Part of the respite plan is to have Matt go to Day Club 2 days per week

I tried to get him to go several times, unsuccessfully, so I called in help last Friday

Lo came for a short shift and got him up, out of the house, and to the club with me

So this past Friday was the first day he experienced it

I’ve always had concerns he would be interested in the Day Club, but the week before he asked about it, expressed interest in going after we had attended an open house and learned about it

The club is run by folks who have experience with dementia care, they have a variety of activities for them

They are all super nice

This particular Day Club is just opening….so attendance is currently well below capacity, there were 7 or 8 participants there. The objective is to have 25 at the club each day

Friday he went, spent from 9am to 4pm there

He expressed having liked it to Mary that day when we picked him up, Sheba in tow

Over the weekend, he told me a different story, he said some large woman tackled one of the guys and someone peed all over themselves, there was altercation

He didn’t just tell me this once, he told me this a couple times

Yesterday, I asked Lo, who stayed with him till noon Friday at the club if she saw anything, she didn’t witness anything

She did say he asked her if she had her car…..he wanted to escape

She said he repeated the tackle story to her Monday as well….

Monday afternoon, I went to see the Executive Director of Day Club, to see if this was truly something that happened or if this is a delusion

Nothing like what he was describing to me happened, the ED said

So what could have triggered him having this image, this memory? I asked in follow up

Apparently one of the participants did want to leave early, somehow slipped out of the building, was approaching cars in the parking lot

They brought him back in, apparently, and called their spouse to come pick him up

I guess these things happen when you get folks together with this disease, the broader dementia community

So that you have the right image, this Day Club is in a beautiful property, at the base of the Sonoma Mountains, some 10 acres of rolling lawn, well designed buildings and sports fields

It has been a boys school, with everything spaciously laid out through out, and has recently been working on initiatives to add other initiatives into their program to serve the broader community

Its well off the road, with security gates and all, so I have no concerns that Matt or anyone participating would get very far or would be in danger if they did slide out like someone apparently managed to do

So this Day Club, one that provides respite to caregivers of folks with dementia, is one of those expansion initiatives of the Hanna Center

My goal has been to get him there Tuesdays and Fridays so he could socialize a bit, have more activity and stimulation

So this morning will be the second, follow up test…..as of yesterday, the odds seemed low he would go today

We’ll see how it goes today….