Night Shift and Aging Parent Woes
Apr. 21st, 2025 09:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mousmeRemind me to stop doing favours for coworkers and taking over their entire night shifts for them. ;) Actually, I don't really mind all that much, but the first night shift always feels rough. I have to leave in a little over an hour in order to get there on time, and at least this week I'm working the early night shift, which means I'll be getting home early enough in the morning to get a fair bit of sleep in before the light and heat of the afternoon kick in. It's less of an issue right now while the weather is still reasonably cool, but it's been getting hotter earlier with every passing year, so I am not super optimistic about the temperatures in May. I can't have air conditioning in my room anymore, which thoroughly sucks, so if the temperature climbs anywhere past 25 Celsius it's not a good time for sleeping. At least there is A/C in the new house, so starting in June I won't have to worry about that.
My mother called me this evening to let me know that after yesterday's little passing out incident, my father woke up completely exhausted this morning. She rightfully insisted that he go to the emergency room, and contacted my godparents for help. My godfather drove them there, and they are keeping my father overnight to run a bunch of tests. It's not an emergency yet, but I am poised to pack a bag and drive to Montreal if I need to this week. It's been nearly three years since his stroke, but he's still at risk for any number of things. I am extremely concerned that his pattern of go-go-go-collapse is going to have some pretty catastrophic consequences. My mother is very dependent on him for most of their everyday functioning, because she doesn't walk well and has really shitty eyesight, and she has a lot of anxiety about going out by herself, even with her cane. So if he becomes incapacitated, they won't be able to live independently.
You know, on a hunch I just called here, and it turns out she fell and split open her head on a chair, and is refusing medical help. FML. I have convinced her to call my aunt (my paternal uncle's wife) who is a retired nurse. At the very least she might be able to talk some sense into her. For fuck's sake.
I am going to cut short this post and see if I can call out of work for family-related emergency. I think I need to drive to Montreal and take care of this.
My mother called me this evening to let me know that after yesterday's little passing out incident, my father woke up completely exhausted this morning. She rightfully insisted that he go to the emergency room, and contacted my godparents for help. My godfather drove them there, and they are keeping my father overnight to run a bunch of tests. It's not an emergency yet, but I am poised to pack a bag and drive to Montreal if I need to this week. It's been nearly three years since his stroke, but he's still at risk for any number of things. I am extremely concerned that his pattern of go-go-go-collapse is going to have some pretty catastrophic consequences. My mother is very dependent on him for most of their everyday functioning, because she doesn't walk well and has really shitty eyesight, and she has a lot of anxiety about going out by herself, even with her cane. So if he becomes incapacitated, they won't be able to live independently.
You know, on a hunch I just called here, and it turns out she fell and split open her head on a chair, and is refusing medical help. FML. I have convinced her to call my aunt (my paternal uncle's wife) who is a retired nurse. At the very least she might be able to talk some sense into her. For fuck's sake.
I am going to cut short this post and see if I can call out of work for family-related emergency. I think I need to drive to Montreal and take care of this.
