Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2007. Each August, I would take Mattie to Los Angeles to visit my parents. We knew Mattie needed physical activity and stimulation, so we introduced him to Griffith Park. Ironically, when I was growing up, I never visited this park. But it became a favorite of Mattie's. At the park, he could do everything from taking a train ride, riding horses, to going on an old world carousel.
Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.
- number of people diagnosed with the virus: 1,979,850
- number of people who died from the virus: 112,006
I woke up at 4:00am today, so we could catch a 7am flight to Los Angeles. Naturally we had no idea what to expect at the airport or on the plane, given that we are still dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. There was no passenger screening for temperature checks. For the most part, everyone was masked and keeping their distance.
When we boarded the plane, I could smell the clorox or bleach, while walking down the jetway. Things smelled clean and we could see that everything was wiped around our seats. Though I came prepared with gloves and disinfectant of my own and cleaned our entire space anyway. But what as also a wonderful surprise was the plane was new. Things looked fresh and clean, which was appreciated.
In the midst of this, we had a wonderful flight attendant. He even wrote us a note saying how grateful he was that we flew with him today. As our presence enables him to have a job. It was very touching. This fellow couldn't do enough for us and he even brought me hot tea almost every two hours with a special tea bag! I did not ask for it, he was just that kind.
I would say that my dad got around today with his walker and really made good strides. He was lucid by day and even did a better job eating. However, as 5pm rolls around, you can see that he becomes exhausted and his confusion and disorientation increase ten fold. He can ask you the same question twenty times and he has no memory of asking the question or of the responses you have been giving him. Yet he gets agitated and fixated for a response. He does things that make no sense. For example, he was released from the hospital a week ago tomorrow. Yet in this 7 day time period he has refused to take his socks and shoes off. He says he is more comfortable with them on! Rest assured, I got them off today!
We had the opportunity to meet my dad's physical therapist today, who is lovely. He agreed with me that my dad needs an occupational therapist and a nurse to help us with his bathing. If all of this wasn't enough to adjust to and manage, let's add a move to the mix. Peter and I are trying to figure out how best to accomplish my parent's move especially since we don't have as much time as we would like to devote to this, because my dad needs our full attention.
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