My Dad

Speech progress report:
Clear as a bell, "Audrey" several times today! Got On, Off, Open, Car, Go, Bus & Ball. Worked on body parts & 1-step directions, too.

I tried to say Audrey to Nikko today but he was ignoring me. After lunch today I packed up the kids and went to my mom's house for a visit. Dad has had bronchitis and the last time I saw him was Sunday at Old Country Buffet. On Monday he was coughing hard, got out of bed and fell to the floor, bruising his face and losing consciousness apparently. He was ok, helped by my mom, but he's off the rest of the week to rest (was on vacation anyway). We paid him a visit on Wednesday because there were no therapies. After talking to him more, I guess the coughing fits, if really bad, could cut off oxygen to the brain, thereby causing him to pass out. He's on some meds for the coughing, but he had another episode right with us there. He was sleeping sitting up on the couch and mom was checking on him. I sat right near dad, and he coughed not too hard and then suddenly mom was grabbing him by the shoulders and telling him to WAKE UP and BREATHE. She sounded urgent, not panicked, but I sat there while dad's eyes rolled back and his head wobbled. I almost started to cry. But he woke out of it and said, "What happened?" The episode probably was all of ten seconds, but they were long seconds. Mom is going to give him some stronger cough syrup so he doesn't cough as easily, and dad says what's the point of going to see a doctor again. I was so unsettled by what I saw that when I left the house, I called my sister, got voicemail, and left a message for her to call me back. Then I started to cry, all while Nemo was playing in the DVD player for the kids on the ride back home. I am so worried about dad. What happens if he has a coughing fit in the middle of the night, mom is at work, and Chinny doesn't check on him? What if he loses consciousness again? I wish I could be there to check on him. :(

I got home and pretty much got dinner rolling. We all ran around the basement for a little bit before bathtime. Ronin was stalling because he wanted to play clay again, wanted another bus toy, wanted to read another story. I told him we'd play clay after breakfast, I promise. Nikko, meanwhile, was straining again and (TMI again, alert!) before his bath he was sitting on the toilet and I could tell he was trying to go #2 but couldn't. I had to coax him to sit down and help brace his legs so that he could push out a sizable bowel movement. He did, for the first time on the toilet, and we praised him greatly for his efforts. He's never taken a dump on the toilet before, but I think it was more out of necessity because he was pushing with nowhere to go. I wonder if he'd let me usher him to a toilet again if he needed to push a bowel movement out again. We put him in bed and he was crying from his bed after 5 minutes. I went to put him back in bed but he was already laying there with the covers off. When I left, he started to cry again but I didn't go back. I gave him ten minutes to cry, and he stopped in five. I wonder if he'll have a middle of the night waking again... I hope not!!!