Monday, July 27, 2009

Update - July 27th

Often when Dad first gets cash from the bank, he worries that it will be stolen. So he repeatedly hides the money in a variety of places. The problem is he can't remember where it is hid. We have spent much time hunting for his money while he insists it has been taken. During the night last night he was worrying about his money, so he took it to bed with him. In the morning it was missing. When I went over first thing in the morning with coffee, he told me he had been robbed. So we spent all day hunting for the wallet and money. Tonight we finally found it. From now on Kay is going to take over keeping his cash organized......if Dad doesn't change his mind by tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Update - July 22

Dad has been feeling sick to his stomach more often, and he has dark stools. Malox always helps so far. We're deciding if we should take him into the doctor before his next regular appointment. Tomorrow Pat will be over, so we plan to ask her medical advice.

A couple years ago Dad agreed that he was too old and sore to mow the lawn. His dementia now causes him to forget much of his recent life and picture things as they were in his younger days. (We have noticed that sometimes he uses old fashioned terms that he might have used back when we were young.) Anyway, he doesn't remember deciding he shouldn't mow. So last week he bought a lawn mower. I will be very surprised if he can get it started. So far he hasn't been able to remember where the key is although I've shown him where it hangs beside his car key several times. It's parked in his little rubbermaid unit, so I'm pretty sure he can't hurt himself in the process.

The plumbing in Dad's kitchen and bathroom has always had issues. A couple years ago Jim put in another tub because of all the leaking. Paul did some repair on his kitchen pipes a couple weeks ago. By the way, Paul, that seems to have taken care of that leak. Earlier this week, the bathroom sprung a leak again. Chuck put in a new faucet, and that has stopped things for now. There is a lot of water damage in the bathroom wallboard and the cabinet. We're looking that over and deciding what to do next. So far, Dad seems okay with having the repairs done, although he does not deal well with change.