I have been slacking!

I am SO sorry to my family up north who read this blog for updates on Dad. It has just been very busy and now that Dad is near me I go see him every day and I forget to blog about him. Dad is doing great in his new home! The staff all love him (who doesn't right??). They are also great about knowing what he likes and actually doing those things with him.

Just the other day I was sitting with Dad out front in the patio area and the chaplain was leaving for the day and he saw Dad and said "Is that my buddy Tom?" and he came over and patted Dad on the back and proceeded to tell me how him and Dad had sat outside there for about an hour and "chatted." That made me feel really good because when I came to register Dad I told them that he loves being outside, my husband always calls him an old alligator who like to sit in the sun LOL, he loves having someone to talk to, and I also told them that at Bayview when we would take him to their courtyard you had to walk through the parking lot and he liked looking at all the cars, he would car shop in the parking lot, he would find one he likes and say "OK, I'll take that one!" So to hear the chaplain tell me that he had brought him outside and chatted with him just made me feel good. After the chaplain left a few minutes later the admissions director that I had worked with to get Dad in there, was leaving and she saw us out on the patio and she came over to say hi as well. She said hi to Dad and then she told me how she had brought him out earlier to walk around and do some car shopping! She said she walked him around the parking lot and she says "he does NOT like Fords!" LOL She said that he really likes the GMCs and the Chevy's LOL She said that he settled on a Cadillac SUV that was parked in front of the building though LOL. Again just more reassurance that he is in the right place and he is being taken care of.

One of Dad's best days took place just this past week. On Tuesday he had a doctor's appointment in Lake County so my hubby, Gary, took the day off work to take him to his doctor's appointment. The appointment was at 11:00. Gary got to Dad's nursing home at like 7:00 so dad could have a nice outing. Gary was going to bring my SUV since it is lower than his truck but he knows how much Dad loves Chevy trucks so he decided to take his truck instead! Dad was so thrilled to get to ride in "his" Chevy! Gary took him to Denny's for breakfast where Dad downed a bowl of oatmeal with raisins, scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. Then they took a nice drive to Lake county. On the way Gary called me at work to let me know how Dad was doing and I could hear him in the background just a talking and laughing. At one point I heard him say something but couldn't make it out and Gary replied "Yeah Dad, she's a pretty one" turns out Dad was checking out the ladies in the other cars LOL. Gary got him to his doctor and then after the appointment he took him to Sonny's for lunch where Dad absolutely LOVED the Sweet Sauce! Gary said he was dipping everything in the sweet sauce LOL

Here are some pictures from his outing to the doctor (they are a little out of order):

Riding in the truck!

Lets get this show on the road!

Waiting for the doctor

tearing up some Sonny's BBQ

Leave me alone and let me eat!

Still going on that turkey, french fries, and garlic bread - that's what's hidden under all that sweet sauce LOL

Breakfast at Denny's

Yummy!

enjoying the ride!

5/10 Moving Day and 5/11 Visit

Well Dad is all settled into his new "home." Yesterday was moving day. He wasn't really sure what was going on but was glad to be riding in my car. He told me I was a really good driver :-) The staff at Bayview was very sad to see him go, they just loved him. They said he was their favorite patient because he was always so happy. His CNA's were all hugging on him and telling him they would miss him.

Saying good-bye to his CNA's they were loving on him and he was just as happy as could be. 

 When we got to his new place in Winter Park they wheeled him into his room and the curtains were opened and he wheeled himself over in front of the window and just sat there and stared out the window for a while - he really likes the view out his window

This is the view from his room - he likes the outdoors so he just sat and stared out the window for a while

Supper time at his new home

His blanket had to go on his bed first thing

Today Kathy, her daughter Jillian, and Jillian's daughter Tristany came from Gainesville to see Dad and they brought him all sorts of presents. He was being spoiled rotten :-)  Right next to his facility is a yummy diner so we signed him out and took him out to lunch. He had already earn his lunch at the facility so we just ordered him some french fries and a Coke, as soon as they set my plate down he was reaching for my ham sandwich LOL Then later he was reaching over and taking french fries off Kathy's plate as well. He is always so happy to have visitors and I am so glad that he is close enough to me now that I can go see him every day.

A few weeks ago I was visiting Dad on a Friday and we called Kathy and she told him she was coming to visit him the next day and she asked him what he wanted her to bring him and he told her he wanted a chocolate bar, a Pepsi, and Chevy! ROFLOL Kathy said she would definitely get him the chocolate bar and the Pepsi but the Chevy might take a little while. He told her that he would ask for a Cadillac but that would be too much LOL LOL So dad is obsessed with Chevy's (which he now pronounces as "shivy") and today Kathy made good on her promise to bring him his "Shivy" LOL She brought him a toy Chevy that has doors, hood, and trunk that all open. He LOVED it. He closed all the doors and the trunk and the hood and then Jillian opened them all back up again and he looked at it and said "Now its all torn apart!" and he had to close all the doors, trunk, and hood again. He absolutely loved his Chevy:

Chekin' out his new Chevy

Dad's Chevy

Jillian's daughter's made him another Army blanket. This one is small enough he can have it over his lap - He keeps his big one, that he thinks Bobby and Garrett made him, on his bed. So now he has that the boys made and one the girls made (except the boys didn't make one LOL)

His great grand-daughter Tristany, he was telling her how pretty she was and
not to worry her hair would grow back really fast LOL

Holding TT's hand :-) His Great-Grandchildren call him "Great" 

He was putting his blanket all up on his shoulder LOL 

He just LOVES his Chevy!

Checking out the engine

Tristany brought him an Army cup. After she gave it to him we sat it on the table,
a few minutes later he looked at it and said it was really nice and then he said "I'm gonna get me one of those"
LOL we told him that one WAS his that he already had one

Tristany gave "Great" a flower :-)

Holding his flower and taking in all his visitors

Still got a hold on that Chevy

The Chevy was still in his hands while he was eating his lunch

"That's a nice machine" 

Heading back from Johnny's Diner after having some lunch for the rest of us - and another round for Dad

My baby boy Garrett and his "Favorite Aunt Kathy"

Tomorrow is Mother's Day, it is always a very difficult day for me and this year it seems even tougher with Dad's situation, I will be going to see him tomorrow and he will be a part of my family's celebration, I can't think of a better way to honor my mother than to spend the day with the man she loved more than anything.

5/09 & 5/10 Visits

Got to spend 2 days with Dad and will spend most of tomorrow with him as well. I have found an excellent permanent long term care facility for him and will be moving him to his new "home" tomorrow. Yesterday I went to visit him  for our usual Wednesday visit and was happy to see that he was wearing the shirt Garrett made for him. He still tells me that Bobby brought him his Army blanket (which he absolutely LOVES) and he also had another crocheted afghan and a small quilt. I have no idea where he got them from but he claims that Bobby made them for him and he tells me "He's a good boy! He's really smart!"

His medication to increase his appetite has certainly worked! He will eat anything he gets his hands on and then he will turn around and clean his entire plate too.

Here he is wearing the shirt Garrett made him.

Relaxing before supper time

After supper you gotta have a snack - so he put his raisins in his "pouch" on top of his phone LOL
He calls his pocket his pouch

Today (5/10) I went to see Dad, actually I went to get him to take him to his new facility but we got hung up waiting for some paperwork. SO we just had a visit instead. We had a VERY interesting and hilarious visit. We were sitting in Dad's room waiting for the paperwork and his supper. Dad was snacking on some candy and his roommate was sleeping. I had my back to the curtain between their beds while I was packing some of Dad's things when I heard the curtain move. I turned around and saw that Dad's roommate had sat up in his bed and pulled the curtain open. I smiled at him and said hello, he said something I couldn't understand and then he asked me "How do I get up?" and I told him he would need the nurse to help him get up and he said "The nurse? I can't afford to have a nurse come in here" and then he started getting up and he moved himself from his bed over onto Dad's bed! He then told me that it was his bed I very politely said "No this is my dad's bed your bed is over there" and he replied to me that the bed over there was messing and it was not his. He then proceeded to lay in my Dad's bed then he picked up the crocheted afghan and he says "This is my blanket, my wife made this for me" now normally I would have believed him BUT Dad had the blanket yesterday and the guy wash;t his roommate yesterday so I am not so sure about it- The best part was Dad was watching all this with a great deal of interest and finally Dad looks up at me and says "I think he's confused" ROFLOL I just started laughing and Dad did too! Then the guy leans over and points at Dad's shoes and says "Are those my shoes?" and I said "No those are his shoes" and he says "No I think those are MY shoes, I think those are my good shoes" and I again said "No those shoes belong to my dad" and the guy says again that he thinks they are his shoes and Dad says "These are MY shoes" and he looked at me with a look like "this guy's nuts" and then he went back to eating his candy.  During all this I had pressed the nurse call button and one of the CNAs came in to try to get the man back into his own bed and he was fighting her, every time she touched him he would say "OW don't pull on me" LOL They finally got him out of Dad's bed and they put him in his wheelchair and wheeled him to the dining room, after they left the room Dad looks up at me and says "Who the hell was that nit wit??" ROFLOL I was dying laughing and Dad was too! It was SO funny!!! Below are some pictures of Dad's uninvited guest,  my favorite is the one where Dad is totally ignoring the guy and digging for more candy. This was right after he told the guy in no uncertain terms that those were HIS shoes LOL

Dad's roommate making himself comfie on Dad's bed

The CNA was trying to get him out of dad's bed and into  his own but he wasn't hearing of it

My favorite one! Dad could care less about the guy on his bed he was digging for more chocolate LOL

Dad has a thing for blankets - he insisted on being covered up in this one and he insists that Bobby brought it to him LOL

I will be posting pictures of Dad in his new home tomorrow - I am very pleased with the facility he will be moving too and I will be able to be with him so much more often! Check back tomorrow for info on his big move!

5/6 visit

Today Bobby and I went to visit Dad and take him his awesome blanket my friend's mother made for him. When we got there he was sitting across from the nurses station and he was so happy to see us. I told him that we had a present for him and I showed him his blanket. His eyes got huge and he got all excited and then he pointed at Bobby and with a BG grin he says to him "YOU did this didn't you! Your a good boy, I tell you what!" LOL he was certain Bobby had gotten him this blanket and we just let him think it. He was just so happy. He was watching over that blanket like a hawk. He kept it all bunched up on his lap because he didn't want it to touch the floor and get dirty, when he moved it to a chair so he could eat some raisins he shouted "That's mine!" and was looking around the room to make sure anyone in there heard him :-) When we first gave it to him several of the nurses and CNAs came over to see it and were telling him how nice it was and he was just a grinning and he kept saying "This is mine" He was so proud.


He was in prime form today too. He was just being as silly as can be. We told him Bobby was getting married and Dad asked him "So you already got a girlfriend?" and Bobby said yes and Dad said "OK good, then you can help me find one too"

Bobby was being quiet, as usual, and Dad looks at me and shrugs his shoulders and says "He doesn't say much does he?" I said nope and he shrugged his shoulders again, pointed at his blanket and said "But he's a good boy" LOL

Later we were in the little day room, and there is an area there with a bunch of small white rocks, Dad was talking about Bobby not talking and he says "Maybe if we threw some rocks at him" ROFLOL He also wanted to throw rocks at the bird in the hallway that was screeching LOL

As we were sitting in the day room Dad and I were chatting and he says "wait a minute" then he lifts up out of his seat and passes gas VERY loudly, Bobby looked up and Dad started cracking up and says "That got him!" and then he kept on chuckling and he says "That one was purple" I have no idea what that means but he was just cracking up.

He continued to crack me up because he started grabbing his cheeks and flapping them in and out and making noises. Then he took his Mardi Gras beads and was putting them up in front of his face, then he would yank them down and shout "PEEKY Q!!!!" ROFLOL

When it was time for me to go it was perfect timing, his sweet sweet CNA was coming to find him to change him when Bobby and I had to leave. I told him she was there for their date and he was happy. When I left she was holding his hand and talking to him, it made me feel good that he was not even noticing that we were leaving.

Below are some pictures from today's visit

He was so excited to get his blanket

Posing with his new blanket

clapping his hand - he LOVES his blanket -he kept looking at it and rubbing it and then he would clap his hands and talk about how nice it is.

Chillaxin' LOL

Having some raisins

Having some MORE raisins LOL

Making faces LOL

5/5 Visit

Another Saturday with my Dad! Today Gary, Garrett, and I went to see Dad, Kathy and Stan were already there when we got there and Perry and Terri showed up a bit later. We had a really good visit with Dad today. When we first got there Garrett gave Dad the shirt he made for him. Garrett drew out everything on the shirt - The front has a purple Alzheimer's Awareness ribbon that says TOM on one side and PIERCE TOUGH on the other. The back of the shirt has "Damn Right" on it with some designs and there is also a very small Chevy symbol in the middle of the design. That tiny little chevy symbol was the first thing Dad noticed, he pointed right at it and "That's a Chevy"

Here's the front

Here's the back

Dad was in prime form today. As Garrett was holding the shirt up to have the picture taken I noticed that dad looked kinda weird, and I said "Dad, you ok?" and he says "nope" and I asked him again, I said "Dad are you ok?" and again he says "no" and I was watching him and all of a sudden he started laughing and says "Gotcha!" Garrett told me "I was moving chairs out of the way in case I had to run for a nurse" 

After he saw the shirt Garrett made him Garrett went over and sat down across from him and he said "Hey, come sit over here" and so Garrett moved over to sit beside him and when Garrett sat down Dad said "OK, let's talk" LOL

Dad and Stan cutting up

Garrett drawing

Dad likes to watch Garrett draw

Dad is now taking an appetite stimulant medication to increase his appetite because he has lost weight since being there. All I can say about this medication is IT WORKS! Holy moley does it work! Kathy and Stan brought Dad a bag of chocolate mint candies, he ate half the bag before lunch and then he ate most of his lunch. Once he was done with his lunch he continued to snack on the candy. 

Since it was Cinco de Mayo they had a "party" at the nursing home. The party consisted of Crystal Lite Mocktail - Margaritas (we were calling them mockaritas) an a small plate of chips and salsa which Dad totally devoured! He was licking the plate! 

Enjoying his Margarita Mocktail

That's good stuff!

Chowing down on nachos and salsa

He ran out of chips but that didn't stop him from finishing the salsa!

Licking the salt and salsa off his fingers

Last bite!

One of the funniest things from today happened so casually but it was SO funny! Dad was chatting with Kathy and he said to her "Hey, I want to you to do something, I want you to get all the boys and girls together and I want you all to find me a woman" after Kathy told him she would see what she could do he said "Ok, good" then he looks over at me, he looks back at Kathy, then he reaches over and picks up MY can of Diet Coke and and takes it across the table and hands it to Kathy and says "Here ya go" LOL LOL   

Being silly,
considering the Diet Coke is still in front of me this must have been before he decided that Kathy should have my soda LOL

Perry came to see Dad and the first thing Dad does is try to get up out of his chair and he tells Perry "I'm gonna kick your ass" Perry said "You always want to kick my ass" (YES!! Perry said ASS!!!!) then Dad started laughing and told him he wasn't gonna kick his ass because he likes him LOL



Finally I have to give a shout out to my friend and co-worker Jennifer Blanton. I told my team about Dad's blanket that he had attached himself to and how it had disappeared and that I wanted to try to find him a replacement blanket. Jennifer said that if I told her the color(s) I wanted her mom would make him a new one. I told her that black and yellow would be great because he LOVES his Army hat and I even sent her a picture of him wearing his hat so her mom could see the shade of yellow to use with the black. I told her to tell me how much her mom wanted to make the blanket for us and she wouldn't even hear of it. Her mom made him a blanket out of the goodness of her heart and I am SO touched by that. They have never met my Dad or have any connection to him other that Jennifer and I becoming friends through working together.

Today as I was on my way to see Dad when Jennifer called me to tell me the blanket was finished and she was going to drop it off at the house. I was SO excited when I got home and walked in my room and saw this...

I CAN NOT WAIT TO GIVE THIS TO DAD TOMORROW!