Early lunch

Steve and I went to see Alda today. I waited for the chocolate zucchini bread to come out of the oven so I could take her some. It was 11 by the time we got there. No one was in her room. We went down to the dining room, and she was just getting there as we did. For someone who didn't like to get up before 11, to be having your second meal at 11 is EARLY! She has told us before that they get her up at 6:30 in the morning. Such an early schedule makes it hard to visit. If I come after work, she is eating dinner. If I come after our dinner, she is already in bed.

We stayed for dinner. I picked up the bib to put it on her. It was VERY damp. I looked at the aid and said, "This is wet." She said, "Yeah, they didn't get it dry enough." It was beyond not dry enough.

I offered to put some salt on her food - as she always salts everything. She wanted salt. As I picked up the salt shaker, it had food slarmed on it - still wet from breakfast. Alda used to wash off her salt and pepper shaker after every meal.

I did see one good thing. They put her milk and OJ in mugs with handles on both sides. This seemed to help a lot.

I'm not overly impressed with Sunshine Terrace.

She has quite a case of cradle cap on her head. I hope someone is treating it. I never hear any updates.

I continue to hear rave reviews of Legacy House. If she recovers enough to leave Sunshine Terrace, I hope she can go there.

She was able to carry on a conversation (between mouthfuls). She knew Norm had stopped by on Saturday and that Debbie was to the Women's broadcast.

I haven't been up to the house in a few weeks. Evidently the washing machine leaks - even when it is not being used. I would love to see the house put on the market. It may not sell, but how do you know if you don't even ask a real estate agent? Leaving it obviously empty all winter is unwise. Pipes could freeze. The roof could ice up. Someone could break in. August home sales were the strongest they've been in six years in Cache Valley.

Two Person Assist

I went visiting teaching to Elaine. Her mother-in-law is at Legacy House at the Alzheimer's unit. She asked how I liked Sunshine Terrace. I said it was "okay" - but nothing great. She asked if we were going to try to get into Legacy House. I told her I didn't think it was an option as Grandma is a "two person assist". Elaine had her husband come to talk to me. He said that his Mom used to be in Sunshine Terrace until one day he came and didn't even recognize his Mom. Her hair was down around her face and she had no make-up. He told them he wasn't pleased with her appearance. He moved her to Legacy House within a week. There, they keep her looking great - even though she is in the Alzheimer's unit. They put on her makeup every day. The administrators greet the patrons with a hug and ask how they are doing.

I said I hadn't seen ANYTHING like that at Sunshine Terrace. I come in the back way, and usually no one is at the desk. I come and stay for an hour without seeing anyone, unless we call for assistance. However, I said, I just don't think we can ever get to Legacy House because she is a two-person assist.

He said he thought there may be a way around it - especially if she got a little stronger. His mom is now a two person assist, but they get around it by having hospice come in. Hospice is not there for every assist - but when they aren't, Legacy House just has two of their aids help. He advised us to have Legacy House at least come to give an evaluation.

Figuring it out

Yesterday, I left work early so I could have a good visit with her. When I got there, she was on the toilet with a CNA waiting outside. After twenty minutes, she was still on the toilet so I gave up.

I'm having a hard time knowing what to do when I visit Alda. Many times she can't talk. Often she can't hear what we say - so conversation isn't satisfying for either of us.

After visiting assisted living, this is such a disappointment. When we went to Pioneer Valley together, meals were lively visits with friends. Here, meals are dull visits where the only conversation is about food and what has been spilled. In assisted living, there were lots of activities. Here, the main activity seems to be sleeping. In assisted living, the patrons were immaculate in their personal hygiene. Here, I see hairdos uniquely styled by sitting in a high backed chair all day. At least they are now using a bib with Alda, so she isn't wearing her food all day - but the fact that I had to ask them to use a bib is concerning.

Sunshine Terrace

Alda is now in Sunshine Terrace Rehab. After falling four times in less than a week, the decision was made to move her to Legacy House. Before she could move in, she became nearly comatose. She stopped eating. Couldn't talk. Here eyes were vacant. The doctor wasn't sure whether the brain damage was caused from falling (and cracking her head against the nightstand, twice) or mini-strokes. She is now in rehab. She has good days and bad. Today wasn't a very good day. She would try to talk, but didn't make much sense. She could ask for a coke. She asked Steve if he had been to school (though he retired a year and a half ago), but covered herself by asking if he didn't still work in the nursery. She didn't know what day it was. She thought we had come from church. She was "seeing" a black dog. I asked if she recognized it. She said she did. If we stuck to the standard questions, she was okay - but would often answer a different question or become stuck on a word she couldn't think of. She would try a few dozen partial words before settling on one. But the word she found didn't make any sense in the context.

She said she could drink her coke from the bottle, but she spilled it down the front of her. We got her a mug with a straw, which worked much better. She was drooling a lot

When we came by on Sunday morning (around 10:15) she was asleep in the chair. We woke her up and took her on a walk around the block. We walked over to second north, down to fifth west, over to fourth north, and back home. The sidewalks were BAD!!! The wheelchair isn't really meant for rugged terrain. There were several times we almost did a face plant as the wheels hit an uneven part of the sidewalk.

Alda was pretty good on Sunday and would answer questions about the variety of flowers we saw. We took several pictures, but none of them were flattering of her.