July 5th to July 31
With the news that Dad was now being taken care of by Hospice, it became time for Cindy and I to live up to our word and head down to Arizona to take care of Dad. We finished out our work commitment for the week and then it was time to hitch up and head out. Both Ed and Beth told us to come back and finish out the summer if we wanted to. To be honest, I thought we could very likely be taking care of Dad for a couple of years. Time was to prove me as very incorrect in this thought. Loaded and hooked up we stopped by Aaron‘s for an over night on the way down to break up the drive and swap some items out into the connex that we wouldn't be needing at Dad's place. Arriving down at Dad's place Laurie was there so until she took off a few days later we got a chance to visit with her and spend some time getting re-acqauinted.
Things actually moved rather rapidly with Dad's health going downhill. During the time spent at his place, we installed a new ac unit on the trailer, built a shade screen cover for the trailer with Larry‘s help. We discovered that the extreme desert summer temperatures are not something which either of us ever care to go through again if we have the choice. However with the new ac unit that
July 5: Today was Cindy and I‘s workday, so she worked on Office paperwork, and I started off the day cleaning the men’s bathroom as well as a sweeping and emptying of trash cans inside of the laundry room. Also did the plant watering with the watering tractor. Ed and myself put in concrete barriers as well as rock in an attempt to get folks to quit driving through the roadway, which is by the storage units.
This evening was the truck parade, which we walked down to the Ace Hardware and met Rick and Linda there. We enjoyed watching the parade and walking around and checking out the rigs and getting pictures.
July 6th: We pulled out early this morning from the Panguitch Henry’s Hitching Post and headed for Chino Valley. We stopped for fuel in page Arizona before continuing onto Chino Valley. We arrived at Aaron‘s place at around 2 PM. Set up the trailer, got the AC running and got our stuff out of the connex that we need to take down to Dad’s. Aaron was down at Alicia‘s for her gender reveal party for the new baby so we did not get to see them today.
July 7th: We pulled out around 6 o’clock this morning, which, unfortunately with the kids getting in so late last night we did not get to see them or little Bowen before we left. We fueled up at Maverick in Dewey and Grove on down to Dad‘s place. We arrived here at Dad‘s Around 9:30 a.m. and got the trailer set up. It was quite warm upon our arrival so the AC is going to be working quite hard to keep up.
Laurie is here taking care of dad as well as visiting with him, so we finally got to see her after almost 10 years. She seems to be doing quite well and it was good catching up with her. Missy also came down today with Rylie to visit with Dad. We all had lunch and visited and by this evening dad was extremely tired and so we all headed off to bed and called it a day.
July 8th: Larry and Patty came over this morning and we all had a chance to visit, as well as have lunch, etc. Good time visiting with everybody however as with all things time runs out and it becomes bedtime. Larry and Patty got headed home, Laurie got things packed up and ready to head out for tomorrow morning and we all went to bed.
July 9th: Larry got over here around 4 AM to take Laurie to the airport, we got over to the house around 3:30 AM and we visited with Laurie and Dad until Laurie had to head out. After Laurie left, we all went back to bed and got up and moving around 7:30 AM.
Dad was a bit tired out so he went back and took a rest around 10 AM and after he got up Cindy and I both got a shower. I ran down to the mailbox and collected the mail. The day is just quite warm so the AC in the trailer is obviously having a challenge trying to keep up.
Dad laid down about 2 PM to rest and I spent that time catching up this Journal. We will make lunch as soon as Dad gets up and see what the rest of the day holds.
July 10th: So the struggle for Dad continues. He gets up in the morning, congested and does breathing treatments, which in turn makes the heart have to work even harder. So it’s somewhat of a losing proposition for him as to what helps.
Larry and I were able to get the framework for the sunshade that we have on the west side of the trailer built. Overall, it seems to be helping with keeping that wall much cooler so that the refrigerator actually stands half of the chance. It does not seem to affect, what the inside temperature of the trailer becomes. Today we had a high of around 115 and the inside of the trailer was around 96. Hopefully if we can get things worked out with Tony, we can get the other air conditioner and that will help with this issue.
July 11th:
So dads medical aid lady showed up today and helped him to shower this morning. Deanne came around 9 AM and did the house cleaning for the day and the next two weeks.
Cindy made ham and beans for lunch along with cornbread and fried potatoes, which turned out absolutely wonderful. Just as we sat down to eat dad‘s AC man showed up to do his semi annual check up on the air conditioner, which he gave a clean bill of health.
Larry continued working on the drywall within the kitchen area after lunch.
This evening at clouded up, and by the time we went to bed actually rained. It was good to hear that, and though it will help settle some dust. I know it’s going to be extremely humid tomorrow.
Dad continues to struggle with being able to breathe. He laid down three different times during the day, and went off to bed around 830 or so p.m. Hopefully a good nights rest will help him to have a good day tomorrow.
July 12th:
I was up around 515 this morning and got my day started. It is quite humid as I was afraid that it would be after the little bit of rain last night. However, the rain last night did make it so the night was cooler and the temperatures actually dropped down to around 81° according to our thermometer. this morning, it is extremely smoky, not for sure where the fire is thats creating all the smoke that we are seeing today. Dad got up around seven this morning and due to the wheezing did a breathing treatment which seems to be helping. He is currently in the office paying bills. He is actually very funny on how he was insistent that I buy the new MacBook Pro laptop so that I could have fun making videos.
Due to the new laptop that we have purchased thank you very much Dad, I will have to determine or make a decision about which HTML editor to use on the Mac as my coffee cup editor that I’ve been using is not written for use on the Mac. Maybe I can install parallels on the Mac so that I can use the existing editor for the website.
Lippert case number: 5123936 for ac for the return of the unit we ordered
Larry called and let us know that he will stay away until Monday due to being exposed to coronavirus from Gene. Hopefully we can make some progress on the paint project at that time.
July 13:
With the heat level we currently have it’s quite difficult to get in walking or any other kind of exercise. Perhaps l can start getting up even earlier before sunrise so that I can get in my exercise.
Continued work on our website getting the index page up to speed with clickable links for navigation. Also added in new folders for other types of articles that I can write on the website.
Tony came through this morning with the shipping information for the ac unit that he is giving to us. We got him paid for the shipping and the ac unit should be here on Tuesday. If it makes it hopefully we can install it on Wednesday. Will need to shoot an unboxing video plus installation video. Will also need to shoot video footage that shows the decibel levels, power usage and cooling efficiency in comparison to our existing unit.
Got a shower in this morning and Cindy washed clothes today. We cooked steak for dinner with corn on the cob that Missy brought down. Took out ground beef for tomorrow’s lunch that we will create into meatloaf which dad seems to be excited to eat.
Trump was shot in the ear at a political rally in Pennsylvania. The shooter was killed and still waiting on more information regarding the shooting. One person in the stands was killed by the shooter and another injured.
July 14: Went for a walk this morning before it got too hot. Walked around the fields to the North of Dad’s house.
Cindy went grocery shopping this morning. I stayed here with dad, he spent most of the time in bed. He seems to be doing a lot of sleeping now. I got some proteins eaten for breakfast.
I worked on the website till it was time for lunch of pizza. Dad laid down after eating and was down till about 3pm. That made for about 2 hours of rest for him. I continued working on our website while he was resting.
We watched some of dad’s music shows on tv followed up by the Calgary Stampede coverage which was from Saturday.
We had a dust storm blow through which made it imperative to take the sunshade down due to the high winds. Cindy and I watched a portion of a movie after coming back to the trailer from dad’s after he went to bed.
July 15th: I didn’t go for a walk this morning because it appears that I have a problem with the heel of my foot on my right side.
Cooked up a meatloaf on the egg for lunch today, and it came out decent.
Larry and I did a little on the drywall in the dining area and then chatted till he and Patty had to head home.
Cindy took dad’s truck to Casa Grand to meet up with Micheal “not for sure why with the way she complains about him”, and went to Hobby Lobby or someplace like that and picked up the supplies that I need to change the oil on the truck. The diverter grill for the new ac delivered this afternoon so now we are just waiting on the delivery of the actual ac unit.
Dad continues to learn to deal with the heart failure and what it involves to get through the day.
July 16: I went over to Larry’s house and we changed the oil on the truck and visited for a bit before I came back to dad’s house. Larry and Patty came over before lunch time and after lunch which was leftovers Larry and I worked a little bit on the drywall in the dining room in preparation for painting. Dad is enjoying watching the RNC National Convention so that’s what we watched until he went to bed, after which Cindy and I went back to the trailer and watched a little bit of tv before going to bed.
July 17th: AC was delivered today in the early afternoon and I took a bit of time to unbox it and record video of it. Also I went through the installation book that came with the unit to familiarize myself with how to install it. Early start to the day as we are installing the ac unit on the trailer. Patty made lasagna for lunch today and we ate lunch after we had completed installing the ac on the trailer. We were wore out after lunch and the ac install so all of us stayed in the house under the ac and read, visited and watched tube plus helped dad as needed. We finished out the day watching the RNC Convention coverage before calling it a day and heading off to bed. Dad’s nurse Jill and social worker Rose came by today for dad’s weekly visit and did make some changes to his medication, which were delivered before evening. She got dad some liquid pain medication plus sent out more breath treatment medicine.
July 18th: Dad started today with his shower and the aid that helps him with that. Breakfast followed. Dad laid down to rest and Larry and I worked on the living room ceiling getting it ready to paint. Lunch of leftover lasagna and talking with dad till he laid down for afternoon rest. After he got up Larry and Patty headed home. I did some reading and Cindy worked on her ancestry account. Watched final night of the RNC Convention.
2024-26_New_AC_AddonInstallationToTrailer
1. For the installation I had CIndy and Patty record video for Tony while Larry and I did the installation.
2. Our first step was to remove the existing vent and cover plus remove all of the caulking that was on the roof to seal the vent.
3. Next step was to get the ac on the roof which we accomplished by Larry bringing it up the ladder onto the dining room slide and I helped him from the roof. Then we carried it over to the opening and made sure to set it over the opening so that the gasket on the bottom of the ac unit was fully over the roof opening.
4. Next we had to reroute the electrical connection to get the wire to come in by the built in jbox.
5. Next step was to install the underside distribution cover and torque the four bolts that clamp the unit to the roof to 40” pounds of tightness. Followed by hooking up the wiring then buttoning up the cover
6. Turned the power on and verified all things work. Now begins the process of testing and recording my observations for Tony to write up a review.
July 19th: Being Friday we watched a lot of dad’s music shows on RFDTV. While dad rested today, I went ahead and added some more mud to the hole in the drywall above his chair. Larry and Patty, we’re not here today, so we help dad with his medicines as well as his breathing treatments. Hopefully overtime things will improve for Dad, but things are not looking good in that direction. We had a windstorm kick up in the afternoon late evening, requiring us to take down the shade cloth. However, we did not get any rain out of this batch of wind.
July 20th: My right foot is giving me fits with plantar fasciitis, making it quite difficult to get any kind of steps in. During Dad‘s rest period today I was able to get more mud put in on the seams above his chair. I think one more coat should see us ready to texture that drywall area. We were able to watch more of Dad‘s music shows this afternoon on RFDTV. He wasn’t able to watch all of them due to the need to lay down and rest. The new AC that we have added to the bedroom area that we got from Tony, is doing a fantastic job. Even with high temperatures in the 110 to 112° level, we are seeing the bedroom stay at 73° during the day. Cindy and Dad enjoyed another one of the magnum ice cream bars this evening. I am glad that Cindy is able to join Dad when he wants to eat these.
July 21st: Dad had a rough night, getting up two different times to do breathing treatments as well as take pain medicine. And overall today he is definitely struggling with his eyesight, his dizziness and the pain level of the heart. Went up and checked the mail for him today and brought it back. He had a lot of junk mail, but two statements from the credit card company and the bank, which he has asked if I can help him to go through as he is able to. His capital one statement had four charges on it which he could not remember having made. So I called Larry and in discussing it with Larry we were able to discover that somebody had gotten a hold of his credit card number and was making rip off charges on it. Cyndy was able to help him get a hold of the credit card company and get that card closed and a new one being sent. it is absolutely disgusting. How many people out there are now doing this to other people just because they’re too goddamn lazy to go out and work. We grilled up steaks and vegetable pockets for lunch, which dad seem to enjoy. I think he is having a challenge with how big his appetite really is. So I’m not for sure that food is as enjoyable as it has been in the past for him. Watched TV until bedtime, at which time we came out to the house and went to bed as well.
July 22nd: Woke up early this morning and went into the house around 4:00 AM. I’m glad that I did that as Dad woke up at about 415 with extreme coughing. So I was able to help him get a breathing treatment as well as getting his pain medicines taken. He was actually kind of funny because he decided at that time of morning that we needed to sort the laundry out.I did get him to go back to bed and rest for a little bit longer until we need to get him up for his aid coming over to help him shower. Took this morning and got this log caught up. Got dad up at 6:50am. He was sleeping so well that I hated to wake him up. We were able to get him a cup of coffee before his aide arrived. Got dad to do his breathing treatments throughout the day as needed. We had tacos for lunch. Cindy went grocery shopping and while she was gone and dad was laying down I emptied the black and grey tanks, filled fresh water and put up the sunscreen. Checked in on the delivery of the new computer and found that due to the software glitch last week a different company is doing the delivery from out of the country and there is not a tracking number to follow it. They said it should be here tomorrow but if it doesn’t make it to call in Wednesday to check on it. Spent evening watching tube and attempting to stay awake. Dad’s congestion seems to be slowly getting worse day by day which sucks. I truly can say I am not doing well seeing the demise of him. Chatted with Larry and he is fine with us bringing our connex down to their place. Aaron claims that he and Haley are going to sell the place and move up to the Showlow area, making it necessary for us to move our connex.
July 23rd: My foot pain from plantar fasciitis is making it difficult to walk and get any steps in. Breakfast is done with just doing a shake of our yogurt and kefir. Guess I need to switch my eating window to 7am to 3pm in order to accommodate dad’s schedule that fluctuates based on how his day is going. Listened to books and podcasts today plus played electronic games in an attempt to stay occupied. Unfortunately the temps preclude a person from being outside for physical activity. Dad seems to have brain issues when taking the 12mg level of the pain medication. Not fun to watch as it bothers him a lot.
July 24th: Larry and Patty came today to see what Jill has to say regarding dad and his care. She wants us to keep at the 12mg of pain meds every 4hrs and maintain breathing machine on the same schedule. Dad’s neighbor Jason called and asked if we could go to his house and kill snakes by his front door as he is out of town. Larry and I went down and killed 1 rattlesnake and 2 other unknown breed of snake. Bizarre to see the 3 different breeds of snakes laying with another. Cindy made enchiladas for lunch and we all enjoyed them. Dad laid down after lunch and Larry and I wrapped up the drywall in the living room ceiling. Evening of wind dust and TV before going to bed.
July 25th: Started day off with coffee and listening to a podcast plus a chapter in a book. We followed that up with breakfast for dad and myself of eggs, sausage and English muffins. In between coffee and breakfast dad’s aid Loraina helped him with his shower. I was able to grab a shower after breakfast in our trailer. Deanne did the house cleaning for dad. Cindy and I put up our sunshade and the clothes drying rack and Cindy did the laundry throughout the day. We watched the US women play their first match of the olympics. The opening ceremony will be tomorrow which will then get the rest of the competitions underway.Received my new shoes and reading glasses this morning, and a text update from Apple that the new computer should be delivered today. If it does I can then get busy and finish up footage for Tony on the AC install and send it to him. Plus get busy on webpages for our website plus the videos that go with those webpages.Larry went up to Brent and Gaylene’s place to work on their house early this morning. We enjoyed time talking with dad when he was up and visiting among ourselves whenever he was laying down. Cindy and I headed off to be around 10pm after dad had gone to bed.
July 26th: I woke up around 4am to Cindy not being in bed or the trailer, so I put my shoes on and went into dad’s house to see what was going on that Cindy was not in bed. It turned out that dad had woke up around midnight or so and was scared to death when he was unable to breathe. Cindy and Patty had called Hospice and they sent out a nurse to help them and with an additional drug they were able to get dad calmed down and able to breathe. Everyone in the house was able to get some rest and were actually asleep when I got inside. The above activity started the round the clock care that eventually reached its climax with dads passing as written below. Larry and Gaylene got down here some time after lunchtime and Patty and Cindy were able to spell each other in taking care of dad letting Larry and I know when they need help and giving us instructions on how to help them. Without Cindy and Patty’s knowledge and abilities we would not have been able to give dad the excellent care that he received from Cindy and Patty. We as a family owe them a huge debt of gratitude for all that they did for dad through all of this.We grabbed lunch from Culver’s, shrimp basket for dad, which turned out to be the last meal he ever ate. So at least it was a favorite of his. To make dad comfortable we ended up applying the meds per instructions received from Hospice which by early Sunday morning had dad in a comatose state.
July 27th: The day was spent taking care of dad and visiting with family that showed up at the house. We had Deanna, Gene, Gabriel, Sammy, April, and Bear here. The grand daughters were able to get time with dad alone holding his hand and talking with him and most importantly saying their goodbyes.
July 28th: Today turned out to be another long day taking care of dad with having the addition of learning how to turn him in bed, plus move him to change out bedsheets and such.
July 29th: Larry came out and got us at about 12:05AM and we went into the house and said our final goodbyes to dad as he passed right at midnight. We called Hospice and let them know and his time of death was recorded as 12:10AM. Hospice contacted the mortuary for us and they sent out their van and put dads body on a gurney and draped it in a flag for his veteran status, and Cindy got a few pictures of it for posterity. After they left with dad’s body we called sat around chatting and dealing with the loss in our own ways. While waiting on the mortuary to get here we contacted kids and family to let them know of dad’s passing. Deanna, Gabriel and Gene came over and were here in time to see dad off on his final journey. We all went to bed around 4am in an attempt to get some rest.Upon getting up this morning we continued the phone calls to family and friends to make sure that everyone we could think of had been contacted regarding dad having passed. We spent the morning looking into dad’s things plus getting his room back into order, putting clean sheets and such on the bed and basically attempting to stay busy. Dad’s neighbor Paige brought sub sandwiches by for lunch and joined us to eat some before heading back home. After lunch everyone being whipped, we all took a break and some slept. I spent some of this time getting my journal caught up.
July 30th: These are tough days for all of us. Alan and Laurie are each spread out across the country and have no one close to talk with and help with the downer of dad being gone, so an attempt is being made to chat via phone as much as possible. Larry and myself plus Patty and Cindy are continuing to go through stuff in the house and attempting to keep our sanity intact. We do hope that as time goes on it will be easier to cope. The folks from Hospice came by and picked up the items from dad’s care that they can take back. We sat out this evening outside of the garage, visiting and taking a break from the house.
July 31st: My ankle flared up with what I am supposing is gout, hurting pretty bad and making it so that I asked Cindy to get out the crutches he’s so that I can get around. With our being so busy I have not been eating or hydrating properly, which I am fairly sure contributed to the flair up. Larry and Patty ran into the mortuary this afternoon and picked up dad’s ashes and brought them back to the house. Deanna made sliders for supper today, very tasty, plus extremely nice that she got some real food into all of us. We spent some of the day looking at the “stuff” that is in the house and Larry making suggestions on what items Larry thought different siblings would want for their memories of dad. Larry and Patty finally agreed to head home and take a break from the house this evening. They will need to come back over on Friday to meet with the realtor.
For more details about our adventures click on the links at the top of the page.