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