.....and relax

We arrived safely in France and settled in to a relaxing family break, we spent our days chilling by the pool or visiting the local towns, I spoke to Dad every day and he was fine. He had an appointment at hospital to check his bloods and start his steroids in advance of his first chemo and was feeling quite upbeat. He wasn't really driving anymore due to the effects of his morphine but was being sensible and I was glad of that. On the thursday I called him a few times through the day but he didn't answer , he wasn't good with his mobile so I wasn't too worried, however once it got to about 9 pm I was starting to worry, then he called me ! I was a bit taken a back but glad to see his number come up on my phone, when I answered though it was his neighbour - my blood ran cold. I immediately thought the worst. As I turned out Dad had been admitted to hospital from clinic and was in St James, he had given his neighbours a scare when they couldn't get him to answer the door at home , they had got ladders up to the bedroom window to check if he was ill and had eventually tracked him down to St James'. His oxygen sats were low and he was going to be kept in until they improved as he wasn't well enough to go home. We had a little chat and he seemed bright enough- a brave front for me I suspect,  as to that point ,he had never been an inpatient and I am sure he wasn't happy to be there. He was worried about my mum as he was now not able to visit her and I was obviously away too.
Mum wasn't aware that Dad was ill and he was certain that she wasn't to be upset at all by what was going on, she was settled and he didn't want anything interfering with that. Now we are a small family in terms of blood relatives but here's where some special people stepped up to help me out. Melanie went off to visit Dad in hospital to make sure he was settled and to ensure the nurses were aware to keep me in the loop about things , she knew the questions to ask she fed back after both her visits and I felt much happier knowing he had seen a familiar face. Melanie even called for some essentials for him  from home so he had his own PJs etc. Thelma visited - they have been friends for 60 years so again he was so pleased to see her. Dad could come home but only with the installation of a home oxygen prior to discharge , I had no need to worry about this Melanie and Emma had this all in hand too , Melanie arranged everything and co ordinated with Emma who  waited in for installation so Dad could be back home. These people were amazing they both have extremely busy lives - Emma was due to give birth within the following 3 weeks to her third child and Melanie was working full time  , Dad and I would have been lost without them and I am eternally grateful . By the time I arrived home Dad was back to his old self , fully versed in using his oxygen machine thanks to instructions written down by Melanie. Dad had his first chemo the day I was due home and this all went according to plan. No dramas or concerns and he handled it so much better than I expected
The first thing Dad wanted to do when I got home was visit Mum, she seemed unaware that he hadn't been to visit , we don't know if this is really the case but she didn't seemed upset or worried and we both felt so much better. I was concerned about the care home environment and dads imuno-suppressed state but he was aware of any symptoms to watch for and I was watching him like a hawk. Dad and I settled into the visiting routine again , this time around my job as I was now the taxi service for Dad, payback for all those nights he had been my taxi service !  Dad still didn't feel up to driving and I was happy to say that was the right decision. Some days he was in so much pain that the morphine was not really having any effect on his pain.
It was truly awful to see him suffering so much with the pain - it was unbearable for him and some days he could nearly function. We valued every minute together but I hated seeing him in so much pain and felt utterly helpless.
Now that  Dad had started treatment he was assigned a specialist Palliative care nurse who visited him regularly, this was to keep an eye on him and to see if he was coping with the treatment, she was an excellent liaison regarding pain relief and would deal with Dad's Gp directly to make medication alterations etc.
Mum was having to take a back seat at this time , and I felt terrible that Dad couldn't see her every day but we all did our best to ensure they could spend as much time together as possible. Two weeks after his first chemo the steroids and injections started again to prepare Dad for chemo number 2 and we prepared our self for the second round.