Sunday, August 26, 2012

August 26, 2012

I took Dad for a ride tonight. He had no clue who I was. Having had run away to John's for the weekend, I hadn't seen him for a couple of days, and I thought he was having a pretty good day, and we were talking, and during the course of the conversation I realized that he thinks I am his sister today. I asked him where is daughter, Kay, was, and he said he doesn't know her. His biggest concern today is milking. He doesn't like milking. I told him he was in luck because we sold those damn cows, and he was very relieved. He said he does like cows, but he does not like milking cows. LOL 

The other day he asked if there was roll call in the morning. An Army day.

He was eating a hot dog and he stopped, and told me he wanted it wrapped up. When I asked his intentions, he said he wanted it wrapped up for the church. I told him the Catholics weren't interested in his weenie, only his monetary donations. I wrapped it up all right, in a bun, and polished it off.  He is still worried about me going to hell. Possibly a very valid concern.

We are trying a new prescription tonight to help Dad sleep. The nights are still very rough. I read about it on line. Sundowning it is called. It sucks. I said to John "We are giving the Trazadone a whirl tonight." John said "Great idea! Give some to Dad too!"

In other news, I dropped a c-note at the vet for Mr. Finn. He had an abcess on his ear, and while we were there the vet noticed that his third eyelid is lacerated. Actually it was $105.00. Ouch. He got a very expensive antibiotic and a shot. I can't help but wonder if Midge is responsible, she goes after him all the time!

And I lost a filling or broke a tooth, or some such thing. Ironically, the day after I had my teeth cleaned! It doesn't hurt. That is a good thing.

And another week is over.

Kay :)






Saturday, August 18, 2012

Spuds and Random Stuff

Gosh, little did I know when I typed the other night that I liked it when Dad was in the army because he followed orders (sort of lol), that the night would be hellish. Goodness. A good day does not equal a good night in Dementiaville apparently, and you can manipulate that equation as much as you like just so it = unpredictable(!). Fortunately that bad night was followed by some very good nights, so Mom is looking better and seems pretty well rested. Whew! Church tomorrow. Last week he had a bad night on Saturday night, and Mom was up and dressed for church, but flustered because she couldn't find her keys (shut up John!), and Joe was ready to go (it still stuns me that Joe goes with Dad to church!), and Dad was sleeping in his chair. Mom woke him up intentionally at the last minute, as he had not had enough sleep, and there was some confusion and stubbornness, and Mom said "Goddammit! You you have been talking about church constantly, LET'S GO!" It probably was not a good time to giggle my ass off and suggest that the Lord would not appreciate that language. I swear  we are good people (for sure my mom is at least and Joe, and Finn and Midge lol).  Sometimes you just get tired.

John thinks all people in Morris do is hunt for cats, keys, and glasses.

Before

Not sure what I am going to do with these yet. John is coming today for a visit and cookout. Not that I am trying to compete with the grilled meal he made for us for Father's Day or anything! That was spectacular. Hopefully flattery will get me a repeat.


Hooray for cortisone shots in your heel! It's doing better.

Taters got tossed with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, olive oil and a touch of butter and went in a foil packet on grill with baby bellas, red onion, sweet yellow onion, red, yellow and orange bell pepper, and then topped with a bit of my beloved Chihauhau cheese, and then used the veggies to smother some ribeye. It doesn't look nearly as pretty in the picture as it tasted. It was delicious.

Broccoli salad topped with honey roasted sunflower seeds, and a new salad, blanched cauliflower, capers, parsley and red onion in a vinaigrette. Tasty stuff. Very cruciferous.

 Have a good weekend folks.

Kay :)


Tuesday, August 14, 2012

First Zinnia

First zinnia. More are coming. 



This sunflower is 10 feet tall. The morning glories are climbing it like crazy.

Do not disturb Miss Midge.

Dad is in the army today. I like it when he is in the army. He follows orders, sort of. And today he was NOT obsessed with church or milking, he was obsessed with pooping! As John always says, you gotta have some way to pass the time. 

Kay :)



 

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Search for "Mallaney" and colostomy . . . how many can there be?

At the reunion today I told my cousins I'd post a few pics on my blog. I told them to do a search for "Mallaney" and "colostomy", how many blogs will come up? LOL  I guess I can check it out myself.

Cousins Sally and Tracy brought this pretty (and delicious!) cake.
Dad with his brother, Uncle Jim, and Aunt Joan. Cousin Peggy in background.



Uncle George and Dad's Cousin Robert Ragan,my Godfather.

Dad with cousins Robert Ragan and Mary Prindiville.
Mom and Dad.
Uncle Jim, Dad, Aunt Jean, Aunt Kay (my Godmother), and Aunt Joan

Aunt Joan and Aunt Jean, Cousin Sherri in background.

Time to head home!
We had fantastic weather today for the Mallaney Family Reunion today, the 50th, over at the Coal City Area Club. A nice turnout though we certainly missed the absentees, especially Aunt Shirley, and lots of busy cousins. Wonderful food, good talk and laughs.

Dad started on Ambien this week. Not sure about that stuff. Dad has had a couple of good nights in a row, where he actually spent time in bed and got some sleep. Mom got caught up on her rest a little. We had him up to the Veteran's Clinic this week, they are changing up some of his meds and he will be seeing a neurologist up at Hines VA Hospital on September 5th.

When we were leaving the VA clinic, and it was a long appointment, Dad was there for a couple of hours, Dad asked the nurse "Do I have to clock out?". I bet that long appointment did seem like work to him. The other night he had ants in his pants and was talking about church. I assured him there was no mass on that day at that time, and told him that Dr. Cumba wanted him to exercise, and he should go do a couple of laps around the yard. He said that he wasn't going to do that, and started this fakey BS about having a sore leg, and I said no malarkey, GET MOVING! He looked at me and said "Gosh Kay, I thought we were buddies!", and off he went. I took him with me to pick up the chicken for the reunion, and he asked me, "Is Mother taking her bathing suit to the reunion?" LOL You gotta laugh. We have been enjoying evening rides and Dad likes to go down to the river to look at the boats. And Mom gets a break from him! He still doesn't like to be too far from her for too long.

I'm getting more used to the new normal. I'm not liking it that much, but I'm getting used to it!

Kay :)

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Is Dementia Contagious?

I cooked today. Chicken fried rice. Mom always says that I use an incredible number of ingredients when I cook.

1. Olive Oil
2. Butter
3. Onion
4. Garlic
5. Basmati Rice
6. Bacon
7. Eggs
8. Baby Bellas
9. Red, Yellow, Orange and Green Bell Pepper
10. Onion
11. Cashews
12. Trader Joe's General Tsao Stir Fry Sauce (yummers)
13. Chicken

Hmm. She may be right. The rice was delicious.

The Mallaney Family Reunion is next Saturday. I'm wondering if I should send out a warning e-mail to the cousins, in case Dad hits on one of them? I'm mulling that over. And I'm taking extra beer.

I guess in my prior post I shouldn't have said that church is annoying, I guess it is the dementia that is annoying. I guess. If going to mass would shut Dad up and satisfy him I'd take him to every mass I could (or find someone to do that! lol), but most of the time he can't even remember being at mass 10 minutes after he gets home. I guess he tried to walk to mass today. Now there is an alarm on the door. The back gates are chained so he can't get out back there unless he goes over. Problem is when you lock someone with dementia in, you lock yourself in too.

I kind of think of my father now as two different people. Is he "Dad" or "Bernie"? Bernie is kind of a stranger, he is Dad before I knew him. Honestly, sometimes I can't believe Mom married him! Dad is still in there sometimes. He kind of comes and goes. Or maybe that is just wishful thinking on my part. I'm too tired to think about that right now.

I did a blog search for "Dementia Dad" and came across a caregiver's blog about caring for her dad. Her dad was doing the same things as mine, wanting to go home, alternately cute/ornery, etc. She doesn't know how much longer she can do it. I feel for her.

I thought to myself that poor Mom looks so old and tired today, and shit, I kind of glanced up while I was bent over the sink, brushing my teeth (not a good look for Kay Kay!), so do I! And I forgot about the fat part! Eating doesn't really help with dementia I guess. And I have a big old swollen gland, sore as heck. Grrrrr. When it rains it pours I guess. Life's a pisser sometimes for sure.

At least we are getting a break from the heat, might get down into the 50's tonight! Nice sleeping weather, I hope!

Kay