Mum's birthday - she doesn't want to celebrate it and she's not sure whether dad knows it is her birthday. I did ask my brother to sort out a card and he had already done that - bless him. Of course, she isn't really happy at the moment and its a terrible drag on her as dad slides down towards his destiny.
Let's hope that tomorrow they can assess him and get him into the home because if nothing else the change in scenery will do him good and in addition, the view over the garden and the peace and quiet may also be helpful and maybe give him a lift. He can have things in his room from home and mum can spend more time with him. I certainly hope that it will be a better place for him and for mum as it is nearer the house 10 minutes not 30. Fingers crossed that this can be achieved.
I was out with my mate on Friday and I now "get it" why I'm particularly depressed (there I've used the D word again) around this time of year and of course, it's the anniversary of our cancer journeys. I was being freaked out by the symptoms of mine and he was just about to go into hospital and have a pretty awful procedure. So perhaps it's the memory or the time of year that brings on this general feeling that I have. It's even got so far as I'm even thinking of not taking the job (that I haven't even got yet) and I'm full of self doubt and just don't know what to do for the future. Stupid I know and the trouble is that I've got an answer in my head - it just isn't the answer that I want right now. The answer is right for me but perhaps not for everyone else and I just wonder whether that might be the thing I've been struggling with all this time?
Perhaps that's what is taxing me and has been for ages. I know the answer and have done for ages I just haven't the courage to carry it out. So should you do what you want and sod everyone else when you've got commitments at home? Should you go and do something like that? You may think that for 2 years I've done that - but that was business. Here in lies the problem you see, I'm doing stuff that satisfies the majority but compromises me.
I need to work this out and that's what challenges my mind at the moment and I can't get to the answer because it splits into an emotional and a practical one. The emotional argument may well be the answer but the practical, pragmatic me is holding onto the logical and democratic (what's good for everyone) view. I just need to work it through and the trouble is it is such a BIG decision to make, life changing and that's the problem. If I go one way I head off and go do my own thing or I settle back down to mediocrity and I'm certain that after the experiences of the last few years is the last thing I need.
Sunday, July 01, 2012
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Home from Home
The home that can take dad was visited by my brother and mum this morning and they also got a call that the other home now had a vacancy and so that was good. The first home has a garden facing room and they liked the staff and the cleanliness and attention. The residents all seemed happy and all the questions were answered. So a reservation, subject to them assessing dad was made and with any luck, they can assess dad on Monday and then with any luck he may be moved on Tuesday or Wednesday. Well that is if he is assessed and they can take him of course.
The other great thing is that the home is just 10 minutes from home and of course, being a home dad can have some familiar things of his around him although he doesn't really want to have photographs as it makes him sad. Just also heard that a friend's mother has been brought home and being nursed there by the family and things are now getting close to the end.
Dad spent most of the day asleep today but is better than he has been for most of the week but - what I do hope is that he gets into this home and gets to see the garden and have a quiet room available for him. Let's hope that this small change might pay some dividends and also give him a bit of peace away from the noisy hospital.
The other great thing is that the home is just 10 minutes from home and of course, being a home dad can have some familiar things of his around him although he doesn't really want to have photographs as it makes him sad. Just also heard that a friend's mother has been brought home and being nursed there by the family and things are now getting close to the end.
Dad spent most of the day asleep today but is better than he has been for most of the week but - what I do hope is that he gets into this home and gets to see the garden and have a quiet room available for him. Let's hope that this small change might pay some dividends and also give him a bit of peace away from the noisy hospital.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Quadrophenia
Listening to this after seeing the documentary on the TV and not wanting to watch the film into the night - have it on DVD and prefer it in surround sound and loud so just listening in my office to a subdued couple of tracks. When I was in my flat, my flat mate and I used to have a Quadrophenia night occasionally which meant putting on the album and then cracking open a bottle of scotch. These nights were never concluded sober...
News about dad is a little better and funding has been granted so brother and mum off to see a home locally to them that has space for dad. They then have to go and assess dad before they'll take him. Let's cross that bridge when we get there though as the others in the locale are either full or will only take private.
I had lunch with my business partner today and that cheered me up as I've been feeling pretty down all this week. I'll be looking at this job next week and also had a tip off about a job that ideally I could go for but it is a month or two away. One that is right up my street as they say and one that I could make a big impact in. However, I didn't get a sniff last time as it was a stitch up (despite them saying it wasn't). We shall see, this time it is early doors and perhaps I can get some mileage in and get some people asking around on my behalf? It would be a beaut of a job and I would enjoy the challenge as well as being able to bring some new skills to the job. Let's see if it is still available.
On top of that though I'm still restless and I'm still not sure what to do with myself and what I want to do in the future. It sounds dreadful but I'm all for packing it all in and just buggering off somewhere, anywhere and just spending time in a quiet way either by the sea or in the country. It's the runaway from it all thing that keeps creeping in. I'm stuck here in my present, comfortable, do nothing existence and somehow I want to go away and live. It sounds and looks ridiculous on the screen here now I've written it but there's something missing, unfulfilled maybe - I just don't know.
News about dad is a little better and funding has been granted so brother and mum off to see a home locally to them that has space for dad. They then have to go and assess dad before they'll take him. Let's cross that bridge when we get there though as the others in the locale are either full or will only take private.
I had lunch with my business partner today and that cheered me up as I've been feeling pretty down all this week. I'll be looking at this job next week and also had a tip off about a job that ideally I could go for but it is a month or two away. One that is right up my street as they say and one that I could make a big impact in. However, I didn't get a sniff last time as it was a stitch up (despite them saying it wasn't). We shall see, this time it is early doors and perhaps I can get some mileage in and get some people asking around on my behalf? It would be a beaut of a job and I would enjoy the challenge as well as being able to bring some new skills to the job. Let's see if it is still available.
On top of that though I'm still restless and I'm still not sure what to do with myself and what I want to do in the future. It sounds dreadful but I'm all for packing it all in and just buggering off somewhere, anywhere and just spending time in a quiet way either by the sea or in the country. It's the runaway from it all thing that keeps creeping in. I'm stuck here in my present, comfortable, do nothing existence and somehow I want to go away and live. It sounds and looks ridiculous on the screen here now I've written it but there's something missing, unfulfilled maybe - I just don't know.
Six Years Coming Up
Amazing where the time has gone and no doubt I'll have more to say about that later on and nearer and after the time. For the moment though, it's nice to say that I'm still here and that I'm feeling better than I probably have done for perhaps 8 or more years. I think that, like my dad, I must have been "going down with" cancer for some considerable time as I was quite lethargic and didn't want to do much and was pretty grumpy and not my usual self. I then got a huge pick me up with a great job but it was only a few months later that I started on the roller coaster ride that was bladder cancer.
After the early shock of it all and the fear and all that, I got on with the job of fighting it and getting well again until today I feel that I've given it a good shot and whilst I live with the danger of it coming back, I don't think about it day to day but what has happened recently, seeing my dad, who is unfortunately very much on his death bed with cancer, is that I'd never really considered those consequences and I'm hating the process and the indignity of it all. I understand that we all have to die but there's something more to it than that, it's how the body hangs on to life and doesn't seem to give in to it. I see dad all wired up to cannulas and nebulisers and I wonder why. There's no quality of life here, there's no chance of recovery and it is just a matter of time until something "gets him".
What I hadn't come to terms with and I'm still trying to is that - it could have been me. I know that didn't happen but it dawns on my how serious this all was and how near a miss (1 or 2 layers of cells). That small margin, perhaps my age and relative fitness, my determination and my family made the differences I suppose. But, seeing dad's demise in 10 months (which is pretty long considering most Pancreatic Cancer patients don't last long at all) has made me start to re-evaluate my own survival and whilst I say you shouldn't look back and all that, it does make you think that it could have been very different and I'm back to the problem of being in this mid-life crisis for a considerable time. I've had 2 years of hard work which I don't regret doing - it's pretty difficult to take the complete lack of interest in the project though even by those who say they want the problem solved. It speaks volumes about the rhetoric of the Government, the building of Quangos that hold an interest in prolonging the problems they are set-up to solve and the general lack of innovative and lateral thinking. Ho hum.
So this middle aged malaise is all about me and I've got some sort of added issue now with cancer. Seeing dad it has brought a certain "respect", perhaps fear that I've brushed off or laughed in the face of it before. I can appreciate why it is a feared disease. I know that I want to do something different in the future and I'm flattered that someone I know wants me to go and do some work for them, which may just be the impetus that I need to get off my arse and go and do something :-) I might just snap out of this huge rut I'm in - but I still have all sorts of stuff going round in my head. Not least is this crazy idea of just packing it all in and going somewhere warm and quiet and just relaxing and chilling out.
After the early shock of it all and the fear and all that, I got on with the job of fighting it and getting well again until today I feel that I've given it a good shot and whilst I live with the danger of it coming back, I don't think about it day to day but what has happened recently, seeing my dad, who is unfortunately very much on his death bed with cancer, is that I'd never really considered those consequences and I'm hating the process and the indignity of it all. I understand that we all have to die but there's something more to it than that, it's how the body hangs on to life and doesn't seem to give in to it. I see dad all wired up to cannulas and nebulisers and I wonder why. There's no quality of life here, there's no chance of recovery and it is just a matter of time until something "gets him".
What I hadn't come to terms with and I'm still trying to is that - it could have been me. I know that didn't happen but it dawns on my how serious this all was and how near a miss (1 or 2 layers of cells). That small margin, perhaps my age and relative fitness, my determination and my family made the differences I suppose. But, seeing dad's demise in 10 months (which is pretty long considering most Pancreatic Cancer patients don't last long at all) has made me start to re-evaluate my own survival and whilst I say you shouldn't look back and all that, it does make you think that it could have been very different and I'm back to the problem of being in this mid-life crisis for a considerable time. I've had 2 years of hard work which I don't regret doing - it's pretty difficult to take the complete lack of interest in the project though even by those who say they want the problem solved. It speaks volumes about the rhetoric of the Government, the building of Quangos that hold an interest in prolonging the problems they are set-up to solve and the general lack of innovative and lateral thinking. Ho hum.
So this middle aged malaise is all about me and I've got some sort of added issue now with cancer. Seeing dad it has brought a certain "respect", perhaps fear that I've brushed off or laughed in the face of it before. I can appreciate why it is a feared disease. I know that I want to do something different in the future and I'm flattered that someone I know wants me to go and do some work for them, which may just be the impetus that I need to get off my arse and go and do something :-) I might just snap out of this huge rut I'm in - but I still have all sorts of stuff going round in my head. Not least is this crazy idea of just packing it all in and going somewhere warm and quiet and just relaxing and chilling out.
Ahem
It appears to me that the biggest problem my dad has now is his susceptibility to other things. He now has a chest and urine infection. Now, call me a cynic but don't you think you'd be testing those things regularly? Considering he's had a couple of bouts of this already and that he's very sleepy and he's coughing a lot? Well the senior Doctor was in today and he pulled no punches and had a bit of a go at the Junior for missing this. Three days dad's not been great - finally some action.
I find that this particular ward really isn't up to the standard of the ones he has been in before and you'd have thought - if they want the bed for other patients - they would be making efforts to get him stable enough to move him, it's just one thing after the other at the moment.
I admit to know feeling a little anxious about things at the moment. I think it is because I'm absolutely helpless in this situation and because whilst the right thing to do might be to be up there, I've now got the possibility of some "paid" work which I'd be stupid to turn away (or would I). Dilemma - I still don't know what to do with myself for the future and I'm not certain that I fancy the job that much - it is a bit of a trek both by train and by car. By train it would probably be two 30 minute journeys with a 5 to 10 minute walk between stations and at least 25 minutes at either end of the journey. By car it is probably 1 hour although it isn't that far (20 miles) it is going through 2 major towns that can be bad - it used to be 20 years ago when I used to drive it. Additionally there are parking restrictions so I'd have to find somewhere to park the car. Oh well, I'll see how it goes on Tuesday when I go see them.
I find that this particular ward really isn't up to the standard of the ones he has been in before and you'd have thought - if they want the bed for other patients - they would be making efforts to get him stable enough to move him, it's just one thing after the other at the moment.
I admit to know feeling a little anxious about things at the moment. I think it is because I'm absolutely helpless in this situation and because whilst the right thing to do might be to be up there, I've now got the possibility of some "paid" work which I'd be stupid to turn away (or would I). Dilemma - I still don't know what to do with myself for the future and I'm not certain that I fancy the job that much - it is a bit of a trek both by train and by car. By train it would probably be two 30 minute journeys with a 5 to 10 minute walk between stations and at least 25 minutes at either end of the journey. By car it is probably 1 hour although it isn't that far (20 miles) it is going through 2 major towns that can be bad - it used to be 20 years ago when I used to drive it. Additionally there are parking restrictions so I'd have to find somewhere to park the car. Oh well, I'll see how it goes on Tuesday when I go see them.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Doesn't Get Any Better
Poor old dad, he's now got problems eating or drinking - every time he tries he starts coughing and spluttering and feeling sick. The coughing makes his limbs ache and he has to sleep as he feels so tired.
It's just one never ending stream of spiral decline, I hate it, it's really getting to me now, especially after last week seeing him really well on the first day and then the rapid decline day after day following that. Was he waiting to see me before taking his foot off the accelerator? Who knows. It's just distressing to see him like he was last week and to hear that he really isn't improving either isn't good.
Oh well, what will be will be I suppose and we just have to hang on in there and let it happen.
Sometime modern advances in medicine and technology may not be a good thing and keeping him alive (now with drips and the like) seems to be somehow cruel and yet we hold life sacred - strange strange stuff.
It's just one never ending stream of spiral decline, I hate it, it's really getting to me now, especially after last week seeing him really well on the first day and then the rapid decline day after day following that. Was he waiting to see me before taking his foot off the accelerator? Who knows. It's just distressing to see him like he was last week and to hear that he really isn't improving either isn't good.
Oh well, what will be will be I suppose and we just have to hang on in there and let it happen.
Sometime modern advances in medicine and technology may not be a good thing and keeping him alive (now with drips and the like) seems to be somehow cruel and yet we hold life sacred - strange strange stuff.
My Hospital
Is at the centre of all sorts of problems as the Trust that runs it has debts of £69M http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/9356532/The-NHS-is-paying-for-Labours-dodgy-deals.html
The picture is the main entrance to the Hospital that treated me and although it says Bromley it is really in Locksbottom, Farnborough (near Orpington). It isn't the only hospital in this sort of mess either. There is another article about how they spent £1M on a consultant to tell them how to reduce costs (what a manager can't do that!).
Oh well, let's see what happens. I can't imagine it is going to affect patients as such but there ought to be some sort of adjustment made to these PPI contracts. I worked on one of these things they were horrendously complicated and ran for years and years and there never really seemed to be a winner for the customer.
Since writing here is another article about this debacle http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-funding-timebomb-that-crippled-an-nhs-healthcare-trust-7888977.html
The picture is the main entrance to the Hospital that treated me and although it says Bromley it is really in Locksbottom, Farnborough (near Orpington). It isn't the only hospital in this sort of mess either. There is another article about how they spent £1M on a consultant to tell them how to reduce costs (what a manager can't do that!).
Oh well, let's see what happens. I can't imagine it is going to affect patients as such but there ought to be some sort of adjustment made to these PPI contracts. I worked on one of these things they were horrendously complicated and ran for years and years and there never really seemed to be a winner for the customer.
Since writing here is another article about this debacle http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-funding-timebomb-that-crippled-an-nhs-healthcare-trust-7888977.html
Bad Nights
I think too much, always have and it disturbs my sleep plus I'm not getting to sleep and then I'm finding it difficult to rouse myself in the morning. Why? Well it's dad really as more so now it is how he is that is making me lose a bit of sleep. It's the reality of what's about to happen of course but it is also the indignity of it. He doesn't like it being incontinent - he hasn't somehow lost his mind or his self esteem etc. The disease and it's symptoms has robbed him of that and somehow it doesn't seem fair to me that, at the end of your life, you have to suffer these indignities but obviously that's what happens and I hadn't paid much attention to it. Most people I know just died and I wasn't involved or they died very quickly.
So there you go, I am probably over reflecting on this and just adjusting my own expectations a bit now based on this. It's not difficult to see why the whole thing is distressing, you see your loved ones melt away before you. Dad is so thin now especially his arms and legs and a bit gaunt around his face. I'm guessing that the tumour is the only thing making his body look "normal". He's stuck in bed, hardly able to move and it is cruel and I find that distressing and worrying as I know what that would do to me. The whole process isn't what I thought it would be, I was hoping for a dignified and peaceful end to his life.
So there you go, I am probably over reflecting on this and just adjusting my own expectations a bit now based on this. It's not difficult to see why the whole thing is distressing, you see your loved ones melt away before you. Dad is so thin now especially his arms and legs and a bit gaunt around his face. I'm guessing that the tumour is the only thing making his body look "normal". He's stuck in bed, hardly able to move and it is cruel and I find that distressing and worrying as I know what that would do to me. The whole process isn't what I thought it would be, I was hoping for a dignified and peaceful end to his life.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
A Little Better Today
Yesterday I'd have told you that dad was just about to throw in the towel and that it sounded as if he was going to stop eating and drinking and continue sleeping a lot more and yet today, his blood sugars were better and so was he. OK he was sleeping a bit and managed some food today as well.
So we are back in a steady state and now wait to hear about funding and then perhaps get dad out of the Acute ward and into a nursing home.
So we are back in a steady state and now wait to hear about funding and then perhaps get dad out of the Acute ward and into a nursing home.
Then Three Come Along At Once
An old adage about waiting for buses and after waiting for ages three come along together - there is actually an interesting bit of mathematics behind that - but I digress.
I've now got the chance to go for a part time job which will certainly pay the bills and I have an interview next Tuesday for that. On top of that there is some branding and marketing work needed by someone I know and I've developed a sales plan for someone else. I wont have the chance to work on all of them at once but there you go - at least I may get something to spend my time on for a while. They sound like they can use my experience to bring together a program plan and all the stuff they need to operate their business. Interesting.
I'm not feeling particularly good today, feeling it a bit for my dad at the moment who is slowly and inexorably slipping away from us and the helplessness of the situation. My mum is going through the grinder at the moment, sitting next to him whilst he sleeps and sleeps. Things are taking on a new twist now as without a home to move him to, we will have to rely on the Hospital sorting out something for the future.
I've now got the chance to go for a part time job which will certainly pay the bills and I have an interview next Tuesday for that. On top of that there is some branding and marketing work needed by someone I know and I've developed a sales plan for someone else. I wont have the chance to work on all of them at once but there you go - at least I may get something to spend my time on for a while. They sound like they can use my experience to bring together a program plan and all the stuff they need to operate their business. Interesting.
I'm not feeling particularly good today, feeling it a bit for my dad at the moment who is slowly and inexorably slipping away from us and the helplessness of the situation. My mum is going through the grinder at the moment, sitting next to him whilst he sleeps and sleeps. Things are taking on a new twist now as without a home to move him to, we will have to rely on the Hospital sorting out something for the future.
Next Monday - 2nd July
Good grief - it will be 6 years on Monday since I first saw the presentation of my symptoms - pretty gross stuff called, gross hematuria, It wasn't good :-( In fact it completely freaks you out if you can imagine peeing what looks like Claret... Nope not a good day. However, next Monday, 6 years on is a good day for A as she starts work at the National Gallery in London. That should make that particular anniversary a more pleasant memory.
What a roller coaster of a ride this has been though. Mind you, looking at my dad at the moment and thinking of what I had, I am pretty glad that I had something treatable and that I was able to fend it off (this time). Things aren't great at the moment and I suppose it is only a matter of time before dad succumbs. He has started to sleep for very long periods and is beginning to lose interest in food too. Perhaps now is the time to be strong, I feel bad that I can't be there a bit more often but it just isn't possible. Poor mum she has been constant at his bedside for 6 weeks now and it must be taking its toll. She sounded very upset last night, especially as the homes thing isn't coming together and neither is dad cooperating. He is a little angry and frustrated and I'm thinking that he hasn't "come to terms" with himself or his beliefs etc.
I find myself more emotionally fragile now than for some time because I'm not sure that I would be able to do that myself and I can only imagine the stuff that goes through your mind at this late period in your life. He doesn't appear to be in any pain - which is good but I imagine that unless he makes a late rally, he is just going to slip away from us. I dislike the idea of keeping him alive artificially but that isn't my call either. I don't know if my mum was using that to warn him (my Granddad was fed with a tube for the remaining year or so of his life) that if he didn't eat or drink they would be forced to do this? Hard times, I suppose I hadn't thought of end of life being quite so cruel but on reflection I suppose it has to take a while to shut down and the body is an amazing survival machine.
It is my mum's birthday on Sunday, I can't imagine it being a great one. My birthday a few days later, not sure I'll be celebrating it with gusto this year though.
What a roller coaster of a ride this has been though. Mind you, looking at my dad at the moment and thinking of what I had, I am pretty glad that I had something treatable and that I was able to fend it off (this time). Things aren't great at the moment and I suppose it is only a matter of time before dad succumbs. He has started to sleep for very long periods and is beginning to lose interest in food too. Perhaps now is the time to be strong, I feel bad that I can't be there a bit more often but it just isn't possible. Poor mum she has been constant at his bedside for 6 weeks now and it must be taking its toll. She sounded very upset last night, especially as the homes thing isn't coming together and neither is dad cooperating. He is a little angry and frustrated and I'm thinking that he hasn't "come to terms" with himself or his beliefs etc.
I find myself more emotionally fragile now than for some time because I'm not sure that I would be able to do that myself and I can only imagine the stuff that goes through your mind at this late period in your life. He doesn't appear to be in any pain - which is good but I imagine that unless he makes a late rally, he is just going to slip away from us. I dislike the idea of keeping him alive artificially but that isn't my call either. I don't know if my mum was using that to warn him (my Granddad was fed with a tube for the remaining year or so of his life) that if he didn't eat or drink they would be forced to do this? Hard times, I suppose I hadn't thought of end of life being quite so cruel but on reflection I suppose it has to take a while to shut down and the body is an amazing survival machine.
It is my mum's birthday on Sunday, I can't imagine it being a great one. My birthday a few days later, not sure I'll be celebrating it with gusto this year though.
Doesn't Sound Good
Dad sleeping and watch now as he is not eating - more because he is sleeping all the time. The homes we found either don't do NHS funding or don't have a vacancy or need to assess dad first but we have to wait until we know if we have funding or not. So mum not too happy tonight and I had to do some more calming and logic type stuff. It's the Hospital who want the bed, they can't let him leave and go home in the state he is in and if they want the bed then they will have to assist us to move him to a home. However, I do now start to fear the worst as his situation just appears to be deteriorating daily.
Mum's tried to cajole him into eating but it makes him feel ill and all he wants to do is sleep all the time. She's finding it quite an ordeal now, who wouldn't?
I had a call today that was rather interesting, about whether I'd like to go and spend a bit of time doing some Project Management work. It's a bit of a trek to get there every day but they think they can work out some sort of flexible arrangement. I don't see why not and it may well be useful to start to put some money into the account and begin to pay myself again :-) I certainly could do with some cash in the bank that is for sure. It is an awkward location though and with the Olympics coming up I don't much fancy the travel but perhaps I will be able to use the car for some of it. Anyway, it will be interesting to hear what they have to say and perhaps to get stuck into some serious Project work again. It isn't in an industry I've worked in before but it does look to be an exciting possibility and there may be some ongoing work in it.
Mum's tried to cajole him into eating but it makes him feel ill and all he wants to do is sleep all the time. She's finding it quite an ordeal now, who wouldn't?
I had a call today that was rather interesting, about whether I'd like to go and spend a bit of time doing some Project Management work. It's a bit of a trek to get there every day but they think they can work out some sort of flexible arrangement. I don't see why not and it may well be useful to start to put some money into the account and begin to pay myself again :-) I certainly could do with some cash in the bank that is for sure. It is an awkward location though and with the Olympics coming up I don't much fancy the travel but perhaps I will be able to use the car for some of it. Anyway, it will be interesting to hear what they have to say and perhaps to get stuck into some serious Project work again. It isn't in an industry I've worked in before but it does look to be an exciting possibility and there may be some ongoing work in it.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Going Back - Looking Back
I catch myself looking back sometimes and finding that I don't want to go back. I mean that I look at the past and the jobs I did and the good and bad times I had there and find that I don't want to be there again; ever.
My background of project and program management, commercial and contractual management and recently business development and PR and Communication all pale away now as I've gained so many new skills in building the business and I know so much more now than I did 2 or 3 years ago. I see there are jobs that look to be right up my street, within my capabilities and stuff that I can do without too much thinking and without too much stress. The trouble is that they would be hollow unfulfilled and I'd find myself bored and irritated being in them.
Then again, do I want to do something nice and simple and stress free locally and be told what to do and how to do it - if you no me, you'll also know the answer to that. Why squander close to 40 years experience?
I'm still no closer to the answer and I'm just doing (or about to do) some fill in work at the moment and I don't even fancy doing that - it's for friends and so that makes it OK I guess.
Well let's see how the week goes... See if I get any nearer to the answer :-)
My background of project and program management, commercial and contractual management and recently business development and PR and Communication all pale away now as I've gained so many new skills in building the business and I know so much more now than I did 2 or 3 years ago. I see there are jobs that look to be right up my street, within my capabilities and stuff that I can do without too much thinking and without too much stress. The trouble is that they would be hollow unfulfilled and I'd find myself bored and irritated being in them.
Then again, do I want to do something nice and simple and stress free locally and be told what to do and how to do it - if you no me, you'll also know the answer to that. Why squander close to 40 years experience?
I'm still no closer to the answer and I'm just doing (or about to do) some fill in work at the moment and I don't even fancy doing that - it's for friends and so that makes it OK I guess.
Well let's see how the week goes... See if I get any nearer to the answer :-)
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Great News
Whilst I was away - A had her results from Uni and has passed her Degree with a 2:1. We are having the Graduation Ceremony in a few weeks at the Royal Festival Hall - looking forward to that and we are having a big family meal afterwards.
So that's good news - her exhibition was amazing and one of the only ones that actually told a story - but then - I'm her dad so I'm "bound" to say that. :-)
So that's great news - she starts her new job tomorrow week at the National Gallery in London and I couldn't be more pleased for her. I'm sure she will enjoy her job - I'm delighted that she got the job she really wanted.
So that's good news - her exhibition was amazing and one of the only ones that actually told a story - but then - I'm her dad so I'm "bound" to say that. :-)
So that's great news - she starts her new job tomorrow week at the National Gallery in London and I couldn't be more pleased for her. I'm sure she will enjoy her job - I'm delighted that she got the job she really wanted.
The Funny Side
After 4 days of trauma with mum and dad - it was good to hear that today dad wasn't really great but he managed a good one at the end of the evening. He's spent a LONG, long, long time asleep this week. So as mum was about to leave, she sort of woke him up and said "Sorry, we have to leave you now, it's 8 O'clock and we have to go." Dad says, smart as you like "Thank God for that, now I'll be able to get some sleep!"
So now you know where I get it from. He's a good ol' boy :-)
From what I've read this is the early onset and he'll get more and more tired and slowly slip away from us. I just don't want him to hang on and not be getting any quality out of life. My mum was SO upset last week and they love each other so much, they often appear not to. I find it touching that they have such a great relationship but it is very strange to be a fly on the wall in this - I don't feel qualified for this - but then again - maybe I am :-)
What I dislike about this is that I've never ever ever known my dad be anything but the big strong father figure, the leader of the household and my rock and back stop and that's not what he is now. For all his dotage, he's deserved my utter respect and it is that high regard I hold him in that hasn't broken the bonds even when he has "challenged" me with his strange attitude to me in latter years - which I now understand must have been this pernicious disease that will take him from us.
I'm being severely tested, once again, as I hold together my brother's old fashioned views and my mother's wishes. Running the balance is, I find, exhausting and pushing me to the edge in terms of my ability to rationally deal with this as well as letting my (Vulcan like) emotions into the equation. By that I mean that I tread the line in holding it all together. My brother wanted (up until my intervention last week) a miracle, the impossible, the emotional to happen. My mother is devoted to my dad and I see the love they have for each other and I see that she is hanging on to every thread, every half chance, she jumps in with answers that dad just hasn't got the speed of response to answer upsetting him. It is actually a trait that I too suffer from and have to stop, I'm a little too quick to respond sometimes - I know the answer and butt in. Mum is doing this for the right reasons but I had to tell her that dad get's a bit p1ssed off when that happens, he just needs a few moments to gather his thoughts and then answer - slowly and as quiet as he now is.
So, there we are, dad isn't the leader of the pride any more and I feel bad about that and he just looks alone and lost and frightened and I can't do anything for him at all. I can be there, I can cheer him up - he has always suffered from anxiety and depression (I have no idea why - I'm not allowed to know until after he has died why that is - apparently).
So it's all a bit strange at the moment and I'm not sure what I feel and what the future has in store for me. I just hope that dad is allowed to end his life in a nice way. Argggh!
So now you know where I get it from. He's a good ol' boy :-)
From what I've read this is the early onset and he'll get more and more tired and slowly slip away from us. I just don't want him to hang on and not be getting any quality out of life. My mum was SO upset last week and they love each other so much, they often appear not to. I find it touching that they have such a great relationship but it is very strange to be a fly on the wall in this - I don't feel qualified for this - but then again - maybe I am :-)
What I dislike about this is that I've never ever ever known my dad be anything but the big strong father figure, the leader of the household and my rock and back stop and that's not what he is now. For all his dotage, he's deserved my utter respect and it is that high regard I hold him in that hasn't broken the bonds even when he has "challenged" me with his strange attitude to me in latter years - which I now understand must have been this pernicious disease that will take him from us.
I'm being severely tested, once again, as I hold together my brother's old fashioned views and my mother's wishes. Running the balance is, I find, exhausting and pushing me to the edge in terms of my ability to rationally deal with this as well as letting my (Vulcan like) emotions into the equation. By that I mean that I tread the line in holding it all together. My brother wanted (up until my intervention last week) a miracle, the impossible, the emotional to happen. My mother is devoted to my dad and I see the love they have for each other and I see that she is hanging on to every thread, every half chance, she jumps in with answers that dad just hasn't got the speed of response to answer upsetting him. It is actually a trait that I too suffer from and have to stop, I'm a little too quick to respond sometimes - I know the answer and butt in. Mum is doing this for the right reasons but I had to tell her that dad get's a bit p1ssed off when that happens, he just needs a few moments to gather his thoughts and then answer - slowly and as quiet as he now is.
So, there we are, dad isn't the leader of the pride any more and I feel bad about that and he just looks alone and lost and frightened and I can't do anything for him at all. I can be there, I can cheer him up - he has always suffered from anxiety and depression (I have no idea why - I'm not allowed to know until after he has died why that is - apparently).
So it's all a bit strange at the moment and I'm not sure what I feel and what the future has in store for me. I just hope that dad is allowed to end his life in a nice way. Argggh!
Bathroom Planning
Well what a long day it has been so far - so many things to plan and work out. The whole room needs a revamp so that's plastering, fixing the floor boards and all sorts of things. The trouble is that I'll need to get things ready for the plasterer who needs everything out of the way which is interesting as I'll have to cap off the water, the electrics and the waste pipes etc. It is now time to start working out the costs - which aren't that bad compared to what I was originally quoted some months ago. If I do this myself I'll save a couple of thousand of pounds on labour and about a thousand on equipment too. At least it will give me something to do :-)
It sounds like I might get some work for the next couple of weeks which will be interesting - I need to make a call tomorrow to get that started.
All good fun.
It sounds like I might get some work for the next couple of weeks which will be interesting - I need to make a call tomorrow to get that started.
All good fun.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Back to Business
Well today dawned and I had a small lie in as I was pretty tired. I have to say that it was a pretty traumatic week and more so because I needed to do quite a lot to make sure that my mum was prepared to make a key decision and that dad understood why that decision had been made. It is very hard when your head tells you one thing and your heart tells you something different.
The "end" is in no doubt but at present it is the side effects of his cancer that have proved problematic. The triple bypass he had I guess is helping the situation now but dad is frail and isn't exactly going to get any better, in fact, the infection in his Liver and this Diabetes episode are making things pretty much evident that there will be no easy end to this. Dad continues to deteriorate and just get weaker and less able to help himself. This isn't the cancer directly though and that is yet to kick in (so they say).
Anyway, more will happen this week and I hope that we can get him a nice home, near mum, nicer surroundings and that he will have some peace and quiet.
I'm back to bathroom planning and additionally to looking at doing some paid work soon too - I got a call last week and there may be the opportunity of earning a few bob on a contract.
The "end" is in no doubt but at present it is the side effects of his cancer that have proved problematic. The triple bypass he had I guess is helping the situation now but dad is frail and isn't exactly going to get any better, in fact, the infection in his Liver and this Diabetes episode are making things pretty much evident that there will be no easy end to this. Dad continues to deteriorate and just get weaker and less able to help himself. This isn't the cancer directly though and that is yet to kick in (so they say).
Anyway, more will happen this week and I hope that we can get him a nice home, near mum, nicer surroundings and that he will have some peace and quiet.
I'm back to bathroom planning and additionally to looking at doing some paid work soon too - I got a call last week and there may be the opportunity of earning a few bob on a contract.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Mental Exhaustion
Back from 4 days at my parents. Been a struggle to keep things together but finally appealed to my brother's head and he agreed that dad needs to go into a nursing home. I think he really wanted him home but the daily routine I've seen would stretch Job's patience and yo couldn't ask my mum to do these things 24 hours a day. Certainly the staff told me that there wasn't going to be an infinite number of resources thrown at a situation where my dad would go home. The sheer logistics would be too demanding and the need for registered nursing care etc would become too much.
Having then spent over 2 hours in a meeting about funding and hopefully hearing that it is going forward for consideration and that it should be granted was good and with agreement from my brother and re-assuring myself that my mum didn't feel that she was pressurised one way or the other by my views, my brothers or those of the specialist we arrived at the point of telling dad. I was all prepared to tell him but mum, bless her went straight to it without waiting for the Social Worker or the Nurse. I like the social worker, he has been very fair and very straight with us and I had a chat with him and he agreed to turn up today. He also spoke to dad and explained the NHS point of view about his treatment and why the next interim step would be the nursing home rather than straight home.
I managed to spend time with dad alone and told him about the meeting we had had and why medically it was difficult for him to come home. I was very matter of fact and took each of the conditions he has now and explained why it wasn't possible to do these at the house. I also drew his attention to the noisy environment that he was in now and the relative peace of where he would go also that mum would have more access (I made him laugh saying I wasn't sure if that was a benefit or not).
Mum was pretty distraught as we left but deep down inside she knew she had done the right thing, the last thing dad needs is her to be ill and she would make herself so trying to look after him at home. The problem would be that we might miss something. We actually didn't earlier on and realised something was wrong with him which ended up with him on Oxygen for 2 days! That's the sort of issue that means he still needs ongoing medical attention, hence the trauma of telling him that he isn't coming home, just yet. Perhaps, he sin't coming home at all and he said that to me. He wondered if he was ever going to get some strength back and not be falling asleep all the time, he thought he would carry on sleeping until he died! Well, I just had to say that I didn't know what the future held but I was certain that it didn't help being where he was now and that we needed to at least make one more positive step towards him coming home which was to get his condition under some level of control.
Of course, it is all pretty upsetting all around. In dad's ward was a guy who was dying and his dad was sat by his side. Bless him the guy looked all in and they were just making him comfortable. For dad they are trying to balance his diabetes which is the problem right now. That is now nearing control but additionally the muscle wastage on his legs is such that he is now bed bound and double incontinent (although if you are quick enough.... he isn't). The trouble is that I watched as his nurse call bell went off for 10 - yes 10 minutes - it then took a further 30 minutes for bed pan to be brought and the whole process to have happened - that's 40 minutes. It took 25 minutes for him to get 4 tablets down his throat as he gets easily distracted (and doesn't like tablets anyway). It's all very hard work and then all of a sudden he is back with you cracking funny jokes. Nurse says "Can I take you blood pressure?" "Sure" he say "as long as you bring it back straight afterwards" He does look sad and vulnerable and of course mum is in bits most of the time. It's been nice to get up there, diffuse the potential family feud that may have brewed with my brother wanting dad home and my mum getting pressure from him. I was saying to the professionals and my mum that frankly what he and I wanted was totally irrelevant anyway it was what is right for my dad and for my mum that's important.
So a long week and lots of things to think about and consider. I was surprised how emotional I got when I saw the young man who is dying with his father. He's a lovely man and no one should really she their child predecease them but he was such a nice man and the nurses too were lovely to him. I went and got a chair for one of the visitors to his bed and spoke to him and felt so upset for his pending loss, just because here he was in that situation. I felt about that for my dad for the first time this week. I hate seeing my mum upset and I've never seen my dad like that - I've seen him distressed but not quite like this and finally I've started to feel the pain of losing him. I think that my brother and my mum will feel it quite powerfully - they have been much closer to him than I have. If I think about it, my dad really hasn't had too much to do with me since I was 19 or 20 and so I've not really had him on hand for 35 or so years. I talk to my mum a fair bit and I suppose my brother and I haven't really been close for well over 20 years now since he reconstructed his life with his new wife. I doubt that will ever be repaired we used to be - well - like brothers ! :-) Now we talk to each other and more so recently. However, on both occasions now that I have been to see my mum and dad - in both cases for 4 days, he hasn't popped around even though he is 5 minutes from the house. Says it all really!
That will do for now.... Tired, need bed and sleep!
Having then spent over 2 hours in a meeting about funding and hopefully hearing that it is going forward for consideration and that it should be granted was good and with agreement from my brother and re-assuring myself that my mum didn't feel that she was pressurised one way or the other by my views, my brothers or those of the specialist we arrived at the point of telling dad. I was all prepared to tell him but mum, bless her went straight to it without waiting for the Social Worker or the Nurse. I like the social worker, he has been very fair and very straight with us and I had a chat with him and he agreed to turn up today. He also spoke to dad and explained the NHS point of view about his treatment and why the next interim step would be the nursing home rather than straight home.
I managed to spend time with dad alone and told him about the meeting we had had and why medically it was difficult for him to come home. I was very matter of fact and took each of the conditions he has now and explained why it wasn't possible to do these at the house. I also drew his attention to the noisy environment that he was in now and the relative peace of where he would go also that mum would have more access (I made him laugh saying I wasn't sure if that was a benefit or not).
Mum was pretty distraught as we left but deep down inside she knew she had done the right thing, the last thing dad needs is her to be ill and she would make herself so trying to look after him at home. The problem would be that we might miss something. We actually didn't earlier on and realised something was wrong with him which ended up with him on Oxygen for 2 days! That's the sort of issue that means he still needs ongoing medical attention, hence the trauma of telling him that he isn't coming home, just yet. Perhaps, he sin't coming home at all and he said that to me. He wondered if he was ever going to get some strength back and not be falling asleep all the time, he thought he would carry on sleeping until he died! Well, I just had to say that I didn't know what the future held but I was certain that it didn't help being where he was now and that we needed to at least make one more positive step towards him coming home which was to get his condition under some level of control.
Of course, it is all pretty upsetting all around. In dad's ward was a guy who was dying and his dad was sat by his side. Bless him the guy looked all in and they were just making him comfortable. For dad they are trying to balance his diabetes which is the problem right now. That is now nearing control but additionally the muscle wastage on his legs is such that he is now bed bound and double incontinent (although if you are quick enough.... he isn't). The trouble is that I watched as his nurse call bell went off for 10 - yes 10 minutes - it then took a further 30 minutes for bed pan to be brought and the whole process to have happened - that's 40 minutes. It took 25 minutes for him to get 4 tablets down his throat as he gets easily distracted (and doesn't like tablets anyway). It's all very hard work and then all of a sudden he is back with you cracking funny jokes. Nurse says "Can I take you blood pressure?" "Sure" he say "as long as you bring it back straight afterwards" He does look sad and vulnerable and of course mum is in bits most of the time. It's been nice to get up there, diffuse the potential family feud that may have brewed with my brother wanting dad home and my mum getting pressure from him. I was saying to the professionals and my mum that frankly what he and I wanted was totally irrelevant anyway it was what is right for my dad and for my mum that's important.
So a long week and lots of things to think about and consider. I was surprised how emotional I got when I saw the young man who is dying with his father. He's a lovely man and no one should really she their child predecease them but he was such a nice man and the nurses too were lovely to him. I went and got a chair for one of the visitors to his bed and spoke to him and felt so upset for his pending loss, just because here he was in that situation. I felt about that for my dad for the first time this week. I hate seeing my mum upset and I've never seen my dad like that - I've seen him distressed but not quite like this and finally I've started to feel the pain of losing him. I think that my brother and my mum will feel it quite powerfully - they have been much closer to him than I have. If I think about it, my dad really hasn't had too much to do with me since I was 19 or 20 and so I've not really had him on hand for 35 or so years. I talk to my mum a fair bit and I suppose my brother and I haven't really been close for well over 20 years now since he reconstructed his life with his new wife. I doubt that will ever be repaired we used to be - well - like brothers ! :-) Now we talk to each other and more so recently. However, on both occasions now that I have been to see my mum and dad - in both cases for 4 days, he hasn't popped around even though he is 5 minutes from the house. Says it all really!
That will do for now.... Tired, need bed and sleep!
Monday, June 18, 2012
Off to the Exhibition
It is the week of A's art exhibition and I'm going with her tonight to see it as I can't go tomorrow when everyone else is going. I'm under instructions to take some photos for my mum. I suppose I'll be allowed to do that?
It sounds like A will get her results tomorrow so we will know what degree she will come away with and then we are going to line ourselves up for her Graduation day in about a month or so. I hope that will be a lovely day for her. I'm looking forward to it.
Tomorrow I'm leaving very early in the morning to get to my mums in time for breakfast. I'm hoping that I can cheer her up a bit whilst I'm there - and bring a little change of emphasis. Also staying there (at my parents) will be good and it will give her some company in the mornings.
It sounds like A will get her results tomorrow so we will know what degree she will come away with and then we are going to line ourselves up for her Graduation day in about a month or so. I hope that will be a lovely day for her. I'm looking forward to it.
Tomorrow I'm leaving very early in the morning to get to my mums in time for breakfast. I'm hoping that I can cheer her up a bit whilst I'm there - and bring a little change of emphasis. Also staying there (at my parents) will be good and it will give her some company in the mornings.
What to do?
It is a bit strange that I am still no nearer to considering what to do in the future. I have done some work for one guy and other people can now see the "value" in using me and I'm still not absolutely sure that this is what I actually want or need to do. It's one of those things that concern me as I really want to get on and do something and yet I don't actually know what it is I want to do.
It doesn't help with instability in the family with my dad and also here at home. One is serious and the other is trivial but needs sorting just the same. In a way what ever will be will be with dad and I will have to deal with that as and when it happens. There will be the inevitable Kubler Ross stuff to deal with and there will be the need for a period of normalising for my mother. We plan to have her down here with us and I think it might be nice to take her away on a holiday or have some time away at some point so that she can just take a little time away from the house. I doubt it will be easy to have an empty house and all that entails. I'm sure that we (my brother and I) wont let that happen.
Then there is some normalising to be done here. It's coming up to my 6th Anniversary - it will be here very soon indeed. I actually had some signs about two weeks earlier so in reality the very first show was about now six years ago. I find myself, rather happily in a much better place than I could have hoped for back then but, of course a lot has happened to me since that time. Some of that good and some of it pretty bad. I have "an attitude" today that I didn't have back then and I have a much greater understanding of my abilities but perhaps I have never gotten my head around the one thing that really took a pounding and that's my relationship with my friends, my colleagues and my family. I consider myself pretty lucky to have my family around me - today was nice and quite rare to see the girls and Mrs. F. all together - even in the same room (iPads permitting)!
What I think though is that I've strained things and now is the time to review and heal that or perhaps find out what the conclusion of those strains may be. Anyway, that is something that needs to happen as soon as it can. I'm feeling that much better these days that I can perhaps break away from my protective shell a bit and go do some living. I just hoped that it wasn't just me wanting to do that - I fear it may be only me that sees things that way. I mentioned 5 years ago that I thought there would be collateral damage and I fear that there may well be. Somehow I feel my future may be served in a completely different way - but what do I know :-)
It doesn't help with instability in the family with my dad and also here at home. One is serious and the other is trivial but needs sorting just the same. In a way what ever will be will be with dad and I will have to deal with that as and when it happens. There will be the inevitable Kubler Ross stuff to deal with and there will be the need for a period of normalising for my mother. We plan to have her down here with us and I think it might be nice to take her away on a holiday or have some time away at some point so that she can just take a little time away from the house. I doubt it will be easy to have an empty house and all that entails. I'm sure that we (my brother and I) wont let that happen.
Then there is some normalising to be done here. It's coming up to my 6th Anniversary - it will be here very soon indeed. I actually had some signs about two weeks earlier so in reality the very first show was about now six years ago. I find myself, rather happily in a much better place than I could have hoped for back then but, of course a lot has happened to me since that time. Some of that good and some of it pretty bad. I have "an attitude" today that I didn't have back then and I have a much greater understanding of my abilities but perhaps I have never gotten my head around the one thing that really took a pounding and that's my relationship with my friends, my colleagues and my family. I consider myself pretty lucky to have my family around me - today was nice and quite rare to see the girls and Mrs. F. all together - even in the same room (iPads permitting)!
What I think though is that I've strained things and now is the time to review and heal that or perhaps find out what the conclusion of those strains may be. Anyway, that is something that needs to happen as soon as it can. I'm feeling that much better these days that I can perhaps break away from my protective shell a bit and go do some living. I just hoped that it wasn't just me wanting to do that - I fear it may be only me that sees things that way. I mentioned 5 years ago that I thought there would be collateral damage and I fear that there may well be. Somehow I feel my future may be served in a completely different way - but what do I know :-)
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