I spoke with Mom after the appointment with Dr. Johnston. She noted that Dad was unable to recall how many children he has, ultimately indicating "there were 5 girls and then 3 boys" - clearly recollecting his own sibling cohort. When asked to name the children, he eventually mentioned Cathy (who was there). While Dad had no problem recognizing us when visiting, this indicates he is having some difficulty with memory when there is no prompt or cue present. This is not uncommon - and something I noticed often with Arelli as well.

I sat with Dad during his lunch of chicken, dressing, broccoli, carrots, butter beans, roll and banana pudding. He ate it with no hesitation (like he used to have a few months ago).

We played cribbage, but it took a few turns for Dad to remember what to do exactly. But then he did fine mostly, and even remembered some things I didn't about the right jack.

The pollen was really bad so Wally hasn't been able to visit this week. He took Mom and I out for pizza after church on Saturday.

Mom and I will take him to see Dr. Johnston tomorrow and he may repeat the memory test he took last month to see if there is an improvement.

Just thought I would give my impressions from my visit to W-S April 7-9.

Dad was doing better than I thought, he is mostly coherent, remembers me and others, and played a good game of cribbage (he had me doing the pegging, but Justine said he pegged other games that she played). However, he basically seems to lack any motivation - to bring up topics, to want to do anything. Everything has to be suggested to him, but then he is very amiable. He is very concerned about toileting (doesn't want to go anywhere without using a bathroom first), and he needs assistance in there, this verified by Justine (e.g, he might use a towel to wipe vs. toilet paper).

He is also much quieter than he used to be - not much conversation initiated by him. I did notice that he indicated he looks forward to visits, and he was disappointed one night that we were going out to the play and not back to see him. This was an example of being a bit more assertive in expressing what he wanted to do or in being involved with family.

I do think he needs the 24 hour care and supervision he's getting in the Alzheimer's Unit. What is lacking at Homestead Hills that he could use more of, is 1x1 and exercise. The activities at Homestead Hills don't actively engage Dad (although I noticed the item that he participated in dancing - good!), he needs 1x1 at this stage it seems. I do think that the staff is friendly, kind to the patients, etc. However, their tasks seem geared to medical and basic needs like meds, dressing, safety, toileting.

I am encouraged by the interaction that Cathy and Mom are having, and that Wally wants to come visit weekly, too.

I think the Blog is a GREAT idea, and will help us to understand how he reacts to the stimulation.

Today, Mom and I played checkers. Dad was coaching. We both play at the same level so it was fun, so I was able to win for a change. I am going to have to learn strategy I think if I am going to beat Dad.

I saw Wally and family at church on Saturday. Mom and I went out to K&W with them afterwards. Wally wants to try and play Cribbage with Dad once per week!

Mom bought some more sweat pants and shirts, she is not sure if she likes the pants that zip apart to make shorts.

Dad says he DOES NOT want the exercise bike in his room. But it will be more fun to walk around outside anyway (at least until the end of the year).

I appreciate your update Cathy!

Here's a few more comments and observations from my recent visit.

Dad's focus definitely varies from day to day and time to time. Overall, I was really pleased at how well he can still follow games and strategies, when he is focussing. Occasionally he required some prompting, but mostly only at the beginning of a new game. With Cribbage, he seemed to have most trouble in remembering which direction the pegging was supposed to go, rather than knowing which cards to play.

Dad seemed to me to require a fair bit of prompting and assistance with daily living - dressing, toilet, grooming. For example, when brushing his teeth, he continued to brush for a very long time, until I suggested he could stop.

He does seem to engage with the activities at the center. Mom mentioned she had visited once to find him up and dancing (one of the regularly scheduled activities). Barb and I talked with the Activities Director, who mentioned that recently exercises have not been scheduled as frequently as before, but these will be reinstated when she is better (she broke an ankle). The exercise is normally 'sitercize' type activity, running a few times a week. I didn't really get much chance to observe the activities, as we frequently took Dad out, rather than staying around the residence. When we were leaving, one caretaker (Joyce) mentioned that she would like to learn cribbage (she had been observing us play).

One day when we took Dad to the house, a Braves game was on so he was watching it. He definitely seemed to enjoy this, and was clearly following the play and told me what had been happening when I returned from being out of the room. At the Homestead, when we found him in the TV room, I didn't sense he was really following it there, and Mom had said before he didn't always seem to be interested in the games the way he used to be, so I thought this was good.

I'm feeling more comfortable with the arrangements now. I think Dad is generally happy where he is. We can continue to look into additional activities which might offer more physical activity, and work regularly with the staff to keep information flowing.

I will really enjoy hearing any comments everyone has whenever they talk or see Dad. Cathy and Mom carry most of the burden for providing companionship - I really appreciate the efforts. It can be difficult day after day, particularly when Dad is less responsive from time to time.

I played Dominos with Mom and Dad. Mom took the instructions home to try to understand them better. I think they were translated from a foreign language. Dad decided to skip some of his turns to "see what would happen" .(Mom and me were unable to play so eventually Dad took his turn). The lady who cleans was in the room when we were playing. She likes to watch, but sometimes she annoys me when she asks questions. I think I will ask her next time if she wants to play....

The meal looked good, braised beef in sauce, broccoli and cauliflower, homemade mashed potatoes, roll and some kind of beans.

April 11, 2004

Had a nice Scrabble game with Dad, Justine, Suzie and me (Cathy). I won! Dad played quite a bit on his own, with help at times. He also played Cribbage and won easily.

Picked Dad up around 2pm today to bring him to Mom's house. He is watching the Braves on TV. When he first arrived he started talking about "3 destroyers" that were sent to Coney Island, one of which was equipped to handle nuclear fire.