The PUZZLE at Meadowood Nov. 20, 2005

November 21, 2005: 7:30am

Good morning family and friends from the Nutter Central Listening Post.

Mother is still at Meadowood and is doing OK, adapting to the routine OK. She still is a mystery as she does some weird things that upset not only us, but the people around her. For example.....

1. Julia said she was up at 5:30am Sunday morning, wide awake, and keeping Julia awake when she wants to sleep. She refuses the nurses urging to stay in bed and nap until 8:00am when they normally get up.

2. Her stability is improving as is her strength in her legs so....They take her to the bathroom and leave her (wrong) and she gets up on her walker and walks back into her room. Big chance of falling, the safety factor gone out the window.

3. Ms Julia said she still is getting up at night sometimes and tries successfully to get out of bed, again wrong.

4. One night mom refused to go to bed at 8:00 or 9:00pm and was up until almost midnight again keeping Julia awake. They have again adjusted her medication for the pm to try to get her to rest. This restlessness is normal for dementia patients so they are having to deal with it.

5. Messing with the Puzzle! Two or three of the patients were putting together a 1,000 piece puzzle on a table across the room in the recreation area. I was not aware that mom knew anything about this? But now the puzzle is unattended, so she rolls her wheeelchair over to the table and scrambles up 2 or 3 hours of work they have done in putting the puzzle together. I learn from Julia she has done this more than once?

I know the above sounds negative but mom is reasonably safe and getting good food and physical therapy. She can get up on the walker sometimes by herself but is not safe doing this. Or is not yet! I tried or tested her Sunday and she was shakey when I had her stand for me.

I got groceries for her home at 513 Sunday so Peggy or Rebecca can make snacks for mom and for Julia. Both these ladies are doing mom laundry everyother night at 513 and drying it the next am and taking it back to the R/H. I also got some little qt containers of milk to put in the frig at the N/H so mother and/or Julia want some extra milk with their meals. I put one at the N/H Sunday and you can get a stick on label at the nurses station to apply to the bottle and put her name and room number on it.

Karen and I will be in NC for the Thanksgiving holidays, leaving Wednesday am and coming back the following Monday pm. Happy Thanksigiving to all the family and friends...

Jeff and Karen Nutter