August 24, 2008
Today was not a good day. Arden has been at Maryville almost a week and other than the first night he has done fairly well. Today he refused his breakfast, his meds and his weekly bath/shower. The nurse warned us when we arrived at about 11:30 am. When we went in to his room (shared with three others–actually 2 others because Francis passed away.) , he was still in his nightshirt, and was obviously grumpy. I sat down to talk to him about what was going on and he said, “I am not one of your seventh graders. Don’t pull that counseling stuff on me! OK then! I did feed him his lunch which is still pureed and the liquids are thickened because he has trouble swallowing since the stroke. They are suppose to be putting St. John’s Wart in his liquids because it helps keep him calm–or does it? Evan read the paper to him, a Sunday ritual and then we tried to get him dressed so we could take him for a walk. He still isn’t able to pull himself up or sit up without assistance. The physical stuff then can work with but the attitude is a real problem. If he won’t cooperate or do the therapy, Medicare will stop paying and he could be “expelled” from Maryville. That would be almost as bad as when our cocker spaniel flunked out of obedience school. But, we will face the expulsion when the time comes!
