Neurodisney

As I type this I am sitting in a waiting roomIn clinic DWhich is the Motor Neurone Disease clinicIn Beaumont hospitalOn the north side of DublinI think I mentioned that my Dad was diagnosed with MND a few months agoWhich affects his lower limbs His hands are pretty much crippledHe can't open or close buttons Pull his zips upHas trouble eating Opening bottles and jarsHis legs are also affectedAnd he now walks with a stickAt one point today Dad came out of the bathroom holding his trousers upAnd I had to zip and fasten them for himNot that I mind doing it at allIt's just sad that he can't It was a real shock when he was diagnosed And we were all very upset But we are told his particular illness is slow progressing So Every couple of months Dad visits the MND clinic in DublinWhere he is seen by the top neurologist in the country Professor Orla HardimanAmongst others such as the physiotherapist, the psychologistAnd various other specialists This time Myself and my sister have made the trip to Dublin with my DadTo give you an idea of the journey Dublin is on the east coast We live on the west coast And Dad lives right in the middle between the twoIt's a three hour journey each wayWhich makes for a very long day I really wanted to come today though To support my Dad And also support my sister who drove today I wanted to experience the clinic And meet all the specialists that Dad talks about 
My sister and left home at about 9am this morning We hit the road in good spirits Prepared for a long and possibly stressful day We arrived at my Dads at about 11amWhich is the house I grew up inI don't go back to my home town as a rule As it is just one big trigger for me We drove through the town itself Some things hadn't changed Others were unrecognisable Being back in my childhood home is always very strange Every time I visit there it seems to get smaller Or maybe I'm getting biggerI took a walk around the living room while waiting for my Dad So many ghosts and memories Mostly not good I could almost hear the shouts of arguments Feel the tensionThe bad energy that lingers Truth be told I don't like being there I never did 
Anyway We hit the road to DublinI decided not to take my meds until I got home As I wanted to be as alert as possibleWe arrived in Dublin at lunch time Found the hospital with relative easeParked in the disabled bayGetting out of the car and in to the hoSpital Was akin to getting a child ready We had to put his jacket on Get his bag with all his bits and bobsGet his stick Fix his clothes All the time watching that he doesn't trip or fallThe my sister accidentally knocked Dads disability parking disc down the front of the car Which with the use of a handy credit card We managed to retrieve And headed in to the hospitalAs I walked through receptionI saw a sign for ST. Michaels ward Where I spent time when I was 19In the detox unit Detoxing from heroin and methadone I was just a kid In a locked ward with hardened addictsIt was there I was first told that I had anorexia Bad memories We found clinic DAnd took a seat in the waiting roomMy sister and I went to get teas and coffees and sandwiches Which we had while we waited Looking around There were people in all states of MNDSome like my Dad walking with sticks Some in wheel chairs It was a bit of an eye opener to see the way things could possibly goWe weren't waiting long Before we were called to see the first doctor Dr. Amina CoffeyShe was a young Muslim doctor Very pleasantAnd very thorough As she carried out the examinationMy sister took rough notes of things we would need to remember Then professor Hardiman saw Dad briefly They seemed happy that things were going relatively wellAnd there was no great deteriorationNext we saw NiamhOne of the physiotherapists Whose area seemed to be a closet off the waiting room She went through a questionare with DadNow we are back in the waiting roomMy sister is dozing I am blogging And Dad is looking pensive  In with the doctor Dad mentioned that his appetite has been effected And later on admitted to me that when he is hungry He can't just make something easily So he just has a cigar and a cup of tea This worried me some So the doctor weighed my Dad His weight was 76.9 kilosI asked what it had been at his last check up She told me that it was 78.9 kilos So he has lost a little bit of weightNot enough to be alarmed But it's something to watch 
It's now just after 4pmAnd we are all starting to flag a bitWaiting around like this is pretty exhausting And we still have the drive home to look forward to It's a real role reversal thoughMy Dad used to bring me to DublinTo appointments To treatment centres And now I'm bringing him I can really see him getting old And it's not nice My Dad was always active Coached basketball teams for years And to see him deteriorate is toughBut that's life I guess Anyway I'll leave you here And hopefully we'll be finished her soonI'm sure some of you can relate to parents becoming ill and old I was wondering how you all deal with it ?Right I'm off See you on the next post....