|
5 June 04
Greetings from Dublin.
I arrived here on Mon 31 May; Bosco picked me up at the airport. Helen is on holiday this week so I took over her job. I have been able to sleep so I am not too tired. The first couple of days, Fr was very quiet and closed his eyes a lot. He was not well on Thursday morning, very chesty and couldn't swallow. They used a nebuliser twice and suctioned him twice. Luckily he was OK again yesterday and was quite cheerful.
13 June 04
Fr had a nice birthday yesterday. He received 3 lots of really beautiful flowers and a few presents. Fr Foster gave him a box of chocolate and one for me too. I brought over a DVD player so he could watch movies on a bright and alert day. Luckily he ate well so he usually recovered pretty quickly.
Summary
From my observation, Fr often had problems with his chest in the morning. When he was like that, he would close his mouth and would not/could not swallow. Sometimes he would cough with his mouth closed, so he could not breathe. I told Helen to force open his mouth so air could get through. Helen would normally tap on his back to help him cough up the phlegm. If it failed, he would have to be suctioned which is quite traumatic. They would insert a tube down his throat to suction whatever was on his throat or chest. Sometimes they have to give him oxygen because he would not open his mouth and would turn a bit blue. Sometimes they put him on the nebuliser. If his chest was OK, his condition is generally quite stable. If we do not have Helen watching over him all the time, I don’t think he would have survived. We cannot find anyone like her. She would try her best not to let his condition deteriorate if she can help it. We are honestly very lucky.
I departed Dublin on Mon 21 June.
|
