Dad did finish his letter to Louise. I hadn't noticed that he did until I came back from an appt. I was gone touring a Senior Day Center facility here in BA. I think Dad would benefit from socializing with others in his own situation. I know I would benefit from a break now and then. I told Dad about it and he seemed interested and we talked about it. I was thinking a couple times a week at first and then if he liked it, maybe more days and shorter time periods. There were 7 men in the program which surprised me. Usually these places are full of women and no men. Dad seemed to particularly like Thursdays with that being the day they have Bible Study. I think we might do Mondays and Thursdays. I will need to wait till his home health care is done.
Dad needs constant observing as he is now trying to stand alone. I have caught him twice this week standing with his walker......I just walk to him and don't panic but have pleaded with him not to do that. I explain the whole thing about ending up in a cast, hospitals, pain, etc. Apparently that doesn't faze him when he has dementia in full bloom.
This morning the PT gal was due at 9am and after a long long night of Dad getting up every 2 hours with "someone" in his room. He gets very upset with me when I don't see these people. Paranoia sets in and he thinks I am "in on it with them". He went back to sleep at 7am. I let him sleep till 8:45. I got him up and ready for her and sat him in the kitchen in the chairs they do their exercises in. She pulled into the driveway and I was folding the blankets on the sofa. Dad was doing his pre exercises as he does often when he is expecting PT and OT. I turned my back on Dad for 10 seconds.....TEN SECONDS and when I turned around he was hitting the floor in the kitchen. I dropped the blanket and RAN to the kitchen. He is saying, OH don't pick me up, leave me lay, I will get up, you will hurt your back........I was upset with him and concerned at the same time. I saw he had a cut on his hand.....nothing major and not bleeding much but still a tear in delicate skin. I have this very thick dense rug RIGHT ON THE SPOT he landed. I couldn't believe the luck. I have ceramic tile kitchen floors but for this one spot where the rug is. That saved him I believe. He landed his head on the side right on it along with his shoulder. He has a little bump on the side of his brow is all. No marks anywhere else, thank goodness. Right after I got him up and seated the PT gal came in and we told her what happened and she tried AGAIN to talk to DAD about this. She said it's very common when patients are getting better to think they can do it all again like the once did and they almost always fall.
He was up 5 times all night and by 5:30am he was up out of his bed and on the floor in his bedroom. He had pulled the guard off, which really took some doing, and asking me where I have been???? Oh Lord, here we go with some more of his traveling stories. Apparently he had been down the river...not just any river but the MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
I mean it's not funny when he does all this but YET he adds humor and I can't help but laugh at what he says because it's so dang funny. So Rod lifts him up from the floor as it was time for Rod to get up anyway....all the while Dad is going on about his adventures. I get him in the bathroom and while he is on the pot I am once again lecturing him.......{like it does any good} and Dad puts his fingers in his ears....and I started to laugh cause that's what I have been known to do to Rod and I NOW know where I got this from. LOL So I called Rod to come back and see what Dad was doing and then Rod started to laugh and said he guessed I just couldn't help but do that too. It was so funny that Dad started to laugh. Normally I find NOTHING funny at 5:30am but this was FUNNY.
What's NEXT?
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