Baby Sitting

Now, while I’m playing baby sitter to my brother-in-law after his open-heart surgery, I seem to have a lot of time on hand; hence my frequency on the blogs.

I was very upset to find the nurse dedicated to him in ICU playing with her cell phone but now I can understand why. He is an easy customer. He never complains, not even when he is in pain. He needs a little help to get out of bed but otherwise he is no problem.

We go for a short walk every morning and I plan another short walk for this afternoon. He is getting stronger by the day. Only coughing and laughing give him any real problems but that does not happen too often. He has never smoked and I keep my mouth shut, so no corny cracks coming from me to make him laugh.

His needs are very basic. I help him to dress in the morning, make two or three cups of tea during the day in addition to warming his lunch in the microwave oven. Furthermore, I stand with him while he takes his daily shower. And see that he gets his medication on time. He is quite happy to sit and watch TV all day.

Of course, being with him from 7 am until 5 pm has some impact on my life too. My renovation efforts at home has come to a standstill but I don’t mind. He did exactly this when my father had the hip replacement a while ago. He lived closer to my father than I at the time and his unselfishness saved me a lot of driving. So I return the favor with pleasure.

My sister is very tight-lipped about it but I suspect that she reached some agreement with the surgeon and/or the hospital for they will not be suing the doctor for malpractice. I think working for the same group played some part in it.

I’m getting a break from it all for the weekend and I’m not sure if my services will be needed next week. Maybe just for a day or two. My place is close to them; perhaps I can just pop in there two or three time a day to see if he’s doing ok.


A great day to ya all.