Me + my grandfather + a trip to the doctor

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My grandfather and I spent yesterday morning at the local VA getting him checked out. Between his diabetes, eye issues, his disabled leg and whatever else ails an 84 year old, he keeps the doctors busy. I must say, they do a good job dealing with him. He is pretty good as long as nobody looks at him the wrong way. ha

I handle scheduling his appointments and taking him to most of them. My dad takes him when I have a scheduling conflict but for the most part, I try to make his appointments first thing in the morning after I drop my son off at school. You like my grandfather’s pajamas?

My grandfather always says to my son, that is such a big backpack for such a little kid :).

Here he was yesterday at 8:30 in the morning waiting for me as I pulled in the driveway. It’s not the best picture as it’s totally spur of the moment. He opened the car door laughing and said, “don’t even tell me you just took a picture.” Why yes gramp, I’ll be sharing it with the world tomorrow on the blog. hehe

It starts with us grabbing a coffee from Dunkin Donuts for the ride. It’s a ritual :).

Usually when we arrive, we see Steve at the check-in desk who gets us all squared away. My grandfather prefers to only see Steve and if he isn’t available, he waits for him. Unless of course there is a cute lady, he will opt for her! He likes to chit chat with the ladies. Whatever floats his boat.

My grandfather will talk to anyone. I mean anyone.  Sometimes I have to remind him that I “do have a life” and we need to get going. You know? For him, it’s like a social event. For me, it’s like, “lets go already!”

My grandfather doesn’t like to admit it but he has gotten very forgetful these past few years and more so recently. That subject is for another day.  It’s important that someone goes in with him during the doctor’s exam. That someone happens to be me.  I remember when they first moved here 3 years ago, he started by driving himself to the doctors and handling all of his appointments. That only lasted for a couple months as he would come home and say, “I got lost and never made it or I went to the doctor and got in a fight with the doctor and left.” I remember telling him that he couldn’t go anymore alone. I remember him almost in tears one time because he got home and didn’t remember how he came home. It was sad. My grandfather has always been the care taker and prior to moving up here, he always took himself to his own appointments and never had to rely on a single soul.

While we were waiting I asked my grandfather if he knew what a selfie was. He just starred at me and said, “what?”. I told him that I showed my grandmother what one was a couple weeks ago during our lunch date. He  giggled and said, “I don’t know about you kid.”

The trip ended with us hitting Dunkin Donuts again on the way home. He has to get my grandmother a lemon filled donut or he is in trouble. If you follow us on facebook, you may have seen this post a few weeks ago about the donut saga.

The overall trip to the doctor was ok but he unfortunately needs laser surgery on his eye again.  Getting old isn’t easy that’s for sure. Trips to the doctor are definitely more frequent the older you get but necessary. We had a good morning!