Meg...
"If you come down this way, let me know. I'm over the Bay near Clearwater. The weather is cool but mostly sunny."
Well, I absolutely shall let you know when I head down there. I go a few times a year since the old man is down there. Right now he's stuck with an Alzheimer's patient, but he got himself into that one so I don't feel too badly...ooohh...that reminds me...I'm gonna finish this in a post, it leads to something that I noticed at work last night.
OK, now I'm in the post.
What I was saying is that I can't feel too badly for my father because he asked her to move down there with him. And, the man is at his best when he's taking care of someone. He really is. So, I'm actually glad that he has her down there...I don't like to think of him alone all the time. That's why I wanted to head down there, while I do I think I'm going to apply for a job like the one that I have now, I could just work a few days a month if I wanted to. It would more than pay for the trip of course and I could spend time with them without having to take time off of work.
I wanted to do it in California as well. Apparently they have labor unions and the nurses are so expensive that it's worth it for them to bring in out of state agency nurses. I wonder if that makes me a scab? Naw...they aren't on strike. Not that I would care...I think that unions are basically self serving and were outdated after the government passed stautes that protected people from the things they started unions for in the first place. But, that's just my opinion...whatever.
Anyway, I will be going to Florida one way or another. I usually go to Madeira Beach when I'm there, it's like Clearwater without all the people. I love it down there. I know how nice the weather is and my dad's condo is really, really nice. He's letting his roommate redecorate...to her heart's content. She bought him new carpeting, but only after she dropped a hundred cigarettes on the old one. Dad kept his place so clean that the carpet always looked new (it was only a couple of years old) and he doesn't smoke. That must be fun for him. Anyway, he bought a bunch of crap to protect the carpet. You can't turn your eye away from her for a minute. I've picked up a few cigarettes off of her shirt after she'd fallen asleep in the chair.
She still plays bridge, and Dad says she plays pretty well. So, she can't be too bad. You can speak to her briefly and not know that she had Alzheimer's. But, much more than a few pleasantries and you would start to pick up on it. She might just stand up and walk out the door. She's a slippery one. The last time I was down there, my dad lost her 3 times. We had to call the cops the first two times. He finally got the message after that. The first time, she just walked out of the condo and 5 miles down the road before the cops picked her up in the next county, literally. And the very next day my father dropped her off at the entrance of the mall while he parked the car. Naturally she absconded. The third time she asked him where the bathroom was and he pointed. He found her an hour later down the road as her motus operandi is to just walk in a straight line. She never seems to turn. So, you just need to pick the right direction and head down the street. He really, really didn't want to call the cops again. I don't think he's lost her since, but I don't know that he would tell me. I gave him a hard time over the first 3 times he lost her.
So, my point...and I do have one...was that he loved taking care of people, preferably women...but not necessarily. Maybe it just seems that way because men take care of more women than they do other men in the course of their lives so he just HAS taken care of more women, I don't know. But men in general seem to be pretty good at taking care of us when we're sick...don't they? When I had my first migraine after I left home, I missed my Daddy. He would sit on the side of the bed and rub my head. I was in California and I cried and cried. Then I had a kid and I never cried again over a headache.
The guys may screw up every so often but I think that most of them would get an A for effort. A bumbling man who is trying to take care of you is a lot better than an inconsiderate scaramouch who doesn't lift a finger to help. I get to see a lot of husbands taking care of their wives (and even some domestic partners occasionally) and they're all pretty good at trying.
I like watching the way some of the women play the men. I had one last night who put it on pretty damned thick and her husband ate it up. I gave her so much pain medicine that she couldn't have felt a thing and she still walked all doubled over like Quasi Moto. She was quite the baby, I must say. Most people handle themselves pretty well after surgery but every so often, you run into one who just can't seem to get with the program of being in a hospital. But that's OK, it makes things interesting.
The husband was great, he was a great big, quiet guy who didn't say much except to ask for her pain medicine. But he lifted her out of the bed so carefully, it was sweet to watch. Must be nice.
Well, I have to go back and play with the nice sick people again later so I should run and try to fall asleep. Have a good day ya'll!
Meg
"If you come down this way, let me know. I'm over the Bay near Clearwater. The weather is cool but mostly sunny."
Well, I absolutely shall let you know when I head down there. I go a few times a year since the old man is down there. Right now he's stuck with an Alzheimer's patient, but he got himself into that one so I don't feel too badly...ooohh...that reminds me...I'm gonna finish this in a post, it leads to something that I noticed at work last night.
OK, now I'm in the post.
What I was saying is that I can't feel too badly for my father because he asked her to move down there with him. And, the man is at his best when he's taking care of someone. He really is. So, I'm actually glad that he has her down there...I don't like to think of him alone all the time. That's why I wanted to head down there, while I do I think I'm going to apply for a job like the one that I have now, I could just work a few days a month if I wanted to. It would more than pay for the trip of course and I could spend time with them without having to take time off of work.
I wanted to do it in California as well. Apparently they have labor unions and the nurses are so expensive that it's worth it for them to bring in out of state agency nurses. I wonder if that makes me a scab? Naw...they aren't on strike. Not that I would care...I think that unions are basically self serving and were outdated after the government passed stautes that protected people from the things they started unions for in the first place. But, that's just my opinion...whatever.
Anyway, I will be going to Florida one way or another. I usually go to Madeira Beach when I'm there, it's like Clearwater without all the people. I love it down there. I know how nice the weather is and my dad's condo is really, really nice. He's letting his roommate redecorate...to her heart's content. She bought him new carpeting, but only after she dropped a hundred cigarettes on the old one. Dad kept his place so clean that the carpet always looked new (it was only a couple of years old) and he doesn't smoke. That must be fun for him. Anyway, he bought a bunch of crap to protect the carpet. You can't turn your eye away from her for a minute. I've picked up a few cigarettes off of her shirt after she'd fallen asleep in the chair.
She still plays bridge, and Dad says she plays pretty well. So, she can't be too bad. You can speak to her briefly and not know that she had Alzheimer's. But, much more than a few pleasantries and you would start to pick up on it. She might just stand up and walk out the door. She's a slippery one. The last time I was down there, my dad lost her 3 times. We had to call the cops the first two times. He finally got the message after that. The first time, she just walked out of the condo and 5 miles down the road before the cops picked her up in the next county, literally. And the very next day my father dropped her off at the entrance of the mall while he parked the car. Naturally she absconded. The third time she asked him where the bathroom was and he pointed. He found her an hour later down the road as her motus operandi is to just walk in a straight line. She never seems to turn. So, you just need to pick the right direction and head down the street. He really, really didn't want to call the cops again. I don't think he's lost her since, but I don't know that he would tell me. I gave him a hard time over the first 3 times he lost her.
So, my point...and I do have one...was that he loved taking care of people, preferably women...but not necessarily. Maybe it just seems that way because men take care of more women than they do other men in the course of their lives so he just HAS taken care of more women, I don't know. But men in general seem to be pretty good at taking care of us when we're sick...don't they? When I had my first migraine after I left home, I missed my Daddy. He would sit on the side of the bed and rub my head. I was in California and I cried and cried. Then I had a kid and I never cried again over a headache.
The guys may screw up every so often but I think that most of them would get an A for effort. A bumbling man who is trying to take care of you is a lot better than an inconsiderate scaramouch who doesn't lift a finger to help. I get to see a lot of husbands taking care of their wives (and even some domestic partners occasionally) and they're all pretty good at trying.
I like watching the way some of the women play the men. I had one last night who put it on pretty damned thick and her husband ate it up. I gave her so much pain medicine that she couldn't have felt a thing and she still walked all doubled over like Quasi Moto. She was quite the baby, I must say. Most people handle themselves pretty well after surgery but every so often, you run into one who just can't seem to get with the program of being in a hospital. But that's OK, it makes things interesting.
The husband was great, he was a great big, quiet guy who didn't say much except to ask for her pain medicine. But he lifted her out of the bed so carefully, it was sweet to watch. Must be nice.
Well, I have to go back and play with the nice sick people again later so I should run and try to fall asleep. Have a good day ya'll!
Meg
posted by Meg Kelso | 8:15 AM
7 Comments:
Let me know when you make it down to Pinellas. I'm on the Clwtr-Dunedin border.
OK, but how do I let you know? Is this benning? You can't ask me to let you know when I get there and then sign Anonymous!
LOLOL...but I should be there soon.
Meg
No, that isn't me. I'm in Largo, Ma'am. :D
Dealing with an Alzheimers patient takes the heart of a Saint, or more patience than I've ever had. Can't be easy, especially as they don't get better. Tough life. Yeesh!
wow...there are lots of us down here. We should have a "Welcome to Florida" dinner for Meg when she gets here!
And I'm on the border of Pinellas and Pasco Counties.
:)
Both my dog and Uncle ( both passed away this year) had dementia, Uncle was in a nursing home and my dear old darling 19yr dog was nursed here at home LOL.
Funny enough both displayed the same symptons, walking around restlessly at night, wandering from room to room, always looking for something but now knowing it when it was found ( peace maybe )
WOW! That is interesting, I had never considered what dementia would do to animals. I had thought about rabies, but not dementia. Tomorrow, when I write the post about Alzheimer's tune in to see how it relates to your pet. Be sure to comment.
And by the way, I'm sorry for your loss.
And a party for ME??????
I'll be there, with bells on!
Meggers
We had to put our 14 year old dog down last October, he had all those symptoms the last year of his life. Wandering at night, wanting in and out the same door and looking confused as to how he got where he was when he got in/out, going outside and getting about 10 ft from the door...stopping...looking around...and coming back in only to ask to go back out 15 minutes later. I attributed his not wanting to walk down the last bit of patio and into the grass to his arthritis pain at the very end, but he was pretty well medicated for that. Now that I look back on the whole thing, dementia makes the most sense. When he was about 12 he started doing some odd things, walking into furniture he knew he'd just passed, etc. the vet said he was getting senile...is that the same thing? They both sure sound the same (as far as a dog goes...it's not like you can ask them questions to determine the extent of their confusion).
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