Thursday, January 18, 2007

Nursing Homes and Dignity: Mutually Exclusive

Newbluebaby's post on Judy the Chimp reminded me of a story about my grandfather in the nursing home.

Foxy was in his eighties and had suffered a stroke the year or two before he went into the clink. It was sad. Initially, he hadn't displayed any signs of senility and was obviously upset about having to live there, but he had some health problems that required 24-hour care and were too much for my grandmother who was also in frail health. It was a small equipped facility with a good reputation and right in town, but it wasn't home. When we'd visit, he'd always ask when we were gonna break him out.

One time in the middle of the night, the nurses were doing their rounds and Foxy wasn't in his bed. They found him in the kitchen, sitting in his wheelchair, arms upstretched and rummaging in the cabinets.

"I'm just lookin' around!" he announced.

Then they took the wheels off his chair.

3 comments:

newbluebaby said...

That's awful!

Sorry for bringing up the fun.. I mean bad memories.

anne altman said...

Once he got senile it got more fun!

Elizabeth said...

that is a great story!! both of them. judy the chimp--just wants some frozen raisin bread and to clean some toilets. leave the chimp alone, yo.