In a room on his own

I went up to the Hospital on Saturday and saw the new room they have transferred Dad to. On the one hand it's a bight, airy, large room and he's on his own. On the other hand he's on his own. He hates being on his own.

Apparently the reason for the move was that they "needed his bed" - which is BS because they had the room he's in now! The truth is that he calls out a lot now - day and night - and it disrupts everyone else. It shows how far he has come because it wasn't *that* long ago that he was on a ward beig disrupted by someone else who was calling out all the time - and he was getting pissed off by it.

Dad was in reasonably fine form on Saturday. he was stuffing his face with sweets and fruit and sitting in the chair next to his bed. His mind was wandering a bit and it wasn't until he tried to get up that I saw how weak he really was. He has improved though at a general level - he has been moving with a Zimmer Frame but Saturday it was too much for him.

He had aCT scan during the week and it seems that the cancer has shrunk because of the chemo he's had. This confirms the conversation I had with the Doctor a few weeks ago - he thought it would do that and although this is good news it really only resets the clock. My guess is he has 6months. Maybe less.

The Doctors have been very clear from the start. The sort of cancer he has is treatable but not curable. Any remission he gets will be temporary - there is no cure. We just don't know when it will get him. As long as the pain (and he is in pain, all the time) is controlled and his quality of life isn't awful that's fine by me. The longer we have him the better.

There is a case conference on Thursday which I really want to go to but can't. My firm is exhibiting at a huge conference / exhibition on Thursday and Friday and I have to go to it. The double bummer is that the conference is just over the river from hospital - I suspect I will be able to see the hospital from the car park of the expo. Shit.

I know Mum will be disappointed but I just can't get the time off. I'm going to try but I just don't think it's going to be possible. We've been working towards this for months and I have to be there.