Al had another swallowing assessment by Emma early Friday afternoon. Al excelled two levels by passing puree and cruised directly to minced. I was thrilled and he was pleased. The orange note above his bed was changed to reflect his new diet. All meds crushed by mouth also. His first meal Friday night was anticipated. Al was quite excited to tie into some real food. It was a turkey dinner……minced form, which was barely tolerated with a screwed up face. Dessert was a vanilla pudding. Al fed himself but was not keen on the over minced green beans. All in all he was not thrilled with his new diet but he tried his best tolerance. it’s a start.

Saturday he had his first shower. Our PCA Dave muscled him into a shower chair and we showered him, I helped by holding the nozzle and I was hyper vigilant about Al falling forward out of the chair. Turned out I was so uptight about Al’s safety Dave suggested I not watch. I decided it best he do his job without my help and left the two of them alone to shower away. I returned in time to wipe Al down and polish him off. I then left Dave alone to muscle Al back into bed. When an HRT chair became available (there are only 6 for the floor) we snagged it so after lunch Tonia and I could take Al out for a walk along the water front. Al seems to be having confusion between reality and hallucination? at times. He was confused about his foot wear and was challenging Tonia and I on his brown slipper foot wear. He has blue slip on pseudo sandals, but he wanted his brown slippers. Al does not own brown slippers. It was quite comical really and he was flustered, as were we. Some giggling ensued between us but in the end he let us take him out with the blue slip ons on his feet. We strolled along the water front and he watched boats, kite boarding and generally enjoyed some sun and wind on his face. When he tired we took him back in and he was ready for a nap. After a short nap his 2nd supper in two nights arrived. It was a beef stew type thing, minced. He downed it pretty quickly and did not want the potatoes or green that was minced. He did eat his rice pudding though. This seemed exhausting for him. His nurse had given him some pain medication just before supper and it seemed to be kicking in and he was sleepy. Tonia and I left him to come home for our supper and it was Tonia’s intent to go back for the evening. I stayed behind to have a wee break. All in all it was a good day. First shower and Al is staying up longer and longer and interacting more as his energy allows. He is confused at times and has some difficulty in word finding, but I know these things get better with time. Tomorrow is another day.