Yes, you are loved
Hold onto that
Rise up and face your grief
Near and far
Comforting hands reach out
From this world and the next
Having been unable to follow the 'rules' of a NaPoWriMo prompt club, I used this video as my prompt... Music heals. My late father sang at the top of his lunch whilst in long-term care. You could hear him down the hall and in the nurse's office! Everyone loved his fine tenor voice. I realized he was singing to assuage the emotional and physical pain.
With his brain tumour it got to the point that he couldn't remember the words. (The tumour was in Broca's Area, this is where we produce language.) Eventually, not only could he not manage expressive language, he couldn't manage receptive language.
"Do you want a pill for pain?"
"A pie for pay?"
I printed out his favourite hymn words for him. Eventually, he lost his glasses. They his hearing aids. (Yes, both of them!) I began to sing for him but this only made him angry as he couldn't remember the words, nor hear me well. It was a failure, on his part. He told me it was all cloudy. It was all mixed up in his head. His dementia agitated him.
He could not articulate his pain, and staff required him to state that he was in pain before they would request that the long-term care doctor increase his meds.
It was a period of torture for me. He wouldn't respond to the Charge Nurse. The doctor was unreachable, as neither his office nor clinic would take a message. Finally, after three months of my suspecting he was in pain, then three days of calling his offices, they manage a prescription of morphine.
Afterwords, I reported him.
Spring brings an awakening of the earth and our spirits soar with the uplifted singing and winging of the wildlife. These are my photos of the creatures that inhabit our Muskoka. The healing power of nature soothes the soul. Music: Rise Up, My Love; Mathew Larkin, Noel Edison, and the Elora Festival Singers. In The Heavenly Kingdom, Anthems & Motets.
2 comments:
Looking after people who can't express themselves is stressful. My brother-in- law was a Vet. We often asked him how he knew about the animals when they could express very little. He just had to be much more observant. The physician in your Dad's casE was completely tuned out. Sad.
Funny that I hear the peepers every spring, but I have never actually seen one.
Post a Comment