Wednesday, May 11, 2022

Wednesday, May 11, 2022

Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2006. Mattie was four years old and that day we took Mattie out for Easter brunch. Overall Mattie wasn't as wild about food as I am, yet we always had our bag of activity tricks in tow and of course French fries also were good motivators!

Quote of the day: Offering care means being a companion, not a superior. It doesn’t matter whether the person we are caring for is experiencing cancer, the flu, dementia, or grief. If you are a doctor or surgeon, your expertise and knowledge comes from a superior position. But when our role is to be providers of care, we should be there as equals. ~ Judy Cornish

This morning, my dad had a follow up doctor's appointment at the hospital. This doctor runs the acute rehab department, where my dad spent a week recovering from his pacemaker surgery. I feel it is important to keep a relationship with this doctor, especially given the fact that any hospitalization will be problematic for my dad and he will need the time rehabbing. I pulled it off once getting my dad into rehab, but having connections moving forward I think is crucial. 

My mom has friends coming over tomorrow night for dinner. Not the best timing for me, as I am desperately trying to juggle our virtual walk on Sunday. In any case, because one of our visitors only eats fish, I decided to buy fresh fish today. So literally after the hospital visit, I went to Whole Foods. I left my dad in the car for a few minutes. I thought going to Whole Foods would be a good idea! It wasn't. I had the WORST experience ever. I was totally ignored at the fish counter. The person who eventually worked with me was surly and completely incompetent. I also landed up not getting the fish I wanted and had to spend more than I was planning on. Try $131 for fish! In my opinion that is ridiculous. I only wanted 3.5 pounds of fish, but the person sold me 4.5 pounds. Honestly because my dad was in the car, I just dealt with it. But when I got to the check counter and put the fish on the counter, it was SO POORLY wrapped that all the fish practically fell out. That was the LAST STRAW. I demanded to see a manager.

I explained my whole experience at the fish counter and she could see how poorly wrapped the fish was.... so being ignored, not having a person who knew anything about fish, the person refused to go in the back and look to see if they had flounder, and then selling me a pound extra of halibut overall made for a very unpleasant experience. I get better treatment at my neighborhood grocery store. In any case, the manager took $80 off the price of the fish, so I got it for $51. Better.  

I then took my parents to Clyde's of Reston. Since my parents have moved in with us, we have spent a great deal of time going to this restaurant. Given my dad's dementia..... consistency, familiarity, and structure are important to him. Sitting next to my dad is Dawn. Dawn has been caring for us since December. We have gotten close to her and she is good mental stimulation for my dad. Today was her last day at the restaurant, because tomorrow she goes on vacation. This restaurant closes on May 21, but fortunately she is relocating to another Clyde's and we will follow her there. We had a chance to say good-bye to her today and she brought over a parting gift. A bottle of ketchup for my dad, which she signed. The joke behind this is I carry a bottle of ketchup in a tote bag. I do this because my dad wants a lot of ketchup and during COVID many restaurants no longer bring out a bottle. Inside they provide a little cup, which doesn't cut it for my dad. Dawn gets a kick out of my bottle, which is why she gave my dad one to take home. 

In addition to Dawn, we have gotten to know Anthony the assistant GM of the restaurant. Together they have made it feel like this is our second home. It is a shame that this restaurant is closing and I will miss the care and understanding that all the staff show to me. It is hard being a caregiver, but when others around me understand, it makes even the challenging moments of dining out with my dad, much easier. 

When I got home, I started preparing for our dinner tomorrow night. I baked a blueberry pie, as there is no way, on top of everything else I am doing tomorrow, that I am going to tackle that too.