Tip

Tip:
Don't call the VA when you're already in a bad mood or feeling emotional. Cause you'll just end up crying after being on hold for 31 minutes to find out you've been transferred to the wrong people, and everything you thought was resolved last week is still a mess. Am I seriously having the same conversation with his clinic that I had last week and the week before???? Why is nothing getting done!

And I didn't even get my questions answered about Dental!

Still can't get my Dad's Galantamine refilled. He's been without it now for about 10 days.

A month in the life of Dad

Well, Dad continues to do well, and we continue to have more of our life back, while still enjoying those visits with Dad. Just some updates in Dad's world:

-His roommate is on Hospice. Whittier Place called to ask me if we wanted the roommate to move or if we were comfortable with him staying with Dad. We figured things were fine the way they were, and Dad really likes his roommate. One of the care-givers even told us that if Dad sees his roommate sleeping, he'll even go up to him and cover him up with a blanket. So sweet.

-The Director of Memory Care, Lourdes, is leaving Whittier Place. While we are very sad to see her go, she is moving up and will be in an executive position at another Alzheimer's home in Costa Mesa. It was so obvious how much love and passion she has for her job, and we couldn't have gotten through those first 6-8 months without her. I had more of a relationship with her than I did my Dad... that's how much we talked. She had great instincts about Dad and was always offering her help. Thank you Lourdes. You will be missed at Whittier Place.

-I attended a 'Family Meeting' the other day at Whittier Place, and every family member seemed to know who Dad was. "We love Dave!" "You're Dave's daughter?" "He's so sweet and funny." Hahaha. Made me smile.

-We've been dealing with Dad's prescriptions again... the transfer over from his old VA in Loma Linda to Long Beach really was pretty easy except the Prescriptions! I think we finally got it sorted out, but Whittier place was giving him the wrong dosage of Galantamine (which is the generic for Aricept - The Alzheimer's Pill). Loma Linda had prescribed 2 a day, and Long Beach had prescribed 1 a day... anyway... I think it's all sorted out now. At least I hope so.

-Last but not least.... Dad will be the King of the Mardi Gras party next Wednesday. He was the one who got the plastic baby in his piece of cake, so it's a pretty big deal. Everyone stops me in the hallway and keeps telling me, "Do you know your Dad is the King of Mardi Gras?" Megan and I are going to try to be there next Wednesday to get some good pictures and videos!

So, look for a Mardi Gras blog next week! It should be a fun one!

Doctors and Pharmacies

I have been learning a lot about prescriptions lately. They all sound the same so it gets really confusing.

We had my Dad on an anti-anxiety pill, Lorazapam. We originally got the medication to ease his move back in April but he still managed to run away. The medication originally freaked us out. Dad was so loopy, confused, drunk-like, and in a fog. He didn't know what was up or what was down and the deciding factor to take him off the pill was when he put his hands in the toilet to wash them instead of in the sink. Poor thing.

When he started jumping the fence at Whittier Place, they suggested putting him back on the medication. We were adamant about not going down that road again. After talking to the doctor, they prescribed Xanax (aka Alprazolam) instead. The difference between Xanax and the old medication was amazing. Dad was Dad, except just a little less anxious. Bingo! We found one that works for him.

Suddenly, the doctor/pharmacy changed the medication to Clonazapam without even telling us. The staff at Whittier didn't like how this medication made Dad act and they stopped using it. So we had to call the doctor again. It's just frustrating that the Pharmacy would give him Xanax and then change it to something else and not tell anyone. Since my Dad gets his prescriptions through the VA, it's a much longer process than just going to pick it up at the local Rite Aid. The prescription comes in the mail and since I am not home to sign for it then I have to go to the downtown Post Office to pick it up, and then drive it over to Whittier.

Luckily Dad had been having a pretty good last couple of weeks, but he started getting anxious and upset again the past few days and I was finally able to get the Xanax over to Whittier yesterday. We also got him transferred over to the Long Beach VA which is going to be so helpful. He still has this awful rash and the doctor that we were seeing before STILL thinks it's Scabies even though the health department came to Whittier and ruled out that possibility. That doctor doesn't know what it is and she isn't being very helpful. Poor Dad was laying on the floor the other day rubbing his back on the carpet because the itch was so bad. We do have medicine to help with the itch, but obviously it's not helping that much. We're going to make an appointment to get some lab tests done because a couple different doctors have mentioned that a rash could be the result of Liver or Kidney problems. With Dad's track record of drinking, that could be a possibility. Guess we'll see.