Ros is coming home today! He has been recovering and getting back on his feet for the past week at the Senior Adult Unit(SAU) in Gloucester, MA. Fully dressed and shaved every day, with assistance, he joined in for meals in the dining room and some group activities. He looks wonderful. Volley went to visit him Sunday and Monday which was great fun and made everyone smile.
Even though Ros is upbeat and sweet, he is, however, a bit more frail with the past 2 weeks' events. One of his night time attendants told me that when she helps him in the middle of the night, he can hear just fine without the distractions of the people and surroundings. Very interesting! We are organizing inhome care with the VA and another senior care group which will be perfect to keep Ros home.
Happy Thanksgiving. God is good.
Some of the Farnham Males: Fritz, Ted, Volley and Ros
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
It's Moving Day!
Good News! Ros' white blood cell count has gone down and, correspondingly, the aggressive behavior has disappeared. We are all relieved for now. Because he is recovering well, Ros is being transferred today to Senior Adult Unit at Addison Gilbert in Gloucester MA for a short term stay. Mentally, he has resumed his short term forgetfulness but he is as sweet as ever, cooperative and interested in others.
Ted and I are very happy about this transfer as the geriatric support is excellent and Ros will be getting great care physically and mentally. We have posted on the wall of his hospital room that his job is to EAT, DRINK, SLEEP and GET STRONGER. He is doing well.
Right now, he is eating a peanut butter butter sandwich (yech!) and drinking a chocolate mealshake. He had a great idea to sip the broth with a straw from the bowl of chicken soup because it was too full. That's a good sign that Ros is on the mend.....
Send photos of your family or email them and we'll print them out for him.
Ted and I are very happy about this transfer as the geriatric support is excellent and Ros will be getting great care physically and mentally. We have posted on the wall of his hospital room that his job is to EAT, DRINK, SLEEP and GET STRONGER. He is doing well.
Right now, he is eating a peanut butter butter sandwich (yech!) and drinking a chocolate mealshake. He had a great idea to sip the broth with a straw from the bowl of chicken soup because it was too full. That's a good sign that Ros is on the mend.....
Send photos of your family or email them and we'll print them out for him.
Monday, November 14, 2011
A Gift
Yesterday we arrived at the hospital and Ros was sleeping. After a while, he woke up and, thank God, he was almost his normal sweet self again! What a miracle...a gift. Ros was alert and so happy to see us. He asked Lucie about her soccer and school. We were overjoyed by how normal he was...So sweet - remarking on how nice everybody is and that the bed was so comfortable he slept like a log. Although he wasn't able to eat his whole dinner, he did eat the blueberry cheesecake and drink a small bottle of water, too.
We asked if he had gotten out of bed (not expecting a positive answer) and he said,"No, they are watering the horse in the stall." HA! That is so Ros! He was concerned for us traveling so far to visit him (only 15 minutes) and was thanking us for coming. We knew he was feeling well when we told him we wanted him to come home soon and he asked if he could chase the pretty girls in the hospital. He told us he would worry about us driving home.
The nurse said his white blood cell count was going down which coincides with his behavior. The dementia can be aggravated by any infection and vice versa. Good news after a long week. We were glad to have our sweet Ros back.
Thank, God.
We asked if he had gotten out of bed (not expecting a positive answer) and he said,"No, they are watering the horse in the stall." HA! That is so Ros! He was concerned for us traveling so far to visit him (only 15 minutes) and was thanking us for coming. We knew he was feeling well when we told him we wanted him to come home soon and he asked if he could chase the pretty girls in the hospital. He told us he would worry about us driving home.
The nurse said his white blood cell count was going down which coincides with his behavior. The dementia can be aggravated by any infection and vice versa. Good news after a long week. We were glad to have our sweet Ros back.
Thank, God.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Troubling Turn of Events
Ros was admitted to Beverly Hospital this Tuesday for pneumonia and mild kidney failure. He is getting very good care and attention and has a private room across from the nurses station Room 419. He is receiving IV fluids and antibiotics and nebulizer/albuterol.
On Wednesday, perhaps an accumulation of the pneumonia/change in environment, confusion, maybe a UTI infection, Ros became delusional yet was still goodnatured. He seemed to be improving. Sometime in the night as the nurses reported, he became agitated and started trying to get out of his bed. When Ted go there at 8am Thursday morning, Ros had taken out all his tubings and wanted to get out desperately, still delusional but now angry and irritated by everything. By thursday night 11-12 midnight, he was trying to get out of bed every 5 minutes and was unconsolable.
This morning (Friday), he is still trying to get out of bed but for some reason he is happy. He wants to go to visit his grandmother on Ashmont (Buffalo). We just go with whatever his thought is. His white blood cell count is up and so they will not release him to a rehab until his infection is under control.
On Wednesday, perhaps an accumulation of the pneumonia/change in environment, confusion, maybe a UTI infection, Ros became delusional yet was still goodnatured. He seemed to be improving. Sometime in the night as the nurses reported, he became agitated and started trying to get out of his bed. When Ted go there at 8am Thursday morning, Ros had taken out all his tubings and wanted to get out desperately, still delusional but now angry and irritated by everything. By thursday night 11-12 midnight, he was trying to get out of bed every 5 minutes and was unconsolable.
This morning (Friday), he is still trying to get out of bed but for some reason he is happy. He wants to go to visit his grandmother on Ashmont (Buffalo). We just go with whatever his thought is. His white blood cell count is up and so they will not release him to a rehab until his infection is under control.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Rabbit, Rabbit
On the first day of the month in our family, we say "Rabbit, Rabbit" as soon as we wake up (or as soon as we can remember to say it). "Rabbit, rabbit" gives us "good luck" for the month - we like to think...Today was November 1st and we all did our "rabbit, rabbit" before going off to work and school.
It was a big day for Ros as he had his first full day at Spectrum "Club" an excellent adult day health program just 12 minutes from our home. Volley and I dropped Ros off at 9:30am and he was greeted by 2 very cheerful nursing assistants, Sandy and Debbie and the Activities Director, Diane. The environment is very uplifting with windows everywhere to the outdoors, a large eat in kitchen (seats 24 at 4 round tables), a large living room with recliners and couches. The goal is to keep people active and socialized versus isolated and sedentary. The ratio of staff to clients is 1:4 to provide a lot of personal care. Thanks to VA benefits, Ros will be going there 3 times a week and, eventually, a van will pick him up and bring him home each time. We have various acquaintances whose relatives also go there. It is a very encouraging and lovely place to be.They like having Volley visit too, and give him full run (offleash) of the place. There is a little black pug named Frankie and a shitzu name Lucy (!) who Volley ran with yesterday.
The assistants were very welcoming and introduced Ros to a group of 4 men sitting in a cozy room, waiting for breakfast to be served. There were about 40 people attending Spectrum this day and Diane chose this small group for Ros because he might hear better in a closer setting. He had a breakfast of coffee and toast and a little while later, with assistance, after breakfast, went to join the people in the big living room. That is when I left the facility for the day.
At 2pm, I returned to find Ros sitting with 2 assistants and 4 men at a table in the kitchen. They were asking him about lawn bowling and he was trying to explain it to them. It was really neat to see him interacting and connecting with people. When we were driving home, he said the ladies were really nice and rated his day an 8.5 out of 10! It was a good day!
This past month since his fall, unable to drive and still seeing double, Ros' world became quite small and housebound. He has been very quiet, undemanding, and going about a simple routine in our home. His love for doing puzzles has been a bit frustrating with the double vision. In a couple weeks, we will go to the VA Medical Center to get glasses which will correct the problem. He still makes his bed and gets himself dressed every day and keeps a very neat and tidy room. He uses a cane and needs assistance walking as his balance is quite unsteady. But remember that he still doesn't take any medications! We are all proud of him for being so healthy and good looking at 92 years old.
Yes, when I came to pick him up today and saw him sitting with the group of elderly men, I felt so proud of how healthy he looked and his focus on whoever was speaking.Volley and Ros have a ball at the Spectrum Club together...
We thank God for the privilege of having Ros live with us. All is well. Rabbit, rabbit. A new beginning....
It was a big day for Ros as he had his first full day at Spectrum "Club" an excellent adult day health program just 12 minutes from our home. Volley and I dropped Ros off at 9:30am and he was greeted by 2 very cheerful nursing assistants, Sandy and Debbie and the Activities Director, Diane. The environment is very uplifting with windows everywhere to the outdoors, a large eat in kitchen (seats 24 at 4 round tables), a large living room with recliners and couches. The goal is to keep people active and socialized versus isolated and sedentary. The ratio of staff to clients is 1:4 to provide a lot of personal care. Thanks to VA benefits, Ros will be going there 3 times a week and, eventually, a van will pick him up and bring him home each time. We have various acquaintances whose relatives also go there. It is a very encouraging and lovely place to be.They like having Volley visit too, and give him full run (offleash) of the place. There is a little black pug named Frankie and a shitzu name Lucy (!) who Volley ran with yesterday.
The assistants were very welcoming and introduced Ros to a group of 4 men sitting in a cozy room, waiting for breakfast to be served. There were about 40 people attending Spectrum this day and Diane chose this small group for Ros because he might hear better in a closer setting. He had a breakfast of coffee and toast and a little while later, with assistance, after breakfast, went to join the people in the big living room. That is when I left the facility for the day.
At 2pm, I returned to find Ros sitting with 2 assistants and 4 men at a table in the kitchen. They were asking him about lawn bowling and he was trying to explain it to them. It was really neat to see him interacting and connecting with people. When we were driving home, he said the ladies were really nice and rated his day an 8.5 out of 10! It was a good day!
This past month since his fall, unable to drive and still seeing double, Ros' world became quite small and housebound. He has been very quiet, undemanding, and going about a simple routine in our home. His love for doing puzzles has been a bit frustrating with the double vision. In a couple weeks, we will go to the VA Medical Center to get glasses which will correct the problem. He still makes his bed and gets himself dressed every day and keeps a very neat and tidy room. He uses a cane and needs assistance walking as his balance is quite unsteady. But remember that he still doesn't take any medications! We are all proud of him for being so healthy and good looking at 92 years old.
Yes, when I came to pick him up today and saw him sitting with the group of elderly men, I felt so proud of how healthy he looked and his focus on whoever was speaking.Volley and Ros have a ball at the Spectrum Club together...
We thank God for the privilege of having Ros live with us. All is well. Rabbit, rabbit. A new beginning....
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