Saturday, August 8, 2020

Saturday, August 8, 2020

Tonight's picture was taken on August 1, 2008, ten days after we learned about Mattie's diagnosis. Honestly at that point, none of us knew if we were coming or going. While in the outpatient clinic, Mattie quickly became buddies with the art therapists and the art table. Thankfully as Jenny and Jessie were life savers for all of us, and art became the productive and therapeutic diversion during our 14 months of hospitalization. 

Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins. 

• number of people diagnosed with the virus: 4,994,276
• number of people who died from the virus: 162,381

I woke up this morning to some photos of Miss Indie in Boston. Indie absolutely loves sinks. You can leave her with a bowl of water, but she would much prefer getting you to turn on the sink so she could get water on the tap!

Typically when I go to Boston with Peter, Indie hides for days under a bed. As it takes her a while to adjust to her new surroundings. But Indie has gotten her brave on and is roaming around the house and making herself comfortable!

Cats and window sills!

Miss curiosity! Thinks a napkin is a bird! 

Meanwhile, Sunny loves to visit Boston. It is like going to summer camp. He gets a lot of backyard time, to watch birds, and look for squirrels and chipmunks!

After a busy day of exploring, every good boy needs a nap!

Meanwhile, out in LA...... My days start at 6:15am, so that I can get showered, dressed, and make breakfast before the caregiver comes at 8am. 

At 8am, the weekend caregiver arrived and she heard about our weekly caregiver who quit to take another job which is offering her more work hours. I have to say I am not as angry as I was when I first heard the news about this woman leaving. Yet I have put my dad's other two caregivers on notice, that I would like to know if they are planning on leaving. Just when things were getting stabilized with care, everything once again fallen apart. I gave today's caregiver a lecture. As she says the caregiver must follow the company's policy which dictates that if a caregiver is planning to leave a job she must first alert the company and then the company alerts the client. Perhaps that is the policy, but there is a difference between policy and ethical behavior. 

Caregiving is not like your typical job! These individuals work in homes and with vulnerable people. When families invite these folks in, we are expecting them to be trustworthy and because we see them daily, a certain level of rapport and friendship forms. Therefore, if the policy is that a caregiver alerts the agency about leaving employment, the caregiver should also have the decency to let the family know of this decision. As our relationship is with the caregiver NOT the agency. It would give the family the opportunity to discuss to have some closure about the departure.