Month: August 2022

a smile never hurts

Always keep a grin handy! 

CAREGIVER NOTE:
The bird feeder has been a good distraction now that the birds have discovered it — and the bird field guide was a great one to thumb through last evening. He recognized several species in the book and asked about a few of them he named and where they might be in the book. He enjoyed that hour or so perusing the pages.

park it

Is it time for a change?  

Sometimes you just have to “park it” before you can take another breath and move forward again. Don’t waste your energy by being in a bad mood. You have the means to “fix” it within you. Pause, inhale some good thoughts and exhale the bad ones. Repeat as needed. When you feel the shift, you’re ready to move on.

CAREGIVER NOTE:

The birdfeeder is finally caught the attention of a small group of house finches. They were great entertainment for a good portion of the day. He was excited to see a male visit the feeder too.

His hip is bugging him and he wasn’t as reluctant to use the walker as he’s been the last week. We’ll see how today moves forward.

He is sundowning most evenings now.

inventory

Take an inventory of your blessings today.  You’ll likely find a few surprises.

CAREGIVER NOTE:

A couple of new projects in the works that he should be able to help with. We think he’ll be able to help us draft a design for a new ramp for the back landing to help him navigate more safely into the back yard. He and T will work on that over the course of the next couple of weeks. He’s excited about being able to refill the bird feeder from the back landing as soon as the new post and platform are in place. He’ll help put that together as well. We just need to pick up the post and cut the platform this week. It should be ready to “plant” by the end of the week.

He’s enjoying watching the flowers bloom outside in his new planter box and was really surprised to see how much the new “salad” garden had grown in the last few days. Sure brought a smile to his face. The window herb garden is starting to sprout as well. He has really missed tending to his quarter acre garden of years past.

Needless to say, yesterday was a good day overall. A few blips on the screen, but no downward spiral.

a pause

Take a moment and …..

CAREGIVER NOTE:

I think the 4 wheel walker scares him a bit. He took about three steps and stopped and pushed it away. He’d rather hug a wall or the furniture to get from point A to point B. By the end of the day his hip was sore again and the limp very pronounced. Any mention of using either walker was met with a growl and push back.

He’s been up and down for most of the night with some vivid dreaming and talking, so I’m sure he will be initiating another discussion about his being able to drive and have access to the keys at some point today. We were able to redirect the conversation a bit last night, but he’s not ready to let it go or move on to other options that are available.

One positive for the day: He says he likes living here. Doesn’t want that to change.

wisdom or worries

Recognize the difference.

CAREGIVER NOTE:

New day – new fixations. Lots of anger over a not perfect shave and haircut at the barbershop last evening. That set off the trail of ups and downs, not the best of dreams and opened a can of “worries” overnight. Sure hoping he’s worked through a bit of it in the past couple of hours while he has been sleeping.

distractions?

Focus on this moment and take the next step forward.

CAREGIVER NOTES:
Fixations — up during the night wondering why it was dark and was certain we had let him miss his appointment for a haircut.

His balance has improved some which is good and he is somewhat able to take care of some personal hygiene a little better at the moment. PT evaluation on Friday for progress and to make sure he can continue for another 6 week cycle to help build the muscle around the hip which is still very atrophied. He’s really hoping to dump “George” (his walker), which according to one dr was not sounding like it would be a possibility. We’ll see what the hip surgeon says next week.