Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Mr Dancy Update Wednesday

Upon arrival this morning Mr Dancy was asleep. He did not want to get up this morning i had to wait for a little while and he finally got up. He began his day with his daily morning routine of care. He then had breakfast and afterwards he went outside for his morning walk he moved around better today and was able to complete his regular walk without struggle. He then came back inside and begin looking through a magazine. He dosed off and napped a little and later on i offered him a card game and he played just a little and dosed off again. Later he ate lunch and afterwards he began dosing again. I asked him to go for a walk and got up right away. He would not get up to go to the bathroom for a diaper change around noon so i had to wait until he walked the second time and then was able to get him into the bathroom. After the bathroom he went into his room and I showed him the picture of him that was sent by Cathy and he immediately was able to identify himself not sure of where the picture was taken but he know he was on the picture. He talked a little bit more today. I would say that he had a wonderful day.

Dad Relaxing on his Ship


Here are some pictures of Dad, working as well as relaxing on the Ship while he was in the navy, taken probably in the early 50s.

It sounds like he is resting a lot at Barb's home.

I hope he is doing well!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Mr Dancy Update Tuesday

Upon arrival Mr Dancy was asleep. After waking up he showered etc. He then went to the kitchen to have breakfast and afterwards he appeared to be really tired today and sleepy. He did not want to participate in any activities today at all nor did he want to go walking. He sat at the table and dosed off and on throughtout the entire day and would not move from the table sitting from 9:30am to 3:00pm again. He ate lunch and continued to sit and finally i was able to get him to go with me to the restroom at 3:00pm and asked him to walk with me outside for a little and he did but seemed to have a hard time walking so we returned inside and he is resting in the chair. I think maybe sometimes he gets his sleeping off by sleeping in the day and maybe not to much at night. Other than that the day went ok.

Mr Dancy Update Monday

Upon arrival Mr Dancy was asleep. He did not want to get up at first after waiting a little he finally got up. He began his day with showering along with his other morning routine. He ate breakfast and dosed off and later played a card game for maybe 15 minutes. He began dosing again and later on he ate lunch and afterwards played another game only a short time did not seem to interested. I was able to get him to go on a short walk after coming from the restroom since he did not want to move or walk around this morning. He talked a little and rested the remainder of the day.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Mr Dancy Update Saturday

Mr Dancy was asleep upon arrival this morning. He started his day with showering along with his regular morning routine. He then had breakfast and afterwards dosed off and later i tried to get in involved with a card game and he participated a little and continued to dose off and on. I was able to get him to go on his morning walk and he returned back inside and then he had lunch. After lunch i tried another card game and he told me that he was tired so he did not play. I tried to get him to go outside again but he did not want to get up so later barb came and asked him and he responded. I tried to see if he wanted to participate with playing catch with the ball outside but he told no. Today was a little better than yesterday at least he did move around a little. Other than that i would say that the day went well.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Mr Dancy Update Friday

Mr Dancy was awake when i arrived for work this morning. He did not really want to get up this morning but he did and showered along with his regular routine. He ate breakfast and afterwards he slept throughout the entire day not wanting to get up and move at all. He would not participate in any activities or walk today at all. He sat at the table from 9:30am to 3:00pm refusing to do anything. Maybe he did not sleep well night. I did have to opportunity to speak with Haidy the other caregiver yesterday in regards to him having difficulties with walking and she said that he has a very difficult time going on his walks. She stated that sometimes she fears that he may fall because he legs seems to get weak and he has a hard time completing the walks.I wanted to make sure that this was not just occuring with me. I told her that i have began to shorten the walks and forgot to mention to her that there is a wheelchair in the room to take with her and push it behind him as he walks in case a problem occurs. I will start doing the same. As you can see there was not too much that went on today. Hopefully tomorrow he will be more active.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Mr Dancy Update Thursday

Mr Dancy was awake when i arrived. He showered along with his regular routine of care. He ate breakfast and then began dosing off and on. I offered him a new card game and he seemed interested and played for a little this morning. He went on his morning and afternoon walk he complained both times of being tired so i shorten the walk. He ate lunch and afterwards he did not want to move out of his chair he said he was tired and sat there for about 3 hours until he became tired and then i asked him to go with me to the restroom and he did. He talked a little this morning and more this evening . He did not want to do any activities this afternoon . He had a great day

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Mr Dancy Update Wednesday

Upon arrival Mr Dancy was awake. He began his day with a shower along with his regular morning routine. He ate breakfast and afterwards dosed a little then participated in a puzzle it took him a while to get involved. He then went outside for his morning walk and sat outside a dosed again. After waking up he asked who turn is it to play so i gave him the puzzle again to start working on. He worked on it some more and dosed off for a longer time. He came inside to eat lunch and afterwards he conversated a little and i asked him to come with me to do exercises and he did exercise both arms and legs until he became tired. I told him that he could rest the rest of the evening. He was too tired to walk this afternoon after the exercise. He did have a very pleasant day.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Mr Dancy Update Tuesday

Upon arrival Mr Dancy was awake. He began conversation but did not want to get up. I waited a little and tried again and he then responded. He began his day with his morning care and afterwards ate breakfast and then participated in a care game for approximately 1 hour. He then went outside for his morning walk and returned inside and then napped on the couch, later waking up to eat his lunch. After his lunch he dosed a little. I offered him a different game in which he was not interested in so we went out for his afternoon walk. I offered him to play catch with the ball and he responded and began to play he rested the rest of the day. He was pretty much alert today. The day went well.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Mr Dancy Update Monday

Mr Dancy was awake when i arrived this morning and began to conversate with me. He got up and showered etc. He then ate his breakfast and afterwards he began conversations again he was very alert and talkative this morning he even participated in a puzzle this morning by naming the majority of the pieces to the puzzle. He then went outside for his morning walk he did not want to walk very far. Afterwards he sit outside and then began talking again and naming the pieces to the puzzle which went on for a long time. Around noon i offered him another puzzle and he played only a short while and then we came inside and he ate his lunch and after eating his lunch he began to drift off to sleep. He continued leaning to one side while sleeping and i tried several times to get him to get up and move to another chair so that he could rest comfortably without falling and he refused everytime. I then tried to get him to go to the restroom for a diaper change and he did not want to move for that either this went on for almost two hours. He continued to tell me that i took all of his men/crew and seem to be upset about that. Finally at the end of the day he got up and went to the restroom and continued to talk about me taking his men from him. Other than that the day went well.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Mr Dancy Udate Friday

Upon arrival Mr Dancy was awake. He began his day with a shower along with other morning care. He ate breakfast and then dosed off a little, i tried to see if he would play with the puzzle today and he played very little did not appear to be interested. Later on we went for a walk and afterwards we sat outside at the patio and he fell asleep he told me he was tired from the walk. Later on i brought the ball outside for him to do exercises with his arms and we then played catch until he became tired. We went inside and he ate his lunch and looked through his navy book and then prepared to leave for his sons house. He had wonderful day.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Mr Dancy Update Thursday

Mr Dancy was awake when i arrived. He began his daily routine of showering etc. He then ate a nice breakfast and dosed off afterwards. I attempted to get him involved with working on a puzzle, he just did not seem to be interested. We then went outside for his morning walk and then sit outside at the table. He dosed again i then offered him the card game and participated in that one. Lately he seems to be more interested in the card games. He then ate lunch and dosed a little and began conversation with me. Later i was able to get him to participate in the range of motion exercises today using the ball to exercise both arms and legs and he did a good job no complaints today pretty alert and not to sleepy. I would say he had a wonderful day.

Phone Call with Dad


I set up a time to call when it is convenient for Dad (about 10 am Pacific Time). After Dad got on the phone he seemed very cheerful. He asked me how Jennie was doing. I said she was out riding her horse, along with Faye, "little Faye", [to make sure he knew it wasn't his sister].


I said I was doing well, that it was raining outside, so I was hoping that all the azalea bushes that had been pruned to the ground would start to "leaf" again. Dad said he "would follow me". I said I used to follow him!


He thanked me for cheering him up. I said I hope he would have a little "spring in his step" now, then realized that maybe his knee might be too sore for that, so then I said that well "you could twirl your finger around in the air" Ha Ha.


Then I said do you want to hang up first or second. He said yes, then started to making chewing noises [maybe eating]. Well, I said I don't want to hang up first. So I waited a couple of minutes, then said I really have to hang up now, I have to do my yoga exercises. Then I finally did hang up the phone!


It was nice to talk to Dad.


What did I do to deserve such a nice Dad!





Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Mr Dancy Update Wednesday

Mr Dancy was awake when i arrived today. He talked a lot this morning about his daughters Jenny and Justin calling them by name on several occassions during his conversation about them handling his financial affairs even as he preparing for his shower and afterwards. He then later ate his breakfast and while eating he was still talking about going to the bank to get his accounts his order. Later on he fell asleep at the table so i suggested he go for a walk to get fresh air and he responded. Upon entering the house he fell asleep in the chair and i really had a difficult time afterwards getting to do anything else such as go the the bathroom or eat lunch, i had to eventually get barbs asssistance to get him up and moving. I think maybe he did not rest very well last night he appeared to be extremely tired. After he ate his lunch he fell asleep again, i once again had a hard time getting him to get up and go to the restroom. Finally he did get up and afterwards he went back to sleep again. He had a pretty good day.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Mr Dancy Update Tuesday

Mr Dancy was awake when i arrived this morning. He started talking immediately as i entered the room and continued for a while. Afterwards, he got up to shower and continued with his morning routine. He then ate breakfast and then he began to participate in a card game for a while and then talked a little. He then went outside for his morning walk and afterwards he decided to sit outside on the patio and stayed out there for a long time not wanting to leave he said that he was enjoying the view of the ocean and ate lunch there. After his lunch he began talking again and then participated in a puzzle and afterwards the later played catch with the ball until he became tired. He was very alert and awake today i do not remember him even dosing today so he must have rested well last night. He did not want to go on the afternoon walk he complained twice today about his legs bothering him when he walks, not really sure of what is going on. I would say he had another great day.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Mr Dancy Update Monday

Mr Dancy was asleep upon arrival. He did not want to get up this morning i waited a little and tried again and he responded. He appeared to be very tired today and sleepy maybe he did not rest to good last night. He showered and ate breakfast and afterwards dosed off. I attempted to get him involved with some morning activities but he just was not interested this morning or afternoon. He did however go on both morning and afternoon walks. He has been moving around much slower lately every now and then he may move a little faster. If he continues to move at this pace he will have to leave extra early for his doctors appointments or use the wheelchair because there is a lot of walking that takes place with his doctors appts even with the handicapped sticker most of the time the handicap parking spots are full. he also has been complaining how difficult if is for him to move around for him i have been continuing with his legs exercise which usually helps him to move around better but so far i have not noticed a change nothing to be alarmed about i just thought i would just mention that. I would say his day went well.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Mr Dancy Update Saturday

Mr Dancy was sitting upright on the floor when i arrived this morning. I assumed he got and began to walk and perhaps lost his balance and fell on the floor, he did not appear to be in pain or hurt he began talking immediately as i walked into the room he was sitting up against the bed on the floor. I asked him what happened but of he was unable to tell me, I then asked liz if she heard any noise or movements and she stated that she heard him yell but only once and since he do that all the time she did not think anything was seriously wrong. She assisted me with getting him off the floor and he began to fight us as we were trying to remove him from the floor and later calm down after realize that we were not trying to harm him. He sat in the chair for a little while and later he started his regular morning routine of care. He moved around great i did not notice any bruising and appear to be fine.
After breakfast he and dylan entertained one another dylan noticed him playing with his game and took some of the pieces and Mr Dancy began to play with dylan for a while and once dylan decided to give him back the pieces to the game he continued playing for maybe 15 or 20 minutes. They entertained each other again until dylan left and then Mr Dancy dosed off a little and later on he went on his morning walk. After his walk he came inside and rested then he ate lunch and i tried to get him involved in another game but he did not seem to have any interest. Later he went outside for his afternoon walk and returned and went into his room and looked through his USS New Jersey book and that was the end of day. He had a wonderful day.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Mr Dancy Update Friday

Mr Dancy was asleep upon arrival. He woke up and showered along with other morning routines. He then had breakfast and afterwards he participated in a puzzle for a short time, dosed off and later played the card game. He then went outside for his morning walk and dosed again and then conversated a little later returning back inside. He ate his lunch and and talked a little and later went to his room for his afternoon range of motion exercises with his arms and legs. After he finished he was tired and rested a little then went for his afternoon walk came back in rested again and later ate his supper and talked afterwards. He saw the garage door open and noticed barbs car and got up from the table and said it was time to go for a ride this was around 7:00pm. I decided to take him for a walk outside, if he still wants to go for a ride i can take him tomorrow. I noticed that he was moving around much faster when we walked tonight he got up from that table very quickly once he saw the car. Other than that i would say that he had a wonderful day.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Mr Dancy Update Thursday

Mr Dancy was awake this morning when i arrived. Upon entering the room he began clapping his hands and saying there she is and was in a very happy mood. He begin talking right away about different things which continued for a little while and said he was ready to get up. He started his day off with his daily routine of care. Later on, he went into the kitchen to eat his breakfast and afterwards he participated in the card game for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. He then went outside for his morning walk and rested outside. Later on, he decided that he wanted to play the card game again this afternoon for about 20 minutes and then he came inside to eat his lunch. After lunch he rested again and then went on his afternoon walk and returned inside and went to his room and looked in his navy book and talked about the USS NorthHampton as he looked through the pages. He was very alert today and conversated a lot today and moved around a little better. Other than that i would say he had a wonderful day.

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Mr Dancy Update Wednesday

Mr Dancy was awake upon arrival this morning. He was ready to get up and shower and then he ate his breakfast later he participated in a puzzle for maybe 20 minutes. He dosed off just a little waking up and then went outside for his morning walk and after his walk he participated in another puzzle for about 20 minutes and conversated with me outside. He came inside and ate lunch and dosed then played with the puzzle again and talked very briefly he did not want to get to walk this afternoon he just wanted to sit there at the table. He was not sleepy much today and appeared to have had a pretty good day.

Dad's Phone Call

When the phone rang I saw that it was Barb's number. But the person talking I didn't recognize! Finally I said who is it? I thought it might be Paul! But then I realized it was Dad!

Seems he has changed his voice just slightly! (Or my ears are full of wax.)

Dad seemed very positive and caring as he usually is.

There was a lot of press about how strong Ronald Reagan was, but I daresay that Dad was even stronger. All those years of exercising his body with yard work, etc and mind with puzzles and helping me balance my checkbook have really paid off!

I realize he is getting at the end of his life, but he seems to have something that is helping him cope with whatever life throws at him. I hope I can do the same.

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Charles Dancy UpdateTuesday

Mr Dancy was asleep when i arrived this morning. He did not want to get up. After waiting a little he finally and began his activities of daily living by showing etc.. He later went into the kitchen to eat breakfast and then went to sleep at the table. I woke him up and offered him a puzzle to work on and he did participate a little, later he went outside for his morning walk and sat outide and worked just a little bit more on his puzzle. He came inside and ate a small lunch dosed off and again. He later went outside for his evening walk and returned inside, went to his room and did some range of motion exercises on both arms and legs in which he participated very good and later dosed back to sleep after exercising. He still appeared to be very sleepy today. I would say today was a little better than yesterday.

Monday, September 07, 2009

Mr Dancy Update Monday

Mr Dancy was awake upon arrival this morning. He got up and showered along with other morning routines and then ate breakfast. Afterwards he fell asleep at the table appearing to be extremely sleepy today and moved around slowly. I attempted to get him interested in a game but he did not respond due to him being sleepy. Later on, he went outside for his morning walk and sit outside for a long period of time asleep. I attempted to get him to gethim up twice and he did not move. Upon the third attempt he finally responded and then came inside the house and later ate lunch. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day. Other than that the day went fine.

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Mr Dancy Update Thursday

Mr Dancy was awake upon arrival. He did not appear to want to get up so i waited a few minutes and he finally responded. He started his day with a shower, ate breakfast and afterwards looked through the newspaper showing more interest in the Bernie Madoff story. Later on he got up and walked alone without the walker again from the kitchen table to the dining room table in the dining room when i left the room to take his clothes into his room and put them away he was seated at the dining table reading the paper there. We then went into his to gather his things to away for the weekend and i told him that we would be going for a ride shortly he appeared to be happy asking when are we leaving. He is more alert today and seem to want to m0ve around more. Today has been a good day for him.

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Mr Dancy Update Wednesday

Mr Dancy was sleeping upon arrival. He woke up and showered and ate breakfast and participated a short time in a puzzle and later dosed off and on for a long period time, when waking up from his dosing asking me each time who turn is it to play and wanted to know why i had more parts to the puzzle than he did, also why was it always his turn to play instead of mine. I think he really wanted to play but the sleep continued to come upon him. I asked him a few times to go out for a walk and he asked me what for so i assumed that he was not interested in walking this morning, as a matter of fact, he would not get up from the table he sat there for almost four hours. I figured soon he will get tired of sitting and when that happens he will either get up on his own or you will only have to ask once and he will respond which is exactly what happened after lunch. He got up and went outside for a walk and returned inside and participated in the animal puzzle for one hour until he became tired and conversated the rest of the afternoon. He moved around slowly today other than that he had a great day.

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Mr Dancy Update Tuesday

Mr Dancy was asleep when i arrived. He got up later and showered, ate breakfast and then participated in a puzzle and afterwards a chess game totaling about one hour. He continued seated at the table until i went into the laundry room to check on the clothes and then he got up from the table and walked in there alone and begin telling me fold the shirts and sat them on the washer and put all the socks together on the dryer and continued with that for a few minutes and later i asked him to come with me to sit and he did not want to so we went for a short walk outside. Later he came inside and sat down so i brought some laundry to him and asked him to fold them and showed him how to do it and he participated. After he finished i gave him a newspaper to look at while i put the laundry away just in case he decided to move around again. He looked through the paper and later ate lunch and then came into his room and conversated a little and looked through his navel book and told me that was him in the book. I asked him the name and he told me his name. Later on i showed him a family picture and he identified himself again by name as well as his wife and Jennie,kenneth and kathy and that was all he could remember at the time. He was very active today and alert and took a very short dose did not walk this afternoon. He had a great day today.