The Plateau

Wow, it has been a while. Mostly because there has been nothing of real merit to share. Dad has hit a plateau. He has days when his confusion is more pronounced and days when he is clearer. He hasn't had any great outbursts of anger that had been more regular. He talks, but it is almost always the same topics, the same stories, the same issues. The other day he called me "Dad", but it hasn't happened since. He doesn't seem to have any daily confusion on who I am, but he has forgotten what I do for a living and will remark each time we talk about it, "why, that's nice, why haven't I ever heard about you did before."

On the plus side, he has started back at the adult day services. I told him he was actually receiving some benefits for his volunteering, which he is in a sort of round about way, and so he is back, not happily back, but back none-the-less. Other health issues related to age keep popping up and keep my wife busy taking him to various doctors. Last week he had a cataract removed. He never even noticed his sight was bad, but the doctor said it was a large cataract and off it came. Dad came through it without a problem, just like the skin cancer surgery two weeks before that. The calendar for this month already has three scheduled visits to doctors or dentists. All in all things are settling into a routine that is less dramatic, but no less wearing than what we have experienced.

Perhaps the greatest of current problems is his inability to follow a conversation. He picks up on a single word and then starts in on a response to a word that really didn't have anything to do with what was being discussed. We all stop for his time of speaking, scratch our heads at what prompted it and find that we often want to talk less among ourselves as it generates fewer random conversations on his part and fewer interruptions to our own conversations if we just don't have any. Speaking at a pace that he can follow and a volume that he can hear is a very tiring process and discourages too much dialogue with him. Even direct dialogue at his pace one on one can get difficult all the time. Others who only see him occasionally don't notice it as much, but then if they did it 24/7 they would better understand. But that is Dad, that is his life and we are blessed by God in ways that we don't really understand yet in being able to be a part of that life and making it as meaningful for him as we can.

I don't know if there will be a lot of new posts as long as he is on his plateau. If something interesting arises or I have an exceptional need to vent, then you will find it here first. Thanks for reading along.