Visit Wednesday June 22nd.

Friends of Ed;

          I was running around town doing errands today so I didn't get to visit father until about 19:00.  In compensation I brought along an old friend - his Tenor Saxophone.  I'd been looking around the house for a few days to see if I could find a sax with all the parts and I finally found the Tenor in a room where I didn't expect it.  I had been wondering for a couple of weeks if father could handle a little blowing on his horn and he seemed agreeable to trying so today we gave it a whirl.  It was wonderful to see how confidently he assembled the horn and got it adjusted to his liking.  His short term memory may be poor but his long term memory is working fine! The horn had not been played in 6 months so the reed was dry and the instrument seemed to be quite reluctant to "sound", but after a minute or so it started to speak.  He played for about 20 minutes - nothing serious, just scales, exercises, and little snippets of tunes such as in the video below.  He said it felt really good and "familiar" to have the horn in his hands.  I must say that I was more than a little impressed.  I had not expected results from a "first try" to be anywhere near this good!  Father did say that he had to keep taking breaths in "all the wrong places" and that he was frequently on the verge of coughing but overall I think he was also very pleased with is first saxophone playing in over 6 months!

          Vince

Visit and Outing Tuesday June 21.

Friends of Ed;

          I had a really nice visit and outing with father today. After dinner we sat on his patio for a bit and then went out for a stroll with the wheelchair. The weather conditions were just perfect for an outing. Warm but not hot and not too sunny. We went along the same walking path behind Hillcrest High School where we went on June 10th and father remembered seeing the foxes on that outing - so there are certainly things that impress him enough to be remembered! We didn’t see the foxes this time, but lots of joggers, walkers, and cyclists gave us friendly greetings. We walked along the path as far as Pleasant Park Rd.  On the way back to Alta Vista Manor I detoured down the path that leads to Portage Avenue.  At this point father decided that he wanted to walk a bit so he did about 100 metres while pushing the wheelchair as a walker. We then followed Dauphin Road to Tweed. Unfortunately none of the neighbors were out, but we did take a little tour around the outside of father's house. It was a bit tricky getting the wheelchair into the back yard but I managed it by pulling the wheelchair backwards through the bumpy spots beside the back door of the house so father could give the garden in the back yard a close inspection.  We then wheeled back to the Manor by the route I usually take when I walk there. (Tweed to Hamlet to Dauphin to Botsford and then along the walking path to AVM)  Father said he thoroughly enjoyed the outing.  So do I!

          Vince

Outing June 19th.

Friends of Ed;

          Father, Davina Pearl, and I had a wonderful outing today.  The weather was gorgeous so we packed father's wheelchair and portable oxygen into the car and drove to Vincent Massey Park.  There we spent several hours exploring the pathways along the Rideau River all the way from the RA Centre to Hog's Back Falls.  At the Falls the concession stand was open so we had some ice cream and then posed for some photos with the Falls in the background.

          Father did do a bit of walking on this outing, but only for a few metres.  After going back to the car we returned to Alta Vista Manor where we kept father company for the second seating at dinner.  All in all it was a wonderful outing which father REALLY enjoyed!

          Vince

Visit and Lunch June 17th.

Friends of Ed;

          Today is the first anniversary of the passing of Bill Paris, father's neighbor on Tweed Avenue for 37 years. In commemoration of this day Joan (Bill's wife), Hubert van Wettum, and I had arranged to have a little lunch party with father at Alta Vista Manor. We had a nice table in the private area of the dining room. Joan brought a photo of Bill to put at the head of the table. We spent almost 2 hours having lunch and chatting. Joan, Hubert, Hubert’s children (3 teens) and two of their friends from the UK (Anne and Denis Thompson) just got back from a trip through the Rocky Mountains by train and then on to Alaska by cruise ship so we heard all about that. Not having seen father for a few weeks they were very impressed at how he has perked up since they last saw him!

          Vince

Visit Wednesday June 15th

Friends of Ed;

          I visited father over the lunch period again today to see how the new routine was shaking down.  The support workers showed up at father's room as planned and helped him get down to lunch for the first sitting so everything seemed to work out OK.  He is at the same table (#6) for lunch as he is at dinner so his lunch dining companions are familiar to him.

          Vince

Visit and Outing Tuesday June 14th.

Friends of Ed;

          I visited father over lunch today to make sure that having him take lunch in the dining room worked out OK.  It is well that I did because the kitchen got the message and didn’t bring him lunch in his room, but the support staff didn’t get the message so they didn’t come to take him down to the dining room. Oh well… I took him down to the dining room with him using the walker and he had a nice lunch. I checked in with the nurses about the situation and they have informed the support staff so things should go more smoothly tomorrow.  After lunch the physiotherapist came in and she took father for another little walk down to the lounge and back.

          Because it was a beautiful day I decided to take father for a wheelchair outing and did the same walk father, Davina, and I did last Friday except that we went all the way to Kilborn Ave. (I confirmed that the path does indeed go all the way to Walkley Rd). On the way back father asked to do some more walking (using the wheelchair as a walker) and he walked something in the order of 200 meters! I was astounded… he just kept going and going! When we got back to AVM I made sure he lay down and had a nap before having to walk down to the dining room for dinner. I hope he didn’t overdo things… His capabilities and interests seem to be expanding rapidly over the past month!   I went down to the physiotherapist's office to let her know what father had done and she was pretty impressed too!

          Vince

Visit Monday June 13th

Friends of Ed;

          I had my usual afternoon and over dinner visit with father today.  There was nothing remarkable about it and it seemed to me that he was coping well with having dinner in the dining room each day and it had settled into a routine.  I judged that it was perhaps time for him to also have lunch in the dining room.  I contacted Monique Robinson and she agreed to put the necessary changes in place.  I'll plan to visit over lunch tomorrow so I can see how things go.

          Vince

Visit Sunday June 12th.

Friends of Ed;

          As I do every day I went over to visit father for a few hours.  Today I kept him company at dinner and over the last few weeks having dinner in the dining room has become an established routine, with him walking to and from the dining room under his own steam!  Hooray!  I am starting to think that I should talk to the Manor about having father take his lunch in the dining room starting sometime next week.

          I see from the sign in sheet at the front desk that Anne and Dennis Thompson, friends of father's next door neighbors Bill and Joan Paris on Tweed Avenue, were in to visit father today.  They have been visiting from the UK and just returned to Ottawa from a two week trip (with Joan Paris and Hubert van Wettum) through the Rocky Mountains by train and then on to Alaska by cruise ship.

          Vince

Visit Friday June 10th.

Friends of Ed;

          I visited father late in the afternoon today and while I was there Maciek Mentlak and his daughter Norah visited.  They are one of Father's neighbours on Tweed Avenue.  Father then had dinner in the dining room and shortly after he finished Davina Pearl arrived for a visit.

          We visited with father for a while and since it was such a nice evening decided to take him out for a stroll in his wheelchair.  I know of some walking paths that go through the green spaces nearby so we headed over to one of them that starts at the intersection of Roger Guindon Ave. and Smyth Rd.  The path extends from there to Walkley road, a distance of about 2.5 Km.  The first hundred metres of the path winds through some trees and we had just started when Davina spotted a family of three foxes.  From their sizes we thought them to be a male, female and a kit, about half grown. We stayed in one spot and watched them for about 10 minutes.  It was one of those magic moment that you will remember for a lifetime.

          Eventually the foxes went off into the woods and we carried on along the path. After crossing over Pleasant Park Rd. we entered the area of the City of Ottawa allotment gardens.  At this point father decided  he wanted to do a bit of walking on his own so he got out of the wheelchair and walked on the grass through the gardens for about 50 metres.  We then turned around and made our way back towards Alta Vista Manor.  Some time ago Joan Paris had quoted the opening stanza of AA Milne's poem "Teddy Bear" (see below) to Davina and this had intrigued her to the point of looking up the whole poem and printing out a copy. We had brought it along so we concluded the trip with her pushing the wheelchair and me reading the poem.  All in all we have a very nice evening and certainly got enough exercise to prevent us from becoming "tubby" like Winnie the Pooh!

Teddy Bear  (A.A. Milne)

A bear, however hard he tries,
Grows tubby without exercise.
Our Teddy Bear is short and fat,
Which is not to be wondered at;
He gets what exercise he can
By falling off the ottoman,
But generally seems to lack
The energy to clamber back.

You can see the entire poem at this link:
http://www.poetryconnection.net/poets/A.A._Milne/14277


          Vince

Visit Thursday June 9th.

Friends of Ed;

          I visited father today, as I do most days, over the dinner hour and he seems to have nicely settled into the routine of having dinner in the dining room every day.  I think I'll see if I can expand meals in the dining room to include both lunch and dinner starting next week. 

          For those of you interested in the video of the Centralaires concert of May 29th, I have dropped off the files with a friend and he is going to put them on a DVD.  Copies should be available in my father's room sometime in the next week or so.

          As many of you know my mother and father were always avid gardeners.  I grew up with the concept that gardens were good things to do, though in recent years I have mostly done the chicken side of the "farming" business.  Since I was in Ottawa at the appropriate time I thought it would be nice to plant the vegetable garden at father's house this year just as he used to do and hopefully he will enjoy coming over to see it once it gets going.  If I'm really lucky there will even be some vegetables to eat when I am back in Ottawa in September.  Today I marked out part of the back yard, hauled out the tiller, convinced it to start, and tilled up about a 4 metre square plot in the back yard.  Hopefully the garden gods will smile on my efforts!

          Vince

Hospital Visit Tuesday June 7th

Friends of Ed;

         Father had his appointment with the hematologist today at 09:30.  I again followed the plan of taking father over to the hospital in the wheelchair as the weather was good. They were quite efficient at the hospital so we did not have excessive waiting times. The hematologists report was very good. Father’s ferritin levels were well within range even though his last phlebotomy was about a year ago. The doctor says he should be good for another year before any follow up is required. He did listen for fathers breathing sounds through a stethoscope and then sent us for a chest x-ray. It isn’t fully clear to me at this time whether the doctor was reacting to father’s new “normal” breathing sounds or whether there was something specific that was concerning him. The trip back was as smooth as the trip to the hospital and we arrived at Alta Vista Manor  about 11:15 – just in time for lunch. Overall I was very pleased with how things went.

     Vince

Saxophone Quartet Concert June 6th.

Friends of Ed;

          The "Two plus Two" saxophone quartet visited Alta Vista Manor this evening and gave a wonderful concert.  It was well attended by about 30 of the residents and it was obvious that they appreciated the music. 

The "Two Plus Two" Quartet.  Ben Greenberg, Alex Dopplinger, Gord Price, Tina Leach

          After the concert father visited with the quartet members for quite some time.  Davina Pearl also came by for the end of the concert and visited with father afterwards.

          Vince

Outing Wednesday June 1st.

Friends of Ed;

          Father has an appointment with his Hematologist on June 7th and in preparation for this he needed to have some blood work done. I decided that since the General Hospital is only about a 15 minute walk from Alta Vista Manor I would try wheeling him over to the hospital in his wheelchair rather than taking him over in the car. This then save all the hassle of parking the car at the hospital, which could actually take more time than the walk for Alta Vista Manor! The walk to and from the hospital went well with no complications other than trying to pick the smoothest route over all the little bumps on the sidewalk and it being a bit windy. The people at the hospital were reasonably efficient and the whole trip took a bit less than 2 hours.

          I then went back to the house for a couple of hours because the drain of the kitchen sink had been draining slowly and leaking so it needed some plumbing attention.  Fortunately I was able to get the needed parts at the local Home Hardware and solve the problem.

          Recently father has started having all of his dinners in the dining room  and I wanted to make sure this process was happening properly so I returned to Alta Vista Manor about 17:15. The staff had properly taken father down for dinner (using his walker – not the wheelchair!) and he was having his soup when I arrived. They had seated him at a table with 3 other ladies and they were having a fine conversation. Pepper steak was the main entrée and father ate a good portion of it. Part way through dinner Judy Manning arrived for a visit bringing another rhubarb pie. Since father had just eaten dinner we didn’t consume any of the pie  at that time but out it in the fridge in father’s room for future reference. I was checking his mailbox when father decided he should go back to his room and he did it more or less independently without help from the staff - though Judy may have helped him a bit.

          All in all it was a pretty successful day!

          Vince

Centralaires Concert Sunday May 29th.

Friends of Ed;

          We had a pretty amazing day today!  The Centralaires big band, of which father is a long time member, performed a concert at the Aviation Museum.  Father had expressed interest in going to the concert so I worked out a plan to get him there and Davina offered to help.   We picked up father at about 1 o'clock and drove down to the aviation museum.  There was a very high turnout for the concert and the parking lot was completely full!  We got father into the wheelchair by the main entrance and Davina took him in while I parked the car.  Father REALLY enjoyed the concert!  The guest of honor was Howard Cable ,who is a composer, arranger, and band leader very prominent in the Canadian music business.  Father worked with him in Toronto in the 50s and 60s.  One example of his work would be the first Hockey Night In Canada theme music. Much of the music the Centralaires performed was composed by Howard and he even conducted some of it personally.  After the concert Father had a great time chatting with Howard and many of his other friends.

          When we returned to Alta Vista Manor we had dinner with father in the dining room and then visited with him for a while in his room.




Howard Cable conducting the Centralaires



Father giving standing ovation at end of the Air Force March Past


          Vince

Outing Wednesday May 25th.

Friends of Ed;

          I am planning to take father to the Centralaires concert at the Aviation museum this coming Sunday and I thought it wise to do a trial run to find out what the problems might be. Today was a beautiful day so I drove over to Alta Vista Manor with the idea of doing an outing. The on street parking was full so I had to use the parking lot. This meant that I approached the Manor from the side opposite father’s room. He was sitting out on the patio and he noticed me coming in and waved which quite surprised me – he was obviously being very alert! After getting a few things squared away I got father into the wheelchair with the portable oxygen and wheeled him out to the car after signing him out at the front desk. He was able to get into the car quite easily.

          We then drove down to Beechwood Cemetery and he transferred from the car back to the wheelchair.  I wheeled him along the stone pathways which was quite easy and then over the grass to mother’s marker. The wheelchair doesn’t roll over the grass nearly as well as the pathway but it wasn’t too bad. We stayed there for quite a while chatting and remembering things. I then wheeled him back to the stone path and along to one of the big round intersections where I parked the chair as father wanted to try walking a bit. This he did very well for about 100 metres. I carried the oxygen tank slung over my shoulder and walked at his side, but he didn’t need any help at all. It was great to see! When we got back to the wheelchair I took him on a gentle 45 minute walk around the pathways. It was a glorious day… Bright and sunny, a nice temperature, gentle winds, the birds chirping, the trees rustling in the breeze...

          We then drove back to Elmvale acres, taking the Beechwood / Vanier Parkway / Alta Vista route for variety. I drove slowly down Tweed Ave so father could look at his house, but we didn’t have time to go in. We got back to AVM about 16:45, so there were quite a few people waiting to go into the first dinner seating. I took father over to the piano and he did some playing – which garnered a bit of applause. I think he really could do better though if he put his mind to it – he doesn’t like that piano. Stiff action and some of the keys are sticking. At 17:00 we went in to dinner and table 5 had a couple of ladies at it today so father got into some good conversations with them.

          All in all we spent almost 4 hours out of his room and the oxygen tank still said about half full so perhaps the oxygen duration may not be as much of a problem as I thought. I wonder whether the chart I consulted is wrong, or is perhaps for a smaller tank. Maybe the flow rate is actually lower than marked on the dial or maybe the gauge is wrong? More testing is required, I guess.

          Vince

May 24th - Catching up...

Friends of Ed;

          Please accept my apologies for not keeping the blog up to date for the last couple of weeks. I was very busy finishing off projects in Victoria, then travelled to Ottawa on May 10th, and then have been pretty busy in Ottawa for the last two weeks visiting with and helping father most days, attending my high school's 50th anniversary reunion, visiting with and talking with friends, and catching up on things around the house.

          About May 17th Joan Paris, Hubert van Wettum, and Ann and Den Thompson (from the UK) visited father, which he really enjoyed. This will be the last visit visit from Joan and Hubert for a while as they are leaving (along with the Thompson's) for a cruise to Alaska in a few days.

          On May 20th Judy Manning came by father's house and gathered some rhubarb in the back yard. Her plan was to make a pie and bring it over to Alta Vista Manor (AVM) in the evening. This plan worked out VERY well. I was visiting father and Davina Pearl dropped in to visit too. Judy then arrived with the pie so Davina went down to the AVM kitchen and liberated some ice cream so we had a nice little party with pie, ice cream, and tea. Yum!

          With the coming of Spring father has been making quite a bit of use of the little patio outside his room.  I brought over some lawn chairs so that he can sit out in the sun and enjoy himself.  Getting outside a bit seems to have raised his spirits and he started thinking that he should get out of his room a bit more.  One thing he expressed interest in is having some of his meals in the dining room! Today I went over to AVM early and had a meeting with Monique Robinson, who is also delighted that father is showing some interest in getting out of his room a bit more often. She had Alonzo come over from the kitchen and we discussed meal protocols and planned to have father take his dinners in the dining room for the next few days to see how it goes, and if it goes well, then to add lunch to the program. I’ll plan to be there at mealtimes as much as I can for the next little while, but Monique assures me that the AVM staff will take care of assisting father to the dining room if I am not there. 

          During the afternoon I prepared father a bit by giving him a good shave and getting him dressed up in his blazer all while we were sitting out on the patio – it was a beautiful day! I got him into the wheelchair and set up with the portable oxygen about 15 minutes before dinner time (first sitting at 17:00) so that we could go down to the lounge and have a look around. Everybody was friendly and we had a chat with Bob Arbuckle and a look at the aquarium. Father is seated temporarily at table 5 which has no other people sitting at it but AVM is thinking about which other table would be most socially compatible. Still, we had some nice chats with people at an adjacent table. Dinner was tomato/rice soup, sesame ginger beef, buttered noodles, green peas, ice cream and coffee. With a little encouragement father ate it ALL! After dinner on our way back to the room we had a couple of chats with people waiting for the second sitting (18:15) and were greeted in a friendly fashion by several more. I would say that all in all it was a very successful outing! 

          Monique and I also discussed the protocol for taking father on outings outside AVM and it is pretty simple. There is a book at the front desk for signing residents out - That's all there is to it.  I am hoping to take father on a little outing tomorrow as a trial run before taking him to the Centralaires concert at the Aviation Museum this coming Sunday.


       Vince

Visit Thursday May 5th.

Friends of Ed;

          I had an email from Marie Claire Potvin letting me know that she visited father today.  He was out of bed and in the chair watching TV (or maybe napping?) when Marie Claire arrived.  They had a general chat and, because it was a sunny day, discussed the possibility of going outside to sit in the sun but they finally decided that it was a bit too cool.  Marie Claire's impression was that his mood was "just OK" and that he seemed a bit tired.

             Vince

Phone call Tuesday April 3rd.

Friends of Ed;

          I talked with father on the phone this morning for about 20 minutes.  It was a bit frustrating because intermittently there seemed to be a problem where I could hear him but he couldn't hear me.  He mentioned that John Kerr had called him and he was eager to know what had transpired in the election yesterday.  It seems he had not been listening to the radio or TV and nobody else had mentioned it. He also had been looking at appointments in his day book and somehow he had his June 7th Hematology appointment down for May 7th and he was in a bit of a panic about how he was going to attend the appointment. I was able to reassure him that I would help him attend the appointment on June 7th.  He says he is sleeping OK and the meals are acceptable.  Overall his situation seemed to me about the same as it usually is.

          Vince

Visit Saturday April 30th.

Friends of Ed;

          Alex Dopplinger and Davina Pearl visited father this evening.  It was a beautiful Spring day in Ottawa and father suggested going out to sit in the sun on his patio. I think this is a very hopeful sign that his mood is improving! They moved father's walker and a couple of the chairs outside to sit on and had a little Spring celebration coffee party.

          Vince

Phone call Friday April 29th.

Friends of Ed;

          I had a nice and fairly long phone call with father this morning. He enjoyed visiting with Davina yesterday and he had a visit from Will Thurlow today.  Will is Father's accountant and he was probably bringing father up to date on the income tax situation.  We also discussed the issue which came up yesterday about power failures at Alta Vista Manor and I was able to reassure father that the Manor was well equipped for the eventuality.  He seemed to be in fairly good spirits today, though a little out of breath as he had just been up and about when I called.

          Vince

Visit Thursday April 28th.

Friends of Ed;

          I had a phone call from Davina Pearl telling me that she had visited father this evening.  He was sleeping when she arrived but woke up after a while and she says they had a really nice visit.  Evidently the weather in Ottawa has been a bit rough lately and there have been some power failures.  The question came up of what happens to Alta Vista Manor and its residents if the power to the Manor is cut off.  This is something I investigated when scouting out the Manor and there is an adequately sized backup diesel generator.  During one of my walks over to the Manor in March I observed the generator being test run under load. It is reassuring to know that it is being properly maintained and tested so that it will actually work if necessary.

          Vince

Phone call Wednesday April 27.

Friends of Ed;

          I had quite a long phone call with father today.  Much of the discussion was about the upcoming voting day in the federal election and whether father would like to make the effort to cast his vote and how this could be made possible.  After considerable discussion he decided that he didn't really want to bother and I was unable to persuade him otherwise, though I didn't really work too hard at it.

          Otherwise he said he was feeling pretty good, the meals are still OK and he says he is sleeping well.  I did ask if the cannula is bothering his ears and he said no.  He has been wearing the headphones connected to the radio listening to the CBC "Tempo" program and in the past, if his ears were irritated, the headphones were the first thing to go.

          According to father there have been no visitors since Alex Dopplinger on Monday of this week.  Father is also expressing interest in my return to Ottawa.  It's less than 2 weeks now so he doesn't have too long to wait!

          Vince

Phone call and visit Monday April 25th.

Friends of Ed;

          I spoke to father on the phone today and he seems to be doing well and wasn't too tired out from the excitement yesterday.  He said his ears weren't bothering him and that his meals have been OK over the last few days.  He particularly commented on the beautiful Easter bouquet that was brought yesterday. While I was talking with him Alex Dopplinger dropped in for a visit on her way to quartet rehearsal.  Rumour has it she brought some Easter turkey with her to tempt father with!

          Vince

Visits Sunday April 24th.

Friends of Ed;

           Being Easter Sunday lots of people visited today.  I heard from Davina Pearl that she, Reg and Al Beaudreau, and Joan Paris all ended up visiting at the same time.  It must have been quite the party!

          Vince

Phone Call Saturday April 23.

Friends of Ed;

            I spoke to father on the phone today for about 45 minutes.  He seemed in good spirits with no complaints about his sleep or meals.  When I asked about whether his ears were sore from the cannula (see April 21 blog post) he seemed to tell me that it wasn't really too much of a problem.  He told me he had been watching a fair bit of TV today - evidently there was a lot of advance coverage of the upcoming Royal Wedding. 

          Vince
  

Visit Thursday April 21.

Friends of Ed;

          I heard from Davina Pearl that she visited father this evening for quite a while.  She said he seemed basically well, but was having a bit of a problem with his cannula irritating his ears.  Davina called the nurse in to have a look at the problem and the nurse re-arranged the cannula.  Hopefully the situation will be brought under control soon.  Davina told me one of the other things they did was watch some "Yes Minister" episodes on the TV.  For those who don't know, "Yes Minister" (and "Yes Prime Minister") are British TV series from the 1980s with half hour episodes featuring the career of "Jim Hacker".  They are political farce at its best and incredibly funny!

          Vince  

Phone Call Wednesday April 20.

Friends of Ed;

          I had a long phone call with father this afternoon (while I was feeding my chickens and collecting the eggs) and he seemed to be doing quite well.  He had a visit today from Joan Paris and Hubert van Wettum which he greatly enjoyed.  Interestingly enough, he informed me that he had been up late the night before watching a baseball game on the TV.  It is good to see that he is focusing some of his attention on the outside world.

          Vince

Visit Monday April 18th.

Friends of Ed;

          I heard from Davian Pearl that she had a nice visit with father this evening.  She reports that he was up watching TV when she arrived and in her opinion he seemed to have more energy that during her visit on April 14th.  This agrees with the impression I got when talking with father on the phone and I am certainly glad to have the impression confirmed. While Davina was there she checked father's mailbox in the activity room and there was a card from Kay MacKnight who was one of my mother's sister in laws.

          Vince

Phone Call Sunday April 17th.

Friends of Ed;

          I called father today at about 4 PM Ottawa time to see how he was doing.  As it turned out, Alex Dopplinger was visiting when I called. She and father were having a nice visit so I kept the call fairly short, which was just as well as I had to go out and do the second egg collection of the day.

          Vince  

Visit Saturday April 16th.

Friends of Ed;

          I had a phone call today from Marie-Claire Potvin (father's housekeeper for the last few years) and she said that she had visited father between 1:30 PM and 3 PM today.  Evidently he was napping when she arrived but woke up shortly thereafter.  In her opinion his color was good and he appeared to be eating well, but he rested in bed during her entire visit.  She said they had a nice visit chatting about many things.  While she was there Marie-Claire said she did a bit of cleaning up around the place...  I see she is still dedicated to her job!

          Vince

Phone Call April 15th.

Friends of Ed;

          I talked with father on the phone today for about a half hour.  It was about 8 PM Ottawa time when I called and father was watching some TV.  After he got the volume turned down we had a nice chat.  He said he had been sleeping well, but was also doing a lot of napping during the day.  I got the general impression that his energy levels were not as high as they sometimes are.  He didn't mention any problem with the meals so I assume things are OK there.  He did mention that he had visits recently from Reg Boudreau (his across the street neighbor on Tweed Avenue) and Davina Pearl, who's visit I mentioned in yesterday's blog post.

          Vince

Visit April 14th.

Friends of Ed;

          I had a phone call from Davina Pearl letting me know that she visited father for a couple of hours this evening.  She told me that he said he had been sleeping well, but had still been taking a lot of naps each day. From his perspective he said he had been feeling more breathless recently, but Davina said that his situation seemed to her to be about as usual, to the best of her judgement.

          Vince

Phone call April 13th.

Friends of Ed;

          I talked with father on the phone for about a half hour today and he said he was pretty breathless and didn't have much energy but otherwise things were pretty normal.  He mentioned that Davina Pearl had called to let him know she would be visiting on Thursday.  I also spoke with John Kerr today and he mentioned that he had made a social phone call to father earlier in the week.

          Vince

Phone Call April 11th.

Friends of Ed;

          I had about a one hour phone call with Father this morning.  He said he was spending a lot of time resting, but otherwise he seemed to be doing well.

             Vince

Phone Call and Visits April 9th.

Friends of Ed;

          I called father quite early today (06:30 BC Time) but he said he was listening to Stuart McLean's Vinyl Cafe program on the CBC so after a very brief chat I said goodbye and then called him up later for a much longer chat.  During the latter call he said he was doing well and having a good sleep at night.  Later in the day I heard from Davina Pearl that she had visited father during the late afternoon and evening and that they had a great time.

          Vince

Visit Thursday April 7th.

Friends of Ed;

          I heard from Davina Pearl that she visited father Thursday evening.  She and father had a nice visit where they shared some tea, family and music stories,  and listened to some music.  She said that father was  in a good mood and "up and about" when she arrived at about 7:30 PM and this is very good to hear!  Father seems to have been sleeping and eating well and says that he had a visit from Marie-Clair Potvin, probably sometime in the last few days.  Marie-Claire left some cookies that evidently went very well with the tea!

          Vince

Phone Call Wednesday April 6th.

Friends of Ed;

          I talked with father on the phone today for about a half hour and he seemed to be in good spirits.  His sleeping has been fairly good the last couple of days and he said had been up and about for a significant part of the day.  His relations with the kitchen seem to be at least tolerable as he says they haven't starved him yet!  One thing that he really enjoyed, he says, was watching a 2 hour "Nature of Things" special TV program celebrating the 50th anniversary of the program (I remember watching it as less than 10 year old kid in Toronto when it was presented by University of Toronto Professors Patterson Hume and Donald Ivey!) and David Suzuki's 75th birthday.  Father also mentioned that Reg Boudreau, his neighbour from across the street on Tweed Ave, was in to visit him.

          Vince

Phone Call Monday April 4th.

Friends of Ed;

          I spoke to father on the phone today for about 45 minutes.  He seemed to be doing OK... sleeping not too badly and getting reasonable meals to eat.  There really isn't too much more to report today.

          Vince

Visit Sunday April 3rd.

Friends of Ed;

          I heard from Davina Pearl that she visited for about two and a half hours today.  Father was up and about when she arrived and I think this is a very good sign, though he said his sleeping the last couple of days has been not as good as it might be.  Davina and father discussed some of the stories in Murray Ginsberg’s book “They Loved to Play” that I took over to father’s place some weeks ago.  The book is mainly about interviews with musicians who were active in the Toronto music scene in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s.  Of course my father was a participant in that era of Toronto music so he connects very strongly with the book.

          Evidently it was a very nice day in Ottawa.  When I am next in there I’ll have to see about getting a few outside chairs for father’s patio.  Over the last little while I equipped father’s room for making tea.  If you are visiting, feel free to make some for yourself and father.  The kettle is on the counter and various mugs, plates, teas, instant coffee and other supplies are in the left hand cupboard above the microwave oven.  There are also some tea biscuits on the top shelf of the cupboard. Enjoy!

         Vince

Phone Call Saturday April 2nd.

Friends of Ed;

          Well, I arrived in BC safely and have dealt with some of the more urgent matters here so I had time to call father today.  He seemed to be in pretty good spirits and we chatted about various things for about 20 or 30 minutes.  He too was struck by the irony that the battery in his watch failed on the day that I left for BC!  He says he has been sleeping pretty well overall but is still trying to get in some naps during the day.  He also says that he and the kitchen at Alta Vita Manor seem to be getting along reasonably well, which is nice to hear!  He mentioned that Alex Dopplinger had been in to visit him on Friday evening.  He really enjoyed the visit.  I subsequently had an email from Alex and she said that father was looking very well and that they had a lovely chat. 

          Vince

Visit Thursday March 31st.

Friends of Ed;

          I have a bit of catching up to do here!  I visited father for about an hour on Thursday morning and everything seemed to be reasonably OK.  This will be my last visit for a while as I am travelling to BC for about 6 weeks.  I will be phoning father every few days so I will still be doing a few blog entries.  Seeing as I will not be in Ottawa I would be as connected to what is going on so it will be more important for people who visit  to either write a blog entry or let me know by email or phone how things are going.  I have met many of my father's friends over the last 3 months and I must say it has been a pleasure!

          I had an email from Davina Pearl letting me know that she had a nice visit with father this evening for about an hour and a half. She and father chatted about many things, including some of my father's musical career in Toronto, and then listened to some music together.  She also said that the battery in father's watch failed today (the day I leave - of all days!) so she is going to get it replaced.  Thanks Davina!



           Thanks...

                    Vince

Vist Wednesday March 30th.

Friends of Ed;

          I visited much earlier than usual today as it looked like a really nice day outside and I fancied a walk.  I am going to miss the nice weather here in Ottawa when I go to the rainy BC coast!  Father was sitting up on the edge of the bed today when I arrived and that was nice to see.  He still seems to have somewhat less energy than he had last week, but hopefully that will improve in a day or two.  I noted today that the gauze that pads the cannula tubes where run over his ears was looking pretty ratty so I had one of the nurses come in and replace it.  Hopefully I will get over to visit for a few minutes tomorrow morning before heading for the airport.  One of father's neighbors has kindly offered drive me there.

          I officially told Alta Vista Manor of my travel plans today and in return they gave me some very good news:  The Influenza A outbreak is officially over and the signs suggesting that visiting should be restricted have been taken down! 

          Vince

Visit Tuesday March 29th.

Friends of Ed;

          I visited father today for a couple of hours.  He was a little livelier today than yesterday and said he had slept well the night before.  The major excitement today was the installation of a small refrigerator so that we can keep milk and cream for coffee and tea available at all times.  I also brought a few of the small yogurt cups from the cafe to store in the fridge as father uses then to take his pills and sometimes the nurses forget to bring one.

          The "no visiting" signs are still up at Alta Vista Manor but judging by the sign in sheets the number of visitors has returned to about normal.

          Vince

Visit Monday March 28th.

Friends of Ed;

          When I arrived today father was having a nap but he woke up a few minutes after I arrived.  He said he had slept well , but he seemed to me to be a bit tired today.  This should not be surprising as yesterday was a busy day for him what with visitors starting to arrive about 13:30, then the concert, and the last visitors leaving at about 19:30.  He said he had really enjoyed the concert though!  I visited for about an hour and a half and then left him to get in some more napping.

          Vince 

Visit and Concert Sunday March 27th.

Friends of Ed;

          Father had a busy day today!  Several of his musical friends arrived to visit at about 1:45 and after hanging their coats and visiting for a bit, performed a clarinet quartet concert in the main Alta Vista Manor lounge. Of course I outfitted father with his portable oxygen system and he attended to concert.



The Clarinet Quartet

          The players (left to right) are Ben Greenberg, Gord Price, Peter Archibald, and Larry Sargent.



Father enjoying himself!



Concert at the Manor  March 27/2011 (Roberta Archibald to the right of father, myself to the left)

           After the concert there was much visiting and discussion about the concert. A few residents of the Manor came up to thank the Quartet personally.  When the visiting wound down I asked father if there was anything else he wanted to do while he was out and about and he said to take him to the piano! I am quite sure he meant this in jest, but I was NOT going to let the opportunity escape!  Off to the piano we went...  Davina Pearl came along to help cajole father into doing some playing.  We were at the piano for some time and eventually another resident of the Manor joined us in encouraging father.  After a while it dawned on me that the gentleman was Bob Arbuckle, Judy Arbuckle's father!   Judy went to High School in Ottawa with Sarah Roberts who is married to Ralph Roberts who is an Information Technology friend of mine in Victoria who...  Never mind - It's complicated!  Sarah had let me know a couple of weeks ago that Judy's father had moved to the Manor so I've been expecting to meet him sooner or later and now I have.  It looks like Bob and father get along well so perhaps father has made a new friend.   


          Vince

Visit Saturday March 26th.

Friends of Ed;

          I visited father today for a couple of hours in the late afternoon.  He said he slept well last night and was up and about the whole time I visited.  I think he had been watching some television today as he complained that all he could get was election news!  While I was there Judy Manning dropped in for a visit which was very nice.  She plans to leave the Manor on Monday as her foot is healed sufficiently for her to live independently.

          Alta Vista Manor still has the quarantine signs up advising people not to visit but there seems to be essentially no restriction in visiting rooms on the main floor.  If they are willing to have the Clarinet Quintet concert tomorrow I think that we can now go back to business as usual for visiting.

          In related news - I have booked myself a flight to BC on March 31 so starting then I obviously won't be able to visit father daily and won't be doing daily updates to the blog.  Hopefully others who visit father will write up the details here so we can all stay informed.

         Vince

Visit Friday March 25th

Friends of Ed;

          I visited father today for a couple of hours in the early afternoon.  He said he had slept well the previous night (which he seems to be doing more of lately) and he was up and about the whole time I was there.  While I was visiting cousin Louise called me on my cell phone so she and father were able to have a chat which was really nice!  I also checked father's mailbox today and there was a nice card from Kay MacKnight.  She is the widow of one of my mother's brothers.

          I have now confirmed with the Alta Vista Manor activity director (Cheryl Conley) that Ben Greenberg's Clarinet Quartet is scheduled to perform at the Manor on Sunday March 27 starting at 2:15 PM.  I hope to see you there!

          Vince

Visit Thursday March 24th.

Friends of Ed;

          I was able to visit father today as the quarantine is now limited to the 3rd floor.  He was up and watching TV when I arrived which is a good sign.  He says he slept very well last night and I think this has a very direct bearing on how well he was doing today.  Shortly after I arrived so did father's dinner.  Unfortunately there was no coffee with it (even though he had marked coffee on the menu sheet) but I was able to take care of that with the various supplies I had taken over. 

          I still have not been able to confirm that the Clarinet Quartet concert is on for Sunday as the activity coordinator for Alta Vista Manor left just before I arrived but I sent her an email and hopefully she will confirm with me tomorrow morning.  Father says he is looking forward to the concert!

          Vince

Visit Wednesday March 23rd.

Friends of Ed;

          I phoned Alta Vista Manor today and they told me that while they are keeping the 3rd floor (where the influenza outbreak originated) fully quarantined they are allowing visitors to other floors, though they aren't exactly encouraging it. I think it would be wise to postpone any visits for a few more days.  I did go over myself to visit today as I had clean laundry for father and also some interesting paperwork.  He said he had slept well last night and he seemed quite perky today.  I think there is a definite correlation between his quality of sleep and how well he feels on any given day.

          Father also mentioned today that he had a call from Ben Greenberg letting him know that he plans to bring his Clarinet quartet to perform at Alta Vista Manor this Sunday.  Evidently this has been arranged with the Activity Director at the Manor so it would appear that they expect regular activities to resume by Sunday.  At the moment I have not confirmed this but I will try and do so tomorrow and will post the updated information to the blog.

          The paperwork I mentioned came about because the CBC radio program "Tempo" played Jean Sibelius' The Swan of Tuonela a few days ago.  Father listens to the program regularly and he so enjoyed this piece that he asked me to try and find some way to express his appreciation.  I sent the following email to the program:

==================================================

      My father, E.V. Sullivan, has been a long time fan of Tempo. This is especially true now because recently, at the age of 92, he had to move to a nursing home in Ottawa. The reason for this move was lung degeneration which has hit him very hard, as he has been a life long professional musician. He specialized in woodwinds, particularly the Oboe and English horn but unfortunately can no longer play.

     When I arrived to visit him on March 15th he told me that he particularly enjoyed Tempo that day as you played the Swan of Tuonela, which is a piece dear to the heart of any English horn player. He still talks of it when I visit and he asked me today to find some way to convey to you his appreciation.  I would like to also convey mine as it brought him much pleasure and improved his outlook on life considerably.

Thank you from both of us...

     Vincent Sullivan
========================================

Much to my surprise I received this response about 15 hours later!

========================================

Hi, Vincent.

Many thanks for your thoughtful note. I'm so glad your father enjoyed the piece. I will be sure to pass along your kind words to Julie and the rest of the team. I'd like to send a CD to your dad. I've looked in my collection of unopened CDs and I have lots of flute and trumpet, but no English horn or oboe. Do you think your dad would like anything in particular? If he has a favorite composer, I have lots of CDs, including opera, symphony and piano. I am just a little short on his particular instruments. Let me know what you think he would enjoy.

Best,

Elizabeth Bowie

producer, Tempo
========================================================

         It may be just coincidence, but father mentioned that Tempo had featured more that the usual amount of Oboe and English horn music today! It is things like this that make me happy to pay the portion of my taxes that support the CBC!


                 Vince

No Visit Tuesday March 22nd.

Friends of Ed;

          I walked over to Alta Vista Manor today to visit with father but they would not let me in so I guess the place is in full quarantine mode now.  I'll check on the situation each day and hopefully the influenza outbreak will be brought under control soon and visiting can resume.

          Vince

Visits Monday March 21

Friends of Ed;

           Alta Vista Manor is still asking people not to visit the Manor.  I went over today for a brief visit as I had things to give father and it appears from the sign in sheet that very few people are visiting.  Father said he had not slept well last night but he seemed to be doing fairly well today, though he also said that he had taken several naps today. 

     Vince 

Visits Sunday March 20th.

Friends of Ed;

          I was over to father's today for a relatively short visit  - about an hour and a quarter.  Alta Vista Manor is now officially discouraging visitors due to the influenza outbreak so I suggest you do not visit until the outbreak has run its course. I talked this over with him and he agrees that it is the wise thing to do. Phone calls are risk free though! Father also told me that he had been given a dose of Tamiflu.  Hopefully it will help out the situation without any side effects.  After resolving a couple of technical difficulties for father I took my leave, making liberal use of the hand sanitizer at the front desk on my way out. I didn't visit with Judy Manning today... It didn't seem wise to do so.

          Vince

Visits Saturday March 19th.

Friends of Ed;

          When I arrived at Alta Vista Manor today I was informed that the influenza A outbreak that started on the 3rd floor a few days ago had spread to other areas of the building.  I was still able to visit father and he appeared to be about the same as yesterday.  He did sign a consent form to have a dose of Tamiflu and hopefully this will either prevent father from contracting the flu or reduce the severity if he does.  I do think that until this situation is brought under full control it would be wise for most people not to visit Alta Vista Manor at all.  It is also important to note that all events are cancelled. This included the saxophone quartet concert that was scheduled for Sunday March 20th.  Father's oxygen humidifier was running low on water today so I replaced it with a clean one and washed out the empty one as per the oxygen concentrator instructions.  I visited briefly with Judy Manning today and she seemed to be doing very well.

          Vince

Visits Friday March 18th.

Friends of Ed;

        I visited father today for a couple of hours.  He seemed a bit down today compared to Tuesday and Wednesday.  There don't appear to have been any visitors since my last visit.  I briefly visited Judy Manning today and she appeared to be doing very well.

          Vince

Visits Thursday March 17th.

Friends of Ed;

          I visited father at Alta Vista Manor today from about 16:00 to 19:00. He said he had slept well the night before but was still feeling short of energy today.  Marie Claire Potvin visited shortly before I arrived and while I was visiting Paul Caron visited for the better part of an hour. Paul picked up one of the Centralaires concert DVDs from the new batch I had taken over to replentish the supply.  Father and I joined Judy Manning in the dining room for dinner which worked out quite well.

          Vince

Visits Wednesday March 16th.

Friends of Ed;

          Father had a very busy day today.  First I got him into the wheelchair and outfitted with the portable oxygen at about 09:00 so we could go to the 09:15 appointment with Dr. Bourassa.  She seemed pleased to see father and commented that he looked better than he had 2 weeks ago.  Upon leaving the Doctor's office I wheeled father up to Judy Manning's room (102) and we visited there for about an hour.  On the way back to his room father asked to do a bit of a detour to the room next to his where Donald Buchanan lives. He had seen the name on the door previously and he was intrigued because when he was growing up in St. Stephen he lived next to another Donald Buchanan.  We had a very nice short visit with this Donald Buchanan.  It turns out he was the chief engineer on some of the boats plying the Great Lakes. During all this wheeling around father also chatted with several people in the hallways.

          I came back to see father later in the day for a couple of hours and in the process took him down to visit Judy Manning again and we hatched a plan to have dinner together in the dining room tomorrow. I think I have all the necessary notifications done for this... fingers crossed.  Believe it or not, while I was wheeling father through the large lounge he asked me to stop and let him have another go at the piano.  This I was (very!) happy to do!  He still says the action is very stiff but he played away at it for a few minutes. On the way from the piano to Judy's room father commented that he has been feeling pretty good for the last couple of days.  That is very nice to hear!

          It appears that the rumour of a saxophone quartet concert at 14:15 Sunday March 20 has been confirmed.  The last Sax quartet concert was a great success and father and I are looking forward to this one!


          Vince

Visits Tuesday March 15.

Friends of Ed;

          I visited father for a couple of hours today.  He said he had slept fairly well and he seemed to be feeling pretty good.  While I was visiting Alex Dopplinger dropped in for about an hour's visit which both of us enjoyed very much.  Father's friend Judy Manning also visited a couple of times today to use the phone as her's wasn't working yet. The meals seemed to go smoothly today.

          My cousin Louise had sent me some more photos to show to father.  The one below is of father's brothers and sister, with his mother in the middle of the group. Father is on the right side of the top step

          Vince

Visits Monday March 14th

Friends of Ed;

          I visited father today from about 16:30 to 18:15.  He said he had slept fairly well and seemed to be doing OK.  He sat up in the chair to eat dinner and then continued to do so for the rest of my visit.  There were green beans with dinner which he said were under cooked so I took them down to the cafe and ran them through the microwave for two minutes.  Still under cooked...  So I gave them another 2 minutes and then he was able to consume them.

          I see from the sign in sheet that Reg Beaudreau, father's across the street neighbor, was in to visit today.  I also checked up on Judy Manning, father's ex neighbor who will be recovering from foot surgery at Alta Vista Manor for about 3 weeks.  She has arrived and settled into room 102.  My plan for tomorrow is to get father into the wheelchair and out of his room to go and visit Judy as she can't walk.

          Rumour has it that the saxophone quartet may be playing a gig at Alta Vista Manor on Sunday March 20th at 14:15.  This would be another good chance to get father out of his room. When I know more I will post it on the blog.

     Vince

Visits Sunday March 13

Friends of Ed.

          I visited father today for a couple of hours.  He said he had slept well the night before and he seems to be doing OK.  When I arrived, he was relaxing on the bed watching a science program on the television.  Judging by the sign in sheet there didn't seem to be any other visitors since my last visit.  I took over a couple more photographs today which you may see sitting on the table if you visit.

          There was one odd little thing I checked on today.  When father first went to Alta Vista Manor he said he wanted a clock for the wall.  I got him a large wall clock from Home Hardware.  A unique thing about this clock is that it is supposed to automatically correct for the standard time / daylight savings time change in the Spring and Fall.  I was a bit sceptical about this feature as there appeared to be no way to set the clock for the year and date.  I even carefully checked the manufacturers web site to see if there was an explanation of how this feature worked.  There wasn't.  Sure enough - when I arrived today the clock was telling the proper corrected time.  So how DOES it work????

          Vince

Visits Saturday March 12

Friends of Ed;

          I visited today from about 13:30 to 16:30.  When I arrived, father and Davina Pearl were having a nice visit.  I also received a cryptic email  from Sarah Roberts, a friend of mine from Victoria. She indicated that a friend of hers in Ottawa had just visited my father.  When I had time to look into this, I found that Judy Arbuckle's father Bob had moved into Alta Vista Manor about 3 weeks ago. When Sarah told Judy that my father was also in residence at Alta Vista Manor she brought Bob down to my father's room for a "get acquainted" visit.  Thanks Judy!   I had met Judy once before because of her friendship with Sarah (who grew up in Elmvale Acres) but now that our fathers are both in residence at Alta Vista Manor I suppose we will be seeing each other more often. 

          I mentioned yeasterday that father's new cannula was irritating his ears.  I was pleased to see today that, as requested, one of the nurses had come in and added some gauze padding to the cannula tubes where they rest between the ears and the skull.  This should prevent soreness caused by the the cannula tubes.

           Father has been having significant coughing spells lately and one of the features is that he feels he needs to cough stuff up and can't quite do it.  For this reason I brought in some licorice root tea (which acts as a mild expectorant) along with all the accessories to have a little tea party.  If you would like to have some tea while visitng father you will find a kettle on the counter and various teas, tea pots, mugs, spoons, etc in the left side cupboard above the counter. Milk for the tea (if you are so inclined) can be obtained from the little cafe just across the hall from the front desk.


          Vince

Visits Friday March 11

Friends of Ed;

          I visited father today from about 17:00 to 18:30.  He said he had slept better than usual last night and he appeared to be doing fairly well.  I see from the sign in sheet that Jim Milne (conductor of the OCCB) was in to visit father for about an hour today around 14:00.  The new cannula that father had put on him a couple of days ago had started it irritate his ears like the last one. I visited nurse Tessa and she said she would fix him up with gauze pads as they did with the last cannula.  This should solve the problem.  I also noted today that somebody had filled the humidifier bottle on the oxygen concentrator.  Father could shed no light on who had filled it, but it is nice to see that it does get filled if I don't do it. 

           Vince

Visits Thursday March 10

Friends of Ed;

          I visited father today from about 16:30 to 18:15.  He said he had slept better than usual last night and he appeared to be doing fairly well.  Judging from the sign in sheet nobody else had visited since my visit yesterday.  Marie Claire had left father some "Fishermans Friend" lozenges yesterday which he says seem to be somewhat effective at soothing his cough. Thanks Marie Claire!  Father made no comment about any dificulty with his meals today and the dinner he was eating when I arrived looked OK.

           While I was looking around the living room the other day I ran across a book entitled "They Loved to Play" by Murray Ginsberg which is a compilation of stories about Canadian musicians derived from extensive interviews with them.  I thought father might enjoy reading it again so I took it over to his room.  I also thought that some of father's musical friends might enjoy having a look at it.  Discussion might even ensue!  By the way, I confirmed with father that the piano seen at the right edge of the photo of father and his siblings (See March 5th post) was indeed the first musical instrument father learned to play.  A little bit of history there...

          Vince

Visits Wednesday March 9th

Friends of Ed;

          I had a later and shorter visit then usual with father today due to having to do other things.  It might be just as well, as Joan Paris and Hubert van Wettum visited together today and Marie Claire Potvin visited at another time so father had a busy day.  He indicated that he had slept fairly well last night and he was sitting up in bed watching television when I arrived.  I asked him how the vegetables were cooked today and he said the corn at lunch was not cooked enough to be edible but that about half the carrots at dinner were cooked sufficiently that he could handle them. I guess that is better than no vegetables at all.  I'll keep working on the kitchen regarding this issue.

          Vince 

Visits Tuesday March 8th.

Friends of Ed;

          I visited father between about 15:00 and 18:00 today.  I see from the sign in sheet that Gord Price visited earlier in the day for about an hour.  Father told me he enjoyed Gord's visit.  There seemed to be no complaints about the meals today, although father has not received any visits from the kitchen people to help him with the menus.  Father had not yet filled out the Wednesday menus so I helped him do that.  As an experiment I ordered him niblets corn at lunch and glazed carrots at dinner and added a note to the menu to cook them very thoroughly and to consult with Patricia in the kitchen for details.  It will be interesting to see if this helps.  If nothing else, it will remind Patricia of our conversation about father's need for a bit of help with the menus!  Father's oxygen humidifier water was empty today so I installed a clean reservoir and cap filled with fresh water and cleaned out the empty one.  It is sitting on the bureau to dry.

          Louise had sent several photographs today to share with father.  Two of them were of my grandfather and siblings during WW1, one was of great grandfather and his 5 sons, and the fourth was of father's childhood home in St. Stephen while it was under construction.  Father says this would have been about 1914. He was quite positive in this identification which I think will interest Louise.

          I got a call yesterday from Mark's Work Wearhouse where I had ordered some pants for father.  I picked them up today and we checked to see if they fit properly.  He says they fit OK so one of my tasks for this evening will be to get all the labels, pins, and stickers off.  How exciting!

          While I was visiting, Margaret Birch (the physio-therapist) came by and gave father his daily workout. She said he had been doing fairly well recently, but the exertion today sent him into a severe coughing spell.  I had noticed for about the last 3 days father had been having these severe spells and I was getting a bit concerned. I went and saw nurse Jennifer and she came by after dinner with her stethoscope and had a listen to father's lung while he was breathing. According to her, the sounds were OK for both inhaling and exhaling so there is nothing to do in the short term except keep an eye on the situation. While she was there, she also changed father's cannula as the one he was using had been in service for about 7 weeks. I also checked with Jennifer and father's next appointment with Dr. Bourassa will be on March 16 at 09:45 so that would not be a good time to visit.


          Vince

         

Visits Monday March 7th.

Friends of Ed;

          I visited father for a couple of hours today.  Judging by the sign in sheet there have been no other visits since I last visited.  Father said he had slept fairly well last night which was good to hear and he seemed to be doing reasonably well.  When I arrived he was about half way through dinner and he didn't comment on any meal problems today.

          I took in a two more photographs from Louise to show to father.  One was of Father's brother Dan at about age 10 being hugged by father's grandmother.  The other was of Union St. in St. Stephen NB., the town father grew up in.  He enjoyed looking at the photographs.  The other thing I took in was a survey from the Ottawa General Hospital that arrived at the house a couple of days ago.  This is the hospital father spent about 7 weeks in during December 2010 and January 2011.  They wanted to know how he felt about the experience!  Actually he wasn't very happy with the experience so he didn't fill in the survey. Instead he wrote a short note at the top of the cover letter indicating he was dissatisfied and asked me to send it back.


          Vince   

Re: Visits Saturday March 5th:

I saw from the sign-in sheet that I just missed Vince on my way in. This made me a bit concerned that it would end up being too long a spell of visiting, but Ed seemed to be in fine spirits, and I ended up staying for over 2 hours.

I listened to lots of musicians' stories, which makes me feel rather honoured to be party to.
I feel so lucky to be around for some "handing down". The stories after all, reflect so much of our inheritance as musicians. We also talked a lot about the family, prompted by the interesting collection of photos that Vince had left. (Many of them are conveniently posted here!)

There are also now some clearly written instruction sheets for the oxygen set-up, in case any one of us should need them when we are there. (Thanks Vince!)

As for my next visit, I am a bit unsure when it will be. Although my plan is to visit once a week, I am starting a big (for me) renovation project next week at home, so things will be a bit unpredictable.

If you are reading this blog, I invite you to participate and add a comment or a post. Even something very brief. (The comments are rather hard to see, so a new post is better.) Don't forget this is a private space, only for people that have been invited, like you.

Vince will soon be leaving to go back home to BC, and it would be wonderful to have somewhat of a connected community of friends and supporters for Ed at that point. Lend a hand and write a few lines, and together we will have more of an impact on Ed's adjustment to his new stage in life.
Davina

Visits Sunday March 6th.

Friends of Ed.

            I visited later and shorter than usual as I was quite tired today.  Father also seemed to be not as well today.  While I was there he had a long coughing spell trying to expel some phlegm.  It pretty well tuckered him out.  I see from the sign in sheet that Davina Pearl visited after I left yesterday.  There seemed to be no visitors other than myself today, and there seemed to be no complaint about the meals.  In fact, he commented that the main course at dinner was a cornish game hen which he said was very good!

           Cousin Louise has been finding and sending to me some amazing photographs.  Today she sent me several, including the one below...

                This photo is of "Ye Headland Inn" on Peaks Island in Casco Bay near Portland Maine.  It was owned and run by father's maternal grandparents and father and the rest of Dr. Sullivan's family would spend a lot of time here during the Summer. Ownership left the family with father's parents generation and according to father it became a retreat for Nuns.  As near as I have been able to determine it burned to the ground in the 60s or 70s. Showing father this photo produced a flood of memories about the place and his experiences there.  His short term memory may be a problem, but his long term memory is doing very well!

Here is a view I managed to find taken from the other side. It is scanned from a postcard mailed in 1913.


          Vince    

Visits Saturday March 5th.

Friends of Ed;

          I visited father today from about 15:00 to about 17:00.  When I arrived, I was quite surprised to see him in the comfey chair watching a bit of news on TV.  This is unusual and I think it a good sign!  I had brought with me a number of photographs to discuss with father, one of which was a very interesting one sent to my by my cousin Louise.  (Thanks again Louise!)

          This is a photo of father and his siblings in 1928 or perhaps early 1929.  From left to right the older children are David, Charlotte, William (Bill), and Edward (father).  The baby is my father's brother Daniel.  Father most enjoyed seeing this photo!  He was about 10 years old at the time and tells me that he remembers it being taken.  It was a professionally posed photo taken by Hollingsworth studios in St. Stephen.  Another comment he made was about the look on Charlotte's face.  She looks very interested in and "motherly" towards baby Dan.  Evidently this struck father as "out of character" as he says Charlotte was quite the tomboy!  (Why is it that tomboys are female and tomcats are male?)  Another interesting thing father mentioned is that the door knocker on the front door of his house on Tweed Ave. in Ottawa came from the house where this photo was taken.  I didn't know this, and can now make sure the knocker stays in the Sullivan family.  I must ask father the address of this house in St. Stephen so I can add it to here as a historical note.  Note that on the right edge of the photo you can see the end of a piano.  I wonder if this was one of the first musical instruments father played?

          From the sign in sheet it appears that no one else had visited since my last visit.  Father says he did not sleep at all well last night but he actually seemed to be doing reasonably well today.  He said he had been napping during the day so that is perhaps the answer.  The meals seemed to go reasonably well today (I had had a chance to inspect the menu slips before they went to the kitchen) but father says that some things are still undercooked compared to his preferences.  I'll keep working on that one.

      Vince

Visits Friday March 4th.

Friends of Ed;

          Father said he had a better than average sleep last night and I noticed that he seemed to be a bit perkier today than usual. By this I mean he spent much more time sitting up in a chair than lying in bed than is typical.  I visited him from about 16:15 to 18:15.  I see from the sign in sheet that Joan Paris and Hubert Van Wettum visited today from about 12:00 to 13:00.  Father says he enjoyed their visit.

           My cousin Louise emailed me some information that her sister Andrea had found while searching the archives of Philadelphia newspapers:  The wedding notice for father's parents, published back in 1914!   Incredibly, she added to that a photo of the wedding!  I printed these things out on paper and showed them to father today.  To say the least, he was tickled pink! We had quite a long discussion about these things and it brought back many memories for him.  Thank you Andrea and Louise!

          I had mentioned yesterday that the supply of demineralized water for the oxygen humidifier was getting low.  I am happy to report that Medigas had delivered 2 more jugs of water today.  The humidifier seems to consume a bit less than a jug a month so there is now at least a 2 month supply.  I also checked father's mailbox downstairs in the activity room today but there was no mail.

          Meal times seem to have gone smoothly today - or at least father did not bring any problems to my attention. The menus for Saturday were still in the room so I checked them over and found no problems.


          Vince

Visits Thursday March 3rd.

Friends of Ed;

          It was a busy time at Alta Vista Manor today.  I visited twice, the first time from about 13:15 to 15:15 and then later from about 17:00 to 18:00.  During the first visit I had a nice meeting with Patricia (one of the two kitchen managers) about the problems father has been having with his meals.  Patricia assures me that she will consult with father on the menus until she gets to know his likes and dislikes fairly well and she will also make sure that complete meals are chosen.  I also spoke with her about the problem father has been having with undercooked vegetables.  Patricia says their system can handle making sure father's vegetables are more thoroughly cooked.  I hope she can follow through on these two points.

          Father's oxygen humidifier water was empty today so I installed a clean reservoir and cap filled with fresh water and cleaned out the empty one.  It is sitting on the bureau to dry.  In the process I noted that Medigas had not followed through on providing an additional supply of demineralized water as I had asked them to do last Sunday.  I spoke to nurse Tessa about this and she ordered some more water so hopefully this problem will be taken care of in a day or two.

         One problem we have had in the past is that when staff clean up the bedside table they knock the tuning of the radio off the station. (CBC Radio 2 at 103.3 MHz.)  In order to prevent this I installed a cardboard shield over the tuning knob today so casual contact can't shift the dial.  As an added bonus the cardboard is the stylish Loblaws "No Name" yellow!  If the radio needs retuning you will have to untape the shield to get at the knob.

          As I mentioned yesterday I have the DVD of the Centralaires / Grey Jazz concert ready.  I took 7 copies over to father's room today and they are sitting on the bureau to be picked up by any of his friends who are visiting.  You can also contact me directly if you would like a copy.

          While I was visiting Judy Manning, one of father's ex neighbors from Tweed Avenue, visited for almost an hour.  As it turns out, Judy is going to have a foot operation soon and will need to spend a few weeks recuperating.  She has chosen for her recuperation - Alta Vista Manor!  She will arrive about March 14th and needless to say I expect father will receive a lot of visits from her once she is able to get out and about!

          I also checked father's mailbox today and there was a beautiful card from his sister in law Adele and her children Louise, Mark, and Andrea.  If you visit you will see the card on the table where father takes his meals.

          After leaving the Manor I went pant and  pajama shopping for father.  There was no stock on the pant size he takes so I have ordered 4 pairs, hopefully to be delivered before I go back to BC.  I did find a set of pajamas that I thought father would like so I took them back to the Manor and he tried them on.  He seems to be much happier with these than the last ones I purchased for him.


          Vince