Last night I called Dad to remind him to take his evening meds. Fifteen minutes later he called back and said he couldn't find his pills. He said there were no pills, not even the bottles, in the bathroom. I told him to go look in the blue bathroom. We recently changed bathrooms because the sinks in the pink bathroom are hopelessly clogged. He had forgotten. No surprise there. Then he called back and said they weren't in the blue bathroom either. He said he had searched whe whole house.
This has happened before. Even though there's no reason why he should move his pill box off the bathroom counter, sometimes he decides to carry it around the house. I usually find it in his office, sometimes with the pills rearranged. I told him not to worry about it and we'll look for them in the morning. I was wondering how he could lose the pill box AND the bottles.
This morning the first thing I did was check the blue bathroom. Everything was right where it should be. The evening dose was in a pile on the counter right next to the box. When I asked him about it I got all kinds of goofy answers. He said the box had been "put away someplace". I asked him about the evening pills and he said, "Someone got them out". I didn't press it any further. He really had no idea at all what had happened with the pills. But it looked to me like he had gotten out the evening dose and then didn't know what he was supposed to do with them. Usually when I ask him about things eventually he'll remember. I can kind of guide him with my questions and jog his memory. This morning he didn't even try to think it out. He just threw out an answer.
This fogginess had a different quality to it. Usually when we go through the pill thing he has some kind of explanation of the why and how, even though it might not be right. He does goofy things but he always has a reason. This morning he really just didn't know and he didn't care. I wish I had a video of him wandering around his house last night looking for the pills. Did he go into the blue bathroom and see the box sitting on his counter but didn't recognize it? He had called me three times to tell me he couldn't find it.
I know this is a long post to describe one little event but the way he was this morning has me a little worried. He's different today. He's disinterested. He doesn't care. And it's not because I upped his meds because I only did that yesterday and he didn't have the evening dose. So, no more evening phone calls. I have to go over there.
So, ok.
4 comments:
After I got back from uke group this afternoon satcey called. She asked if I could bring Dad to her house for Audra's birthday dinner (Happy Birthday, Audra!). I went over to Dad's to help him with meds before we left. I also took a card over there for him to sign for Audra. It was a blank card. He said, "Your handwriting is so much prettier than mine. You write Happy Birthday". I did that and handed him the card. He started to sign it "Stan". He stopped himself. I could see he was very frustrated with himself. I tried to make the S look like a G and then handed him the pen so he could finish writing Grandpa. He couldn't handle it.
He could not write the word Grandpa.
I had forgotten that the younger grandkids call him Papa. Still, I don't think he would have been able to write that either.
When Audra opened the card I could tell that she couldn't read the signature. I leaned over and whispered in her ear that it was from Papa. She didn't miss a beat and sweetly told him thank you.
It was a fun evening. I showed Dad the PE uke group slideshow on their computer. Brendan is all excited that he has Bill as his teacher this year. We talked about that a lot. Just before I left I gave B a uke lesson. Little dude picked it up pretty fast and by the time I left he could play C, F, and G. I think Bill and Brendan are going to have a good year together.
This morning the heat was already brutal at 8:00. After doing meds I walked around Dad's house closing the windows. I turned on the AC. Dad got all grumpy and said that I'm the one who has a problem with the heat. I told him that he's been complaining about it and since he can afford it there's no reason for him to suffer. He denied ever complaining about the heat. He was getting all nasty and cocky. Ok, dude, go ahead and roast. We'll see if he leaves the AC on.
Man, I wish we could get Lady out of there. She can't be in the house because she pees on the rug. But it's so hot out there in his yard. And since she can't come in the house she's alone all day. Her life was bad before Maggie died but now it's worse.
It sounds like he might not even realize his dog is gone if you get her somewhere more comfortable--I don't know where that would be... If he says, "Where's the dog?" do you think he'd buy something about somebody from the church taking her for a walk or something?
Yes, Dean is more worried about the dog.
I agree. If we just take her maybe he'll think she ran away. I'll talk to the sibs about her. We're having a meeting on the 15th.
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