John and I went to visit my mom yesterday - through the window. I don't know why it hadn't occurred to me, but Maria, our favorite care worker at my mom's place, suggested it. I assumed that since she's on the 2nd floor, the window visit wouldn't work so I had previously dismissed the idea. Marie said she could have Mom ready and then bring her downstairs when we arrived. So that's what we did. John and I showed up at the appointed time with donut holes for my mom, and donuts for the staff. Maria brought her downstairs to the lobby area and then called me. We spoke on the phone while looking through the window. It was nice, but I'm not sure Mom really got it. Typically she was looking over my shoulder off into the distance. Then I'd remind her to look at me and she did. She definitely needs me to come trim her stray whiskers! But she looked good. She liked sitting in the warm sun. I don't think that kind of visit is significantly different to her than face-timing, except she can see me better. It's certainly more time consuming for the staff. We chatted for a few minutes then it was time for Maria to get back to the rest of the residents and get dinner underway. I'm glad we did it, but I'm not sure how often I'll try to set that up.
Tomorrow we're going to participate in a Zoom meeting/class with Easter Seals. It'll be a music class and hopefully John will feel a little like he's part of that program again. He has missed it. The staff member had to drive by our house to pick up the Ipad they sent us previously, then returned with it later in the day. I assume they loaded Zoom onto the Ipad, but I'm not sure if that's all they did. And I'm not sure how many people they did this with. Their goal is to continue learning remotely, kinda like the schools are doing.
We went to San Clemente tonight to see the bioluminescent waves. They are absolutely beautiful. They're caused by a type of plankton that make the waves look like they have an electric blue glow. Pictures don't do them justice. John said "That was really cool" - so it was well worth the trip.
I understand that music is great therapy for folks with dementia. How does the Easter Seals program work? What kind of music? Does John sing along?
ReplyDeleteIt's Susan btw, not Esther.
ReplyDeleteThe Easter Seals program in general runs as a day care facility. It's part adults with disabilities, and part senior day services for seniors with memory impairment and physical disabilities. They have numerous activities during the day that everyone participates in - music, exercise, games, social interaction, recreation, nutritious meals, etc. They have special events for holidays, various themes, stuff like that. There's a woman there who works a lot with John. She specializes in memory issues and seems to focus quite a bit on him. She takes him out for walk/runs, has him help lead exercises, pushes him to work on memory games, nags him to eat a healthier diet, and gets him involved in everything she can think of. The music zoom meeting ended up being canceled today, but I believe the plan for today was to sing along. They use popular songs that everyone is familiar with - like Roy Orbison's "Oh Pretty Woman". She also created an exercise video that she emailed to me, so he was willing to do that today, but I did it with him to keep him focused on it. John really likes her and responds to her - so he'll do things for her that he probably wouldn't do for others. He sees Easter Seals as his job. It gives him purpose which is really important to him, and is clearly beneficial overall.
It's Renne here! Didn't realize that my reply would post as unknown. Glad to know that John enjoys the Easter Seals sessions and the music. Susan, you are doing amazing work taking care of John, your mom and the rest of your family!! George, Glen and I will certainly take John out for eats and drinks from time to time, but if there's anything else we can do, please let us know! Looking forward to Zooming with John on Saturday!!
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