It’s been a long time since I have updated on my dad so I thought I would do a little check-in.

Dad has been at Cherrywood in Richmond for about a year and a half. His health has been steady, with a few minor setbacks- thankful it’s been nothing major! He had a small bedsore on his arm, that has healed up nicely, and now has a terrible rash that is being treated with prednisone and followed up by his dermatologist. 

As you can imagine Covid has been an added stress and extremely anxiety provoking for us all. Visitors were shut down sometime in March with restrictions being lifted only recently. We are able to see him during visiting hours, of course with masks and after a long screening process. 

We have all taken advantage of this opportunity with my sister coming from Wisconsin and my brother flying in from Colorado. These visits have lifted my dads spirits and he now asks what he can do next! 

As far as my dads cognition goes, we can see this progressively getting worse. He has more and more confusion, often reminding us of his mom when she suffered from Alzheimer’s. He talks about being in Michigan, going to football games, and often thinks people are still around who aren’t, or even thinks of us kids as being little. But when I go to see him he definitely knows who I am, and I hang on to that dearly! Moments of clarity are also there, and that is nice to see. Hopefully as his memory difficulties and agitation/anxiety symptoms progress, we can find some medications to help him with those transitions. 

As always, thank you for your thoughts and prayers throughout these very difficult times.

Please feel free to send dad any cards, letters or Christmas greetings! He would love to hear from you.

David Bennetts

Always,

Courtney Van Vickle