One Step Forward

Every time I think Dad might be making progress, there seems to be a minor setback. It's great that Dad has way less pain and is getting out of bed more. He still needs help but much less than before. And I got him to wheel himself about 15 feet from the elevator down the hall. The setback is the same one, he still isn't eating a bunch. Dr. Gries came by today, he said the Remeron takes 1 to 2 weeks to start working, if not, they will adjust the dosage.


We didn't see Popokilani this morning. And Dad wasn't really interested in the exercises either and insisted on going back to bed. Since it was still 45 minutes before the Namaste & Music session started I couldn't really find a good reason to keep him up. I think I will change it up a little tomorrow. I think we'll have him eat in bed, then get in to the wheelchair to go outside & play with the cat. That should get us close to the time that the Namaste & Music session starts.


When Curtis arrived this afternoon, we got Dad in the wheelchair to go see Lynn playing the ukulele. We were about 15 minutes early so we went to find Popokilani. She was at the end of the patio area sleeping in the shade; she sat on the table for a short while with Dad. Dad also watched a fishing video while we waited for the ukulele session to start. Lynn & Gloria were able to get Dad to sing along with them, he also stayed for the whole hour that they were playing & singing.



I'm getting better with the walk to the Maunalani Park and back. On my 1st walk I was going at about 2.4 mph. Today, even with it being sunny, I did it at 2.7 mph! Granted, I am breathing hard enough that I wouldn't be able to talk to anyone while walking. But I am not breathing so hard that I have to breathe through my mouth. On another note, one of the nurses said I was the athletic one; if you know Curtis, you know the bar is not that high.

The Roommates bought dinner tonight. We discussed food allergies (none), food dislikes (a few more), cooking ability (limited), & schedules (variable). This week I will do all the cooking, mainly from the things in the freezer. Next week we begin the shared cooking duties. I will also be doing the majority of the food purchases at Kokua Market.

From upper left, spiraling clockwise in: Seasoned Soybeans, Jumbo Boiled Peanuts, Corned Beef Cabbage, Spicy Tempura Shrimp Sushi, Gyoza, Grilled Salmon, Salad, & BBQ Beef,

Last night Shiro & Xander were sharing the chair. One of the Roommates left his backpack on Xander's sleeping pad so he had to look for another place.

Front Xander, back Shiro.

One of The Roommates practiced filling Xander's insulin syringe this evening. But he decided he needed a little more time before he attempts to administer the shot to him, so I did it.

What's worse than stepping in cat puke first thing in the morning? Stepping in old cat puke first thing in the morning! Because it's cold and clammy; personally I prefer that it is fresh and warm when I step in it. I'm pretty sure what I stepped in this morning is from Xander because of his pancreatitis. It's definitely not Shiro since its not the color of his food. And Chibi rarely pukes.

Dad Still Isn't Eating

Dad ate some of his pancake this morning, along with a little bit of papaya and about 1/2 a Breeze.


I was confused by the event calendar for today. In one section it said the Namaste & Music session was every day at 10 a.m. in the Ethelwyn Wellness Center; in another part it had Namaste & Music listed separately as happening at 11 a.m. in the Castle Living Room. I had asked last night and was told Namaste & Music was every day at 10 a.m. in the Wellness Center. It was a nice morning, so I took Dad out to the patio after breakfast to look for Popokilani and wait for the Namaste & Music session to start.


Today the Namaste & Music was on the 3rd floor lanai outside the Castle Living Room at 11 a.m. So we kind of missed it, Dad wanted to go back to his room since he needed to pee. Once he did that he did not want to leave his bed. Oh well, I tried. I tried to get him to eat lunch and failed there, too. Curtis didn't do any better on dinner. But he did find out from LPN Rio that it takes about a week before they usually see a response to the Remeron; Dad has been on it for only 5 days so far.

While I was at Maunalani, I got a text from my the new Roommates. They moved in today. We started making these arrangements back in January; they were moving in to help take care of Dad. Even though they won't be helping with Dad anymore we decided to go ahead with the move. They'll be helping with things around the yard as well as cleaning out the house; they already started with some of the room cleaning tonight.

When I went to check on the papayas today, I found that Mom's last orchid has another flower shoot. And there is one cactus fruit. I also picked 4 more papayas. And I spent a bunch of time training all the pakalana vines to climb on the fence; there should be a lot of blossoms this year!

The flower shoot is off to the left, I'll try to get a better photo as the blossoms form.

This morning when I turned on the TV as I left, it was bull riding time again. Go Bulls!


Happy Birthday to Diana!

Dad Gets a Massage

Today Dad went to the Namaste & Music session, which is held on the 1st floor of the Ethelwyn Wellness Center; they do the physical therapy on the 2nd floor of the building. Krista, who had been leading the exercise session earlier, also does massage! She got Dad set up in the reclining massage chair, since it is an hour long session I took off to do my walk. Dad loved the massage so we will keep taking him to the Namaste sessions.

Dad with Krista, getting ready for the Namaste relaxation hour.

Since I didn't stop to talk to anyone today I was able to do a more leisurely return and kept it at 2.4 mph; although because Dad was at the Namaste session I could stay away much longer since its an hour long. I was able to find the remains of the mushroom I saw a couple of days ago. It turned out not to be the edible shaggy mane (Coprinus comatus), but a very young green-spored parasol (Chlorophyllum molybdites) which is not edible. How could I tell it was a green-spore parasol? When I turned the cap over it had a hint of green. The similar looking shaggy parasol (Chlorophyllum rachodes, syn. Lepiota rachodes) has white spores and is edible by most people; I had a patch that came up regularly under my apple tree for several years.

Broken cap of green-spored parasol (Chlorophyllum molybdites).

This morning Dad got out of bed and in to the wheelchair with only a little coaxing. Once he was up he did a bunch of things, though eating wasn't one of them; he totally rejected breakfast. We checked out the activity in the Castle Living Room, where Krista was leading an exercise session. Dad didn't object so I parked him, then encouraged doing the exercises; I modified some of them to get him to do it. Overall, I think I did more of the exercises than Dad. Perhaps if I start with the exercises now I won't have to end up in a nursing home! Or at least, I will delay it.

Dad (far left) watches Krista (far right) during the exercise session.

After the Namaste & Music session I set Dad up at the 2nd floor nurses station for lunch; the video today was a Donna Summer concert. Although Dad wouldn't eat anything at the nurses station he did drink about 1/2 a Boost Breeze. (He finished his half peanut butter & jelly sandwich later.)


On his way to bed Dad wheeled himself from the doorway to the side of the bed, about 15 feet. He had to make a turn to get alongside the bed, so I taught him how to do that. Then, since the CNAs didn't show up fast enough for him, he started to use the information I taught him to turn the wheelchair and position himself so he could go from the wheelchair to the bed by himself! Fortunately CNA Frances showed up just before I was going to stop him! (At least, I think I taught him how to operate the wheelchair. But maybe he had learned how to do that when he was recuperating from when he was first injured during World War II.)


Before Frances would let Dad get in bed though, she had to get his weight. Today he was 191.2 pounds, so a little lighter than his last weigh-in a couple of days ago.


While Dad drifted off to sleep an alarm went off and the door automatically closed; there was a Code Red in a room down the hall that was announced. I'm not sure what Code Red means here at Maunalani, but whatever it was, about 10 minutes later they announced that the Code Red was cleared. Later I took a second walk since Dad was asleep and shift change was coming up around 3 so he would have a lot of people around if he needed anything. Today was dry, a little hotter, and a little sunnier than yesterday. The park was busy today! No wonder I saw Abby & Kelly going to the park early in the morning when I was driving up to Maunalani, it was cooler and wetter; and the park was vacant.

The cats are quietly snoozing while I write this.

L to R: Chibi, Shiro, & Xander.

Happy Birthday to Karyn, Cynthia, & Andrea! And Happy 40th Anniversary to Jim & Loretta!

Jim & Loretta's view from the RV on their 40th anniversary! (Photo by Jim)

Dad's Busy Day

Dad was in bed when I arrived this morning, but CNA Jessa got him in to the wheelchair so he could eat breakfast in the dining room. He only had 3 or 4 pieces of papaya and about 1/2 a Breeze.


It was about half an hour before Lynn, Dad's friend Walter's daughter, would be there to play ukulele with Gloria, so I took him upstairs to wait. Sakura was leading the residents in stretching exercises. Dad was having none of that. When Lynn arrived she came up to say "Hello" and Dad recognized her! She and Gloria played for an hour, many of the songs included hand gestures to give the residents more exercise. They also tried to get the residents to sing along to the songs as part of speech therapy. Towards the end of the hour Gloria actually got Dad to sing a little!

Lynn greets Dad before the ukulele session begins.

Dad listens to Gloria & Lynn.

Dad sings God Bless America with Gloria.

After the ukulele session, was a short Japanese song session before lunch. Dad did not sing any of those songs. I took him to the 2nd floor dining room but there were no seats available so we sat him at the counter at the nurses station, where he could also see the TV. His lunch arrived, but shortly after he needed to urinate, so I took him back to his room where one of the CNAs helped him. Then he was back in the wheelchair and back out at the counter, but he only ate about 1/4 of the peanut butter & jelly sandwich, though he had about 3/4 of the Breeze.

Lunch at the nurses station, Wonder Woman in the background.

It was quite confusing to come in to a movie in the middle, this one especially. I could figure out it was taking place during World War I because it was in the middle of a battle when we showed up. But there was a woman in a long coat running around but she didn't seem to be a nurse. About 10 minutes later she started taking off her clothes and it became apparent we were watching Wonder Woman. Basically we got to watch the last 30 minutes or so. I'm still trying to figure out why no one could see the large sword she was carrying between her shoulder blades as she tries to assassinate the German general at some sort of celebration where the women are wearing backless evening gowns.

This is after Wonder Woman got rid of her normal people clothes.

All total, Dad spent about 3&1/2 hours in the wheelchair; he never complained about his okole being sore; the Royal Purple pillow is working! At the end he said he could get out of the wheelchair by himself to get back in to bed. CNA Jessa allowed him to help as much as possible and he did quite well. I made Dad wheel himself about 10 feet when I got him to the doorway of his room, he did very well.

Dad did most of the work standing himself up from the wheelchair.

Dad wheeled himself in from the doorway to the bedside.

Both Brent & Ron showed up at the house to catch a ride up to Maunalani this evening to see the fireworks with Dad. When we got there we saw a light fog roll in to the Waikiki area, a short while later it got clearer. It kept going back & forth. At 7:45 we saw one red starburst and heard the explosion a few seconds later. Then we saw nothing but heard pops for another few minutes. We ended up being able to see about the last half of the show. Dad didn't want to get out of bed, so he didn't miss much.

There's one tiny burst barely visible I think it needs to be clearer for a good photo.

We spent a little time talking with Dad, then went to Zippy's because Curtis had not had dinner yet. He had a Zip Dog with Pastrami & Chili, Brent had a Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Ron had a Mushroom Burger, & I had a slice of Lemon Meringue Pie. 

Zip Dog. (Photo by Curtis)

Grilled Cheese Sandwich. (Photo by Brent)

Mushroom Burger.

Lemon Meringue Pie.

I brought my Keens with me today so that when I walked on the wet grass my feet (& socks) wouldn't get wet. It worked! Plus they are very comfortable to walk in and brought back great memories of the many years of field work & my field partners. At the park I ran in to Kelly and his dog Abby; but forgot to get a photo of them. Abby is a great frisbee dog!

By the way, even though the walk to and from Maunalani Park is only 2/3 of a mile and 15 minutes long, it has helped me lose 1.8 pounds this past week. I think it is the incline on the way back up the hill to Maunalani, I know I can feel the extra exertion when I am on my way back. At this rate, I will be at my target weight in about 10 weeks. However, I think a 1.5 pound per week loss is a more reasonable rate, which will take me about 13 weeks. So if I keep this up, by the end of July I should reach my target weight, which is still 5 pounds heavier than the previous weight where I felt the best when I was training. Lower than that and I felt weak, higher than that and I felt sluggish. I'll see how I feel when I reach the target weight and proceed accordingly. (The WiiFit also shows BMI, but I haven't paid much attention to that; I can do that when I get closer to my target weight.)

Happy Birthday to Evelyn & Donna!

Happy Birthday to the Cousins!

It turns out cousins Karen, Daniel, & Kenley all celebrate their birthday today! What are the odds of that? Happy Birthday!

Dad had a good start to the day, he got out of bed for breakfast! But it didn't go very far; he only drank 1/2 a Breeze, didn't eat a thing. But he was in the wheelchair so I got him to go out and sit in the sun at the front door. Popokilani was at the door when I came in but by the time we came out, she was gone. So we sat near the plant wall that has a bunch of orchids hanging on it; can't wait to see them in bloom.

Nope, not too happy about this.

Popokilani in the early morning; she was gone when Dad. showed up

Dad and the plant wall.

I also took Dad out to the 3rd floor lanai off of the Castle Living Room. But the breeze was still a little too much for him. So we went back inside and found RN Kathryn was leading an exercise class. I ended up doing more of the exercises than Dad did, but he did a little.

On the 3rd floor lanai.

Getting ready to exercise in the Castle Living Room.

Dad didn't eat much lunch today either. He did eat a banana and another 1/2 box of Breeze. And he had nothing for dinner. I hope the Remeron kicks in soon.


On the way back from my walk to the park, I found a shaggy mane mushroom popping up in the lawn of a house near Maunalani. I know it wasn't there yesterday. It probably will be past its prime tomorrow. Because of the light rain before I started my walk the gras was very wet, my shoes and feet got soaked. I'll have to start taking my Keene's and use them if it is wet; they're waterproof, I've walked through a very shallow stream in them and my feet didn't get wet!


I brought Xander up for a visit this afternoon. Then I went to run an errand so Curtis stayed with him. This time I left the curtain open. And Dennis also came in to take Dad's vitals. Xander took it all in stride and didn't panic; I think he might be gathering a bunch of fans here like he has at the Cat Clinic.

Xander Goes to the Vet

This morning Xander had his follow-up check with Dr. Sylvester at the Cat Clinic. He still has some compacted stools, he will be getting a little MiraLax for that. The bigger concern is that he is drinking a lot more water than normal. Dr. Sylvester increased his morning insulin to 3 units, the evening will remain at 2 units. I call in next week to tell Dr. Sylvester how he is doing and in a month he needs another blood glucose test, this time in the afternoon only.

Xander checking out the exam room.

Dad only had 1/2 Breeze for breakfast, just 1 spoonful of Magic Cup for lunch, and 1/2 a Boost Plus and 3 or 4 spoonfuls of Magic Cup for dinner. CNA Nicole suggested since he likes beef stew, to bring some in from home (or Zippy's) for him to see if that will get him started with eating again.

Thank goodness for Magic Cup!

Besides eating, Dad also needs to drink more fluids. Last night they had to catheterize him since he had not peed in 8 hours. It was concentrated showing he was a little dehydrated; we have to get him to drink more; not sure if the Remeron will also do that.

Nicole also scratched Dad's back for him. She said she would put him on their Namaste list and have someone visit him each day; they will offer to scratch his back and possibly transition in to massage. Arceli also came by to see what activities Dad would like; she is going to e-mail me an events calendar so I know what's going on. Apparently dogs come to visit on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so I will bring Xander on Thursdays; CNA Dennis requested that I bring Xander after he comes on duty at 3 p.m.

I found out from LPN Luz that the fireworks at the Hilton can also be seen from the deck outside the 2nd floor dining room. It will be much closer and easier to get Dad to the deck than it would be to get him to the lookout by the parking lot. (Level rather than uphill.)

I also found out that Luz saw me walking down or back from the park when she is on her way to work the evening shift at Maunalani. She and another one of the other nurses have been talking about going to the park and working out before they start their shifts. I asked her to let me know if they do that, I will join them! While at the park I saw a cattle egret in breeding plumage.

Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) in breeding plumage, though it isn't obvious in this photo I could see it in the field.

Happy Birthday to Bernie!

Pancakes & Waffles

That's the name of the place, not what we had for breakfast this morning. Curtis had the Scottish Bangers with Eggs and I had the Vinha D'ahlos Omelette. I took a lot of the omelette home for leftovers. I would go to Pancakes & Waffles BLD again.

Scottish Bangers & Eggs. (Photo by Curtis)

Vinha D'ahlos Omelet.

Curtis' kitchen remodel started yesterday when they gutted the kitchen. They also took out the sliding glass door to open up that area to the new addition. Today the dust barrier was up while they begin the next phase of rebuilding everything.

Gutted kitchen, stove wall. (Photo by Curtis)

Gutted kitchen, sink wall.

Empty sliding glass door wall. (Photo by Curtis)

Dust wall at sliding glass door wall.

Yesterday when Dr. Gries came by I asked him about Dad's lack of appetite, he prescribed Remeron (mirtazapine) to stimulate his appetite; it will take a couple of days to start working. And I hope it does work; they weighed Dad today and he is now 120 pounds, he lost 4 pounds since he arrived a week ago. According to Dr. Gries, Remeron is an anti-depressant, but at lower levels it stimulates the appetite. Today Dad refused breakfast, ate half of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich & a little Magic Cup for lunch, and a couple bites of pork guisantes, a bite of apple crunch, a quarter cup of Magic Cup, and a Nutter Butter for dinner. Not a full dinner but a little more than he has been eating.

Lunch.

Dinner. (Photo by Curtis)

Dad was looking a little scruffy yesterday so CNA Venus gave him a shave. He looked a lot better after that.


One of the visiting pets was here today. Toby was dressed up for Boys Day, which is May 5th.


The weather during my walk today was perfect for field work, about 70 degrees F, overcast, with a light breeze; we would always hope for days like these. It also works well for walking, especially since I forgot my hat and sunglasses! On the way to the park I found a sad sight, 2 very young birds were apparently blown out of their nest earlier today when it was really windy; they didn't make it. (I didn't see them yesterday when I passed by the same area.)



I found out yesterday that cousin Gladys passed away on Monday after being in declining health for a few weeks. Gladys was one of Hilo Aunty & Hilo Uncle's kids that Mom took care of when she moved to Hilo when she was 14; they were pretty close. Gladys is the one who brought all the party hats & other decorations to Las Vegas for Mom's 90th birthday party. I hope to be able to make it to Hilo later in the year when they go to scatter her ashes.

Mom & Gladys, 11/05/2016.

Happy Birthday to Chuck, Jack, Amy, & Mason! Happy Belated Birthday to Rita, Ryan, & Maya!