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| Rifle salute. |
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| Echo taps. |
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| Arizona Memorial. |
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| Tugboat water tribute. |
Because there has been so much on TV leading up to the commemoration, both Mom & Dad have shared stories about what they were doing when the attack on Pearl Harbor first happened. Dad was walking home from his job at a service station in Mo'ili'ili, he heard some explosions but could not figure out exactly what was happening. When he got home his older sister told him what had happened. He was in his final year of high school and was in ROTC; he later enlisted along with his friends from high school and was in Company K of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Mom had finished high school earlier in the year and moved from the Big Island to Honolulu; she was living with her uncle and aunt in McCully. She was on her way to church & a police officer stopped her & told her, "Little girl, you have to go home," which made Mom really mad since she was out of high school already. When she got home Mom found out that her aunt saw one of the Japanese planes flying overhead. Aunty told Uncle she saw the hinomaru on the plane and Uncle told her she was crazy, until he heard the news on the radio.
I'm not sure if they are sharing the old stories because of the reminders or because these long-term memories are more available to them than short-term and working memories due to the dementia; but this is a familiar pattern. I know Dad has trouble remembering that 3 days ago he signed the papers to sell the Bronco to Ron. Mom's memory is worse, on the drive to the ATC this morning she could not remember that Dad ate breakfast with us; this is not the first time she has forgotten that he has been with us just a couple hours earlier.
Nurse Staci was Mom's main caregiver today with assistance from Nurse Isabelle. Mom got 2 units of packed red blood cells which means it was an all day visit to the Kaiser Moanalua facility.
Because we had to leave so early, and Mom was moving so slowly getting ready, I was unable to help Mom put on her lotion this morning. So she was itching while we were at the ATC. And that was even with the benadryl that Nurse Staci gave Mom as part of the regular procedure for transfusions. Mom asked Nurse Staci for more but she was unable to give any more to Mom. She said Mom needed to go home and put the lotion on, but Mom said she needed to take a shower. So Nurse Staci said to take a shower as soon as she got home, then put the lotion on. But Mom refused to do that when we got home, she only wanted to scratch. She threw a tantrum & called Kaiser; Nurse Staci told her she did not have any other medication for her and the best thing was to take a shower & put the lotion on. This is one of those days where even with the dementia she has enough of a grasp of what is going on to put up a fight when she thinks she is right (that there is a pill that can take all the itching away) but not enough to know that there is more to the issue (she's taken the pill, its not working, she needs the lotion because its dry skin & not an allergic reaction that is causing the itching). She sat in her underwear and pouted like a child for about an hour, then went to take her shower. She let me put the lotion on after her shower, but now her sides are all red again and there are some open sores that she has caused; we're back to square one.
A bright spot today was lunch. Usually Curt brings us lunch from one of the lunch trucks on base, but today he had a previously scheduled lunch so we were on our own. On Wednesdays the Kaiser Moanalua facility hosts the farmers market; there are several food vendors. Today I picked up lunch from G-Town Catering. It was excellent! I had already ordered but I was given a sample of the monchong, next time we are here on a Wednesday and need lunch I will have to try the monchong! (One of the nurses said it was her favorite.)
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| Clockwise from top: 'Nalo Greens, Hamburger Curry, Hapa Rice, & Boneless Miso Chicken. |
Happy Birthday to Gabriele, Suzy, & Josey!
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