August 22, 2020

We've had an Easter Seals miracle! They have accommodated my every request, and more! John started participating in person this past Monday. He's going there 5 days per week now. At first he was the only participant, but a 2nd person joined him on Friday. They're staying open an extra half hour each day to accommodate my new work hours. And Jordan has agreed to drop him off each morning before her classes start, so they didn't have to have someone come into work early each day because of my schedule. But the icing on the cake - Easter Seals got a grant to cover this part of the program so I'm not paying the $85.00 fee every day! It's possible that I'll need to start paying something at some point, but so far it's completely free! I was praying that something could be worked out for him, but I didn't pray for all that! It's truly a miracle. And just in time. Since it's been so hot here, John and Edna (the person John works with most of the time at Easter Seals) go out and exercise in the morning and work up quite a sweat! They also play memory games, do cognizance puzzles, and I don't know what all else. John still participates in the zoom meetings they are holding twice each day, but he does so in person. He was so bored prior to Easter Seals opening. He complained all the time that he had no purpose. And for the last week I haven't heard a peep about that! It's really going well. Yesterday I facedtimed with my mom and our faorite caregiver Maria. Maria was working in the covid section of the building, but everyone there has tested negative for the virus now so they're shutting down the covid section. That frees up Maria to work with the general population so it's easier for her to have the ability to facetime with me. So they called, and Maria and Mom were relaxing on the bed after dinner and eating cookies, Mom's favorite pastime. While we were talking I noticed Mom's wedding ring was on her middle finger. Maria couldn't get it off, so she greased up Mom's finger and started making headway. Of course Mom complained, but it had to be done. Finally the ring came off and was placed on the correct finger, but her middle finger was swollen from the smaller ring. So of course Mom was rewarded with a cookie!

August 2, 2020

I facetimed with my mom yesterday. She was all about her cookies. She kept asking the caregiver "Can I have another cookie?" She ate alot! And she said "I'm going to get fat!" She seemed fine. She doesn't have Covid and she looks the same. I encouraged her to sit in her big soft lazy boy chair each day, rather than her preferred bed. I know she's in her wheelchair some of the time, but I'm not sure how much since everyone is quarantined in their rooms. I think there are about 9 residents on her floor with Covid19. And 2 more have passed away. They have about 40 memory care residents so about 1/4th of them have tested positive. Now they have 2 caregivers on the Covid portion of the floor at all times. John is increasingly frustrated with his lack of purpose and general boredom. He's been pretty cranky. I'm the target some of the time, but he's the crabbiest with Jordan. He's very hard on her. She tries to help, and he's snarky in every response. And since I'm gone working M-F now, she's taking the brunt of his annoyance. Our Easter Seals people are working hard to help us. They're trying to be really creative to try provide some coverage, especially when Jordan starts school in 2 weeks. We're praying they'll get approval for some plans they're working on for us. John's office has mirrored closet doors. The other day he asked me how to get into the room he sees in the mirror. He's also obsessed with flashlights. He's carries one around in his pocket. He keeps one on the nightstand. He pulls them out of the drawer and lines them up in a row. He tries to put in new batteries if they're runnning low. That typically requires bringing a large tool chest in the house, pulling out various tools to open the flashlight, then leaving all that stuff out. He's confident he can shave himself, but he can't. He's annoyed with me each day when I shave him. He's confident I'm doing it all wrong. He hates the shaving cream, but then twice this week he put shaving cream on in the evening. He was trying to help his smile lines so maybe he thinks it's lotion. Pretty weird. He's wanted to shower in the small downstairs bathroom for the longest time, like he used to. He likes the removable shower head. The shower handles were stripped, so I finally hired someone to repair them. John showered there yesterday, and came out of the shower pretty quickly. His hair was still dry. So was his wash cloth. So much for that experiment. He's going to be annoyed but it's much easier for me to have him shower upstairs so I can get ready while I make sure everything gets done for him in the shower. John heard me commenting to Jordan this morning about the strict Covid lockdown in Melbourne, where our niece lives. Now he thinks we're not allowed to get groceries and we're going to run out of food. I've explained a number of times that isn't the case anywhere, and especially not where we live. I've assurred him we have access to everything we need, and more. But he continues to ask.