14 August 2025
Jose had recommended that Joyce shampoo and condition her hair every week when she got it cut at the salon two weeks ago. He said some nursing home bring their charges to the salon just for that. And I was tempted.
Because that seems beyond the capability of the Golden Heights staff. The shower room has showers and a sink but no sink with a hand shower for washing hair.
So on Tuesday I brought her a bottle of condition that does not have to be washed out that I found in our bathroom cabinet. That would make it about 25 years old. So on Monday I tested it on myself.
You shake the bottle vigorously and apply a little bit to your palm, rub it across both hands and apply it to your hair, getting down to the roots and combing it through with your fingers until it disappears.
And magically, your hair is conditioned and easily styled. I looked great so I brought it to Joyce.
She didn't like the feel of it initially. But it does disappear and her hair sprung back to life. The cut had held up very well all that time but she does sleep on a pillow and this rubbed some life back in her hairstyle.
By the end of the visit, she liked it.
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I TOOK JOYCE to her monthly debridement on Wednesday with Jennifer the RN. Joyce managed to walk with me from the car to the garage elevator, across the lobby to the main elevator, back across the second floor to the Surgery Dept. and into the exam room. She was afraid of falling but that's just something she carries around with her lately.
Jennifer was impressed by the condition of the wound. I'd sent her a photo of it a few days earlier and the said it looked better than the photo. In fact, the redness of the surrounded skin was much diminished. And there wasn't much yellow slough in the wound to debride as a layer of skin starts to form.
The one problem area at the top of the wound seems to be filling in too.
So at the end of the session, Jennifer thought we might do one more month of the Santyl with Vashe-soaked Kerlix gauze before moving on to a silver alginate dressing. That kind of dressing doesn't need to be changed daily and is not wet.
She added that she hadn't thought she'd ever see this much improvement. I suggested it must be the Boost because Joyce really isn't eating any food.
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I GOT A CALL in the evening from Golden Heights but I don't keep the phone nearby so I missed it. When I got to it, I didn't see a voice message, so I put the phone back on the charger and went to sleep.
But today I saw a message and asked at the front desk about it.
I was to make an appointment with Kaiser's geriatric psyche department for Joyce. Saroya from the Memory Clinic had put in the order after Joyce agree to a consultation.
Raquel the RN made a note of the phone number for me and I put it in my Contacts database because, you know, I have a feeling I will be needing it more than once. When I got home I pulled up my calendar and called them (they close for lunch until 1:30 every day).
It was no simple thing to arrange an appointment. An evisit was available earlier than an in-person visit, which I would have preferred. I did get to specify a female over a male, which I thought she would develop a better rapport with sooner.
I do expect her to decline to go and try to cancel because that's just how she rolls these days. And I should have told them that (there you go, a reason to call them back already).
I did tell her at lunch today that I would make the appointment so she could discuss with someone her fear of falling when she walks. That made sense to her.
Of course if I cross my fingers I won't be able to call them to warn about a cancellation. But as geriatric specialists, shouldn't they be expecting that?