WEEK 2

Week 2  brought with it another slew of doctor appointments.  Most aren’t even directly related to my father’s cancer or brain damage recovery, but just the typical types of doctor appointments any 71 year old man may need. I fear I could focus so much on his cancer recovery that he ends up with something I didn’t see coming, like prostate cancer, kidney stones, glaucoma or tooth decay.  So, we found ourselves at the urologist, optometrist, and dentist, while also managing to get in our bi-weekly Speech Therapy  and an overnight sleep study.

Sleep Study at Hopkins

Sleep apnea is a potentially dangerous condition that brings with it a potential for many adverse effects on the well-being of the entire system, including increasing the risk for conditions like high blood pressure and heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and liver disease, among others.  The lack of a consistent flow of oxygen to the brain during sleep can lead to cognitive difficulties, sluggishness and chronic fatigue.  All of the above, combined with his current challenges could pose nothing but more difficulty for my father, so for the second time in a year, we spent the night in the Johns Hopkins Sleep lab.

The results of the sleep study we did last summer indicated that he has severe sleep apnea so he was provided a CPAP machine, only for insurance to reclaim it after a few months.  The CPAP must be used for a certain threshold of hours in order for it to be paid for by insurance, and since he was unknowingly taking it off at some point each night, we fell short of the requirement.   I heard though, that going through the study another time not only qualifies you for another machine, but that the insurance companies are less strict with the requirement the second go-around.

While we were in the waiting room, my dad struck up a conversation, as he typically does wherever we go, with another patient. She was also going to be spending the night for a sleep study but rather than sleep apnea, she was being tested for narcolepsy. My father and I both immediately jumped to our preconceived notion of what we believed narcolepsy to be and asked her how she could have driven the long trip up to Hopkins alone without worrying she may fall asleep behind the wheel. She explained to us that narcolepsy doesn’t actually work that way. Instead, at least in her case, she never achieves the REM stage of sleep and therefore is exhausted all of the time. If she could, she’d stay in bed 24 hours a day, in hopes of finally being able to get quality rest. We were both so moved by what this poor young woman must be going through on a daily basis. Her struggle is real – never feeling rested, always on the brink of exhaustion, and constantly mentally sluggish. My father felt so much concern for this poor young woman and everything she has to go through just to get through a normal day. He recognized how lucky he is that he is not in that situation, without even thinking of his own condition and how much he, himself has been through. I was able to sleep well on the hospital couch that night, content with the reminder that I was doing all of this for someone so incredibly kind with endless compassion for others.

Appointment with the Eye Dr.

At the eye doctor visit, he didn’t do his regular schtick where he walks in the exam room, arms out, groping around as if he is blind and can’t see the chair, but was silly nonetheless – see pics of his behavior above.  We go to the eye doctor regularly, not only for routine check ups but also because the brain tumor caused a permanent loss in his visual field – one of the reasons he’ll never be able to drive again.  This isn’t noticeably something that impedes him. He’s not walking around bouncing off walls or anything of that sort, but sometimes can overlook something he is looking for even if it’s right in front of him. This never happens with food though… never with food. He seems to have an ability to spot a delicious treat a mile away.

While I was checking out and setting up our next appointment, I noticed my father at the business card caddy, picking up the card of each doctor in the practice and carefully examining it, placing a couple in his pocket.  At times, he takes an interest in odd things so I didn’t think too much of it but certainly teased him on our way back to the car for having left no business card unturned, to which he politely chuckled.  Once in the car, he pulled out his cell and dialed one of his friends that he has not been in touch with much post-tumor.  He left a voicemail for this friend, a medical sales rep, explaining that he was just at the optometrist’s office and noticed they may be in the market for a product he represents.   He asked him to call him back so that he could share the contact information of some of the docs he may want to contact.  To my surprise, this was the reason my father had been searching through all of the business cards. It was to help a friend. This was a humbling moment where I was confronted yet again by the depth of my father’s thoughtfulness.

Wellness

Non-medical,  good-for-the-soul-type activities this week included lots of time spent with the dogs, healthy meals, visits with some of my friends and a trip to the  Hofstra/Towson lacrosse game with my brother’s family.  My father played lacrosse at Hofstra and has remained a loyal fan. Pre-tumor, he’d make a point to see them play a couple times  a year, whether that meant a trip up to NY or somewhere local, so it’s important for me to help him carry on this tradition.  He needs to feel that he’s still living a well-rounded life, and ensuring he can continue to participate in and be engaged in his interests and hobbies is a huge part of that.

Despite the loss on Saturday and some outbursts of frustration in reaction to some of the plays, he enjoyed being at the game and spending time with his kids and grandchildren.  It was a beautiful day to be outside in the sun and to top it all off, my brother saw a bald eagle flying above the parking lot on his way out, bringing us up to two bald eagle sightings in a little over a week – surely a good sign.