Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2006, at Mattie's 4th birthday party. That was the first year we had a party outside of the house to celebrate the occasion. We chose Riverbend Nature Center, and Mattie had a dinosaur themed party. Mattie and his close friends got to meet some local animals with a naturalist, went digging in a sandbox for plastic dinosaur bones, and took a walk in the woods and learned about trees and plants along the way. It was a fun and memorable day for all of us.
Quote of the day: Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. ~ Dale Carnegie
It was another early morning, as both of my parents had appointments with their primary care doctor. This is the doctor I have referred to as Dopey! Unfortunately he hasn't graduated from that status with me. He and I are like oil and water. My dad needed a health form completed in order to start Insight's memory day program on Monday. Mind you I sent this form to the doctor's office manager last week and even called him on Monday of this week to make sure that the form got completed by TODAY. Without this completed form, my dad can't attend the center. I tried every way possible to make Monday's start date possible, but in typical dopey fashion, he wouldn't complete the form today and said he needed the weekend to do it! I took a deep breath and alerted this start date change to Insight. Dopey was seeing my dad every 6 months before. Now he has upped it to every three months. Personally I think this means that he needs to keep a closer eye on my dad and his disease progression.
While at the doctor's office, my parents asked him about the fourth COVID shot. The doctor encouraged them to get it. Why am I telling you this? Because my dad asked the doctor the same question about the shot no less than 6 times. My dad's cognitive issues are very pronounced and to me he has been on a rapid decline since I saw him last April (2021) in Los Angeles. The move to Virginia, and another hospitalization, haven't helped him either.
The doctor talked with all of us today about a DNR (do not resuscitate). The reason he brought this up was because it was a question on the Insight intake form. I have medical power of attorney for both of my parents and in their health directive it makes it clear that I can make determinations about their care and life saving measures. The doctor wants us to consider a DNR for both of my parents (despite the fact that I checked no DNR). A DNR instructs health care providers not to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if a patient's breathing stops or if the patient's heart stops beating. Thus, physicians, nurses, and others are not to initiate emergency procedures such as chest compression, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, electroshock, insertion of tube to open airways, and other forms of resuscitation.
I do not view my dad's situation as being equivalent to Mattie's. Mattie had a DNR, because his diagnosis was terminal. My dad could go on like this for a while. So again I don't agree with this doctor. He tried to tell me that sometimes performing life saving measures on someone my dad's age produces MAJOR impairments that can totally strip away one's quality of life. I heard him, I am processing what he is saying, but I also do not feel comfortable signing a DNR for the memory care center to have on file. I think at the end of the day, I feel like this doctor just doesn't make the effort to understand me, the nature of our family situation, or our wishes. I have my own physical coming up this week, and I will address this topic with my own doctor.
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