10/22...from another point of view

I spent the ENTIRE day across the bridge, and Nicky went to see him today.

I'm posting her report without asking her...sorry Nicky!

Well, I just got home from my nice visit with Richard. He cried a little when I told him about poor Rain having to be put down. :[ He completely understood everything that I was telling him. He is definitely in there, but when he talks, his speech is somewhat garbled and he told me that he is having trouble getting the words out of his head (aphasia). He is also aware that he is having trouble with volume modulation. I had to tell him to speak up and I am not hard of hearing. I was amused by his Albert Einstein hairdo. He asked for a mirror to see what I was talking about and he also seemed amused. He is a bit thinner and more frail then the last time I saw him. I emphasized about fifty times that he has to make an effort to get better and get the hell out of that place. I truly believe that his swallowing issues etc. could be helped with general body exercise. The stronger his body, the stronger his mind and ability to get other things moving. If I had unlimited funds, I would hire a full time personal trainer/physical therapist/life coach. Of course, the Parkinson's is having an impact along with the stroke, but he has to fight a lot harder to get a lot better. He mentioned that he was going to the VA tomorrow to the Parkinson's clinic. It wasn't until I left that I realized that tomorrow is Sunday, so either he's going another day or he thinks he is. He said that he is only taking Parkinson's meds, but he also told me that he asks the nurse for sleep meds, which I hope they are only giving him at night. He was asleep when I got there. The double vision thing is just so awful..for him not to be able to read has to be utterly maddening. He also mentioned that he is not aware of what is happening in the world, so I told him about Ghadafi and the troops coming home from Iraq, and how Obama is now a right-winged hawk because he took out Mubarak, Bin Laden, and Ghadafi. We laughed a little about that, so I know he's really in there, just trapped by his poor little body and quite probably his own inertia.