Dad's Happy Place

My previous post on November 3rd told of Dad's first day at Primrose and how not an hour after coming back home he'd forgotten the whole experience - typical for his condition. Now it is Sunday and tomorrow he will go back to Primrose for his 8th visit of November. And what a difference a month makes!

The pattern of going to Primrose is somewhat established with him in that when we arrive at the facility he instinctively knows where to go. As we approach the building where he stays, you can see him start to smile as he knows he is going someplace where he's had a good time - his "happy place."

The family members that have gone with me to drop-off/pick-up Dad see the difference. While at Primrose he is with, as he puts it, "the old people," his peers, and he knows he'll have some fun. And fun he does have according to my own observations and report I've received from the staff.

Here are some photos of the staff, and Dad participating in the activities:

The wonderful staff with Ortencia Angotti, the Day Club Director in the center of the photo.

Notice how goes opposite of everyone else?

Can you see Dad? He's in the middle of the photo being a clown with his cap turned sideways.

Time to go!

Dad's First Day at Primrose

First of all, let me introduce you to Primrose, Alzheimer's specialists providing services for individuals and their families. Click on Primrose to read more about this wonderful organization from their website. The part of the program that Dad is participating in is the adult day care. Every Monday and Wednesday for the month of November, I will take Dad to the facility where he will spend 5 hours participating in various activities with a well-trained staff and his peers.

Prior to enrolling him, we had visited the facility and met the staff. We also had lunch with other persons suffering from dementia/Alzheimer's and members of their families. We got to see the program in action as well as check out the grounds and facility. We were very impressed (if you haven't already done so; please check out their website). So we felt Dad would benefit from the interaction and we enrolled him.

Today, Wednesday, November 3rd was his first day. I had no problem getting him to go because I explained that participating in the program would help "exercise" his brain and perhaps slow down the progression of the dementia. I dropped him off at 11:30 a.m. where the staff greeted him by his first name and spoke to him in Spanish, which he enjoyed very much...especially since they were young ladies and you all know how much of a flirt he can be!!

When I arrived at 4:30 p.m. to bring him home, he was at the computer working with one of the staff. They were playing a memory game. Dad scored 89 out of 100, which is pretty darn good. He even mentioned to the staff person that he had done this before (which he had when we went on the facility tour). The Director told me he'd had a very active day. They played music and he even danced quite a bit (he told me his feet were sore) and played some cards too. I was very pleased with the way the day turned out for him.

When we arrived home, you could tell he was very tired. We had dinner at 5:30 p.m., about an hour after leaving Primrose. I expressed to him how pleased I was that he had participated and, from all the reports I had received, indicated he'd had a great time.

He sat at the table and looked at me very confused and asked, "When did I do all this?" I said, "Today." He put his head down then after a few moments he looked up at me and said, "I don't remember doing any of this. Are you sure this happened today?"

It breaks my heart that all the experiences he has been having since living with us are just temporary and then forgotten.