The Psychiatrist

I spoke with The Psychiatrist this morning.  He will go and see my mother on Thursday and confer with Sandy about the right medication for her.  Maybe she'll bite him. (sardonic smile)  I told him I was more than happy to pay him and he said that wasn't an issue, since I'd done so much for him during the years.

So my fingers are crossed that this will be the start of the right solution.

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Polly was a dog today.  After yesterday going to Petco to get a fresh new harness...

 

...which she isn't so sure about yet, this morning I gave her the crust of an English muffin.  It was larger than the crusts I usually give her and at first she took it to her bed, where she usually eats, but then took it outside and started walking all around the yard.  Finally she stopped at the end of the patio, under a bush, dug a hole and buried the crust.  I've never seen her bury anything!

A little later, a squirrel came to about 3 feet from the same spot and dug a hole and put some sort of a nut in it...then thought better of it and picked it back up again and ate it.

A couple of hours later, Polly went back and dug up the English muffin, brought it inside, then thought better of it and took it back outside.  We didn't see if she buried it again or not.  I guess I'll know if an English Muffin tree starts growing.

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Ned came by in the mid-morning.  They had talked earlier about either going to Atria to do more cleaning out, or going out to Elder Villa to visit my mother, but did neither.  He and Phil got involved in a long discussion, while Jeri was upstairs going through all of the things she still has here, trying to decide which she wants to keep and which she can get rid of (preparing for the day, sometime in the future, when Ned and Marta will move in here and need the space).

 

I just love photos like this.  One of the things I love about our family is how well our kids -- and their spouses -- get along.

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A bill for April came today from Atria.  I had to call the bookkeeper to let her know that we had given our 30 day notice and that my mother had vacated the building on March 2. She promised to cancel the bill.  But they recently informed me that her rent would be raised because she "needed more supervision."  We had been paying $7,122 a month (well she had been paying it -- thank GOD she saved enough to cover her current situation when she was still lucid!).  They added an additional $800 a month, bringing it to a grand total of $8,434.91.  

With all the "extra care" we were now supposed to pay for (in addition to the full time caregiver I was supposed to hire), I found that the quality of the care had deteriorated.  I was not surprised to hear that the director (the 3rd since my mother has been in memory care) is gone and they are searching for a new one.

Thank God we found Elder Villa, which is $5,300/month -- and they include things like foot care (for which we were paying an additional $40 a month, and I never did figure out what that covered since the podiatrist never even cut her toenails, which were very long). If she settles in enough, they will also cut her hair, which is quite long, but which she doesn't want touched.

This place is a godsend and if we can only get her emotional outbursts under control, it will be a wonderful place for her to live out her life. ....Otherwise she will end up in some mental hospital like her mother did 60 years ago.