Peggy's Communication

Hope everyone is having a nice Labor Day. Just a quick note for our private hire/"A" level caregivers. There is now a "Peggy Communication Log" form on a clipboard in Peggy's room. Please fill this sheet out every shift along with your regular shift checklist. This communication log will help us to get a good idea of Peggy's current level of communication.

I need to confirm for everyone that it is indeed getting increasingly difficult to communicate with Peggy. On most days it is strictly yes/no communication and very often determining whether Peggy is saying yes or no is unclear. There are some days that Peggy can spell out about a sentence or two of information over a period of hours or days. However, it seems that Peggy has also been having an increasing amount of confusion or confusion in relation to "hallucinations" as Peggy has referred to them.

Dr. Davis came for a bedside visit on Saturday to test Peggy's eyes and communication. He was able to get some yes/no responses from her. He told her that he will check on her again on Tuesday and then again on Thursday. He says that her ocular range of motion is significantly diminished from where it was even a couple of months ago.

The beautiful thing is that you are all experts in knowing Peggy and knowing her needs, likes/dislikes...you are all doing an amazing job of caring for her despite the difficulty with communication. I know that if Peggy could spell out to you Peg's Legs, she would say, "I love you all. You are all amazing. Thank you for everything. Kisses!" Know that she is saying this with her heart, if not her words.

As we have discussed, we will be bringing in support from Hospice Hawaii soon. We are bringing them on board to help support each of you as well as Peggy in this last leg of our journey. Clarence and a Hospice nurse will be here this Wednesday to do an initial visit with Peggy and meet with me and Eric. Please don't hesitate to talk with me about any questions you might have or if you have any specific ideas about how Hospice can best support you as caregivers.

Kelly is on shift here today. We have little Pepper (8 months), Indy, and Sawyer all here watching "Mary Poppins" with Peggy!

By the way, Kelly is now managing our ordering of all supplies. She has put up a dry erase board in the medicine room for supplies/ordering communication.