Joyce's KP Adventure mikepasini.com headlines
Steak Salad Lunch
16 October 2025
Yesterday Joyce came home for lunch again. Wednesday nights were filet mignon dinners here, with two small filets from Trader Joe's. I still buy them and cook them both in an iron skillet, saving one for a steak salad dinner. But yesterday, I made lunch with it.
Leaving Joyce in the dining room while I prepared the salad was a new wrinkle. But it went well. I was able to prepare the salad without having to attend to her sitting in her chair.
But getting her to the chair was traumatic.
She got out of the car and walked to the stairs without a problem, although walking terrifies her now. And she made it to the top of the stairs holding the handrail with the her left hand and using the trekking pole in her right.
I asked if she wanted to use both hands on the handrail, as she does with the RNAs on the stair platform at Golden Heights, but she didn't. She made it up fine.
But getting over the threshold was the problem again.
She panicked and started falling backward, her legs collapsing. I had moved from her right side to in front of her, working my way to her left side to help her in the house but hadn't gotten there when she started leaning back.
So I was able to lay her down on the floor when her legs buckled.
I got a chair, sat her up and then lifted her onto the chair after getting her feet in the door. I did think of calling 911 but I was able to manage as I had once before.
The handrail on the stairs ends at the top of the stairs. There is nothing to grab onto to cross the threshold. Which is why I was moving to her other side.
But the problem illustrates how much difficulty she has walking.
When I take her to the bathroom in the morning, she uses a walker. When she walks around the hallways, she brings the trekking pole but doesn't lean on it. Getting over the threshold with just the trekking pole doesn't happen before she panics.
I did think of trying the walker, but it isn't really a solution for getting over the one step of the threshold.
Once again, it's a battle with dementia, not physical limitations.