Steve and I had a busy weekend in Utah. Of course, instead of a ski weekend in the mountains, the main purpose of our visit was to check up on our brother, Bob, who is a resident with Traumatic Brain Injury at a nursing home in Salt Lake City called Infinia at Granite Hills.

I arrived in Utah Friday morning on the 11:00 a.m. flight from Dallas, and immediately picked up the rental car. I then picked up Steve about 2:00 that afternoon, and we headed directly from the airport to the nursing home for our first visit with Bob. He knew who we were as soon as we walked into his room, and was glad to see us.

At 3:00 Friday afternoon, we spent more than an hour with the nursing home staff and some representatives from Hearts for Hospice. Bob had a bout of pneumonia last December, just before Christmas, but with good medical care, he has pulled through. Nevertheless, in mid-January, it was recommended that we consider hospice care as an option. Steve and I wanted to get a first hand look at how things were before we made a final decision.

Bob is still a bit weak, but recovering, and is getting better, slowly but surely, day by day. And I was gratified to discover that, because of the excellent care he is receiving from the nursing staff at Granite Hills, he no longer qualifies for hospice. So we can put off that decision for now.

Steve and I spent most of the day Saturday with Bob. His daughter Brittney and her husband Adam Jacox came down from Logan to spend the day with us, and we were able have a good conversation with them about Bob's condition and options, re: hospice.

Steve and I drove up to Park City on Saturday evening for dinner. At Adam's suggestion we ate at Bangkok Thai on Main Street. It was excellent.

On Sunday afternoon, after 8:30 Mass at the Catholic Cathedral of the Madeleine, we drove up to Logan and spent the day with Carol and her family. It is always a joy to visit with Carol and her girls, Anastasia and Christina. And Adam and Brittney were great hosts. (Darn! I forgot to get Brittney’s recipe for taco soup!)

Brittney has suggested that we consider moving Bob to Logan so she can visit more often, so while we were in Logan, we stopped at a nursing home to check it out. It was very nice. That option is still being considered.

I dropped Steve off at the airport on Monday morning, 7:00 am, and after another fun-filled day at Granite Hills, caught my own plane back to Dallas at 4:00 pm.

All in all, it was a busy and productive weekend, and we made some good decisions concerning Bob and his care.

I am glad to be home!

Love,

Ned

BTW: I have attached a PDF of the photos I took. I have also sent a printed copy to mom!

Reported by Ned Flaspoehler
(This page created March 7, 2009)

 Home

Unless otherwise indicated:
All Content © Copyright 2002 by Edward P. Flaspoehler, Jr.
All rights reserved.