hey - any molars in there?

I still haven't gotten the results of my dad's ultrasound yet, but his swelling seems to be going down. Or am I just getting used to it? He's very tired. We just finished eating and his eyes were drooping. He's still up, but I bet it won't be for too long. But, you never know. He may get a second wind. He did a real good job while getting the ultrasound. We were there for almost 2 hours and he was great about it. The technician asked him how he became so patient (which is pretty funny saying this about my "other" dad - "patient? ha!). Anyway, he pointed to me and said, "ask Harriet" (his wife), "no, ask Helen" (my mom), then it was "ask her!" So I guess I am not always who I think I am.

Going back to the fact that we just finished eating...it does take my dad a long time to eat. A 30-45 minute dinner time is pretty typical. Tonight we had chicken, noodles, and broccoli. I was done way before he was, so I started watching. For each piece of chicken, there were at least 30 chews, and once it was 51. And he always picked up one noodle at a time, 15-25 chews a piece. No wonder it takes so long. I got to thinking, it's been a long time since I looked in my dad's mouth (if ever). I wonder if he doesn't have any molars left?

Aricept's side effects are coming into play. Diarrhea. yuck. But it does seem to be tapering off, which is a good thing. The other day, I ordered some reusable washable/dryable barrier pads, typically used in beds. They are a good size, 34"x36". I put one on a chair that my dad sits in (although a little late for this). And I have 2 more to place. We'll see how they work, and get more if they do. It's always something.

The Aricept seems to be getting my dad back to himself, or the self of today. There haven't been any extreme thoughts or behaviors in about 5 days. Yeah!