3-24-10 Always Something New

I visited Dad yesterday and today and found quite a change between the two days. Yesterday, it was all Tanya and i could do to get a few bites down him. He was all slumped over and resistant to being set up so we could feed him. Only by moving him to a recliner were we successful in getting food down him. I could not understand a single word he said the entire hour and a half i was there. Today, he was sitting up much straighter and actually engaged in conversation for a while, greeting me by name when i arrived. He agreed that sitting out on the deck in the sun would be nice so i wheelchaired him out and we visited. I asked if he was aware on other days when i could not understand him. He said yes. I asked if it was frustrating to him when he could not be understood. "Sure," was his reply. He didn't initiate much so i talked about my day a while and tried to engage him. Over a short time he began to fade and slump. Soon i could barely understand him. Eventually he said something about needing to go somewhere. Then he walked the wheelchair back about a foot and said i should take the car to Merv's. Ha! Don't know who i had become in his mind by then! He then said we should go in, that he was getting tired. I suggested that i could stay a bit longer but he reasserted that it was time to be wheeled in. When i took him in, he wanted me to park his chair in the TV room. Now that was a switch as he has typically not wanted to be in the TV room when family has been with him. Maybe he still thought i was someone else. Funny. I guess it would be fair to say there is always something new when i head over to see him. Until later ... Merv