Tennessee Whiskey and Mountain Moonshine
A Hospice Update
I arrived at my father’s house Tuesday night after a multi-part journey. An hour drive to the airport, an hour and a half flight, and a two-hour drive from the airport to his little town in the Smokies.
My husband drove me to the airport at 9:00 a.m. and I arrived at my destination around 5:00 p.m. That’s an eight-hour journey by plane and automobile. If we drove straight through from our home to his, my maps app tells me it’s an eight-hour drive. I find it strange that it’s no faster to fly than it is to drive once you add in the time spent waiting for the plane, boarding and unboarding, then waiting around for the rental car to be ready.
By the time I arrived, I was so hungry I could have eaten my weight in tacos. Lucky for me, my father was in the mood for Mexican food, so we went to Los Primos, the best restaurant in his little town. I sucked down a whole plate of fajitas (sans tortillas in an attempt to be carb conscious) and he ate two whole tacos! That would have been unbelievable a month ago.
This morning, I sought a little balance in my diet by making myself a healthy smoothie. I brought my Nutribullet down here when my husband and I drove down earlier this month, and I stocked the freezer with some frozen fruit blends. Today I enjoyed a berry and kale smoothie with almonds, chia seeds, high-protein yogurt, and coconut water. Delicious and nutritious to help me power through the day.
The Tennessee mountains are breathtaking in the springtime. Flowers are blooming, trees are sprouting leaves, and birds are chirping joyously. It’s peak pollen time here, and I’m competing with the birds with my furious sneezes. When I’m not coughing, sneezing, or wiping my eyes, I’m really enjoying the weather.
It was 84 degrees here today!
When I arrived at their house this morning, my heart jumped into my throat and my stomach dropped into my shoes when I walked into the dining room and saw him lying in his bed with the blanket over his face. Fortunately, it meant that he didn’t want the morning sun shining in his eyes as it came up from behind the mountain. You can imagine what I was thinking.
Yes, that’s one of the dog blankets. It was brand-new out of the package when we drove down earlier in April. My father was shivering while I had the blanket in the dryer, so I pulled it out and wrapped him up in the warm blanket. It’s very soft and he decided he wanted to keep it. It was originally a throw blanket I picked up at Christmas during a sale at Macy’s, and he’s using it for that purpose. I guess it was never destined to be a dog blanket despite the doggie pattern.
Tonight, I picked up pizzas from a local joint. He likes a very thin, crispy crust. I asked the young man working the counter and he recommended the cauliflower crust. I’m grateful for the recommendation because Dad ate half of the small pizza - three pieces!
The secret to getting him to eat is for me to sit down and eat with him. He will keep eating for as long I do the same. Now I need to learn to eat even more slowly than usual. By the time he ate one slice, I already finished two. If I don’t pace myself, I will have gobbled down the entire pizza while he’s working on his third slice.
Three times per week a CNA from hospice comes to help him shower and check his skin for any pressure sores and treat those. I asked her to help weigh him during her visit today. It looks like the concentrated effort to get him to eat is working. He has gained seven pounds from when he was released from the hospital six weeks ago.
His weight gain makes me happy because I know it means he is eating because he is more comfortable and in less pain. But I can’t let the fact that he is feeling better lull me into a false belief that he is getting better. He is still terminally ill. Yet even in the darkest of times, we can find a small highlight of beauty to buoy our spirits.
Food! Yum! It is ironic when it takes as long to fly somewhere as it does to drive, isn't it?
Thank you for the update. So difficult to take care of yourself and him.