Monday, March 03, 2008

Whew!

Man, it's been a while since the last post. Have I really been that busy?

Yes.

Dad is just getting worse and worse. His mind is nothing but chaos. Right now he has an infection in his feet so he's in a lot of pain. Drew has been with him almost every day because Dad won't settle down, can't settle down. He can't walk because his legs are in so much pain from the infection. And then he forgets that he can't walk so he stands up and falls down. It's just a horrible situation.

We have to hire someone who can be with him during the night. One of the staff at Sunrise introduced Drew to a guy who has a company that deals with this stuff. And yes, it's very expensive. Dad has an appointment at the VA on Wednesday with Dr. Griffin and the psychiatrist. Maybe they can come up with a plan. The last time Dad saw them they were talking about admitting him to the psych ward to do a full evaluation. Maybe this time we should let them.

Just a minute...

Ok, I just talked to the three sibs who are in the immediate loop. Everyone pretty much agrees it's time for action. If the VA wants to admit him then we're all for it. We're also going to be thinking about/talking about finding him a different place to live. Sunrise is fine for docile AD patients. That ain't Dad.

Ok, good. I feel a little bit better. We needed to communicate.

School is going ok but I've been frustrated with the Word class. I'm supposed to do 14 hours of lab time but when I've gone in there they didn't have the right book. I told the teacher about it and I think it's all straightened out. But, dang, I'm behind. Psych 2 is really interesting, especially in light of what's been happening with Dad. He's my Psych lab. Today I stopped by Scotty's office for a visit. We discussed my educational goals. He thinks I might have to take...a.....(ulp)...MATH CLASS.

Work is good. I'm settling in now. Scotty sent me a job posting for an opening in the counseling office. It's full-time with higher pay. I might as well go for it. The hours are goofy but it's on campus and it's a busy office. I like busy. And since it's on campus I could ride my bike to work. But, ahem, I don't have it yet.

On Saturday Jeff went with me to San Diego to pick up Jim's keyboards. The guy who was going to sell them for me didn't. I guess it was more than he really wanted to deal with. Anyway, I think it was good for me to have them out of my space for a while. I'll get some eBay sales going. Jeff and I had lunch at Lawrence Welk Village. The meal was good but I think I left there with more gray hairs than I came in with. Jeff showed me this really cool nursery near there that sells California native plants. I'm not ready to do any landscaping yet but when I do I'll want to go back there and get some.

Man, things are weird right now. Talk about a mixed bag. I love my house, but it has issues. I love my job, but I'm still worried about money. I'm not taking care of Dad, but now he needs more attention than ever. I'm going to school. I'm playing music. Good things are happening and bad things are happening. And I'm still kind of reeling from the ordeal of 2007. I think about Jim many times throughout my day. I'm still trying to figure out who the hell I am.

All I really want to do is paint my living room and buy some curtains.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, your immediate goals are certainly achievable.

Heh heh... Lawrence Welk village. I remember. And that nursery, I remember that, too. That's been there a looooooong time.

I hope I don't end up in the shape your dad's in 25 years from now. What a nightmare.

vivage said...

You ARE busy! I'm sorry we didn't get to talk all that much at dinner. It's too hard to talk because the whole difficulty with the MIL's hearing.

When ya gonna paint and hang the curtains you still have to buy? Or do you have your curtains?

Donita Curioso said...

Dean- Nightmare it is. His mind is a complete mess.

Virginia- I saw some nice curtains at Burlington Coat Factory for $10 a panel. I'm going to get some green velvet ones. Hanging them will be a cinch because the hardware is already there.

Yeah, it was hard to talk in that restaurant. It's pretty noisy in there. Boy, it was hard to hear Jean, especially after she started to zone out.

vivage said...

I'm sad to say I try not to talk a whole lot when the MIL is not able to hear. She misunderstands and you spend the entire time trying to get her to understand what you just said. It IS worse in noisy places too.