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Getting Younger Every Day Print E-mail
Tuesday, 09 March 2010
Dad went to get a haircut today, since today is Tuesday and Tuesday is haircut day.  Remember this?

When he walked in the door, I complimented his new cut and told him that he looked ten years younger.

"Can I go back and get another one tomorrow? He asked with a grin.

If only it were that easy!
 
Only 272 Shopping Days Left! Print E-mail
Friday, 05 March 2010
I have a friend of mine helping me care for Dad while I am working my full time job during the week. 

Dodie is forty-ish, blond, very pretty, outgoing, and she just loves Dad.  What a perfect match!

When he is in the shower (2 hours) Dodie helps me with my paying job, helping me address a "thank you" note to many of my stage and studio lighting customers.  I like to thank them for their business, since this is such a tough economy.

She asked me if I had a date in mind that I would like to have them mailed out by.

"I wanted to send them out before Christmas, so there's no real at this point.." I replied.

"It is before Christmas." My Dad said casually.

So I guess I am 9 months early instead of 3 months late.  I like the way he thinks!


 
An Ounce of Prevention, a Pound of Cure Print E-mail
Monday, 01 March 2010
Every day, I record my Dad's weight on his pill sheet. 

Since he has congestive heart failure, we have to keep a close tab on his water retention. If he gains more than a couple of pounds a day, it prompts me to check for the swollen ankles that are a symptom of CHF.

Yesterday, I put his pills in front of him (13) and told him I needed to take his weight and he needed to take his pills.

"Can you weigh me first?" He asked.  "That looks like a pound of pills."

Good thinking, Dad!

 
Tit for Tat? Print E-mail
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Dad had a small heat stroke this weekend (don't you wish you lived in NC where the weather is so warm in February) and had to make a quick trip to the emergency room.

When the ambulance came, there was a cute female EMS worker that was in the back, and I rode up front.

She was checking his heart, pulse, breathing, etc and had to remove his shirt.

He began to flirt with her, mentioning that she was so pretty, he did not mind riding all the way to the hospital with her.

When she removed his shirt, he jokingly asked if she would do the same.

"He must be fine." I said.  "If he is chasing a pretty girl, he must be back to normal."

Dad is still a ladies man, even in an ambulance!
 
Tit for Tat? Print E-mail
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Dad had a small heat stroke this weekend (don't you wish you lived in NC where the weather is so warm in February) and had to make a quick trip to the emergency room.

When the ambulance came, there was a cute female EMS worker that was in the back, and I rode up front.

She was checking his heart, pulse, breathing, etc and had to remove his shirt.

He began to flirt with her, mentioning that she was so pretty, he did not mind riding all the way to the hospital with her.

When she removed his shirt, he jokingly asked if she would do the same.

"He must be fine." I said.  "If he is chasing a pretty girl, he must be back to normal."

Dad is still a ladies man, even in an ambulance!
 
Cheap Labor Print E-mail
Saturday, 20 February 2010
Occasionally, I will ask Dad to help me with small tasks around the house such as folding towels, unloading the diswasher (I could never find ANYTHING so we discontinued that one), wiping off the counters in the kitchen, etc.

It gives him a sense of purpose and he completes each task with care and precision.

Yesterday, I asked him if he would clean a pan for me, since we had gone out the night before and had no dishes for him to load into the diswasher.

This pan is a large rectangular pan that can cook a turkey, french fries, macaroni and cheese, lasagna and other delicious foods that can really "burn in" to a pan.  It was pretty yucky.

He gladly accepted the challenge and I went back to work in my home office.

A while later, he emerged from the kitchen and sat down to finish the newspaper.

When I looked at the pan that was formerly covered in gunk was as clean as it was the day I bought it in 1998.

Today I'm putting him to work on the cookie sheets!

 
Finding Hidden Treasure Print E-mail
Wednesday, 17 February 2010

Every time Dad and I do a project where we are reminiscing about the past, I pull out a box of his things from his old house (there are about 70) and we pick out items from the past to talk about.  Yesterday, we found his FIRST resume from 1951. 

It reads:

Alumni Records Clerk at Rutgers Alumni Office     $   .75/hour
Sales Clerk at Rutgers Bookstore                             $   .75/hour
Painter at NJ Public Service                                        $ 1.00/hour
Spot Welder at J.D. Ross Engineering                     $ 1.25/hour
Lab Assistant at Johnson & Johnson                       $   .50/hour
Soda Clerk at Vick's Sweet Shop                               $   .50/hour


This covers the jobs he held from 1942 (age 14) to 1951 (age 23).  What an illustrious career!

I sure am glad he finally made it as a stockbroker or we would not even be able to afford his home heath aides!

 
Happy Valentine's Day! Print E-mail
Sunday, 14 February 2010
We may not all get flowers or candy, but caregivers have the biggest hearts of any single group of people in the world!

I am proud to be in your company.

Never forget:  Love may not conquer all, but it sure conquers most!

 
Alzheimer's and My Computer Print E-mail
Friday, 12 February 2010
My computer crashed and I lost all of my information.

Documents, emails, photos, everything. 

I have felt helpless, angry, frustrated, distraught and extremely sad about all of the information I have lost.

My computer is spending the weekend at a repair shop where they may be able to restore my old files.  Probably not.

Now I really know how Dad feels!  Since he has Alzheimer's, his "hard drive" information is all gone, too.  

I wish there was a repair shop for his memory!
 
Super Sunday Print E-mail
Sunday, 07 February 2010
Dad and I went to the grocery store today to stock up on snacks for our last-minute Super Bowl party for eight.

My friend, Beth has four kids and no television set, so they are coming over en masse to watch the Saints and Colt battle it out in the last Pro-football game of the year.

We were in the car driving home when my Dad proclaimed, "There sure is a lot of traffic for a Sunday."

Now how in the heck did he know it was Sunday?  There was no chalkboard with the day and date on it and he did not have a newspaper (his two usual ways of knowing what day it is).

Is it possible that all of the hype and advertising of Super Bowl Sunday can actually get inside the brain of a person with Alzheimer's disease?

Now that's some pretty darned good advertising!




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