Response to Cathy

I just wrote a long response to Cathy's post and it must have crossed paths with Justine's post or something, but it got lost! Anyway, will try to recreate. I said...

I think Dad remembers you and all of us. Lois reviews our pictures with him regularly...sometimes the names don't come, but I truly believe he knows each of us. If anything, yours is the name he does remember! In fact, I just went to remind Dad about your upcoming visit. He responded " I DEFINITELY want to see her," with an emphasis on "definitely"!

Regarding brushing teeth, Dad brushes his teeth by himself for me every night! I have tried to encourage Ken to have Dad do as much for himself as possible...pulling pants down, getting up and down from sitting, getting into bed, etc. It's really a mind-set and requires patience...it's natural to want to help when he's struggling, but for sure if you do it for him, he will do it less and less, which ultimately makes it more difficult for everyone. I have the same expectations with the caregivers and feel that they're doing a good job in this regard. Cathy, if you can assist Ken (assuming he's willing) by modeling some of your approaches, that would be great.

I also feel strongly that keeping Dad active (as much as possible) is good. As I've said before, Lois takes Dad for at least a 5 minute walk around the house twice a day, as well as engaging him in puzzles, reading and other. Ken has said that Dad doesn't do much at his house. This last trip (and on previous visits) Ken reported that he had trouble with Dad waking up in the middle of the night and not going back to bed, and also not eating. I would propose that activity might help to alleviate this. Of course I realize it's easier for me since Dad is here more regularly, and there may be other factors affecting Dad's behavior at his house.