In addition to that, we have moved daddy in with us as of Labor Day weekend. It was our turn to step up and be the caregivers for him. This will allow my sister and her husband to enjoy the time with their teenagers while they are still at home and allow them to have more flexibility and freedom to live their lives and enjoy all the activities their kids are involved with. If you have or have had teenagers you know it is non-stop activities and it wasn't fair for them to miss out on that experience if we were in a position to take daddy in.
It has been an adjustment for sure, but not a difficult one. Yes, our schedules and life has changed, but it's been a good experience so far. My work has been amazing to allow me to work from home while getting him acclimated and while I find a caregiver for him while I work and while we wait on Medicaid to be effective and he can enter the Pace of the Ozarks program.
Several avenues I went down lead to a dead-end road which became pretty concerning as I knew I needed to return to the office, but also knew I could not leave him home alone. As it would turn out, our old neighbor who worked as a home health physical therapist was losing her job as of Oct. 1st. It had to be a God thing, because I didn't know she was losing her job, but I knew the line of work she was in might lend to her putting me in touch with someone qualified and willing to take daddy so I could go to the office. She didn't hesitate. She said this is why she had peace about losing her job so she could do good for someone. Thank you Lord that someone was us.
Starting next Tuesday, Oct. 1st I will drop him off with her and work until around 4:15 and then pick him up. She came over last night and met him and just visited and she was amazing with him. He just loved her. He got up this morning talking about her and how nice he thought she was. I said I'm so glad you like her, because she is willing to let you hang out with her starting next week since I have to go back to the office and he was thrilled. She has two dogs and she will be home alone all day so this gives her and him companionship during the day and that allows me to go to the office and keep my job. We are not in a position yet for me to quit working and while working from home has been amazing in helping us adjust, it didn't give me the freedom to spend all my time with him and I worried about him getting bored or lonely and this solves that for us.
He has settled in so well and better than I expected. Our biggest challenges has been the not smoking (which he has done really well) and drinking more water. Some days he considers it punishment because I make him drink water throughout the day, but at his first doctor's visit here he was dehydrated and low kidney function so she said he must drink at least 75oz. of water a day. The first couple of days he did great and never complained, but that was short lived. Now he just acts like it's punishment, but I still hand him a bottle of water throughout the day. He has cut back on his coffee intake (which is amazing) and he only gets a nicotine pill maybe twice a day. He has done so well adjusting that I'm still a bit in shock. I expected this to be more difficult than it has been.
What a joy it is to know I get the chance to take care of him and enjoy as much time with him as I can. I know there will be hard days and I'm as ready for that as I can be, but knowing I will cherish this time with him for the rest of my days makes it worth those bad days when they come.
He has been a real trooper and even though "Walter" shows up from time to time, overall there are no complaints.
For those of you who may not know he was diagnosed many years ago with Dementia. Two years + ago he had a heart attack and had open heart surgery and was in the hospital for approximately 45 days which advanced this disease. After that hospital stay he returned to the memory center and they diagnosed him with Dementia and Encroaching Alzheimer's. At that time they officially took his driver's license away and we knew this was his new baseline. We knew he would never improve, but there were things we could do that might slow things down. We are working to do as much of that as we can, but we also know there is only so much we can do at this point. Routine and socializing as well as exercise is key in managing this disease. We are attempting to do as much of that as we can. His diet is also extremely important and we are doing all we can to adhere to a healthy diet (as much as he will allow).
He is a happy man most of the time which makes dealing with this disease so much easier than if he were mean or ugly all the time. We can take "Walter" from time to time when he shows up, but we are fortunate that he is daddy (our new daddy) most of the time. Thank you Lord for that blessing.
