Early Sunday Morning - February 13, 2011

Pete slept through most of the night, stirring only occasionally. This may seem strange but as I'm lying there on my sleeping mat it is reassuring to hear him snoring gently. It's when he's very quiet that I'm most awake. Around 4 he began to stir so I sat on the edge of the bed and held his hand for a while. He seemed a bit restless and finally said that he was tired of lying on his back and asked if he could be rolled to his side. I told him we could certainly do that but it might be a good idea if he took an Ativan first, so I got one from his drug stash and gave it to him with a sip of water.

I didn't want to try to move him myself, just in case, so I woke Bruce. I figured it would be best if we gave the pill a few minutes to work so I cleared the side of the bed Pete would be rolling toward while Bruce let the dogs out. Scrat and Pan have become Pete's constant companions, keeping close to him throughout the days and nights. He's lived with dogs all of his life; I know they provide him with a huge amount of comfort and that's a very good thing.

I had positioned a couple of sheets that I had folded into strips across the bed so that one was behind his shoulder area and the other under his butt. I passed the shoulder one over Pete so Bruce could stand on the far side of the bed and slowly pull that end while I used the lower one to roll his bottom half. When Pete started to struggle to help I advised him to just relax and take some slow, deep breaths, which he did. Bruce and I rolled him as slowly and gently as we could. It went very smoothly and he seemed so much more comfortable and dozed off almost immediately. Both dogs had waited patiently during the move but no sooner had I covered him with the blanket when they were back in their chosen positions, Scrat by his legs, Pan by his torso. I covered each with their own little comforter.

I took a sheet paper out of a notebook to write down the date and times that he gets his meds so that I can keep accurate track of them. This blog is like my journal but if I had to write it with a pen or pencil it would be illegible. The computer and keyboard make this so much easier.

Once again I have to thank all Pete's friends for the generosity and caring they have shown us. We have a refrigerator and freezer stocked full of wonderful foods, from soups, salads and rolls, to entrees complete with desserts. I honestly don't know where I'm going to put another thing. Pete has been enjoying chili, chicken cordon blu, apple dump cake, Dunkin' Donuts, fresh fruit and home made chocolate chip cookies, just to name some of the foods that have been sent over. Unfortunately, I seem to be living on too much coffee and way too many cookies. It's my own fault, but I haven't really felt like eating any reasonable meal lately. I've got to seriously start watching what I eat because it's playing havoc with my blood sugar, and that's not really a good thing.