Smiles

I went to see Al today. I arrived during his lunch time, so I sat with him while he ate. No one said anything, but it was hard not to notice, that half of his food was on the outside of his mouth. It seemed like the tremors and the aim of judgement was off a little. He did feel it though and wiped his face off.

He was talking to his lunch mate and he was in a pretty good mood. He had eaten quite a bit in my opinion, but a strange combination also. He had the meatballs from spaghetti, no spaghetti, probably because of choking. He also had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich,  plus a grilled cheese sandwich and vanilla ice-cream, chocolate milk, white milk, and water. Wow, what a big lunch, and believe me, he ate every bite, and even wiped up the crumbs!

He told me again the story about how he can not go have therapy again, but he did wander into the therapy room this morning, and the therapist said that he could come in and visit anytime he wished. I thought I better check to make sure this was alright, and so I popped my head in and talked to them about what Al had said, and they said yes, he can come in anytime, because his legs are swollen.

They want him to keep his legs up in his recliner, and the nursing staff wants him to walk as much as possible. How do we make both departments happy? I don’t know and hope that they get it worked out.

His heart is being affected, so this is the reason for the swelling, and if you keep your legs down too much, they will swell even more. Al felt better knowing he could go in for help, and so I saw a few more smiles than the day before, which I am trying to forget.

He is going to play bingo tonight and he was looking forward to winning more snacks. He found out that the facility bus takes certain patients out to Wal-Mart once a month, so he is hoping he is going to be able to go the next time the trip is offered.

All in all, it was a good visit. No tears, more chatter. Even with the seriousness of the leg swelling, I was able to put that on the back burner. Some things we can not change.

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