Decisions Decisions

Has been a good couple of days for our immediate family. We start full pads football for Zane (7th) and Noah (4th) next week. I am the head coach for Noah and I must admit I like coaching football a lot more than anything else. I am like Coach Walden (my 7th grade football coach at Bammel Middle- who was an ass) and I "whip those yella bellied whimps" into shape. Just kidding- I try to keep it positive. Archery hunt started yesterday where Zane has a youth tag- so we went tromping around on Cedar mountain yesterday for the "dandy buck" with no results. Fun anyway. KA is training for the St George marathon and went 16 miles Saturday morning with good results. I keep calling her "Uncle Joe" from Green Acres: "and there is Uncle Joe, he's moving kinda slow, at the junction." I would still love to run this year- but haven't been able to up my miles from my crappy left knee. Due to IT band trouble, bursitis and old man, cranky knees they just do not want to cooperate. I'm going to hopefully try a longer run next Sat morning and it is either sink or swim. I can go 6 miles in an 50 minutes- when I feel good, but then my left knee kills me. My ideal goal is to run the marathon this year so Pops can watch (if he is up to it) and hopefully return the favor of being excited while watching and running the last mile with him when he used to run the Houston and Woodlands marathons when I was a kid. If I can't, fine, but it would mean a lot- most likely more to me than to him. It also depends on the time of our football game. Last year I ran it, showered, and then had about 45 minutes to get to pregame when I coached Noah for 3rd grade football.

Going on the decisions theme with more on a "Lone Star" theme is the fact that he is continuing to decline physically. I know there are physical problems related to cancer and radiation, yet also the psychosocial dynamics for both of my parents that are of upmost concern. Pops came to Coral Desert on Friday and didn't feel well. Candidly, he didn't look well. He did his pool therapy, like a trooper, and even pulled a Michael Phelps as he was loosening up his arms prior to getting in the pool. He had Olympic fever- or something- but while rotating his arms his one arm tweaked and then it has hurt him for a couple of days. Luckily, it feels better because my huge concern was a rotator cuff tear that would really limit him. I was standing behind him when he started goofing like he was going to dive in the shallow pool and he really didn't do anything that dynamic. The only reason I was behind him is that I had to get a wheelchair to get him inside because he felt like collapsing while walking in from the car. He is a fragile guy at this time. He has continued to decline in the past week and is having more difficlty with basic mobility. He needs a walker with all mobility and his left leg is worthless for weight bearing stability. He cannot trust it at this time and has been falling frequently.

Went to Chuck A Rama with them after pool therapy Friday because they can no longer do it on their own. I like doing it because I know they really enjoy it and also I like to spend time with them. I enjoy them more now than I did as a child of teenage years. I assume that is normal with most kids with the nag and grind of growing up. Of note, I had already got plates and meals set up and it got to be the time that I needed to go see a patient for work so I asked "Are ya'll okay to get to the car?" since they were set up with dessert and coffee. Was told "yes" and got both walkers in a set up area for leaving. Left, and then found out later that Pops got stuck outside in the sun at 108 degree temp and couldn't get in the car. He needed some stranger to help him because he sat on a lower level rock bench while my mom went and pulled the car up. Ironic thing is that mom/"EE" is not the most dynamic thing for moblity and has not been for years- yet she is more reliable at this time to do the big mobility tasks, like pull up the car. It can be painful to watch the ordeal of them getting in the car- it takes about 10 minutes and it is scary with the fall ramifications.
Areas of concern at this time are Pops well being. Today he can hardly move in the house and is using his walker and a wheelchair for all mobility. He wanted to go to the ER tonight but I told them that was a waste of time unless his breathing was labored. He has a generalized fatigue that I plan on calling both his doctors tomorrow about. They keep saying how he has "time" to live but he is in a declining spiral that seems to be ahead of schedule. KA and I have thought about the decline in the last 4 months and related to function it is easy to document. I won't detail the negative, but I do want to explore all options of signifigance to enable quality of life. Hopefully, positive stories will follow with positive changes in health.
We are in a period of planning for their future and decisions are upcoming with placement and outcomes....