Chatting and visiting

Never Run Out of Smiles

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caregiving

Thin smile with a warm wrap

Lynne called. You said I’d like this place
I do. Activities, care, safe. Staff love you. You’ve got a hard job to walk — can’t remember, find words, figure things out. You’ve got to fight through it. You’re strong. You can do it. Where’s your smile? Everybody..
always loved your smile. You used it all the time. I was afraid you’d run out of smiles. I checked, though. You can never run out of smiles. Go give ‘em one of your smiles.
Slight chuckle. You always make me feel better. OK.
She stood up in a warm shawl, hair neatly parted, framing her face with a thin smile and walked out.

I can make her feel better, for a while. I can’t make her think better, ever. Nobody else can either, for a while.

Lynne’s Birthday Gift

James S Russell4 Comments

fun activities

Cat, Blue, Jane & Lynne in Denver

Lynne and I wanted to give Aunt Jane a birthday present on her 82nd birthday. She is my sister and Lynne’s cherished Aunt who had the courage to throw off society’s expectations of housewives, and serve the under privileged. She lobbied for compassionate legislation for children with handicaps in Colorado, lived with children in impoverished orphanages in Mexico, counseled Guatemalan refugees who fled the genocides in Guatemala until she returned with them broker peaceful returns to distrusting survivors. Along with those missions, she inspired her entire family to reunite and embrace her independence.
I gave Lynne the phone so she could sing happy birthday to her while I shouted it through the plexiglass in the Aegis Outdoor Living Room. Then Lynne had a private conversation with her.
Jane is a talker. Lynne is a listener. She focused on every word. I heard Lynne’s responses: “Oh, yeah.” I’m not sure.” “Well, I have a lot of friends here.” “It is what it is.” “I can see family.” “I get out and do things.” “I’m never sure.” “They have us do things, you know.”
Suddenly Lynne said, “Oh, no!”
She put her hand over the phone and said to me, “Cat broke her toe.”
Cat is Lynne’s cousin, a nurse. I asked, “Is she still working?”
“Oh yes.”
Finally, she tired and handed the phone back to me.
Jane said, “We had a great conversation. She’s handling it so well, accepting what is.”
And that inspiration was another gift Lynne gave Aunt Jane. And me. And everyone.

Playing Hardball to Get Through This

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Lynne called last night at 10 pm, melancholy without tears. “Not sure if I can do this.”“Sure, you can. Your Grammy Helen did it. Once you get through this part, you’ll be happy. Grammy Helen was happy.”
“Yes, she was.”
Pam had phoned me about her video chat with Lynne when her boys joined in. We reminisced about Pam’s plight inhaling wildfire smoke in California. I asked her about the boys. “They’re doing fantastic,” she said.
I told her I caught an overthrown hardball at Miller Park with my bare left hand and tossed it back. The young men on the teams cheered. “You the man.” One ran over with the ball, “Sign this.”
I didn’t have a pen, so I bumped his ball with my fist. I told Lynne, “If I’d had a pen, I could have signed it as Dan Wilson. And the next time I saw him, I’d have to tell him his legend grew at Miller Park.”
She laughed. “He’d have given it to you.”
We paused. She took a deep breath, “I’m not sure I can do this.”
“Sure you can. Your first job is get some sleep.”
“I can do that.”
She headed for bed in her clothes. “You should turn off the light.”
She looked for it on the blank wall next to her shelves. “Lindy, I think the switch is by the door.”
“Oh yea.” She walked away from the Facebook Portal screen and I saw the bathroom light turn on and off. She walked back to her bed and climbed in.
I called out, “Good night.”
“Good night.”
I called the concierge who promised to have someone help her get some sleep.

As Good As It Gets for Dad

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Fun activities

I interviewed Candy, a friend of Lynne’s about their time together at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 1996. I am grateful for her memories full of Lynne’s fun and professional skills. I sent her an image of an article about recruiting talent for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation published in the Seattle Times on October 17, 1996 Titled, “Want to Work for Gates?” The front page was in a 11 x 17 picture frame with a photograph of recent hires when the foundation was rapidly expanding from an influx of donations. The frame was given to Lynne when she retired from the foundation to work as a special education teacher. The back of the frame was filled with farewells and signatures of her fellow workers.

Candy asked how to contact Lynne for a video chat. Lynne’s phone messages show Candy called later that afternoon at 1:27, 1:28, 1:35 and 1:35. Lynne  missed each of those calls. Candy’s persistent. She called the next day at 3:06 pm and missed  her, and finally connected at 4:02 pm for a 23 minute and 50 second phone call.

Candy sent me this email, which is how I discovered she’d dedicated herself to connect with Lynne while she still remembers:

“I talked to Lynne via video chat today.  It was so great.  She remembered me well and was really present and we reminisced about old times. I’ll call her once a week and told her she can call me at any time.

Once they open on the CV19 restrictions, I’ll do walks with her and go visit.

Thank you, thank you for this re-connection.  In gratitude, Candy.”

As Lynne’s dad, I’m unable to resurrect those intimate stories that still exist in the great majority of Lynne’s long term memory. I’m thrilled she can share good times in normal conversations with friends. I thanked Candy for her persistence I replied, “That’s as good as it gets for me right now. Thanks for letting me know.”

I asked it I could share this and she said, “Happy for you to do so.”

A Normal Video Chat in an Oasis

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Fun Activities

A caregiver and Lynne called Sunday night for no reason other than to video chat. No tears, no fears. Almost normal. 

I told her I had a scan scheduled for Tuesday and had to avoid chocolates for 24 hours beforehand, so I was going to have chocolate cake for breakfast. She laughed.

I asked if she was eating lunch in her bedroom or with other residents. She didn’t know. “I haven’t paid attention to that. They have places on the floor and the tables, so we’ll be safe.” 

She had the new book in her hands from her sister Pam. She took the flyleaf off and scanned it and scanned the book, hesitating as she read each word in the title. “I’m excited about it.

Ok, remember when you get a new book you have to return one for me. Return Bear Town because I hadn’t read it yet.”

The caregiver was still there so he looked for it in her shelves. She said, “No, it’s not there,”

She tugged back her blanket and sheet to rummaged through them until she found a couple of books and found it. She gave it to the caregiver to leave with the concierge.

We chatted for 18 minutes. I updated her on Pam suffering in wildfire smoke, her niece liking her visit to Lynne’s alma mater Oregon, and on an on. She responded with understanding to each one.  When I paused wondering what to say, she said, “Well, I should go.”

We told each other we loved each other.

Those oases of normalcy are normal with Alzheimer’s. They are abnormally wonderful to experience and share. And I believe her cognitive clarity was also helped by the major reduction in COVID inactive isolation.  She’s escorted outside daily, exercising regularly, walking her floor, helping fellow residents, getting video chats.

Whatever, we persist and give thanks for each oasis.      

Lynne Takes One for the Team

James S Russell2 Comments

Fun Activities

Lynne Freed to Exercise with Weights

Lynne summoned the courage to suffer one for the team to contain the COVID virus.

Thursday she dressed up to return to exercising in the Aegis gym with weights. She’s walked city streets every day, as much as twice a day from what I hear. Her high-tech friends have called me with reports from their chats, such as Lynne misses her sister. Her boys dropped in for video chats on their Facebook portals since they now have their own Portals. Connections are not without glitches because staff leave before making sure Lynne is set up in a chair in front of the Portal with a lamp on so we can see her face. We’ll improve on that.

Saturday Lynne and a caregiver connected with me. She said, “I’m not sure I can take this.”

“Of course, it’s hard. But remember you don’t have to stay in your room now. You can walk your floor. You can go outside to the patio.”

“Can I go down to the concierge?  Some of these people …” 

“No, because your floor still has a COVID lockdown from the rest of the facility.  Aegis is protecting the other residents from infections from your residents and protecting the very frail people on your floor. You’ve got to protect other people.  You’ve got to take one for the team right now.”

She took a deep breath. “OK, I can do that.”

“Let’s call your sister. She’s having a tough time with hazardous smoke from wildfires that kicked up an asthma attack.”

We added Pam to the call. I said I had to go and let my daughters chat.  

Recovery Plan for Bad Days

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Fun activities,

This could become a regular lavender ritual

I’d dropped in on Lynne three times yesterday on her echo dot and she thought she’d done something wrong because she couldn’t go downstairs to see the concierge. Frustrated, I emailed her assistant director, Wanda (not her real name), to please see if one her people could cheer her up. I gave her some ideas: TV with her favorites on Amazon Prime and Netflix, a foot bath, calling me for a video chat, searching for her daily bag of trail mix attached to a photo of her sons and nieces eating ice cream. I thought she’d remember that photo.

Wanda delivered, and I thanked her for a nice video chat with Lynne last night. She called with help from a caregiver. Lynne sat with feet in the tub basin filled with lavender Epsom’s salts and a big grin on her face. They were laughing. Lynne said it felt decadent. She lifted up her foot in front of the Facebook Portal to show a wet, ruddy, healthy foot. We chatted until she stood up and wandered toward her door to ask for help getting ready for bed. We had a good night.

Wanda responded. “That was me. I had come in and out a couple times. I’m so glad it set your mind at ease. The lavender is a huge hit, this is a great night time ritual for her. We put the crickets ( her favorite) on the sound machine before I tucked her in, she seemed very happy indeed. I will make sure care staff know to make this a part of her nightly routine!”

I appreciated Wanda testing the idea and planning a regular routine. I asked if a caregiver could talk into her echo dot, “ Alexa, Drop in on Dad.” We could talk through the echoes because Lynne fiddles with the Portal during video chats: turns it off, turns sound off, and moves away from the camera. Maybe we’ll get video chats to work better again.

In the meantime I’m grateful we have staff who can give us new routines that make for healthy self-indulgence.

COVID-19 Precautions Make Life Harder

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Echo dot the only ink Wednesday

Aegis living reported COVID-19 invaded Lynne’ secure memory care floor. They are “managing four cases of Covid-19. Three of the residents are completely asymptomatic. One is showing mild symptoms and is recovering nicely. We have placed the four residents who tested positive under full droplet precaution,” [which requires the residents isolate in a room and everyone in the room wears a mask and PPE].
“Dedicated staff care for only those four residents. All caregivers who work in that comfort care unit only work in that unit.” Three caregivers were also infected and are quarantined at home.

I believe this partially explains her anxiety and inability to handle the video chats we tried yesterday. I dropped in on Lynne on her Echo dot which doesn’t allow me to see her.
Her first words were, “Dad, I’m not in my room. I’m supposed to be in my room.” I assured she was and phoned her Facebook Portal. It rang and rang.
“Answer it honey.”
“I’m afraid to touch it.”
“You can’t hurt it. Go ahead.”
“I guess I’m not doing it right.”
“Keep trying.” It didn’t connect. We talked briefly. Her flip flops are comfortable. They’re fancy. Pause …
“I’m afraid I’m going to be in trouble. I have to go.” She walked away.
My frustration skyrocketed. Why can’t she press the face of the Portal? She has before. It’s infuriating to be unable to visualize what she doing and give basic help like using her finger to touch the Portal.
Then I remembererd she was anxious, believing she wasn’t in her room and had to get back to it. She can’t be losing all her mental capabilities this rapidly. Or is she? I get torn by two impulses: the shorter her end stage, the better – get her suffering over; and, we must make her better now, somehow. It feels like it’s getting harder daily. Nothing works for very long. And nothing works when I can’t understand what is happening, when I can’t sit beside her.
After a while I dropped in again. She was there and seemed more cheerful.
I asked if she wanted a video chat. She paused.
“No, I better not. I got too anxious.”

Leslie and Lynne’s Music Lists

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Lynne dancing to Footloose on the Alexa playlist she and Dad created over a Facebook Portal video chat.

A caregiver in Lynne’s memory care at Aegis was infected with COVID-19, halting face-to-face conversations through plexi-glass in their “Outdoor Living Room.” We are restricted to video chats, again.
Friends from high school to today have remembered she loves music and gets energized to dance. In 2017 co-workers from the self-labeled Microsoft Talent Posse remembered an outdoor Lyle Lovett concert, so they checked his schedule. He was coming in a few weeks and they went as a group. Leslie, from high school, said girl friends revved up pop hits to dance on the furniture and shout the lyrics. She saved her playlist and promised to send it to Lynne.
At our last outdoor chat, I read titles from Leslie’s interview to Lynne. She giggled at that memory. I noted ones that made her smile, or say, “Oh, yeah.” Footloose was her favorite. I created a playlist of popular rock songs from her teenage years through college.
I couldn’t play songs with her on my phone after the lockdown. It’s hard for me to make her laugh by being a funny comedian or an energizing caregiver like hero Dad’s are supposed to be. It’s a long, lonely feeling of failure when everything I say is met with a slack face and respectful silence, or statements like, “I’d better get back.” Besides, I like music too.
Alexa had to help me. Could I use my Alexa echo to create a playlist on Lynne’s echo dot? I didn’t find any way. Lynne would have to give Alexa the commands. They’re easy commands, but I doubted she could repeat them accurately. I rehearsed how to coach her and waited for her call – my calls rarely find her in her room – she busy socializing somewhere.
She called last night and leaned forward so I saw the top of her head. I fumbled through my rehearsed lines but finally got it. I said, “Tell Alexa to create a Lynne music playlist.” Lynne frowned while Alexa next to her said she’d create a playlist. I whispered to Lynne, “Say Alexa, play Night Fever.” She couldn’t remember all the words. I said it louder. Alexa played it. Lynne sat up and tilted her head, puzzled by the sudden music. I said, “Alexa add this song to Lynne Music playlist. Alexa obeyed.
Next I played Staying Alive. Lynne began singing lyrics with a smile. We added it to her playlist.
Lynne chuckled, “We’re going to get in trouble.”
I said, “I’ll bet you won’t be able to sit still at the next one, Alexa, play Footloose.” Lynne stood up and danced. I took a picture.
We played a few others. She told me I always make her laugh, and she loved me, and we’re going to get in trouble. Finally she decided it was time to return to her people and slowly walked out of her room.
I said, “Alexa, turn off.”
We had fun. But I went to sleep wondering if there was some way I could do more to fire her imagination. I miss listening to her talk and laugh. I miss her energy. She’s slipping away.

Luckily Dancing with Lynne and Lyle Lovett

James S Russell1 Comment

Fun Activities

Lynne and Dad dancing to Lyle Lovett on her Alexa echo.

Lynne and her assistant care director, Brenda, called for a video chat last night, as Lynne does when it gets to be much. Luckily for me, they called me. I needed to be cheered up too. Inspired by interviews with her friends who remember singing and dancing with her at outdoor concerts, I suggested we add music. I told her to say, Alexa play Lyle Lovett. Her Alexa echo and my Alexa show played Lovett. She sang the lyrics and we rose out of our chairs to dance through our video chat. And we laughed.

We listed some artists we could enjoy next time. And then wham, I remembered the most cherished Father’s Day gift Lynne gave me, a concert at The Gorge with Crosby, Stills and Nash. Their finale was Teach Your Children Well, one of my all-time favorite songs I’d been hoping to hear. We stood in the sunset with the packed crowd roaring the lyrics as tears flowed out of my eyes.

We’d like your help. My youngest daughter and I listed some artists we think are her favorites, but we don’t know everyone she’d like on the list, particularly starting in the ’80s to the present. Help us please: name favorite artists and concerts she loves to sing and dance with. We are posting the list below by her Alexa echo so caregivers fill her apartment with music. We all should sing and dance once in while, especially in lockdown.  

LYLE LOVETT  CROSBY, STILLS & NASHCAT STEVENSEMMEY LOU HARRIS
MARY CHAPIN CARPERNTERWAILIN’ JENNYSDOLLY PARDONELTON JOHN
GEORGE MICHAELMADONNAMICHAEL JACKSONU2
ABBATHE BEATLESROLLING STONESTHE EAGLES  
SIMON AND GARFUNKELCARPENTERSALLISON KRAUSEOLIVIA NEWTON JOHN
LORETTA LYNNGARTH BROOKSTHE JUDDSCARTER FAMILY
THE CHICKS