Tonight's picture was taken in August 2008. Mattie's cousins came down from Boston to visit with him over the weekend. Mattie's kindergarten class gave him an electronic gaming system, so he could play it in the hospital. Mattie's cousins were showing him how it worked. However, Mattie wasn't into electronic devices and he rarely played with this gaming system. He much preferred human interaction and play that involved building and creating with objects.
Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.
- number of people diagnosed with the virus: 4,873,747
- number of people who died from the virus: 159,931
It was a three ring circus this morning. We had my dad's caregiver who arrived at 8am. The housekeepers came at 9am, the wound care specialist came at 9:30am, and the physical therapist came at 10am. It is a lot of people and things to juggle here!
When I arrived in Los Angeles in June, I found out that my dad had a sore on his back bone. The wound care specialist told me that the sore developed because of him being sedentary and malnourished. Now a month later and with weekly care, this is what it looks like (below). To me it looks about the same. The specialist told me that since the sore is on a bone and in a place that always gets rubbed when sitting or lying down, it is hard for it to heal. The dressing that goes over this wound gets changed every two days.
Jon, my dad's physical therapist came this morning, and we went through all his home exercises. I am VERY very frustrated. I took a video of each exercise and wrote detailed notes to the caregivers and explained that these exercises needed to be done DAILY! Guess what? They were NEVER done. I was livid but couldn't express that, because it would accomplish nothing. So again, I will have to address this with each caregiver.
One of the PT exercises involves my dad getting up and down from the chair. Try about 20 times. When my dad first started this in June, it was a challenge. Now he is doing it smoothly!
Frankly my dad's physical issues pale in comparison to the cognitive and emotional issues. This is what can be very wearing 24/7. He can do things that aren't rational or logical and of course this can lead to emotional outbursts. In the midst of all of this, my dad has always had irritable bowel syndrome. Symptoms include abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, and constipation. Some people can control their symptoms by managing diet, lifestyle, and stress. Prior to my dad's hospitalizations managing this chronic disease was challenging but now it is like mission impossible. As the need for the bathroom can arise within seconds, but now he can't more as fast, nor can he get his pants off to go to the bathroom. So this causes frustration, stress, and great anxiety.
I have provided caregiving support to my maternal grandmother and of course to Mattie. Not to mention my friend, Mary. However, no two caregiving situations are the same mainly because of the personality of the person you are caring for. In June and July, I had a very compassionate and patient demeanor when working with my dad. But now, I am taking a more firmer and tough love approach because the only way he will become more independent and be able to age in place, is if he takes an active approach and wants his situation to improve.
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