Things seem to be in a relatively good place right now

Our in home therapy’s will discharge fully today

We have had the benefit of 8 weeks of help from physical and occupational therapists, nurses, social workers

Soon we will begin to experiment with a new program Medicare launched in 2024 called GUIDE which sole purpose is to help families keep their loved ones at home as long as possible

It’s an add on to our current care team

We have just gone through the assessment and acceptance to the program, so the details of the support are yet to be understood

But it sounds like we may be seeing some strength training PT for Matt, maybe some cognitive exercises to come

When the nurse mentioned yesterday her thinking of recommending some cognitive exercises, Matt responded to that with enthusiasm

His behaviors are not as bad as they have been, that may well be a result of us changing the timing of afternoon meds

Corny did this when I was in VA and I am grateful, it seems to make a meaningful difference

My reactions to him and mental frame of mind is in a better place now too

There was some hard work that needed to be done in January, the work is now paying off

I am able to see myself more clearly in this equation

I was lost in it all, couldn’t find myself, the edges were fuzzy

It’s still a work in progress, isn’t life that anyway?

So today we are in a good place, have some positive things on the road map ahead that we will be playing with

Oh, another cool development is the Day Club nearby

It’s been slower to open than hoped, originally it was supposed to open Jan 5

It opens today, Feb 11, my hope is Matt can go this coming Friday

The benefit is more stimulation, different environment, being with others dealing with similar diagnosis like him, being with trained staff, experimenting with activities he may enjoy which aren’t available at home

He does sleep a lot these days

A comfy bed to escape to

I can’t say I wouldn’t be tempted to hide myself if I were in his shoes

Resting isn’t a bad thing, but I worry it might be too much

So we are upping the stimulation a bit to see how that goes

The instincts I have about what he will take to or not take to have had to adjust

Much to my surprise, he has taken to the help he gets twice a week showering

I had assumed he’d fight them like he did me around Christmas time when I had to help him

But no, he understands the value their presence brings, makes him feel safer since he has fallen a few times in the shower

So we are in a good place today, for now

Lots of family and friend interaction to look forward to soon, that is a spirit lifter for sure

In the balance, I am finding the time to focus on my health, getting my appointments scheduled, trying to get workouts in

So here we are