Sustaining Elder Care – August 2026
/I spent an extra day in Texas this month since one of my sisters is traveling and the rest of us need to do a bit more. The two themes of the road trip were excessive heat and my dad complaining of feeling cold all the time.
When I got there in the afternoon, he appeared to be trying to get comfortable for a nap in his chair and could seem to relax – trying to adjust the blanket constantly. I convinced him that maybe getting up and taking a walk would be helpful. It was 107 degrees outside, so we walked inside the building. We only got a about halfway to our turn around place and he had to go the bathroom; fortunately, there was a bathroom nearby and a staff member to help him. When we got back to his room I realized someone had turned the thermostat down from 78 to 73 degrees. I turned it back up and he seemed to feel better although he still said he felt cold although not quite as extreme. I left him trying to nap.
The next morning, I was up before the sunrise and there were a few clouds to make it photogenic. I picked up some of his medication and watched a scheduled webinar before lunch then saw him again after lunch. This time, I checked the thermostat immediately and it was at 74. I turned it up. He felt better but when we tried to walk in the hall, he complained about how cold it was out there. He wanted to go back to his room! When I got into my car, the instruments said 122 degrees; the thermometer must have been in the sun, but it did feel very hot.
The next morning, I got there right after he finished breakfast and we walked outside because the temperature was about 80. He liked it! We walked around the courtyard twice and then sat on one of the shaded patios. The red yuccas are blooming and forming pods at the same time; my mother had planted then at their house, but my dad can’t see well enough to appreciate them anymore. My sister planted things in the mulch that are doing well even in the heat. When we went back to his room, I turned up the thermostat to 78 – again….and waited until he seemed comfortable before I left to drive back to Missouri.
