Saturday 14th July

Saturday 14th July

So today Mum, Sue and Oli went so see Dad - at you guessed it - 2pm.  And where was Dad....yep sitting in his wheelchair at 'the usual' table in the dining room...and how long had he been there...you're getting good at this...yes that's right...the carers had just got Dad out of bed.  Can you see there's a bit of a routine going on here?  So much for the four hours 12pm - until 4pm as agreed and instructed by the Occupational Therapist.

We are realising now why Dad is always sitting on his own in the dining room - basically Dad doesn't have the energy to keep upright for long periods of time sitting in a chair - so by putting a table in front of him, Dad can slump or lean against the table when he is tired - rather than if Dad was sitting in a chair in the lounge when the carers have to take responsibility to look after him. Great - so Dad loses out on interacting with other people and watching the TV because he takes up too much of the carers time?  I've bought Dad's ipod shuffle home for a few days,
1) because I want to upload some more music for him and 
2) because we don't like the fact the carers put Dads earphones on him and leave him to sing out loud alone in the dining room.

Dad was able to engage today by helping Oli with his Ben10 magazine do 'spot the difference' puzzles, word searches and a bit of colouring.  This was good as it kept Dad occupied and helped stimulate him so he was distracted and not thinking about going back to bed.  We will endeavor to find Dad some adult word searches and puzzle solving books that we can take in and get him to do. Bring some along if you're visiting Dad and you've got some good ones.

We have noticed Dad's communication is definitely not as good when he is sitting in a wheelchair to when he is lying in bed - maybe it's because it is so tiring for him sitting in the chair and it uses up all of his energies?

Dad was complaining again about the pain in his underarm today...considering he is taking the muscle relief medicine three times a day and he takes paracetamol - it must be really bad.  He was complaining about his bottom hurting on the wheelchair - but when Mum thinks back, she doesn't recall Dad sitting on one of the cushions as he usually does.  Dad also wasn't given a pillow for him to rest his arm on.

Dad ate 3/4 of his lunch today - which is good news and he ate all of his tea.  Let's hope he keeps this up.

One thing Sue realised today was how bad Dad's short term memory is.  Sue had spent two hours sitting with Dad this afternoon, but when he had been put back in to bed and Sue went back to his room - Dad greeted her as if it was the first time he had seen her.  Can we hope for short term memory to come back or is this how it will always be?  The extent of the damage to Dad's brain is shown when he refers to people from the past - he said he saw his Dad outside mowing the lawn the other day and today he was asking Oli where his Grandpa was.  

Difficult times.  We are all waiting for that moment that will uplift us and keep our hope alive when we see another improvement to Dad's health.  But again - let's not forget how far he has come since 10th May...

Love you Dad x