Midgie at Ashton Gables Sunday Feb. 26, 2006

Monday February 26, 2006

Dear friends and family,

I will give you a short recap of mom as of yesterday Sunday afternoon. She was sleepy and wanted to go back to bed. We talked just very little as she insisted on a nap. One of the resident assistance came by her room while I was there and she said mom was doing Ok and ate a good breakfast and lunch. She had a Boost and milk with each meal and according to her, she ate heartily. But mom told me she was hungry so I gave her another Boost out of frig and she slurped it down.

Mom talked a short while but soon she put the Boost on her bedside table and rolled over and pulled up her new cover Bobbie had put on her bed. It is Laurie's yellow comforter and looks pretty as a change for mom's room. I had bought some more Boost and fruit Saturday afternoon and so I labeled all this and replenished mom's refrigerator and took a dozoen of the Boost to the nursing station in the 'memory unit'. It is just behind mom's room and you have to have the code to acsess the door leading in. The nurse, Leigh, put mom's Boost in their refrigerator behind the nursing station but if you do this, you need to put mom's room number on each bottle with a permanent marker. A must.

I did not get to visit much with mom as she was asleep when I got back from the nurses station. I also bought 3 boxes of snack cookies for the nursing assistants and put these 3 boxes in their breakroom. They told me they used to have a snack machine but it was taken out. I ask sometime back what they would like and snack cookies fit. When I shopped for mom's Boost I got them 3 boxes with peanut butter and cheese crackers in individual servings so they would have a snack on their breaks. Just greasing the wheel a little for mom's caregivers. They all said a big time "Thanks".

I did not stay long and the RA said she would get mom up in maybe an hour. They do not want her sleeping too long during the day as she will not sleep at night. Mom seems happy and content now and sleeping softly when I left. She won't remember my visit but I do!....Love to all, Son Jeff

Stress, Medication and Insomnia

Now where do I start here? I have less stress in my life than I used to have! I have less medication or a change in my medication that should upset my sleep patterns? That said, "I have slept fitually, waking several times during the night and waking with a feeling of something is wrong or about to happen?"

I take two medications for a childhood problem I have had all my life. The doctor has adjusted the medication recently but the transition has seemed 'seamless'. He has substituted one med for another that seems to be working OK. But am I having a reaction to the new drug?

Stress could be my mom and I accept that. My marriage is wonderful and we just celebrated our 14th anniversary with our love greater than ever. Karen has been my rock of a foundation in life who takes me as I am as I do her. So many people try to change their partner in life, but this I promise you, is a losing proposition. We must marry our 'best friend' as we do this for life! My partner reaches over in bed during the night and just 'touches me' to tell me in her sleep, that I am OK. Nice.

My money is in good shape and we will have our mortgage paid off next year and that will give this family almost an additional 800 of disposable income each month. We will still have insurance and taxes but I have taken that into consideration. I figure roughly that our taxes and insurance will be about $200 @ month, a breeze. I am going to insist on Karen going out and getting her a new 4 door Honda Civic, if that is what she wants. She is driving her 1991 Civic with less than 100K on it and as she says "Jeff, I love my little car and there is nothing wrong with it!" I don't want or need a new car! It looks like I am going to have to take it away from her!!!!

Meds, money, personal, mortgage and oh, yes, no credit card debt! Spirtual, that too is OK, with Jeff being the lay leader in March. What is a lay leader? He is the he or she that does the announcements and reads the scripture and leads the reponsive reading in the earliest part of the church service. I have public speaking experience and have done this before, so I know this is not a point of stress or concern! I am really looking forward to this as Karen has promised to go to church every (or almost) every Sunday so I will see her face there.

If you have some suggestions to help me now with my sleep problem please feel free to write below. I usually fall asleep within 5 minutes after hitting the pillow but not now for some reason? I am cutting down on any caffiene after 4:00pm so I will know this is not a factor. Have a wonderful day.

MS Plan VS New Orleans Plan

MS Gulf Coast : We have a plan.
New Orleans : Who gots de plan?

MS Gulf Coast : We have trucks waiting on higher ground to move food, etc.
New Orleans : When de #*@#! trucks gon git here wit our food?

MS Gulf Coast. Police will be back on patrol as soon as we can move around.
New Orleans : De police done looted Wal-Mart befo we could gits dere.

MS Gulf Coast : Home owners begin clearing debris by themselves.
New Orleans : Who gonna clean up dis mess?

MS Gulf Coast : It'll cost me some savings to rebuild, but . . .
New Orleans : Where de damn government with the debit cards?

MS Gulf Coast: We are partners with FEMA, but it starts here first.
New Orleans : Damn FEMA, why wasn't dey ready?

MS Gulf Coast : It was worse than I believed. I should have evacuated.
New Orleans : They didn't sent nobody to gets me.

MS Gulf Coast : Leaders: we have work to do, let's get started.
New Orleans : Leaders: De gubmint need to git in here and fix dis place back up.

MS Gulf Coast : We made a few mistakes, but we learned.
New Orleans : It was ______ (fill in the blank)’s fault!!

Midgie at Ashton Gables Feb. 16, 2006

Midgie at Ashton Gables February 16, 2006

Dear Friends and Family, Thursday pm

Well, how do I keep my letters or posts interesting when I am writing about the same subject everyday or two. I will preface this letter saying “I am under the influence of the largest cup of coffee, I have ever seen!”. This letter is being written from Barnes and Nobles Coffee Shop at Patton Creek in Hoover. I visited mom today and this is the plum for my being a good son…?

I guess I will make this a kind of travelogue to keep “boring” out of mine and especially your vocabulary. I begin with calling Bobbie this morning at 8:15, on my drive to a doctor appointment at Medical Center East next to Trussville, Alabama. You almost need a passport and visa to go this far out of one town to a hospital for just a checkup. But I needed to make another doctor happy, talk to aunt Barbara on the way, and get my day going.

My talk with Bobbie was in essence, that mom was doing fine and Bobbie had a comforter of Laurie’s she was going to try to take to mom tomorrow. All will be forgiven if this does not happen as life does not follow a script! We had a good talk and it sure made my drive shorter, or seemed to.

Dr. Watterson was pleased with me, and most of all we had prayer together before I left. Dr. Swillie yesterday did the same as we each talked about our faith, our lives and how He guided and blessed each of us each and every day. It definitely helped me to get my day off to a good start. We had talked Sunday of our responsibility as Christians, to witness for Him and make our lives a tribute to Him in all we do. Two nice young men obviously have Christ in their life and by luck of the draw, they are also my doctors.

I had called the nursing station earlier and it looked like mom was off to a good start. I had some business calls on my company radio and bingo, my plans for the day went into the hopper and out came new ones. I made a side trip to my warehouse and then lunch with a buyer to take a chunk out of the middle of my day.

I got to the bank and to Ashton Gables about 12:30 pm. They had just finished lunch and mom was in her room watching her TV. She was dressed, had on her makeup, lipstick, earrings, and a scarf. The RA kidded me later as she will not leave her room with all of the above.

I got mom’s stuff together and her newest picture album Karen did for her and we walked to the living room. We settled in on the sofa and I let her go through the album naming as many people as she could and helping her with the rest. We enjoyed this together and soon one of the directors came with show and tell cards where you have to complete the sentence. Some are good at this but mom can’t or won’t? We did this for a while and some like me, told stories, humorous stories that some thought was funny. Did I have a captured audience? Yes! But it was fun, or funny, until Fiona came and robbed half the group with a cooking class in the other section. Pee you, Fie, for breaking up our party!
Kidding! I went back to the other section after getting mom her pm Boost and sure enough Fiona had almost all the residents back there cooking cookies! She promised to bring some of us up front that chose not to come to school but when I left at 3:30pm, there were NO COOKIES! Just wait and see who helps her with next exercise and needs some input from the cheap seats. No deal, Lucille! You rob me once, my fault! You look for help next, and Jeff plays dumb! Kidding all, the activities director is great with mom, and who is left to kid!

All and all it was a fun afternoon. I have tried to learn the names of one or two more residents each time and today it was Lucy Smart and Ms. Kitty! Lucy is a sleeper of sorts. She has something that has really affected her speech but if you can give her the gift of attention and time, she can get the words and ideas across. I learned today that she worked for 30 years, 30 hard years at Carraway Hospital in North Birmingham. I then found she knew several doctors of my acquaintance, which was nice. I soon told mom bye with a promise to come back tomorrow. I left her with 3 or 4 others visiting in the living room.

It is time to close as my coffee cup is just about empty. I have the Wall Street Journal in my lap and I need to find out how my money is doing? Don’t I wish! Mom news good! The writer, well, the jury is still out! News at 11:00/Son Jeff

Midgie at Ashton Gables Feb. 15, 2006

Thursday February 16,2006 am

Dear Friends and Family,

Midgie was OK yesterday after my being away all day Tuesday. I had checked in with the nursing staff yesterday and both Kesha and Leigh called me back. She was eating well, sleeping at night, and doing her exercises and participating in social activities.

I got to Ashton Gables about 1:30, to see mom in between two doctor appointments. What did I do on Valentines day, break a filling flossing. I had big plans for more time with mom Wednesday but the 'dentist' took priortiy over my well layed plans. If it was not that, it would be something else, I guess.

I get off the subject, don't I? But if you know me, I have a complex mind and I talk the way I write, so I ask your forgiveness. So filter through my ramblings, and find out about the main subject of this episile.

I found mom in the beauty shop and I got there in great time to make s decision for the beautician. Mom needed her hair cut and a permanent, and I tried both of Bobbie's numbers but no answer. So I made a strateic decision and showed her how to cut mom's hair somewhat short and give her a 'tight' permanent that requires very little care. But DON'T tell mom you are cutting her hair! She will fuss, but I stayed and watched a while and mom did fine.

I ran into Fiona Cook, the activities director and she said she intercepted the mail from Amie Barrett in California. It is a 3 dimensial card, with a "Hi Midgie" on red billboard that pops up and a rising sunrise in the background. Beautiful. I brought it home last night to show to Karen and will figure out a way to display the card with everyone who visits mom seeing it.

I gave mom her Boost for her pm snack and sat a while with her while they were finishing up her hair. I soon had to tell her goodbye and go make a house payment on my dentist's home. All in all, the news on mom is good and improving. But her weight is still a concern, so keep her in your prayers. News at 11:00/Jeff

Midgie at Ashton Gables Feb. 5, 2006

February 6th, 2006: Monday am

Dear family and friends,

Good Monday morning everyone! Sunday was a busy day as usual. Jack and Vicki went to see mom Saturday and they called me from the living room at Ashton Gables. Jack said mom was fine, color great, stronger, and they were having a great visit.

I saw mom Sunday afternoon after SS and Church and checking on 513 Alice Street. The house was fine, 2 bills, and her Western Star. I finish there as quick as possible and headed toward mom and Ashton Gables. I got there about 1:45pm and I had some Ensure in the trunk plus a clean outfit for her.

Mom was sitting in her room watching TV and going through the cards you folks and friends have sent her. She startled me a bit, as she stood up right away as if she was going to walk across the room and meet me. This is great! Her strength is returning and her wanting to walk and/or exercise is returning.

She did not have on an apron and she wanted one. She had on her lipstick, a purple and gray striped outfit and looked real good. I ask her if she wanted the pimento and cheese sandwich I brought her for a snack. Later. But...I was putting some Ensure in her frig and she did want one of those.

I got her a straw and a napkin and she slurped this 8oz. down in a Hollywood minute. If looking for her aprons, they are in the cabinet above the frig to the right. It took a while to find them. We soon were packed up to go and sit and visit in the living room. Mom walked the 100 to 150 feet without any problem. She sat on the sofa and we soon got a picture book off the wall and flipped pages together. It was a picture book of two years ago and an outing plus some picture made valentines day. They were fun to look at with mom.

It was coming up on 3:00pm and I told her goodbye and a promise to come back tomorrow. I wanted to try something new and that was to "tell her goodbye" and she how she handled it. We had to just slip away in the recent past as it upset her so much when we left. But today, she did fine. She told me to tell Karen that she loved her and today she did not have any problem with names and who was who, a nice event.

Several ladies came and sat with and around us while I was there and she talked to Gloria. I left the two ladies talking and they seemed happy. It was a good visit and mom appears much improved but weight is still a challenge. Keep mom and all the extended families in your prayers and can we talk?

Son Jeff

Midgie at Ashton Gables Feb. 1, 2006

February 3rd, 2006: Friday am

Dear family and friends,

Mom was in her room yesterday afternoon eating a snack and her TV was on one of the court TV shows like Judge Judy. She was dressed in a red blouse and black slacks and looked nice. She complained about not liking the snack as it was a chopped waldorf type salad but the fruit was not peeled and she did not like that.

I keep fruit snacks and either Boost or Ensure in her frig and I got her a Boost to replace this snack she did not like. She slurped it down, big time. If any taste bud is in place, it is her sweet tooth!

I helped her get one some of the new socks Karen bought her, black, and come up higher than the white socks she has. I tried her hard sole shoes on her but one of heels is still sore and she could not manage them.

I got her interested in going to the living room as I saw Fiona beginning some activity when I got there. Mom walked to the living room with NO assistance on my part, slow, but she got there on her own. I was there to catch or assist her if needed, which the resident assistance do for her.

I got two chairs out of the dining room and soon "we" were participating in Fiona's Groundhog Day, Valentines Day and Super Bowl and Presidents exercise. Oh, and questions about favorite dishes the residences like to fix (prepare) for their Valentine! Duck to Steak and Spagetti to casseroles was on someone's list. I had not had lunch and it made me hungry just listening to this.

I got to participate with mom filling in the gaps on some of the meals and activities in her life. I told the story about dad giving mom her diamond ring in a box of Bell Camp candy. They all laughed and thought it was a good way to give mom this gift. He had Bell Camp candy when it was in Birmingham to replace the diamond ring for one piece of candy and they resealed the box.

Mom was content and listened to some of the stories and funnies we all shared. But soon she was napping and it was dinner time. I did not wake her but got her RA to come and get her for dinner but let me get away first. Unfortunately she does not remember short term. Maybe for her now is a good thing.

Mom is happy, safe, and being looked after by professionals. Visits are welcome as well as cards and letters. Jack and I and Bobbie are in and out regularly to keep mom on track with family and be sure she is OK. Thanks to everyone for their prayers and email responses while she was in UAB West. Keep it up....

Love and Hugs,

Jeff and all the Nutter/Northcutt/Guyton families

PS. She is off the dementia drugs Aricept and Namenda as the side affects seem to overshadow the benefits. FYI/j



Jeff Nutter, Jr.
3281 Tyrol Road
Vestavia Hills, Al
35216-4268
(H)205.979.1898
(C)205.401.5731