Monday, March 14, 2022

Monday, March 14, 2022

Tonight's picture was taken in March of 2006. Mattie was about four years old. The flower pot sitting next to him was created by his preschool class. Each child in the classroom put their thumb print on it and their symbol next to it. Mattie's symbol that year was the Moon. I bought this flower pot at the school's auction and Mattie was very proud to have it in our living room. 

Quote of the day: For what it’s worth: It’s never too late to be whoever you want to be. I hope you live a life you’re proud of, and if you find you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start over again. ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

My mom and I were at the hospital today from noon until 7pm. I am worn out. Tomorrow we both have to be there by 9am for three hours of "family training." LOVELY! 

I think these therapists see my dad in short bursts. So to them he may seem higher functioning than he really is. They truly do not have the same insights as I do, since I am the one doing all the work. 

Since my dad has been at the hospital (on Thursday will be two weeks), they have only bathed him ONCE. I bathe my dad everyday. Not to mention feed, toilet, do all his exercises and the list goes on. In comparison to their one hour sessions, my day looks MUCH different than theirs. As I read some of their reports from today through the portal, they view him as meeting goals. He maybe meeting some physical goals, but unfortunately without a lot of cuing and constant reminding, he absorbs and attains nothing. I view this as a problem, they just accept it. They are lucky to have the ability to accept things as they are, because as of Thursday my dad will be discharged, they will forget about him and move on to the next patient. Whereas I will be back to managing him 24/7. 

The real kicker today was my dad had a nursing assistant who told me I should be bringing in fleece blankets for my dad. That they are cozier and less heavy than hospital blankets. HONESTLY really? She is lucky I did not throttle her. I am balancing all of his needs in the hospital, saving her TIME! I get him plenty of hospital blankets and therefore he isn't cold. Instead, I think she could save me the guilt trip and focus on her own job.