for all this? Well, for now anyway. I'm knee-deep in credit card debt already. Papa could be bed-ridden for like, oh i don't know, another 4 years? At RM3k a mth, that would be RM144,000.

Physio is already RM40 a day. His special air bed to prevent bed sores (RM8 a day). And the food he refuses to eat, I don't know how much, so wasteful... plus, mum has to specially cook porridge for him.

Yes, all mum's replies are gushing happiness on what papa can consume.

As for the pressure points - we did discover one on his spine and had to tell the nurse to attend to it. Such is the "quality" of care!

Yep, noted that you'll be here on 18th, so yeah I'll be there on the weekend. How long will you be staying? Must be horrible for you, new job now gotta apply for long leave.

OK, got to go, writing from office - my PC at home got struck by lightning or virus or whatever, had to re-format, lost all my files, programs and internet connection. Sob.

C ya.