Learning to breath deeply again

I had my first video call with Pop yesterday where he wasn’t hooked up to supplemental oxygen. Haven’t seen him this way since November!

He is still using oxygen to walk, but that amount is decreasing everyday. “I’m having to learn to breathe deeply again,” he said. “My breathing has been shallow for a long time.” But Sam & Dave know how to take those long, soulful deep breaths, so Pop can too—he’s got to get in the groove with it. He has been setting records on the unit for distance walked post-transplant, so the medical team is upping the challenge and having him walk with less supplemental oxygen each time now.

When not working on laps, Pop has been engaging in light warfare with the hospital nutrition staff. His new favorite phrase with their team is “patient refused.” It’s what they write on his chart when he won’t take something they are offering. For example, “Patient refused dinner at 4:30pm.” Because the medical team is focused on draining as many fluids as possible from Dad’s body, they have limited his water intake—but he has to take so many pills everyday, he uses up his daily water ration just swallowing meds. When he asked what his remaining options were for a drink with meals, the nutrition staff offered fruit juice, which seemed like a bad option given that Dad’s blood sugar already spikes as a side-effect of steroids. So they suggested ginger ale, which has even more sugar in it. “Oh, don’t worry, we can send you diet ginger ale.” Pop’s response: “Please make a note, ‘Patient refuses all diet soda.’” 😜

But Pop also admits, “Sparring with the nutrition staff does give me a bit of joy everyday.” It really is the little things that can make a day go right.