Some Smiles Again

It has been some time since we have seen smiles on Jan's face, but I am happy to tell you that yesterday she was doing quite well. She had smiles for everybody, even some that she doesn't care for. She laughed and was cutting up with the staff of caregivers and myself.
I have decided that I am a distraction for her when she is eating so I am only present briefly. Too many things at the table distract her and she stops eating. Sometimes she eats well and sometimes she doesn't. Last night she was still hungry so I went to Arbys and got her a little something and she ate every bite. Which reminds me, if your going to come during a meal, let me know and I can get lunch or dinner for all of us and we can have a room just for us, it would be a great treat for Jan, but remember she gets distracted easily. Happy New Year...

When Visiting

I thought it was best to say something about visiting, or more than what I have previously. When visiting with Jan, asking her questions can sometimes frustrate her so careful with asking a bunch of questions. Does she look good, her place is pretty, you have so many friends, or say something about your kids, or family. Say that you saw the Christmas party pictures, or that it's sweet that Christi comes to her to cut her hair. These are just some of the things that works best. I have made these mistakes and had to change quickly before frustrating her.
Jan has almost lost the ability to communicate except for verbiage that comes out of her mouth and you can't understand it, but she doesn't know that, so I say yea, okay, whatever you say, really. Asking her to repeat it is futile, short term memory is gone. Jan cannot open her door to her room, or understand closing the door. She does understand smiles, hugs and compliments. I continue to hear her say thank you to her caregivers, who seem to just love her.
Hope to see you soon

Merry Christmas

I couldn't let Jan spend the night or the day by herself, so I spent the night with her on Christmas eve. We had been tracking her sleep patterns and behavior for some time to try and get a picture of just what is happening. I wanted to see a report for at least 10 days in a row. She is sleeping some, 8:00- 3:00a.m. and then she is up and going, walking as she does. We have been able to take her off of some of the medicine that we were giving her for anger and we hope we can make that permanent, not sure right now.
I would also say that visits are welcomed by anyone. She has had some and seems to enjoy them greatly, so anyone who wants to visit come on down, but come with no expectations and just be glad to see everyone, because you just might see everyone in the building. I hope some of you will visit soon.
Merry Christmas to all of you and thank you so much for your prayers.

Pictures of Christams Party

We need some balance

Things just seem to stay out of balance. Some nights she seems to rest and other nights she is having many difficult problems. Today she had a visit from our friend Kay Hunt who is the lady that would stay with her for 8 hours at time and give me a day off. Kay was with us for over a year and when I went to see Jan she was excited to tell me about Kay.
Autumn Leaves had our Christmas Party on Thursday night and there was a great turnout. We had our entire family, 11 of our family were there and the place was full. Good food, good entertainment, and it wound up being a fun evening. Jan was in very good form as she was joking and laughing and talking very good. I think the grandchildren had her motivated and excited.

Bumps in the road

I guess we should expect some disappointment during this whole process. You wish and pray for the best, but life is not easy and this is a hugh transition. Well, not all is as good as I was hoping. Jan is showing to be more stimulated at Autumn Leaves, however, she is declining. In one week she shows signs of beginning to stoop forward in a strange manner. She has fallen or bruised her calf somehow and seems to have a new twitch in her left arm. She also seems to be having more delusions than at previous times. We did discover that she has a urinary trac infection which means her meds were not doing what they should be doing. With antibiotics started her meds should begin to work better for her. This is my prayer.
Thursday night she up all night, and for the most part she had been resting somewhat. Now she's up again. Today when I went to see her, she looked worn out. After breakfast I got her to lay down and she did sleep for about 1.5 hours.

Autumn Leaves of Fossil Creek

I really wanted to relay some good news to those who read this blog and I praise God for granting the good things that have happened over the last few days. Too all of those who have been praying I want to thank you and let you know that things have gone much better than I could have imagined. Finding the right place was a God thing. God closed doors and he opened doors. He walked with us as we took Jan to the location and he was with us during this entire process. It was very difficult for all of us, but it was necessary and God made that decision obvious. This is Monday and last night I left her at 8:00 as she was getting sleepy. She was very calm, allowed me to hug and kiss on her, which she has not allowed for I don't know how long. No anger and as I was about to leave she raised up out of bed and told me to be careful while smiling. Obviously, this was a good visit and I could go home without feeling anxiety. She still can't communicate and that seems to be getting worse, and she does seems to be hallucinating more as she seems things in the carpet. She does know who I am and is always eager to see me and I praise God for all that he is doing and will contiinue to do.