You a Doctor now?

While yesterday was about (more) of my experiences with atrial fibrillation slash bracycardia and its sometimes worrisome side effects, today we make a filial pivot and talk about RG. RG, Roseville George, is my Dad. He is 85 with the same heart arrhythmia as I as well as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and onset of dementia. He has been using tobacco and alcohol consistently for 60 years. My research indicates that dementia will exaggerate dominate emotional characteristics, e.g. a happy camper will really like doing so without having to remember where the canon wadding is stored. RG has always been stubborn, belligerent and lose with facts. By his own admission he is a capitalist and a republican. He insists he is not a bigot or a racist although he loathed Obama and Clinton. My observations over the last six and a half decades indicate his is a misogynistic point of view.

But he is my Dad so I'll give him the benefit of choosing his own poison. When I visit his subsidized apartment every morning at 1000 the first chore is to mute Fox News. After that we have breakfast, usually eggs and toast, administer meds, wash the dishes and do a crossword puzzle. I try to get him to laugh, smile at the very least.

As he doesn't like being told what to do, it is always a challenge to out-smart him into doing what is in his best interests. The medications are a perfect example. Despite the colored flow chart listing type, appearance, dosage, with or without food, and time of day, he still is easily confused, repeating relentlessly that he has already taken his medications, even when I prove reality to be otherwise.

This morning he was sniffling and coughing so I added a vitamin C tab to his intake. This was after washing the kitchen floor, vacuuming and disposing of a gross toxic sanitary violation in the bedroom and bathroom. He seemed to enjoy the fried egg sandwich as I was cleaning.

We finish our chores and I sit across the tiny table and ask if he needs anything. He says the big pill is stuck in his throat. I grab a glass of water and give it to him.

What is this for.
To wash down that pill stuck in your throat.
I tried that, it didn't work.
Take a bigger sip.
I don't what to.
Why.
Because it doesn't work.
You didn't take enough.
Are you a doctor now.
No I am just trying to help.
I don't need any help.
That pill still stuck.
Yes.
Maybe water would help.