Friday, Feb 25

I took Cowboy to a show on Wednesday night.  It was kind of a vaudeville show and he really enjoyed himself.  I believe this type of activity is good for him even if some of the material I have been given suggests otherwise.  It went well.

I made a big mistake.  I scheduled an appointment yesterday morning for 7AM to have the dog groomed.  My plan was to drop her off and take Cowboy for a haircut.  The barber shop nearby opens at 7 and then we could pick up the dog and take her home and make his 9:30 speech therapy appointment.  It would have worked back in the day when he moved at a normal clip.  I had to really dog him to get ready and get our of the house in time to get there.  But we did.  He got right in and after he had his badly needed haircut I took him to IHOP for breakfast. (I am doing everything I can to get him to eat more.  He is losing weight.)

Yesterday was his last speech therapy appointment.  The feeling is that he is better but no more progress is likely due to his memory problems.   I will continue to work with  him at home.

Today we got to sleep a bit longer and then I made him eggs and sausage for breakfast.  Still working on the weight thing.  As of this morning he is down 18 pounds.  Cowboy was slender to begin with so it troubles me.

Our physical therapy session went well and I am told he is making progress. Starting next week he will go to therapy once weekly and I am to take him to the gym once weekly plus as many walks as we can manage.  This activity is important.  Hope he will cooperate.  Sometimes I ask him to go walk with me and he generally turns me down.

Talked to our handyman today and he is going to look into what we can do to install hand rails around the toilet and what would be involved in installing a taller toilet in the second bathroom. plus rails there as well.  Definately need the rails in our master bath.

I have been reading a lot about the best way to handle some things and one thing that is repeated often is the need to keep the environment calm and have a routine.    It isn't easy because we have different kinds of appointments and such most days.  Cowboy seems to be dealing with things pretty well so am not overly concerned at this point.