Hi, Everyone!
My sister Christie phoned Dad last week and told me about it when we talked earlier in the week, and tonight I spoke briefly with my sister Martha about Dad and also was able to speak to Dad myself.
When I visited Christie in Pittsburgh over the Labor Day weekend, I gave her the phone number of the care facility, and we agreed that we'd call and talk to Dad every other week.
Last week was Christie's week. Christie said that although it was good to be able to talk to Dad, he seemed confused by her stories about family members. That was disappointing to her. I told her that I tried to think of just a couple of stories to tell and kept them very brief. (But Dad may also have been more confused last week than usual.)
When I spoke to Martha tonight, she said Dad has "settled down" again--he's no longer agitated or hyper, and he's sleeping well again. She said that on Monday night, she and her husband, Dave, went to visit Dad and found that Lucy, my sister who lives in Payson, was there with her husband, Bob. So Dave and Bob visited with each other and Martha and Lucy visited, sitting by Dad and "directing" their conversation to him. It sounds like it was a nice visit for everyone.
I was pleased that I got to speak to Dad tonight, and his voice sounded strong. He laughed heartily when I told him that my grandson Jeffrey's favorite part of potty training was flushing the toilet and that he did it often! He was also responsive to my story about Jeffrey climbing out of his crib--which happened for the first time last night.
Since he was being so responsive, I went beyond my two stories and told him that one of Jeffrey's favorite songs right now is "The Boll Weevil" that Dad used to sing to us when we were kids. I went over the start of the verses with him--probably too quickly, but then he asked me to repeat one, and I slowed down and said the whole verse:
"Now, the merchant took half the cotton,
And the boll weevil got the rest.
Didn't leave that farmer's wife..."
Dad filled in the next line, "But one old cotton dress," and I ended it--"And it's full of holes, and it's full of holes."
I also told Dad about seeing "Much Ado" with Christie in Pittsburgh, and he said, "Oh, was it a good production?" I briefly told him that it was done in modern dress, very simply, but that we thought the actors spoke the lines very well.
Dad told me several times how good my voice sounded, and I returned the compliment. We told each other how much we love each other, and we said goodbye. It was a great conversation!
Good night, all, and thanks for reading!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Update on Dad 9-5-10
Greetings, All,
Today was the first time I haven't been able to talk to Dad since I first started calling him, but I have some information from my sister Martha, and I have a sonnet written by Lisa Craig's boyfriend Court for Dad's birthday.
Dad's had a rough week this last week, Martha says. Last Monday night, just after 10 p.m., the phone rang at Martha's house. It was Dad on the phone. Apparently he'd been agitated and saying he needed to call his daughter, and the staff at the care center hadn't been able to calm him, so they called Martha and gave Dad the phone. He said something to Martha about the hospital, and she wondered if maybe he thought she'd been in the hospital because her husband Dave and daughter Emily had visited Dad that day without Martha--who was trying to get some canning done.
It turned out, however, that Dad thought he was in the hospital and he wanted Martha to come take him home. She and Dave went down to the care center and spent an hour there with Dad.
Apparently he's had a mild case of pneumonia and had been on antibiotics--which may or may not relate to what happened. Martha says he talked and talked and talked--more than he's talked in months. Even when a worker came in to give him a breathing treatment where he had to wear a mask over his mouth and nose, he kept right on talking. I asked Martha if he was lucid, and she said he mostly was.
Martha and Dave explained to Dad that he was in a care facility where he'd been for nine months and that there was nobody to take care of him at home anymore. They got him back into his bed and left, and apparently just minutes after they left, he rolled out of bed--somehow not setting off the alarms they have on him. He got a goose-egg on his forehead that had some blood on it and a streak down from one eye.
Also, he didn't sleep at all that night or the next! The care facility can't give him medication without a doctor's orders, and although he has had an order saying he could have a sleeping pill as needed, he hasn't needed any sleeping pills, and the order had expired. The care facility was able to get a new order by Wednesday night, and he did sleep some that night.
I'm not sure when he started feeling the urge to urinate about every 10 minutes--it may have been on Wednesday. On Thursday, Martha had a meeting with the staff about Dad's care. She asked that they check his catheter, and they found build-up of some kind and some irritation. (They changed his catheter, and he's no longer feeling the urge to urinate.)
After the meeting, Martha stopped in to see Dad, but he was asleep, so she didn't wake him.
I didn't get to speak to Dad when I called the care facility tonight, because initially I didn't reach anybody, so I called Martha. After speaking with her, I phoned the care center again, but by then Dad was asleep--and having heard about his week, I didn't want to wake him either. The staff did tell me that he was doing better than he'd been. Martha says she'll call me tomorrow, and I'll certainly add a post to the blog if he continues to have problems in the next two weeks.
Now for a change of pace: John's daughter Lisa and her boyfriend Court had been to the Shakespearean Festival in southern Utah just before Dad's birthday, so being in an Elizabethan mood, Court composed a sonnet for Dad for his birthday. Here it is:
Today was the first time I haven't been able to talk to Dad since I first started calling him, but I have some information from my sister Martha, and I have a sonnet written by Lisa Craig's boyfriend Court for Dad's birthday.
Dad's had a rough week this last week, Martha says. Last Monday night, just after 10 p.m., the phone rang at Martha's house. It was Dad on the phone. Apparently he'd been agitated and saying he needed to call his daughter, and the staff at the care center hadn't been able to calm him, so they called Martha and gave Dad the phone. He said something to Martha about the hospital, and she wondered if maybe he thought she'd been in the hospital because her husband Dave and daughter Emily had visited Dad that day without Martha--who was trying to get some canning done.
It turned out, however, that Dad thought he was in the hospital and he wanted Martha to come take him home. She and Dave went down to the care center and spent an hour there with Dad.
Apparently he's had a mild case of pneumonia and had been on antibiotics--which may or may not relate to what happened. Martha says he talked and talked and talked--more than he's talked in months. Even when a worker came in to give him a breathing treatment where he had to wear a mask over his mouth and nose, he kept right on talking. I asked Martha if he was lucid, and she said he mostly was.
Martha and Dave explained to Dad that he was in a care facility where he'd been for nine months and that there was nobody to take care of him at home anymore. They got him back into his bed and left, and apparently just minutes after they left, he rolled out of bed--somehow not setting off the alarms they have on him. He got a goose-egg on his forehead that had some blood on it and a streak down from one eye.
Also, he didn't sleep at all that night or the next! The care facility can't give him medication without a doctor's orders, and although he has had an order saying he could have a sleeping pill as needed, he hasn't needed any sleeping pills, and the order had expired. The care facility was able to get a new order by Wednesday night, and he did sleep some that night.
I'm not sure when he started feeling the urge to urinate about every 10 minutes--it may have been on Wednesday. On Thursday, Martha had a meeting with the staff about Dad's care. She asked that they check his catheter, and they found build-up of some kind and some irritation. (They changed his catheter, and he's no longer feeling the urge to urinate.)
After the meeting, Martha stopped in to see Dad, but he was asleep, so she didn't wake him.
I didn't get to speak to Dad when I called the care facility tonight, because initially I didn't reach anybody, so I called Martha. After speaking with her, I phoned the care center again, but by then Dad was asleep--and having heard about his week, I didn't want to wake him either. The staff did tell me that he was doing better than he'd been. Martha says she'll call me tomorrow, and I'll certainly add a post to the blog if he continues to have problems in the next two weeks.
Now for a change of pace: John's daughter Lisa and her boyfriend Court had been to the Shakespearean Festival in southern Utah just before Dad's birthday, so being in an Elizabethan mood, Court composed a sonnet for Dad for his birthday. Here it is:
Birthday Sonnet
August 5th, 2010
By Court Roper
For Marshall Craig
While I hate to seem that I am partial
Four score and 14 seems an august age,
And so with this I do proclaim thee, Marshall,
Advanced enough in years to be a sage.
It goes unsaid that we are glad to see you,
Indeed there is no place we'd rather be
Though from this place we fear we cannot free you
And take you to the beach to water-ski
It is not just I feel for your grand-daughter,
Or just the fact that you are 94,
But so we say to our beloved grandfather
Happy Birthday to you! And many more!
We hope this, in the manner of the Bard,
Will serve you for our loving birthday card.
As a postscript: I have been visiting my sister Christie Seppi in Pittsburgh for the Labor Day weekend, and she and I went to a production of Much Ado about Nothing in the park today. I was hoping to be able to tell Dad about. It is one of his wonderful legacies to his family that he has passed on to so many of us his love of Shakespeare.
Thanks for your love and interest in Dad, and thanks for letting me know you're reading.
Alison
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