Trouble dressing?

4:31 Today's project was to take Steve to see his new primary doctor for the first time. We've been with our friend and doctor, Richard Guzman, for close to 20 years, but since Steve now has Medicare as his insurance, our HMO had to find us a new doctor on their plan's list.

The Riverside Medical Clinic at Day Street on the border of Riverside and Moreno Valley is an exceptionally nice building and handles thousands of patients, I'm sure. Despite the enormity of the facility, we found our doctor's office with ease. Our wait wasn't too long, despite the fact that the doctor's receptionist had no record of the appointment that I'd made with them on May 26th, directly after our CareMore HMO had found an RMC doctor still taking new patients! Good thing I called ahead to check on the directions...

As I filled out the several pages of paperwork for my husband, the usual family history and Steve's own condition, I was struck by the strength of Alzheimer's in his family: both father and brother died from it. His dad died at 69 and his brother, just last year, at 58. For the Kruckenbergs, Psalm 90:12 takes on special meaning:

So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

I arrived at one question I would normally have blithely checked "no" to and moved on, but I had to give it thought and answer honestly: "Do you (the patient) have trouble dressing?" Thinking of the mismatched buttons, the wild struggle putting on "wife beater" undershirts for open collar or dressier wear, and dressing inappropriately for the occasion, even seeing the ragged edge of a white t-shirt showing at the neck of his golf shirt at that moment, I had to mark "yes."

Yesterday I almost deleted an article from Caring.com (a site that has live chat for Alzheimer's/dementia caregivers) called "Steps and Stages: Knowing What to Expect from Your Loved One at Each Stage." The topic was 4 tips for helping the sufferer dress appropriately. Laying out clothes in the order they are put on; ordering the clothes in his closet; t-shirts together and pants together; or full outfits together.

After an unsettling early afternoon incident, I did finally read the article. Here's what happened: We came home from the doctor, I fixed Steve's lunch, and then ran to the bank and to pick up some items at the grocery store. I had reminded Steve all morning and just before I left, that we'd be going to the Suit Exchange for him to try on a suit to rent for Heidi's wedding after lunch. When I returned, he was out at the front gate, dressed in his dogwalking clothes, with the dogs, about to take off! Oh, was I aggravated. I actually left my purse on the front porch while I put refrigerator items away and returned. I had just told him to walk the dogs part way, and then come in and clean up. What was happening instead? He had unleashed the dogs. I reiterated, "They are expecting to walk, they'll be yelping all afternoon, so just take them." I went in to make my salad, ate it, and then drove the route, caught up to them, and reminded him to turn the girls around for home. Assuming he'd remember to cut the walk short would have caused a greater delay.

Steve freshened up, and then was about to put the funky clothes back on, instead of his nice ones I'd laid out, when I went upstairs to check on him. After some difficulty, he was dressed nicely, and made good time to the Suit Exchange. Things went fairly well, although following the clerk's instructions to try on a jacket over his clothes kind of threw him.

At the opposite side of the Galleria's upper level, and the opposite end of the dress-up/dress-down fashion spectrum, I walked Steve over to Cathy Jean's a high-style shoe store for some spike heels to wear with my fuschia M.O.B. dress. The above-pictured ones will reflect the color of the dress, and work well for my Mary Kay meetings, too.

The Lord allows each day to be a new adventure, with elements both good or bad, easy or inconvenient, depressing or exhilarating. What every believer needs to remember is that no matter what happens or who does it, Lamentations 3:22-24 says,

Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not.

They are new every morning,

Great is Your faithfulness.

"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,

"Therefore I hope in Him."