Praise the Lord! Rick has been approved by the Veteran's Administration for financial assistance of up to 5 days a week at the Senior Center. This is $44 per day and we were sending him 3 days a week. Now he can go 5 days, if needed. This is a real blessing!
We have been working on getting VA approval for about 6 months now. After his seizure in Dec, we put it into high gear. When they received the mini mental status exam report from his hospital stay, they were able to approve him for medical assistance. We went for his physical and they have approved the majority of his medicines at $7 a month copay per prescription. This is a blessing too. He can get all of his medical care done at the VA at $15 copay per visit or we can continue to see the doctors he has been seeing using his Medicare and my insurance.
His insurance benefits have improved since the first of March. He became eligible for Medicare. This in addition to my insurance coverage should cover all the costs of his doctor visits now. This is a blessing too.
The PA who examined Rick at the VA Outpatient Clinic, felt his prostate was slightly larger on one side than the other. So he recommended an evaluation by the urologist. We have an appt next month to to go Salisbury, NC where the VA Medical Center is, to see the urologist. I am excited about the care he is getting through the VA.
Lately, Rick has had a few spells of pain or an uncomfortable feeling in his chest. This has come and gone in a matter of about 15 minutes. I'm not sure what to make of it. One time it happened when I had the BP cuff available and his BP was elevated and his pulse was rapid. This concerns me a little. The VA did not do an EKG on him at his physical. I wish they had. I may make an appointment to be seen by our family doctor.
I am glad to have the Senior Center available to Rick for 5 days a week but I would like him to be able to be involved in other things. He loves to be with the church people. I have written a letter to all the men in the church, explaining this and asking if they could take him with them for a day. Tuesdays and Thursdays are the days that he doesn't go to the center. These days would be good if someone could take him out for the day.
I was very excited when the Sunday after the letter went out, Robert came to me and said, "That is something I can do." He took Rick with him inspecting houses. Rick really enjoyed it. Then Pastor Byerly took him one Tuesday to the monthly Sectional Ministers Prayer Meeting. This kept Rick talking about it for several days after. So Pastor Byerly said he would take him every month. I had a couple of other men call and ask but Rick was already spoken for the day they wanted him. So hopefully it will work out for another time.
Yesterday, Rick was home all day. He worked on his puzzle. He has put these puzzles together several times now. They are a little challenging for him but he keeps working on them. Anyway, I picked up Mara from school and kept her for the afternoon. It was like having two children. The first thing that happened was Rick told Mara that the coffee table was his. She came crying to me saying, "Papa won't share his table with me." It wasn't until later that I figured out what he was trying to tell her. He probably meant to say that the puzzle was his. I have tried to keep the puzzle for just him. It is too easy for us and too hard for the grandchildren.
Anyway, that seemed to set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. Every time I turned around Mara was saying that Papa was doing something to her. He kept her puzzle pieces and wouldn't give them back to her. Etc. I finally suggested that Mara go into the bedroom and watch a movie. That seemed to work. After a while she got him to read to her and that worked out great.
I believe that Rick's difficulty with saying what he wants to say has caused this difficulty. I know he felt frustrated because I tended to take Mara's side. This is a difficult situation. My problem is that I don't figure out what is going on until after the fact. Then it is too late.
Howard and Bonnie Spink were here to visit this past weekend. We had such a good time.
Mara spent the night Friday night and she entertained us through Saturday morning. She did puppet shows for us. That was very cute.
While Howard and I were working on some paperwork, Bonnie played the piano and Rick sang. They really enjoyed that. It was good to hear it too.
Saturday night Nathan and Erin were here for dinner and spent the evening with us. We did some more singing. It was just a very nice evening. It was nice that the young people wanted to spend this time with us old foggies. :o)
After church on Sunday, we enjoyed having everyone over for a nice family meal. Cade and Mara were the only ones who didn't make it. Howard and Bonnie left then to continue with their trip to Florida to visit other friends.
We wish to thank everyone for your prayers and friendship and all you do to help us out. We are so blessed with all our family and friends. God bless each one of you.
