19 March 2025
It seems like since the new administration took office the phone has been ringing with one scam after another. A barrage, you might say. And a few of them are so brazen they leave voice mail encouraging me to call them back to authorize some purchase I didn't make, say.
So when Dr. Khanna from the Memory Clinic called the other day, I vaguely recognized the phone number as a Kaiser number (they are all the same 833-2200 numbers) and answered on the computer. But I've gotten into the habit of waiting for the caller to speak first.
So I had to apologize to her for not recognizing the phone number. Which she gracefully told me not to worry about. Apparently I'm not the only one suspicious of unidentified phone callers these days.
I updated her on Joyce with the current prescriptions of Memantine and Lexapro. There is less screaming and she has walked 240 feet now with less resistance to the idea but she's still refusing solid food so I've given her Boost at meals. And I brought her clothes to put on every day.
She applauded both the Boost and the clothing idea.
I added that even though Joyce is walking longer distances, she still reports that it frightens her. So Dr. Khanna said she would increase the Lexapro from 5mg to 10mg to see if that calms her a bit more. I promised to let her know when we reconvene on the phone in six weeks.
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AT GOLDEN HEIGHTS, I got Joyce up to dress and walked her into the hall to her wheelchair. She did fine with just her black belt on for security.
Wendy and Neil, the RNAs came down the hall at the same time, telling me they would walk her the next day. There would have been a staff meeting on the patients today and Loren the Social Worker would have asked about more sessions with the RNAs but I haven't heard anything yet.
We went to the gym where Joyce did a vigorous 15 minutes on the SciFit. She does sets of 50 steps, rests and continues.
Then it was lunch time. But the hallway was crowded with carts and bins and other things, so I took her to the Pacific Room and brought her tray to her. She had a couple of bites of the macaroni and cheese, the ice cream and that was it for solid food. But she had prune juice, milk and coffee. Plus a Boost.
Then we went back to the room for a while before I had to go. I laid out her book and reading glasses, put the photo of us that Amy took years ago on her table (which she keeps with her at night), unwound the call light to reach her, got the TV remote next to that and her phone within reach, too.
"I really do love you," she said.