Introducing Lisa

Today we had the parents over for dinner as usual. I picked them up around 1:30 and everything was fine. Dad ate well today. Cleaned his plate up really good. After dinner Deb buzzed his head, including the ears. Gag. Mom had said before Deb started cutting that she didn't want it cut so close. So Deb tried cutting it a little longer, but dads hair is so fine and he has so many bald spots, it looked pretty bad. So he got a butch. He looks good with his head shaved I think. Took them home around 4 to meet the nurse at 5.
The nurse's name is Lisa Roberts. She is Deb's age and lives in Layton. We went to school with her at Layton High. Her husband is a truck driver, owner-operator and is gone for weeks at a time. She has three boys. The oldest is 23 and is married and lives with them. The other two are 17 and 14. She is a registered CNA, and has worked with Alz patients before. She is very friendly and outgoing. When she came in the door, she immediately put mom at ease. She asked what stage of Alz was dad at. She asked all the right things. Once she started talking about Alz and asking about dad, I could see mom becoming more comfortable. The one thing that Lisa said to mom that I really liked was that she is not there to "take over". She said that she was going to be there for mom too, and she would do whatever mom wanted her to do. We discussed the hours she would be there. She will be getting there between 8 and 8:30 each morning, Monday through Friday. She will stay until around 11 or so, or longer if needed. That way she can get dad ready for the day while mom is getting ready and maybe fixing breakfast. That may help them start eating breakfast earlier. It would also help mom if she needs to get dad ready for any appointment they may have. She would come back around 7pm and stay till 9 or 10 to help get dad settled and in bed if needed. Lisa has a very good understanding of sundowners in Alz patients. That time of night after the sun sets is difficult, and we have seen that with dad. Mom was really worried about how she would interact with a nurse. Lisa put her at ease by saying they can work that out. While she was there, Lisa talked with dad, telling him that she was going to come and hang out with him on Tuesday. Dad said that would be fine, with a grin of course. She will start Tuesday morning instead of tomorrow, because dad has a doctor appointment in the morning. It ended well. Lisa also told mom that she could call her anytime, anytime of the night as well. Mom write down Lisa's number, and I gave Lisa Celia's cell number and mine. She also has Debs. I talked with Lisa in the drive way after. She is really excited about this and is glad to help. She texted Deb later and told her the same thing. After she left, mom was feeling a lot better about the whole thing. She has a little trepidation about how it's all going to work, but she said she really liked Lisa. I think it will work out great.
This will be a good thing for both mom and dad. It should take some pressure off mom. I explained to Lisa that mom goes back and forth. Somedays she is good, and somedays are horrible for her. Mom is going through some guilt too, but that is normal for those who live with and take care of Alz patients. This may also help both of them transition and be more comfortable when we move dad into Chancellor. I told Lisa to Let us know on Tuesday how it goes. It will be interesting that's for sure, but I feel very good about this.