Still trudging along...

Well, it's September and Dad still hasn't moved to the new West LA Veterans Home.  Our family is scraping up the extra money he needs to pay for his care.  But I'm starting to think that we might need to move him temporarily until the VA opens... $700 extra is what he needs per month and that is just too much.  Ugh... moving. 

On another note, Dad has scabies AGAIN.  This is his 4th or maybe 5th time... I don't know because I stopped counting.  I walked into his home to pick him up for a routine Psych visit and took one look at him and knew.  He was scratching in all the same places.  Luckily since we were going to the VA clinic already, I begged and pleaded to be seen so that we could get the medicine he needed for his skin.  Success!  I saw the problem, tackled it, and solved it all within hours!  All with a baby on my hip and one eye on the old guy with Alzheimer's!  Sorry for tooting my own horn, but normally the Scabies situations are much more drawn out.  (Although, the Nurse Practitioner didn't think it was scabies -why is it so hard to diagnose?- and I politely told her that I disagreed.  At this point, I know exactly what it looks like and how my Dad reacts to it, plus I did find out later when we arrived back at Valley View Gardens, that another resident also has Scabies.)

Scabies is highly contagious but I have never contracted it from him... my main worry this time was Emry.  I made sure she had absolutely no contact with him, and I probably washed my hands 20 times that day.

Dad also had another staff infection but this time in his armpit and it was really painful.  We opted to go to urgent care instead of sitting for hours at the VA ER.  $200 later, they gave him a very painful injection of Lidocaine, lanced it open, squeezed the heck out of it, and sent us home with an antibiotic and an order to come back two days later.  Again, I washed my hands countless times that day.  

Anyway, wish there was more exciting news to tell.  The Alzheimer's Walk is less than two months away and we're having a big fund-raiser at the end of the month.  More info on that coming soon!

Below is a picture of Dad and his favorite nurse at the VA Clinic in Whittier.  She is so good to him.  Thank you Vanessa!

A Visit from an Old Friend... :/

A visit from an old friend... SCABIES.  Yep, Dad has scabies again.  Woo Hoo.  He had it a year ago for the first time, and then he got it again this past September.  I fought hard in September to get Dad the oral medication as well as the cream, but they would not oblige me.  I told them that our past experience with the rash/skin mite was that it didn't go away easily and we spent hours and countless appointments to eradicate the problem only to find out that the oral medication worked quite well in the end.  This was the snooty response I got from the nurse practitioner in September, "I've been a nurse for 20 years, and I know that the cream will work just fine."  RIGHT.  Well, it's possible that that same case may have been dormant for the past few months and then resurfaced again this month. 

Anyway, we got a Derm appointment at the VA which was not easy to come by, and we actually requested it back in September... so when I turned out not to be available to take Dad to this appointment, there was no way that we were going to cancel.  (Because the VA reschedules you on their own time, and that could be forever...).  My Mom luckily was able to fit this errand into her hectic end-of-year work schedule where she tries to see the majority of her clients one last time before the holidays. 

Long story short, between the two of us, this appointment took a total of 4 1/2 hours of our time.  And because of that, I was able to meet them at the VA after my Sassy Songbirds performance.  The wait to see the doctor was long, and then the wait for the pharmacy was even longer and didn't even result in us leaving with the medication.  The doctors totally over-reacted, some left the exam room afraid of the contagious nature of this skin disease, and when I found my Mom, they had freaked her out so badly that she was wearing gloves trying not to touch my Dad.  I tried to wear the gloves, but I couldn't do anything with them on... like eat or check my phone, so I took them off.  It's true it is contagious, but I've never gotten it from him, and it's kind of hard to get an Alzheimer's patient to follow you through crowds in a government building without putting a hand on his back to guide him. 

So, gloves or no gloves, we were hanging out in public for 2 hours at the pharmacy waiting for Dad's medication and sitting next to a guy that kept yelling, "Wish we had a TV in here!!!" every ten minutes.  His motto was that if you didn't make a noise, then nothing would get done.  We always meet interesting people in the VA.  :)  Maybe if I yelled that my Dad had a contagious skin disease, then we would have gotten his medication on time. 

I got the Oral and Cream the next morning and brought it to Valley View Gardens.  Just wanted to share some photos of Dad's arms and what Scabies potentially looks like...

You Guessed It, Another Lady Friend

Dad's doing much better this week. We realized after Dad's angry outbursts last week that it had a lot to do with his room being locked during the day.

The reason the staff at Whittier locked his room is because he has another lady friend. I am telling you, he must be coated in sugar or something, because he can't go very long without one of these ladies latching on. This lady is the crazy outgoing one that I talked about a few weeks ago... Tabitha. EVERY TIME I see her and sometimes every ten minutes, she says the EXACT same thing, "Oh, is this your daughter? She's very beautiful. She must look like her mother." Then she laughs. Ouch for Dad.

For the most part, she's very annoying and everything that I say or my Dad says, she turns into a song. It's actually kind of funny cause she snaps her fingers and tries to dance to the song that she made up. I especially like the song entitled, "Let's Go Water The Plants." But hopefully Dad doesn't say anything gross like "There's a Squirt In My Underwear". That probably won't be a #1 hit Tabitha. Anyway, she follows Dad around everywhere and is pretty possessive of him. If we weren't his daughters, she would probably be upset that we are spending time with him. I do think she annoys him sometimes, and the staff makes sure that he doesn't have to spend the entire day with her.

Because of the new lady friend, the staff was worried that the two of them would be 'up to no good' in his room, and since they can't be monitored every minute of the day, they locked Dad out of his room. In Dad's eyes, that meant that everything was stolen from him. As the Director of Memory Care said, "I didn't realize, but by locking his room, I am taking away the only part of this place that is his. I apologize, I will go unlock it right away." Ever since they unlocked the room, he's been back to his normal self.

I also brought him a little pouch of Canadian and Mexican coins that we found in his house. I know he likes to carry it around in his pocket and I think that keeps him happy and distracted.

The Scabies is gone! Finally. When Megan was at the check-up, the hyper Dermatologist came in the room and gave her a boisterous high-five. This doctor is so crazy and he reminds me of our Pastor growing up because they both get very energetic over little things. Then the dermatologist actually scared Megan by whispering in her ear when she was leaving, "I hope my daughter is like you some day." Apparently his kids are going to be our age when he is 70.

Dermatologist

So the dermatologist thinks Dad has scabies, EVEN THOUGH, Dad has already done the treatment for it, and no one else has gotten it (it's pretty contagious), and the health dept said that it wasn't Scabies. He even did a skin scraping and looked at it under the microscope and didn't see anything. Regardless, the dermatologist said he had to follow his gut feeling... Scabies. I believe him, I guess. We have another appointment in two weeks so if the rash is still there he'll have to try something different.

He prescribed an oral medication because he said that the creams aren't strong enough and that's probably why it didn't work the first time. They also gave Dad a shot in the butt to help the swelling and itch. He also said he's seen cases where a married couple can sleep in the same bed every night and only one person will have Scabies. And just because they scraped the skin, doesn't mean a bug got picked up in that specific scrape, so it's possible that they wouldn't see anything under the microscope.

Whittier Place had called me that morning to say that Dad hadn't been sleeping really at all. (No wonder he'd been falling asleep in the middle of the day lately.) The other day I was driving Dad somewhere and when the light turned green and I stepped on the gas, Dad gasped so loud. Apparently he had fallen asleep and then was scared when we suddenly started moving again. The Derm suggested that the itch could be keeping him up at night, and he also prescribed a prescription strength Benadryl that should help.

Below are two of the CUTEST videos of Dad EVER... singing Ray Charles' "Georgia" and "I Got A Woman".... while waiting for the Dermatologist...

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.

The Rash

(laughing to myself)
I'm not sure what to talk about first today. Should it be the itchy rash that my Dad has acquired, or the fact that when I went into his room today he was walking around in just a t-shirt (nothing else), or the fact that they may have found the source of the urine smell in his room (yay)? Hmmm.

I will start with the rash. Megan took Dad to the doctor two days ago and was told that Dad has Scabies (pronounced like Rabies). That has got to be the ugliest sounding word in the English language. Scabies is a skin mite that causes itchiness and red bumps and is very contagious. I kind of compare it to head lice, but for the body. Everything had to be washed and cleaned and Dad had to sleep overnight in a special skin cream. Poor Megan had to deal with it and felt itchy all day even though it was mostly in her head. She jumped right in the shower when she got home. Turns out now, he didn't have Scabies. We still don't know what it is. I feel bad for him though because he is itching a lot.

When I get to his room today, I get mooned by my Dad. He is standing there with only a t-shirt on and I am praying that he doesn't turn around. He's not afraid of standing naked in front of anyone... he could care less. But, guess what Dad? I care. Put some pants on please. Actually, why don't we start with underwear. Even that would be better. I figured out that he had been putting "lotion" on his legs, arms, and hands. I know he is itchy, so I can't blame him for trying to do something to relieve the itch. When I looked at the bottle though, I realize that he had been putting a 2 in 1 shampoo/conditioner on his body instead. By this time, he had his pants back on, so we didn't wash off his legs, but when we washed his hands there were so many bubbles coming off of him. They're going to have a fun time helping him shower tonight!

The good news today is that we think we found the source of the urine smell in his room. They tore his room apart trying to figure it out and found that the bottom of the cabinets in the bathroom next to the toilet were soaked... probably with urine. As I said before, Dad's roommate has issues going to the bathroom and it's possible that my Dad could also be "missing the target" when peeing as well. A new cabinet has been ordered and should be here by the end of the week. I have to thank Whittier Place for really trying to solve this problem! I hope it works.

Dad is still having a difficult time remembering which bed and closet is his. He goes over and sits on Chuck's bed or takes clothes out of Chuck's closet. Today, I labeled his closet and bed. I doubt it will help, but it's worth a try. I attached a picture of Dad's room and labeled closet. He was in a great mood today. Flirting with the ladies and walking through the garden with me. Hope he's this happy next time.

Side note: We're still really worried about Dad's financial situation. He is losing money monthly right now... mostly due to the fact that he still hasn't sold his mobile home. Two rent checks per month takes a toll. It just seems that he is finally settling in and it would be awful to move him to a cheaper place right now, but I guess it does come down to the money. We are still trying to look into every resource possible before having to move him. Cross your fingers!