I think we have finally set up a schedule with only 2 different day caregivers and 2 at night. I think the ones we have are a mix of pretty good and great. I hope James continues to agree. His confusion sometimes leads him to suddenly dislike someone for part of the day. He didn’t want one of our favorites near him for a few hours today.

He was very anxious for much of the day today, even paranoid. We had a visit with the hospice social worker and the spiritual counselor (Buddhist!) who works with patients regardless of their religious beliefs or lack thereof. In the hospital, the counselors were very interesting people and James loved spending time with them. One of those was a Muslim cleric originally from Izmir. He had a Ph.D. and his thesis was on Thomas Aquinas and Rumi! The social worker meeting went pretty well, but James couldn’t stay awake for most of time with the counselor. Later in the day we had a call with his niece the doctor and I talked with the hospice doctor. We may try a new medication if he becomes very anxious and agitated. However, that is likely to make him more sleepy, so I hope to avoid that.

His favorite chair for the breakfast room is a wood banker’s chair that he got many years ago when the police headquarters downtown threw some out. That was near his loft at Broad and Water, his first apartment when he moved to New York in 1985. The stretchers had come loose from the legs of the chair. Today our artist friend William glued them, tied rope around them, and twisted them very tight using some of our wooden spoons. He checked his work via a video call with John, another artist.

We are trying a sedative before bed so that James is more able to get in bed without anxiety. Tonight it worked pretty well, but he was even more sleepy as we got him in the bed and ready to go to sleep.

He’s having some visual hallucinations such as color outlines around objects. So far he is enjoying it rather than feeling scared.

Today again he ate more than previous days, which is great.