Christmas 2008

Christmas Day

Merry Christmas!

Bob had a great morning! He wondered why we were getting up and making him get dressed when Christmas he said was next week! HA~~

We got Bob a new clock that will hopefully help him with the day and time. This clock connects via satellite with the atomic clock in New Mexico. It tells him the date, day, time, and temperature. It has large numbers and is very easy to read. We hope this will help him keep his days straight.

We also got him a new light for his room. The ceiling fan bothers him. It makes him nervous with the spinning action and it creates shadows on the walls and ceiling. We are taking the ceiling fan down and replacing it with an old fashion plain light. We are hoping this helps also. If when warm weather rolls around he needs a fan we will get a small oscillating fan for his dresser.

Lesa, his niece, sent him gift cards to Steak and Shake for when we go see the plays. He loves eating there and there is one right near the theater. She also sent him new lounge pants with UK on them. (I will need to work on getting him some from Alabama and LSU) He is currently wearing his new lounge pants.

He was given a visit from his daughter, Tina with her husband and middle child, Helen. They stopped by for a few hours to share Christmas with him. Tina got her dad a collection of DVD’s that included Charlie Chan, and Sherlock Holmes movies. These are great since Rob tries to watch one or two old movies with him a week. He really enjoyed these movies. His granddaughter, Christina was given tickets to see the ICE show at the Gaylord Palms and was attending the show. She will have something in common to share with her Grandfather when she comes to visit latter.

Bob also got candy and homemade cookies. The cookies came from my parents. He dived right him eating those. YUMMMM. We received two tins of cookies and he claimed both of them telling us they fit nicely in his room.

Sarah also made out well this Christmas. She received four pairs of shoes, perfume, UK shirts, rings, the Wii Fit game, and the game Spores. She also wound up with almost $100 from friends and family.

Rob was a sweet heart this year and since he couldn’t get me a new camera he fixed our grill which is almost like new now; and he fixed the rails that had broken on our refrigerator. I know that doesn’t seem like a lot, but it meant more to me than words can ever say. What a guy! Thanks honey, I love you for thinking of the little things that make our lives function better.

Rob and I hope that you had a great Christmas just like we did. We hope you spent it with ones you love, remembered those who weren’t with you, and preserved the day with lots of photos and videos. Years from now loved ones with look back and remember the Christmas of 2008! Now, let’s all get ready for a new year full of wonderful challenges and adventures…..

A Great Visit

Merry Christmas

It was a quiet week. We did not go bowling or ice skating. Ice skating was not going to be very fun with him since there isn’t anything for him to do and it is cold. Normally, this activity falls on a day that Rob is home. We decided to skip this month and try for next month.

Last week I hit the exercise bike with my foot walking through the living room and broke my little toe. It is still a little sore and so Sarah and I thought it would just be best to skip bowling. Sarah would have to bowl with Pop since I couldn’t bowl with him, and she wouldn’t get to visit with her friends.

Our family was given a great treat on Saturday with a visit from Mike and Wanda Stiffler. Mike is a childhood friend of Rob’s and they live in Sarasota, Florida. They came for the day and brought their two grandchildren, Alanna, and Sarah Grace. We had a great day spending time with them. Pop stayed in his room most of the day. Small children make him nervous. He did get a large grin on his face when they came back in his room to say hello.

He has enjoyed the Christmas cards from everyone. I took a card back to him on Friday. I handed him the card and asked him who it was from. He told me his eyes were getting bad again because he couldn’t see it. I asked him to try again and look at the return address. “Try and read it again and tell me who it is from.” He stared at the name for a good two minutes and then he looked at me and said, “Susan”. I smiled and said, “Who do you know by that name? I think you talked to someone just this last week…” suddenly, he remembered and he shouted out, “Sue! It’s from my cousin Sue.”

Sue asked him to draw a picture of the old house on the reservoir. He said he would like to draw the house, but he doesn’t think he remembers the house well enough. I told him I have a picture of that old house and will let him look at it.

We also found a treat this week. We were cleaning out a ton of home made videos that Bob had made over the years. Most of these are movies he had taped off the TV. We were getting rid of bags full of these old VHS tapes. I found three tapes that were of home movies. One of them was labeled: Buster’s home movies-Mom’s copy. Rob and I put the tape in and sat and watched, and watched, and watched. We saw relatives from long ago. It wasn’t easy getting out of Bob who Buster was, but finally we sparked his memory to tell us that Buster was Aunt Dot’s husband. Aunt Dot is Bob’s Mother’s sister. Rob is taking the VHS tape to have it copied to a DVD. What an awesome treat to find.

I asked him what he thought Santa was going to bring him this year, and he told me that he hasn’t been good enough for Santa, but he knows that his niece, Lesa will load him up. I laughed and told him he will just have to wait and see.

Have a very Merry Christmas everyone! We love and miss you all. Keep the memories alive with lots of pictures this year.

Ice and Horticulture Tour

Gaylord Palms Ice Show

A visit from an Old Friend

Tis the Season

Tis the Season as they say, and with the Season comes a lot of running around. I have been so busy with things that I didn’t get to post last week so this week I had doubled the work. So let me just jump right in and try to get you all up to date on Bob’s progress.

Bob had a visit from his old friend, Charlie, on Saturday, December 6. We met Charlie at Denny’s for brunch. We had a great time talking about the time Bob, Charlie, and Harold traveled down the river one summer. Charlie brought a lot of information for Bob to help him in his writing about that trip. Bob has been doing some writing. He has about two pages written. Some is legible and some isn’t. I read pieces here and there and encourage him to keep going.

Bob got an early Christmas present. We had bought the family a recumbent exercise bike. Bob was getting up in the morning around 9:30, drinking his coffee, and then returning to bed. We would catch him at 11 and 12:00 in bed snoring. That had to stop and so Rob and I decided we needed to get the bike out now instead of waiting for Christmas. It has worked. Bob can use it and it is set right in front of the TV. So we put a DVD in and tell him to watch two Jack Benny shows. That lasts about 40 minutes. At least he is out in the house with the rest of the family, moving his legs, and watching interacting with us. After the 40 minutes he is both mentally and physically worn out.

I have to limit where I can take Bob now. We return to the doctor on Jan. 16 and I am going to beg for a handicap parking permit. Bob is very unsteady on his feet and he is very hard headed. When he has to go up steps he only puts his foot half way on the step. He has almost fallen on me a number of times now. Last week I just had to put my foot down and after chewing him out at Wendy’s I decided it would be better to use the wheel chair then fight anymore. You know if you have a toddler, it is sometimes better to put them in the stroller and strap them in, then chase them all over the parking lot. So now if it is a place that is flat with not a lot of walking he can use his walker, but otherwise he goes in the chair.

This last week Bob got a big treat. We took him to the Gaylord Palms Resort so see the ICE show. This is the sixth year the Gaylord Palms in Orlando has put on the show. They bring artists over from China to hand carve wonderful ice sculptures. It is nine degrees in the room and Bob was not happy about that. Rob and I knew that he wasn’t going to be happy and were prepared. Rob teased his dad about having a sour face, and we ignored most of the comments. We bundled him up tight and pushed him through the show. If you ever are new a Gaylord Palms resort at Christmas I highly recommend seeing the show. It was so beautiful and well worth every penny we paid.

After the ICE show we then went on a horticulture tour that the resort provides. It was full of wonderful information about plants from all over the world and we even had some fish, alligators, and turtles to look at. Bob warmed up after the cold from the ice. We had a lovely lunch and Bob was worn out by the end of the day.

Give him a call this week and ask him about the hotel made of ice. He will tell you it was nine degrees below zero and how he froze to death. HA! Tell him to be good so Santa will come bring him presents. Maybe that will work…it’s worth a try.

A Great Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2008

Bob had a great Thanksgiving. He wondered why we were having a big meal until I told him it was Thanksgiving Day. It is easy for him to lose track of days. Rob and I snuck out of the house early Thursday morning and ran to K-mart. They had some great sales on for just Thursday and since I don’t shop Black Friday, we decided to try shopping on Thanksgiving. It worked out very well with hardly anyone there. We got the rest of the Christmas shopping done and we don’t have to worry about buying anything else.

After we returned home we got the dinner going in the oven and then I got Bob to work on his Christmas cards. He made most of them this year. I bought a box of cards that had a simple, large design on them. Sarah and I took half of the cards and cut the design out. I then had Bob take the design, apply thick foam tape to the back of it and apply it to the second card. This was a great project for him. He had to apply the tape to the back of the card where I had put X’s, second he had to match the design he had with the right card, and last he had to line the design up on the card. It made the cards look so much nicer.

When the cards were finished, we then made a list of people and he signed his cards. This was also hard for him. Some of you may get some funny things written in your cards, but the funniest story was his brother, Dave’s card. He asked me how he should sign the card.

I asked him, “What does your brother call you?”
“I can’t write that, that isn’t nice.” He responded.
I laughed and said, “What does he call you when he talks to other people?”
He thought for awhile and replied, “That still isn’t very nice. I can’t sign my name like that.”
“Oh, come on. What is the name your Mother named you?” I asked him.
“Bob”, he said.
“Right and that is what your brother calls you. Sign your name Bob on the card.” I told him.
“Well, I will sign it Bob, but he won’t have any idea who the card is from.” He said in an obstinate manner.
I told him to sign it in a way that his brother would know it was from him. He signed the card, Bob and under that he wrote, your bother.

After the cards were signed we took a break and ate dinner. That evening he was surprised with a visit from his daughter Tina and most of her family. Pat, Tina, Helen, and Christina came by. He really enjoyed their visit and talked about it most of the day on Friday. They brought a wonderful blueberry pie that Christina made and home made Italian cookies that Pat’s Mother made. The cookies didn’t make it to the next morning. The pie we saved and had it warm the following night at dinner.

Bob worked Friday on painting wrapping paper. I am tired of buying wrapping paper that we throw away and it costs money. I normally buy too much and have no place to store it; or I don’t buy enough. So this year I have collected sheets of brown paper from my work that gets thrown in the trash, and we are painting with stamps on it making our own wrapping paper. Bob has had fun helping Sarah and I paint. We put the paint on the stamps and he applies it to the paper. I get cheap wrapping paper, and Bob gets to do a project that helps him.

Be on the look out for your Christmas cards. I should get them all in the mail by Monday. Be sure to give him a ring and tell him you got it and ask him how he made it. If I missed you on the list, I don’t have an address for you. Send him a card and he will be glad to make you a card and send one back.

A Hard Lesson

Sometimes we learn things the hard way. Rob and I learned something this week the very hard way. For all of you that have a Medicare health plan out there; here is a heads up in case you don’t know like we didn’t. Your medications are covered under an amount of money for the year. Once you use up your yearly amount you pay for the rest of your medications out of pocket. OUCH!

Bob has never had this problem because he has never been on many medications before and the ones that he has been on have not cost much. So imagine my surprise when I went to pick up his prescription and find that the bill is $208.00. I quickly asked the girl to recheck for me since we had always paid a very low amount in the past. She checked and told me I needed to call Humana.

I did call Humana and talked with a very nice lady for about twenty minutes. Yep, you guessed right, I had to pay the $208.00. I couldn’t get the medication from the VA without first seeing his primary care Doctor, there wasn’t a generic drug available in the United States, and he couldn’t go without this drug for more than 24 hours without major side effects.

We found the same medication outside of the United States for yep, you guess right again, about $35.00. Problem is we have to wait three weeks for delivery. We ordered it for the next month. The new allotment kicks back in staring in January, so we only have to worry about the month of December.

I asked the girl at the pharmacy if she had a bow to put on the bottle for me since that was my Christmas present. Rob and I of course were upset that night. Who ever heard of paying $200.00 for a bottle of pills? Sigh! Live and learn. We know now, the hard way, and will be prepared next year. I will either have the VA ready for the medications, or we will be prepared to get them from another source with enough time for the medication to arrive.

Since I am sharing about medications I have to tell you that I opened Bob’s capsule in some chocolate pudding. It wasn’t a powder, but small glandules. He picked all of them out and laid them off to the side. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was taking out the plastic. I told him I thought they were sprinkles. He ignored my comments. The next night I mixed the chocolate pudding up and added real sprinkles on top. When I gave him the pudding he said, “Hey, that is the same as what was in the pudding last night, but these are colorful.” I told him yeah, and asked if he was going to pick them out also. He said no, he would try them. He ate them and told me he liked the sprinkles they tasted good. Thank goodness. They cost just pennies compared to the medication.

So class what did we learn this week? We learned that Medicare Health plans don’t always cover medications so always have a backup plan, and we learned that sprinkles in chocolate pudding are very good.

More importantly, I personally learned to put my trust in the Lord and look toward him for not just understanding, but guidance. Of course Rob and I were both very upset with the cost of things. Rob told me he felt like our family was being attacked. I had to agree with him. It does feel like that sometimes. And if we allow ourselves to be consumed with that attack then we lose.

Bowling and Painting

Brrrrrr, it got cold! Cold for Florida, that is. Most of the rest of the country would be running around in shorts, but Floridians bundle up like it is going to snow. Bob has the heater going in his room and stays there most of the time keeping warm.

Bob was surprised with a warm visit from this Granddaughter, Helen, this last week. She stopped in with a friend to tell Pop she loved him and has been thinking of him. Bob was very happy after they left and was perky the whole next day.

Bob got more mail this week. He loves getting mail. His good friend, Charlie, sent him a ton of paper work on the Kentucky River. He has all the background information he will ever need to write his story about the time his friends went camping on the river.

Bob went bowling on Thursday. He always fusses about going and then has a blast of a time after he gets there. The key is that you don’t ever ask him if he wants to do something, you simply tell him he is “Going” to do something. He bowled two games and didn’t do half bad.

Friday, Bob went to see a child’s play, “If you give a Moose a Muffin”. I at first wasn’t going to go see this play since it was a child’s play, but decided it might be fun. I am so glad we went. It was a cute play and Bob enjoyed it. It was silly, but it was still a play and he always enjoys seeing a live performance.

After the play we went to paint some more at Studio Six. He had such a good time painting. Covering his hand in paint and then squishing it on the canvas is right up his alley. I have found that this form of painting is very therapeutic for him.

He shared with me the story of when he was taking an art class at the University of Kentucky. His buddy and he would always get to class early so they could sit in the front row of class. This time when they got to class, they discovered that there were black covers over the windows of the class room. They found this odd, but went to their seats and promptly got their things in order.

The class began and they soon realized that the reason the windows were all blacked out was because they were having a special model that day. Bob said he thought that she was very lovely, although he doesn’t remember since most of the class he looked down at his shoes too embarrassed to look up. “She didn’t have anything on and just sat there in front of us expecting us to draw her.” He told me. “I didn’t draw anything but round circles on my paper that day.” Yes, I found that very funny also.

We only have had one obstacle to climb over this week. Every night I give Bob his medication with chocolate milk. And here all along I have been thinking that he has been swallowing his pills. I give them to him one at a time. On Wednesday, he came into the kitchen as I was rinsing out his glass and showed me the “plastic” I had been feeding him. Yep, it was a capsule pill from one of his medications. My mouth fell open as I looked at this pill he had tried to chew. It had opened and was a mess in the palm of his hand.

“Pop, that isn’t plastic; it’s one of your pills I just gave you. You’re not supposed to eat it. You’re supposed to swallow it.” I told him.

“It’s still plastic.” He replied. “I told you that is what you were feeding me and this is proof.”

I told him I was sorry to throw the pill away in the trash. He did. Great! Now what was I suppose to do? Well, now Bob gets not only chocolate milk every night to take normal pills, which he doesn’t as yet have issues with; but now he also gets chocolate pudding. The chocolate pudding has the capsule contents mixed in it. So he gets a double treat every night and he is very happy about it. What EVER WORKS!!!!!

Give him a call this weekend. Encourage him to write on his story some or draw some illustrations for his story. He looks forward to all of your calls.

Crafts for the VA

A Good Week

Well, it has been a hard week starting out, but ended up being great. The week started out bad because Bob was told by someone, he wasn’t drinking real beer. Opps! Can you see the large balloon floating above Bob’s head going "KAPOW"?

Poor Bob, it was like being told Santa isn’t real. We all know St. Nicholas is alive and well in all of us. Just like the beer he is drinking is totally real; it just contains a very small amount of alcohol.

Like the child who discovers from a friend that Santa isn’t real, he started questioning other things we were telling him. When we would get in the car, he didn’t believe we were really going to a field trip, he thought we were taking him to a nursing home. The trust was gone. It was going to take time to get it back. Thank goodness Alzheimer’s patients don’t remember a lot of short term things, because it only took about four days.

Bob got mail this week. That was a nice surprise for him. He received a card from my parents earlier in the week and then latter in the week his niece sent him UK’s basketball schedule. I will try to get that schedule posted on the blog. He was surprised and happy to get mail. He started the other day after we had been out to get the mail out of the mail box and Sarah stopped him. I had to giggle because I knew he was thinking there was something for him. I walked over and took the mail, looked through the stack, and told him he did get something, I handed him an advertisement. That ad is still sitting on his dresser.

Thursday, we had a lot of running around to do, and I took Bob and Sarah with me. We drove all over town to various places and even though he wasn’t happy it was good for him to just be out of the house. Bob is happy just to sit in his room all day. I know it is because he is comfortable with the four walls. There isn’t anything that changes there. The only thing he needs to concentrate on is the TV and he can look away every now and then. When he is in the car he is being forced to see many different things. It is too much for his mind sometimes.

Friday, we went to the park and the kids worked on art projects for our local VA nursing home. Bob enjoyed being at the park and he even painted some. He liked watching the kids work on the crafts, although he said he felt like they were out doing him with painting styles. I told him a true artist paints from the heart and not the head.

After the park we went to a pottery place and he painted some more on some ceramic pieces. It was a very artsy day. He had a great time and after the pottery painting he was looking at things on the side of the road asking about stores and buildings. That made me feel good, knowing he was having a good day. Music helps a lot also. I make sure that I have soothing music in the car with him.

He really liked the ceramics and was talking to me about painting more, and how he was going to think of different painting styles for when I take him back.----Take him back? Oh dear, here we go again…

Give him a ring this weekend. He loves to hear from you all. He says it’s been weeks since he has talked to anyone though. And if he tells you it’s been days since he has eaten, don’t believe him it has most likely just been hours.

Going to the Dentist

The Dentist

Thursday Bob had to go with Sarah and me to the dentist. Then we had to return the very next day for Bob to get his teeth cleaned. Yeah, that was a little messed up, but the dentist is only five minutes from the house and it got him out of the house both days.

He has been sleeping with his teeth in at night, and they have been falling out in the middle of the night, and then he tries to put them back in. This results in a few hours of lost sleep because he is messing with his teeth. I was unaware of this problem until we went to the dentist and he told me he wanted them to fix his teeth from falling out. Yeah, sorry guys, but I did giggle some with the idea of his teeth falling out at night.

I had the hygienist talk to him about taking his teeth out at night and soaking them. Now the routine will be that after he receives his chocolate milk at night he will also take his teeth out. Hopefully, that will fix the problem.

The TV is another problem that I am going to have to figure out how to set the timer on. Rob seems to think that you have to set the timer every night; I am not sure about that one. He doesn’t turn his TV off and falls asleep while watching it. In the middle of the night a commercial will come on loud and wake him up. He doesn’t know what time it is and them gets confused if it is time to get up or continue to sleep. So between the TV and his teeth, he isn’t getting a proper night sleep. Sleep deprivation is a serious issue with Alzheimer’s patients. If they don’t get enough sleep they can get very nasty and cranky.

He has really enjoyed his beer and thinks it is great he can drink again. So he is drinking enough liquids. He hardly drinks anything else though. That is alright with me. I just have to make sure that the refrigerator is always stocked.

Next week we have a pottery field trip and another VA project with the kids. I don’t tell him about events now until the day we go. He worries too much about the time, date, and how we are going to get there. It is best now just to go with the flow and enjoy the moment.

Give him a call this week end. He loves to hear from you all. Ask him who our new president is. He can’t remember how to pronounce Obama’s name nine out of ten times and comes up with his own name that is funny. We have been asking him all week about the president so he might get it right when you call. It just depends on what kind of a day he is having. Sometimes he says the new president will be good, and then other times he says….well, we will just leave it at that.

Halloween

The Glass Menagerie

He CAN Drink Beer!

Sometimes I am a little slow at thinking. He hasn’t been drinking beer because it reacts with his medication and makes him sleepy. I have been concentrating on the alcohol part of the drink instead of just the drink. They do make non-alcoholic beer and he would never know the difference. YEAH!!!!

And that is exactly what we have gotten him. Non-alcoholic beer is the greatest thing ever made. He can’t drink out of the can anymore. He covers the hole with his lips and only gets little sips; so we stuck a straw in the can. At first, he said he couldn’t drink beer with a straw, and I told him to give it a try anyways. He tied and said that it worked great and wondered why no one else drinks beer that way. I told him because they never thought of it.

He has taken a slight turn downward again. I was hoping he had stabilized, but that isn’t the case. I am so glad his niece Lesa helped me go through his closet when she was here. We removed most of his clothes. Thursday, we went to see “The Glass Menagerie”. He was concerned he would miss getting ready and we would not take him to the play, so when Rob left for work at 6:00 he got up and tried to get dressed.

He pulled most of his shirts out of his closet and tired to put them on. This was not easy since he has a very hard time with buttons and hanging clothes up. His closet was a mess, and the shirt he finally picked was a summer floral short sleeved shirt. At least he tried. Although, he had gotten himself so worked up over dressing, and he kept telling me over and over how sorry he was. Not a big deal, I rehung the clothes, and thank goodness there weren’t a whole lot of them. I then picked an appropriate shirt for him to change into.

Once he was dressed we went to the play and he had a great time. After the play I took him out for lunch. I ordered him a ham and cheese sub with chips. He couldn’t figure out how to eat the sub. Sarah and I told him it was a sandwich and to eat it with his hands. He finally picked it up and took a bite from the center of the sub. Sarah and I laughed.

The sub fell apart and he wound up eating it with a knife and fork. That worked until he just had the bread left and he kept trying to cut the toasted bread. That wasn’t working very well so I finally had to tell him to put the knife and fork down and finish the bread off with his hands. Well, that resulted in him throwing his knife and fork down, pushing his plate aside and pouting.

The best way for me to describe what is happening to him is to ask you to think back in time when you were learning math. Sometimes, you would get a math problem that you could just not figure out. You would finally get the answer key and find the answer to the problem and you would know that the answer was correct, but could not figure out the steps it took to reach that answer. If you can remember that far back, I am sure you can remember being very frustrated looking at that problem, going over the steps one by one with them still making no sense at all. Finally, if you were lucky you had a teacher or friend show you the process and a light bulb would go off in your head and suddenly everything would be clear.

Bob never gets to that light blub anymore. He knows the problem, he knows the answer, he can’t figure out the steps in order to get to the answer. It is very frustrating for him. And many times now he just wants to walk away and throw everything down. He asks me, “Why can’t I button my shirts?” I tell him it is because that part of his brain doesn’t work the same way anymore. Just like he can’t tie his shoes, he also can’t button shirts all the time. What is frustrating for him is that he knows that the shirt needs to be buttoned, but he can’t figure out how to do it.

Simple tasks like this will be harder and harder for Bob to achieve and this will result in more and more frustration. What we must do is become good teachers and friends and constantly come up with ideas to make his life easier and less frustrating. Just like the non-alcoholic beer was a simple solution to allow him to drink more and enjoy doing it.

Well for those of you who still celebrate Halloween have a safe and fun time. For those of you who don’t celebrate this holiday, stay at home and fret over the upcoming election. It will give you the same results as all the others out there being scared by fake monsters.

Give him a call this week end and ask him about the play he saw. He would love to drink a beer while telling you all about it.

The Younger Years

TIME OUT!

AUGHUGHGH

It isn’t easy taking care of a four year old that is trapped in a 78 year old body. And this week he was put in TIME OUT!

It started on Thursday when we were getting ready for bowling. He had anxiety which is normal. He wasn’t sure if he could bowl, wanted to know if we could leave him home, the whole nine yards. I told him he would be fine once we got there, to get dressed.

Buttons are hard for Bob now. You have to get the first one started and then he can do the rest. He had some trouble and started complaining that I needed to buy him shirts with zippers. Oh boy, that was the first sign that this wasn’t going to be easy.

Just like a four year old, once he is dressed you need to leave right away. If you aren’t ready to leave he paces and gets anxious. Well, of course I wasn’t ready to walk out the door right that moment so the pacing began and the comments began about how we weren’t going to ever leave, blah, blah, blah.

We left for the bowling alley and of course I left the camera on my desk. And of course Sarah forgot to put the bowling bags in the car like I asked her to. And of course every one was hungry and asking for something to eat. And of course I was getting madder, and madder, and madder by the minute. The whole reason for going bowling was for him to get off his butt and get some exercise. This was the payback I was receiving for taking care of him?

We got to the bowling alley and we were the only customers there. That made it nice because I was seeing red by this time and needed to lob some balls down the lane. We needed to find a ball that he could hold and went through at least a dozen before I finally told him that the final ball was the ball he was going to use and that was the end of our search. Yes, he pouted and started to refuse to bowl.

He had to give Sarah and me advice on how to bowl; that would have been fine except I was now past the red zone and quickly headed for black. How dare he try to give me advice on how to bowl! I was bowling a 95 and he had a 41. I didn’t need to have help walking up to the line and have someone steady me after I through the ball. I do believe red flames were shooting out of my eyes.

After bowling I took him to a new ice cream shop that had opened right next door. I got him a chocolate shake and he sat outside and drank every last drop. Afterwards, we were in the car on the way home and he asked me what I had been putting in his food to make him poop plastic? WHAT??? He then explained that it hurt when he pooped and it felt like I was putting plastic in his food. AUGHUGH!!!!

So what was the lesson I learned from all of this? For starters, he needs to drink more water because his poo is hurting him. HA! He forgets to drink now. I find that interesting since this was a man who used to drink ½ a gallon of tea a day and then drink beer after that. Now, he hardly drinks one glass of tea a day if we don’t remind him to drink. So, we now are checking regularly for him to drink something.

The second lesson I learned is that there will be days like this and I need to relax and just let the Lord handle them and I need to stop trying to control them. When I try to control the situation it just gets worse. When I stop, take a deep breath; and say a simple prayer it goes a lot smoother. I have to remember that he will act four years old more and more now, and that is alright. I have dealt with four year olds before and sometimes they need time out and sometimes they just need a hug.

This week we both needed time out. That is why Rob took me out Friday night to our friend’s cigar store. They play jazz music; we sit around, have a glass of wine and visit with friends.

Sorry guys, I don’t have new pictures of Bob this week to post. Instead, I give you pictures of Bob as a young man, just starting out on life. This was a time when he didn’t have to worry about knowing how to button a shirt, or remembering to drink. This was a time when an older person would say, “You have your whole life ahead of you.”

Give him a call this weekend. Remind him that he still has his whole life ahead of him. This life is just a small journey to what lies ahead.

Making his Mark

Time to Vote

It has been a very quiet week for Bob. There were no doctor visits and the only outing we had planned this week was ice skating and Bob didn’t go with us. We try to make ice skating on a day that Rob is home so that Bob doesn’t have to go. There isn’t much for him to do there and he would be pretty bored.

Next week we have bowling and he will have a lot of fun. So there is something for him to look forward to.

The big event for the week was that he filled out his sample voting ballot Saturday. That was not easy. I read each one through with him and thank goodness he isn’t really voting. He picked all of his names for how they sounded. For the most part if you were a woman or had a funny sounding name you were out. When it came to voting for the judges he felt sorry for them and didn’t want any of them to loose their job so they were all in.

As far as the amendments went, there were a few that I had not researched yet; and you know bad those things are worded. Well he guessed at a few, and then there was a couple that we tried to figure out together. That was really funny. The main thing is that he went through the ballot and marked it through. No, we are not mailing it in. He told me yes on some and then marked no, and when I pointed it out he said, “Oh it doesn’t matter, they are going to do what they want anyways, let’s just leave it alone.” I agreed.

It made him feel good to talk about the candidates and he thinks he did the right thing. He did tell me he didn’t know who to vote for president and I told him well, you have a choice between a bad guy, and another bad guy you just have to pick which bad guy you want.

He thinks the ballot he filled out is really being mailed in so please don’t spoil it for him. Unfortunately, he has lost the ability to make decisions on his own when it comes to voting. That doesn’t mean that we can’t talk to him about the candidates and make him feel apart of the process.

Give him a call this week and talk politics with him. There isn’t a better subject to make a person laugh and cry over than that one.

Yard Sale

Me and my Shadow

Me and my shadow, strolling all around the house. Dave and Lois’ visit to Orlando did Bob a world of good. I was afraid that he would be depressed after they left and he was a little sad, but he rested on Thursday and then on Friday he was up and following me around all day.

Sarah went on a field trip to a farm that had a very large corn maze. Some friends took her and we had to get up very early to get her to their house by 8:15. After we dropped Sarah off, I took Pop to McDonald’s for breakfast. He ate a huge breakfast. When we got back home I started setting up for a yard sale we wanted to have on Saturday.

Bob was my shadow and followed me around the whole day. It was so nice to have him help me set things up, and then sit on the carport and watch the cars go by as we drank tea. And then I asked him if he would like to bake a carrot cake for dinner. He was thrilled and came in and mixed it while I emptied the dish washer.

While the cake was baking he worked a word search while sitting at the dining room table. And then he helped me fold clothes, and even helped me make dinner by snapping green beans and peeling some squash for me. Then he went with me to pick Sarah up after dinner. He was worn out and I don’t think he got to finish the Louisville vs. Memphis ball game.

The yard sale was a success and we got rid of a lot of stuff. The left overs all went to the local good will. Bob asked me how well we did and I told him well enough for Rob to take me out to dinner tonight. He replied, “That well? We did pretty good then huh?” We finished the yard sale just in time for him to see the Kentucky vs. S. Carolina game.

If he tells you that I was in a car accident this week it’s true. I was hit while driving his truck taking the stuff to good will. It was just a finder bender and there wasn’t any damage to the truck. The funny thing that happened is that they guy that hit me was a nut. He was from India and he didn’t get out of his car right away. I sat and waited for him to get out and he just stayed in his car. I finally hunted down my cell phone and it wasn’t until after I found my cell phone and called 911 that he approached the truck.

Now you just have to try and get a visual on this scene, because it really is funny looking back. Here is this Indian man yelling at me outside of the truck while I am on the phone with the police and then with Rob. He is yelling at me that nothing happened, his foot slipped off the break, everything is fine, why am I on the phone, I am making trouble for him and he doesn’t like it….and Sarah and I are really scared because this guy is yelling at us.

I am so scared that I just keep telling the police on the phone that the guy is upset and he is foreign and I don’t know what he wants, but I am NOT getting out of the truck. I told them that I had no idea if there was damage to the truck or not and wasn’t going to find out until a police officer got there.

Well, the man got back in his car turned around and left. Sarah got his tag number. He just left. After he left I got out and looked at the truck and there wasn’t any damage, but what nerve! I called Rob and he came immediately to my aid. Pop got upset thinking I had gotten hurt, but only my pride and feelings were hurt. I mean the nerve of some people.

The police came and they did find the guy and they yelled at him some, but couldn’t prosecute because there was no damage. They said they had listened to the 911 call and knew that I was scared and had heard him yelling. They said he was just a nut.

What ever happened to the days of common courtesy? Ma’am, are you alright? I am so sorry I bumped your car, are you and your daughter alright? I guess those days are long gone. I guess now if you hit someone the thing to do it get out and yell at the person you hit and make them feel really bad for being in your way and being on the road the same time you are.

Well, stay off the roads this week if you can. Give him a shout because he loves hearing from you all.

Brothers

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

Well, Bob has gotten one surprise after another since his eyes have been fixed. Friday, Bob received some company. His brother Dave came down from Kentucky. Bob was so happy to see Dave, Lois, and Lesa.

They got to stay a few days and visit with the family. It was a short trip and we hope they will be able to make a longer trip in the future. Bob really enjoyed seeing them and it lifted his spirits greatly.

Tuesday we went to see “Kiss Me Kate” at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater. It was a great musical and afterwards we went to the Morse Museum in Winter Park. They have the largest collection of Tiffany glass in the world right here in Orlando. Bob enjoyed having the docent take us around the museum.

It has been a good week for him. He got to visit with family, see a play, and he even tried fishing some. We hope you can give him a call this week end and let him tell you all about his week.

Keep Up if You Can

The Weeks Report

Bob got a nice surprise from his old class mate, Doris, this last Monday. She sent him a folder with pictures of his class reunion. It was nice for Bob to sit and look at all the pictures and start telling stories of the people he went to school with. He thought so much of the folder that he put it in his special place in the drawer with all of his other really special things. That means it meant a whole lot to him.

Tuesday Bob and Sarah made brownies. I am happy to report that they were very good. Wednesday Sarah tried to get him to work a puzzle with her, but he wasn’t a very good sport about it. When I asked him about it that evening he told me he just didn’t have the sense enough to do those kinds of things anymore. WRONG ANSWER! I explained to him that he did have the sense and he needed to use them to help exercise the brain.

Thursday he had a busy day with getting up at 6:00 and heading off to the eye doctor. A great report, he is seeing 20/40 in his right eye. The lady tech said that is well enough to drive. Opps! Bob can’t drive any more. It is a decision that Rob and I have made together and it is for not only Bob’s safety, but for the safety of others.

The doctor has given us permission to have the left eye cataract removed sometime in January. This eye is not as bad but still needs to be done. Waiting till after the holidays will be best for everyone.

After the eye doctor he went to the Barber and got a hair cut. After the hair cut it was off to the local restaurant where Donna our waitress always fusses over him. And then it was off to the VA to see the podiatrist. He got a good report from everyone. It plum wore him out though and he came home to rest for the evening.

Encourage him this week to not only exercise the body, but the brain as well. Cooking, puzzles, word searches, painting, and writing are all good things he can practice doing. Sitting and watching TV all day doesn’t stimulate the brain enough.

Family

Busy, Busy, Week

Whew! What a busy week

Bob was surprised this last Sunday with a visit from his daughter Tina and most of her family. Pat made home made lasagna for us. It was so good that it only lasted two days. If you have never had Pat’s lasagna then you are really missing out on a treat.

Bob had a good time visiting with his grand daughters and catching up with their lives. Helen is now in college which couldn’t have made Bob more proud. She is studying to be a nurse. Christina is the youngest general manager of Fire House Subs in Florida. Wow! What a huge accomplishment for someone only 18 years old. We know she will do a great job.

Bob loved the visit with Pat who is still recovering from a horrible motorcycle accident earlier this year. We praise God daily for the leaps and bounds Pat has made in his road to recovery. He still has a long ways to go, but with friends and family behind him he will succeed.

Tuesday, Bob had his cataract surgery and you all know that it went well. Wednesday, he had a follow up visit with the doctor. He had to get up early again and was not happy about that. He is not a morning person, but that is alright because neither am I.

I kept asking him the whole way to the appointment if he could see things better and he kept telling me just a little bit. We got to the appointment and they checked his eyes and I was amazed that he could see so well. He started reading the chart right away. I turned and looked at him and said, “Wow, you can see a whole lot better. Why didn’t you tell me you could see? Your eye sight has almost doubled in just one night.” He just looked and said it was a little better.

The optometrist, Helen, then needed to put a drop in his eye and when she came near him she asked him if he was going to fight her like he did last time she needed to put a drop in his eye.

He looked at her and asked, “Did I fight you last time?”
“Like a bear.” She replied.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” He said. “I didn’t mean to. It must have been because I was Horney.”

Well, I yelled “POP!” and Helen bent over in laughter. The two of us laughed for a good four minutes solid. And Pop just sat there not knowing why we were laughing. When Helen finally got control again and started to put the drop in his eye, Pop looked at her and said, “I’m sorry hon. At my age, I know what I said, but have no idea what it means.” Well, that started both of us going again.

Helen said that Bob made her day!

After Helen was done the Doctor came in and looked at his eyes. It only took a few minutes. When he was done with the exam Bob asked him, “Is that all?”
“Yep, that’s all.” The Doctor replied. “You can go home now.”
“Well, that’s why you got me up so early in the morning for? I could have come this afternoon for just that.” He answered.

The Doctor laughed and looked towards me. I laughed and shrugged my shoulders. “Sorry, Doc.,” I said. “He is in rare form today. What can I say?”

Well, next weeks appointment is even earlier so he really won’t like that one. That’s alright because there is a Bob Evans restaurant right down the road from the clinic and they make a great breakfast. It’s a hard toss up between the fluffy pancakes or the biscuits and gravy.

Thursday we went bowling, but Bob has a weight restriction so he just watched the kids bowl. He said he had a great time watching them. We went to lunch afterwards and talked up a storm. That is a great sign. He is itching to get out in the yard and do something, but he isn’t supposed to bend or stoop for a week. Pray that I can hold him down that long. He has been practicing with paint and drawing. We might work some word searches and crossword puzzles.


Give him a call this weekend! He loves hearing from you all.

It is Finished!

Surgery was a Success

Cataract surgery was a success. It of course didn’t go off without some morning disasters, but that is what I have become used to so I was prepared for them. I had given Bob a bath Sunday night and told him a number of times not to put cologne on. The eye clinic had stressed to us that this was important to them.

Well, we all get up Tuesday and right before we are ready to walk out the door, Sarah caught Pop in the bathroom. Yes, you guessed right, he had put on heavy cologne all over his face. Well, it was rush and get cleaned up really fast. Thank goodness I was prepared and could take care of things while shouting orders to Rob and Sarah to put things in the car. We arrived right on time with even four minutes to spare at the clinic.

The surgery went fine. He will have to wear an eye patch for almost two weeks because he always wipes his eyes and that is something that he must not do. The patch is just to prevent him from naturally doing this. The patch is clear and he can see through it.

He can’t see any better yet, but the doctor explained that it will take a few weeks before he his sight will improve. There are a number of reasons for this. First, his cataracts were not that bad, second, his nerves don’t work as well as most peoples. Every day he will see a little bit better and over time he will be able to see fine.

We will be talking to the doctor about a future date to get his left eye done. Most likely that will be after the start of the New Year.

He is pretty worn out at the moment and is resting in his room. He has a follow up visit with the doctor tomorrow and then he should be back to normal.

Thanks for all of your prayers and thoughts you sent his way. I know a number of you were thinking of him this morning. He was nervous and I know your prayers helped him.

Working on the Beach

Bob went to the doctor on Thursday and had a good report. He is cleared for surgery on Tuesday for his right eye. The things the doctor wants him to work on is eating and drinking plenty of fluids. He is having food issues now. He has become extremely picky on what he eats. He also isn’t drinking enough fluids. Being a picky eater is out of character for Bob. This is part of the disease. He hates spaghetti now and pretty much anything with noodles. He won’t touch many vegetables and is picky on what kinds of meat he eats. I pretty much have to run the menu by him now to make sure he will eat it. Well, at seventy eight I guess he has earned the right to be a picky eater. I mean if your going to eat it might as well be something you want.

Every night right around 9:30 I make Bob a chocolate milk shake. He loves chocolate and I buy the vanilla ensure or what ever brand is on sale. I then add good chocolate and sometimes honey (don’t tell him) to the milk. I make it good and cold and then take it back to him with his nightly medications. He loves it and looks forward to it every night.

After the doctor’s visit we went to have lunch at a local restaurant. The waitress there always fusses over him and gives him a hug. It makes him feel special. He had a large hamburger and curly fries. Yummmm!!! He ate the whole thing.

After we got home the eye clinic called and went through the list of procedures before surgery on Tuesday. We were told that it will take four to six hours. Rob is taking off work that day so the whole family can be with him for the big event. Remember him in your thoughts and prayers that day. We are hopeful that he will have a good response to having his eye fixed.

Bob worked on the beach for about an hour Thursday afternoon. He loves working on the beach. He told me that he knows that if there is something green on the beach then it is a weed and needs to go. He can’t get in trouble for pulling anything up from the beach.

Give him a call this week end and give him good words for Tuesday. I will let you all know how it went Tuesday evening.

A Visit to the Doctor

All Systems Go

All systems are a go for Bob’s eye surgery September 23, 2008. The time of the surgery will be known to us that day. He went for his appointment on Friday and they said he is good to go. The only thing that can keep us from this appointment will be his medical doctor that he sees September 18. This surgery is for his right eye only. The left eye will be done at a latter date.

I will be glad to get this done. It has taken forever and Bob is very frustrated and depressed over this situation. He doesn’t want to paint anymore and is very down on life in general. When he rides in the car he doesn’t look at things he just stares straight ahead.

This state of depression is somewhat puzzling since we know he can read street signs, work word search puzzles, and read at a normal distance. So while his eyes are bad, he can still see. We do not have to tell him to watch his step; he can see steps, puddles, and things on the ground.

I just hope getting his eyes fixed will lift his spirits dramatically. Yesterday while going to the eye doctor I fussed at him to start living his life. To be thankful for the sun shining, the cool breeze, the good music on the radio, and to be with family who loves him. There are so many things he has to be thankful for and not dwell on the negative side of life. He told me, “You don’t understand. You will be old some day, and then you will understand how bad it is.”

Oh, I pray I never let myself know that. I pray that I will always thank God for the day he has given me and praise his name for allowing me the opportunity to influence someone’s life. I hope that I wake everyday with aches and pains, struggling to get out of bed, and then look out the window and smile as I feel the warmth of the sun knowing God has provided another day.

Hopefully, after Bob gets his eyes done he will come to the same place in life. We can only hope and pray.

He baked chocolate chip cookies on Monday with Sarah. The whole house had a wonderful smell. The cookies lasted two days. Every time Bob would come into the kitchen he would grab a cookie.

Encourage him to hang in there one more week. The weather has been great so he can get outside this week end and if nothing else just sit in the sun. The only days we ask that he not go outside are Monday-Wednesday. That is because Rob and I are at work those days. Encourage him to get out and start living his life.

Working in the Yard

First Week of September

Bob was surprised last Friday with a package of old movies from his brother Ronnie. The movies were of Sherlock Holmes, The claw (an old serial), John Wayne and some others. This really brought back memories of how his Dad would take the family up the street to the park where old movies were shown. For about five cents a person you could watch the movie and the kids got to ride on the merry-go-round. For another five cents you got a bag of popcorn to share with your siblings. He said his dad always felt like it was too much money, but in the end it was worth it to keep the family happy. Thanks Ronnie for allowing him to share those memories with us.

We had a few days that we had a communication problem with the doctor office and it caused Bob to be without his medication for two days. It’s all fixed now and I am fairly confident that it won’t happen again. Without his medication, Bob was a little confused for a few days. So if he tells you he walked four miles this week just chuckle and go along with it. He did walk this week, it just seemed like four miles to him.

Bob also was surprised with a package from his childhood friend Harold. Harold sent him a white silk tie that he would like a horse’s head painted on. Well Harold, Bob is going to wait until after his eyes are operated on in a few weeks to try that. We will do a practice run on some paper first. He put the tie on his dresser in a safe place. Thanks for giving him a goal to try and reach for.

Sarah and Bob baked a lemon cake this week. It was very good. Bob told me that Sarah did most of the work. When I questioned Sarah about it she told me that she had put the icing on the cake. “Why didn’t you let Pop help you decorate the cake?” I asked her. “Awe, come on Mom, It’s decorating a cake. That isn’t something a guy’s suppose to do. And besides, I wanted it to look nice.” So it was alright for a guy to help bake the cake, but just not put the icing on it. Hummmm, there has to be something deeper going on there.

Bob’s niece, Lesa sent him the UK Football schedule for the season. He was very pleased to receive that. The schedule is listed on the blog with times and dates. Thanks Lesa he looks forward to the games. We are hoping that after he gets his eyes operated on he will enjoy the games more. It will be nice for him to see clearly.

Saturday we all worked in the yard. Bob lasted for one and a half hours. He did really good sweeping out the carport and pulling weeds from the bushes. I know it felt like it was all morning he worked. The yard looked much better when we had all finished. After work we all got cleaned up and went to get something to eat. He rested the rest of the afternoon. He needed it.

Give him a call this week. He loves to hear from you all. Give him praise for working in the yard. The more he is up and active the better it is for him. I tell him all the time that he needs to exercise the body and the mind to keep them both healthy.

pictures from bowling

Bowling

Bob went bowling this week. He was very afraid and didn’t want to go. He told me to leave him at home, he wasn’t feeling well, the whole nine yards. I kept telling him he would be fine once we got there and if he didn’t feel like bowling he could just watch.

Well we got to the bowling alley and he sat and watched the kids for a while. I asked him if he wanted to bowl and he told me he had better not. I went and got a couple of bowling balls and let him try the weight out on them. The first three were too heavy, but the last one was just right. I let him throw one ball when it came Sarah’s turn to bowl. And he did it! He knocked down seven pins. He was so surprised and happy. All the kids clapped and cheered for him.

I asked for a lane and Bob and I bowled a game together. I walked him to the line and he would throw the ball while I stood next to him. After he threw the ball I would grab him and steady him on his feet. He bowled an eighty-eight. And now he has been bitten by the bug and wants to go again. Sarah’s home school group meets once a month for bowling so we will meet up with them and we are going to try and throw in maybe some bowling times on the week ends.

After we finished bowling I took him to Steak and Shake for lunch. He got a large chocolate milk shake. That is his favorite and we sat until he slurped down the last drop. He told me when we left the restaurant that it had been a great day. He didn’t know that it was going to get better.

We pulled up to the house and the mail was there. Bob used to be a big mail person. He loved getting the mail and would look for the mail man all the time. He was always taking important letters back to his room because his son has the same first name. Rob and I were always fighting with companies telling us they had sent something and we would tell them we had not received it. Finally one day we realized what was happening and when we went back to his room there were a stack of letters on his dresser of things he didn’t know what they were, but knew they were important. Opps!

I got the mail and saw that there was a card for Bob. In the past he would have gotten all excited about a card, but now he doesn’t know if it is really for him or not, so he waits until you open and read it to him and then gets excited. I took him back to him room and opened the card. It was from the people from his high school reunion. They had all signed a card letting him know how much they had missed him. I read the names off to him one by one and he thought hard to remember who they were.

He put the card beside his chair on the bed and that is where it stayed for the rest of the day. It might have even been there when he went to bed last night. We never moved it. I am even thinking about putting it in a frame for him and hanging it in his room. I will have to think about it. Sometimes things hanging on the wall make him nervous. He thinks they are moving. This may be a condition from his cataracts. We won’t know until after his right eye is taken care of on September 23.

When you call and talk to him this week end be sure to ask him about bowling and praise him for trying it. Encourage him to keep it up.

pictures from the VA

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Rain, rain, and more rain is the weather report from Florida. Tropical storm Fay moved herself in and decided that she liked Florida so much she extended her trip. Well, we are tired of Fay and will be glad when she moves on.

Bob had a quiet week for the most part due to the rain. Thursday he went to see his primary care doctor and had a good report. He has been released for eye surgery which will be in September. He also is now on a one month visit instead of every two weeks.
His Alzheimer’s medication has been increased and we are hoping that will help with sleep and some other issues.

The storm had him upset some about his daughter Robin that lives in Cocoa. He was worried that she would have flooding or need help. He finally reached her Thursday evening and felt better after he spoke to her.

He went to bed Thursday watching the “football Olympics” game. He told us that the preseason football game was part of the Olympics. They had started with six teams and now this was the final game. He was glad we had turned it on for him, because he had forgotten all about it. What ever works!

Friday he went to the VA and while he was there, he needed to use the restroom. Well, at first he told me no, but I told him he better try before we started the trip home. Well, he went into the restroom fine and Sarah and I waited outside. He was taking a very long time, so I cracked the door and called for him, asking if he was alright. He told me yes. We waited longer and in that time two other men went in and used the restroom. We waited and waited. I twice more cracked the door and asked if he was alright and he again said yes. All of a sudden the red alarm that is outside the bathroom door started blinking red and sounding an alarm. Sarah and I looked at each other and I opened the door and called for Pop. A worker was in the bathroom and told me that he was fine and he had the situation. I closed the door and told Sarah he had a worker helping him.

Well the alarm never went off and finally the worker came out and told me that Bob had set the alarm off and didn’t know how to turn it off and he didn’t know how to unlock the stall door. Before you knew it there were six people all running in the bathroom, one was a doctor and one was a guy with a lot of brass. Sarah crawled off to a corner in the waiting room and hid her head and I just apologized and explained he was an Alzheimer’s patient.

Well, we finally got him out of the stall, turned the alarm off, flushed the toilet, washed our hands and he wanted to know what all the fuss was about. Everyone had a really good laugh. Bob told one of the guys that it was tough getting old, and I replied, yeah on the young and old. Sarah had a good time teasing him about going to the bathroom and letting the whole VA know that he had to go.

After the bathroom break we went and delivered the crafts he and Sarah’s home school group have worked on. Bob works on these crafts for therapy and the children work on them as a community service. The VA uses the crafts for decorating the nursing home. It is nice that we can provide a great service for them.

Bob likes to paint and work on the crafts most of the time. He used to be quite the painter. He told me that when he was in high school he used to paint horses on ties for people. He would paint the head of a horse on a silk tie for a small fee. I would have like to have seen one of those ties. I bet they were really something. He has a hard time painting now. Picasso would be more his style I would say. Abstract art is what he has progressed to.

Hummmmm, now there’s a thought for you all….Did Van Gogh, Picasso, and all the rest of those great artists really develop into their style of painting or would they all be classified as having Alzheimer’s disease if they were still around today?

Glass Blowing Demo

Glass Blowing Field Trip

Well it was a good and bad week. He painted on Monday and worked a small amount on a word search puzzle. On Tuesday he glued the pieces he painted together to make a collage. They turned out really nice. Wednesday he baked chocolate oatmeal cookies that were very good.

Thursday was a nice day and he went and got his hair cut and we ate lunch at a small local restaurant where the waitress fusses over him.

Thursday night was bad. He called and talked with his dear friend Harold and things were going well, and then suddenly when it was time for bed things got ugly. He somehow thought that instead of going on a field trip I was taking him to a nursing home. He wanted his shoes and his wallet and he was leaving. Rob had to talk to him for a good twenty minutes before he would go to bed. It was an ugly twenty minutes.

Friday morning we get up to head off to the glass blowing studio and again he is in bad shape. He tells me he can't go to the studio he needs to go to the emergency room. Well, I called Rob at work for support and Rob told me to take him to the field trip and if he didn't perk up to take him to the emergency room. Once we got to the studio he perked up and enjoyed the presentation.

After the presentation we went and had lunch at Denny's. That is one of his favorite places to eat. He got pancakes, and a chocolate milk shake. Yummmm. He ate and drank every bite. Now that we are home he seems to be fine. They told me at the doctor's office that patients will constantly think you are going to put them in a home because they recognize that things are not right. They can't put their finger on what the problem is, but they know there are problems.

Well, all I can say is that there are going to be good days and bad days. We had almost four good days. That is pretty good. I will take those odds. Call and talk with him and ask him about the glass blowing demonstration.

Questions that have been asked by friends and family

There have been a number of questions asked from friends and family and I will share them with you all because I know everyone is concerned.

Can Bob travel and move back to Kentucky?

Bob's traveling days are done. We thank God that his last trip was to Vegas and he saw the Grand Canyon on his return trip to Kentucky. He still talks about that trip and had a great time with his brother and family.

Rob and Bob's brother Dave both have power of attorney and when Dave comes to Florida hopefully in October they will sit together and discuss Bob's long term care and what might happen in the future.

How is Bob's physical health?

He is healthy. He is only on a medication for acid reflux, a steroid to help control his blood pressure, and a calcium tablet for his bones. He is also on two medications for Alzheimer's.

How long might he stay like this?

Phase two is the longest recognisable stage. It could last up to 10 years. Bob has shown great signs of decline since his accident with his neck. He seems to have settled now and we hope that he will stay like this for a long while.

Will he get better?

No, he will not get better. He can stay the same, but not get better. He has lost the ability to tie his shoes. Once you loose a motor skill you don't get it back. What we don't want is for him to loose any more motor skills. That is why we try to stimulate the brain as much as possible. The old saying says "If you don't use it, you will loose it." that in this case is very true.

Please ask as many questions as you like. That is what this blog is for, to keep you all informed.

Sarah's Birthday

It was Sarah's birthday today and we took her to do a simulation sky diving with her best friend. Afterwards we went to eat pizza. Bob had a great time watching the sky diving. We asked him if he wanted to try it and he told us no.

The doctor was pleased with his progress and he now returns in two weeks. He sits all day and it is causing him discomfort on his back side so he now has a donut pillow for awhile. So encourage him to get up out of the chair and walk around the house some. We don't want him going for walks unless we are with him so be careful of suggesting he go for a long walk.

He worked on a painting project this week that turned out very nice. He even liked it and said he enjoyed painting it. He also decorated two pots for his plants. We will be planting plants tomorrow in them. On Wednesday it was very nice to come home from work and grab a peanut butter cookie off the plate. He did a great job baking them with Sarah. I would have taken a picture of them, but all that was left were a few crumbs. Sorry guys, maybe the next batch I can get a picture.

The Lord ended Sarah's birthday with a beautiful rainbow in the sky. What a great gift he gave us on this wonderful day. We ended the evening by watching the Olympic games.

He has a lot to talk about this week end, so be sure to give him a ring and hear about all about the things he did this week.

Making cards

Bob made some birthday cards today. He loves to send cards to people so I decided to have him make the cards he sends instead of buying them. This way it gives him a project to do and everyone gets a little something that he made special. This was a simple project of glitter and stickers, but they came out very nice.
The cards he made are for his two cousins who are identical twins. He said they used to go out on double dates and in the middle of the date switch partners. Oh My! I can just imagine all of the trouble those boys must have caused their parents.

word search

Bob worked on a word search today and planted a new plant. The new medication is working we saw great improvement today. We are very happy about that. He was joking around this evening and even fixed a peanut butter sandwich by himself before dinner. I guess I was a little late fixing anything this evening. He couldn't finish his meal, but that is fine. I was so happy that he was active with us and telling jokes.

He told me about how his Father used to love to work word searches. He said he used to work them with a ruler. He said he didn't have the Patience like his Dad did. I was just glad he was telling me a story about his Dad. The word search brought forth a memory and that is very good.

Update on Dr. visit

Bob went to see the Doctor today and has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. He is in stage two of this disease and now has been given medication for memory and behavioral problems. If the new medication does not work he will be sent to a neurologist. He will be going to the medical Doctor once a week to follow this process.

We have been told to get alarms for the doors and we are going to get those this week end. He tried to go out yesterday for a walk without anyone. Last night he got up and was in the kitchen and hall closet and I never heard him. I didn't know he was up until he came to the bedroom door and ask if he could sleep with Rob and me because he had a bad dream.

The medical Doctor also at this time can not release a medical form so he can have his eyes operated on. He must get his mental state stable first before any surgery can happen. We have until September for his eyes, so there is still time and we are hopeful his eyes will still be taken care of in September.

We wish for you all to call and talk to him. He loves your phone calls and talks about everyone and Kentucky all the time.

The osprey came for a visit in the back yard. Bob won't remember it, but you can tell him you saw the picture of it on the computer.

Painting

This is a painting Bob did on Wed. July 30, 2008. He wasn't very happy with it. And didn't really like painting that much. It is good for him to do these projects though and we try and encourage him to do them as much as possible.

July 31, 2008 planting flowers

We have started a new project where we plant flowers in pots. It took us a good two hours to plant these two plants, but we did it!!!!
Dee found the pots at a yard sale. They are really nice. While we were putting the dirt in the pots we got hand cramps.
Dee told me that is why I need to do my painting craft projects during the week to work those hand muscles.