Often when I am getting Dad into bed at night I flash back to a day nearly 50 years ago. Outside that same bedroom window, my brother and I were playing tackle football in the lush green grass on the side lawn. Just my brother and I. He was nearly five years older and had…
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Endearments
Yesterday afternoon, when I walked into the family room after working in my office all morning, Dad was sitting in his wheelchair, awake and alert. “How are you doing?” he said. I was surprised to hear what sounded like a complete sentence, but I wasn’t quite sure what I had heard. “What did you say?”…
This is a problem
A little before the events surrounding our efforts to get Dad to take Aricept, I had come home, around the Christmas holidays as I recall. Mom was having serious problems with Dad wanting to get up in the night and start to wander, even catching him outside about 4am at one point. Needless to say…
Cheeking
When Dad was first diagnosed with Alzheimer’ s his doctor recommended the usual medications, such as Exelon and Aricept, which I gather are still common, now deliverable via patches, which is probably a great boon for some. But Dad had a severe physical reaction to these meds–immediate cold sweats, trembling, nausea, and vomiting. We kept…
Lifts
In addition to Alzheimer’s Dad has long had very arthritic hip which has prevented him from walking for about 3 years now. We did our best to extend his mobility with physical therapy and exercise, but while his spirit was willing, the act became too painful. We purchased a sit-to-stand lift (made by Apex, model…
More early signs
I recall vividly an incident on Dad’s 85th birthday–that was 7 years ago. I had flown home for the Christmas holidays a bit early to be there for his birthday, and to help Mom fix a nice meal and a cake. After the meal was done and the cake was brought out, Dad remarked about…