Beth's Case Worker

Every January since Beth graduated from high school we have an assessment done with Beth's case worker. They come to the house and go over a list of things that Beth is doing or is unable to do. 

Does she cook her own meals? (In the microwave, yes)

Does she need help getting dressed? (No)

Can she make her own doctor's appointments? (No)

Does she take medication on her own? (Yes)

How would she respond in an emergency? (Not sure)

Can she take public transportation alone? (No)

Pages and pages of questions, all determining her abilities which in turn determines how much money she would receive from DDD - The Department of Developmental Disabilities.

And every year they ask if Beth needs extra assistance. And every year I say no, we're doing well.

But the last six months or so I've been thinking how Beth might respond better to someone else helping her with her food choices, her activity levels, and hygiene. No forty year old wants their mom telling them what to eat or when to go to bed at night.

T has been her case worker for many years now and we really liked him. I emailed him earlier this year to ask about changing her waiver. The waivers represent different levels of assistance. That's when he told me he's moved to Eastern WA and Beth will be getting a new CW. It wasn't easy telling Beth that news.

I got a call a few weeks later from A, the new CW. She introduced herself and we set up a time to meet. Less than a week later we got a letter in the mail telling us A was no longer our CW. 

I called them to ask about our meeting, will we need to reschedule with someone else, and was told that letter was a mistake. They were only supposed to send that out to A's old clients. A is still our CW and our meeting is still on. Whew!

The meeting was for last Monday, February 24. I got off work early and as I'm pulling out of the church parking lot A called. She's not feeling well. Could we postpone the meeting an hour, and have it over the phone. Absolutely! No problem at all.

Chuck, Beth and I are sitting at the kitchen table, phone ready when our meeting time came and went. About 20 minutes after, I texted her and asked if everything was okay.

She felt so bad! Said she had taken some medicine and had fallen asleep. Could we reschedule for later that afternoon. Unfortunately Chuck and I had to get back to work so now our new appointment with the new case worker is scheduled for this Thursday, the 6th.

I'm really hoping to get an assistant for Beth. Someone to come by once a week or twice a month, just to help her clean her apartment, teach her good health habits, maybe take her shopping, to the movies. I think it will be good for both of us.

Such a Fun Visit!

I flew home from my sisters late on Monday the 10th, worked the 11th through 13th and Diana and Adelaide got here late on the 14th. Those few days we finished getting the house baby-proofed, setting up all the toys I had (I saved a few for later in the week) and making sure the den was ready for them. If I remember right, Saturday we just stayed home. 

We went to the aquarium, went out to lunch, went to an indoor play place, we played cards, watched movies, it was a fun, full week! I'll share just a few of the photos:

Making bracelets with pipe cleaners

Adelaide and friends watching Bluey

It was the first time I'd been to our aquarium in many years. It's changed a lot. There were different sections, multiple stories, and even separate buildings. There was a lot to see.

If you ever get a chance to see it, I highly recommend it.

We left there and took the new Overlook Walk to go get some lunch. Seattle used to have a double decker highway that ran right through the city. We recently tore that down and put in the tunnel, then built a beautiful area to view the waterfront and easily get to Pike Place Market. It was supposed to pour rain that day but the Lord answered my prayers and we only had clouds. And wind. Lots of wind.

As they were heading to the airport, Adelaide grabbed the little Tigger (I have the whole set) and never let go. Tigger lives with her now.💖 

Have you heard of the Wingman Program or Visitor Pass? SEA has a new program that allows visitors to go with you through security and to the gate. Peter was able to get it at their airport and Sharaya got it here, so she could help Diana get Adelaide through security and all the way to the gate. 

 It's okay to tell you now that Diana is four months pregnant! Due in July. You can see it in this photo, they were playing hide and seek:

So having that help through the airport was a Godsend! We're planning a trip back there after the baby is born.

It has taken me such a long time to write this. There's so much I want to tell you about Beth and my job and Sharaya's promotion, but I really need to close and start getting ready for work tomorrow. I'll try to write again soon.

Hope you're all doing well. Take care!

Hopefully a Tough Lesson Learned

When I was at my sisters last week Beth got up on her own, did her own hair and got out the door on time. But often when I'm here she depends on me too much. I know most of that is my fault.

So I've decided to let her continue to do things on her own. I got up this morning at 7:00 - out of habit - but busied myself in the kitchen, watered some plants, when I realized she wasn't even up yet. I started to go downstairs to check on her but then I remembered. 😊

She came upstairs a few minutes later, and you could tell she had just woken up. I stayed in the kitchen to watch for the bus (they ring the doorbell and we still had three people asleep) and I poked my head out the door when it arrived a few minutes later. The driver asked if Beth was ready and I told her I would check. She held up five fingers, "I can only wait five minutes." 

Beth was back downstairs by now so I went down - she was dressed and fixing her lunch. I told her the bus needed to leave by 7:27.

Beth never learned to tell time with an analog clock. They taught it in school, I have workbooks here at home that I would have her do. And in fact, I still have some of those books and worked with her on them even a few years ago. But it's something she just never grasped. 

(I was going to write how it took her 30 minutes to finally get ready but by then her bus had come and gone. She stood at the window just staring out at the empty driveway, then turned and went downstairs.) 

But there's a complete change in story now. I thought she just didn't set her alarm last night. But as I was writing the italicized paragraph she sent me a text:

'my alarm is 7:23   and my microwave too your oven and microwave is backward.'

I went downstairs and sure enough the time was 8:11 but her alarm clock and microwave read 7:15. I asked her if there was a power outage while I was at Aunt Debbie's and she shrugged her shoulders. 

So now I feel horrible that she missed her bus. It's things like this that make me realize we need help. I want to talk with her case worker about putting her on a different waiver with the state, and that will give us more support. Someone who will come in and help her with hygiene issues, help her clean her apartment, and even take her on fun outings. 

I guess I'm the one who's learning a tough lesson this morning.

So Much Fun, So Little Time

There's so much to write about, but so much happening around here I haven't had time to write.

I guess the first thing is that Beth and Chuck are both feeling much better. Still a tiny bit congested but they're back to their regular routines.

My visit with my sister was so much fun. She had always wanted to go skydiving but due to a knee replacement, and minor back issues her doctor advised against it. So my niece and I surprised her with indoor skydiving! She was shocked! Our plan worked perfectly! This is when she first realized what she was going to be doing - 

She had also wanted some nice photos taken so my nieces daughter did her make up and we headed outside for a fun photo shoot.

Then we headed out so she could learn to fly!

Each person got to go twice if they wanted to and she did! I thought she'd be too nervous to go at all but she wasn't. I'm so proud of her. At 70 years old, she 'flew' by herself. You can see in the second picture the trainer isn't even holding her.

Then we took her out for a family dinner at her favorite restaurant, The Olive Garden. She was overwhelmed. It was a great day!

We went for a walk at a local park, watched her tortoises eat lunch, (that pan is the size of a large pizza) and spent a lot of time just talking.

It was exactly what we both needed. We decided next time I need to spend a week there because it just went by so fast. We're the only two left of our original family of five. 

Back at home - I'm gearing up for Sunday school. The Leaders Handbook is finished, I've been working in the classroom, and I even had a wonderful assistant help me with the bulletin board on Wednesday.

And Diana and Adelaide arrive tomorrow night. I filled my car with gas, I'm getting the den ready for them, putting out toys, baby-proofing the house... I'm beyond excited to see them! So if you don't hear from me for a while, it's because I'll be  chasing a two year old around the house! And loving every minute of it!

I'll get back to visiting your blogs soon, I promise!

A Little of This and That

We were planning to go shopping at Michaels today but Beth woke up with a stuffy nose and a sore throat. So I took down some cough drops and extra tissue, and she's having some EmergenC. I can hear her laughing at whatever she's watching on TV, so she's feeling 'okay', just not well enough to go out. We'll try again later this weekend. 

I went down to the waterfront earlier this week and got to see some seals! We've lived here for more than twenty years and I've never seen seals close to the shore. There were four of them and they were playing and 'honking' (is that the sound a seal makes?) It was amazing!

We put up a pre-service slide on Sunday letting people know our class is resuming on the 16th. It's really happening!

I'm flying to San Diego next week to see my sister for her birthday. I haven't seen her since July and I'm ready for some good 'ol sister time. She's already called me to see what kind of junk food we want to have. 😊

Me and Debbie around 1969

And in 2020

(The new header photo was taken in 2018 when we went to Niagara Falls.)