Report from the Middle
Freddie: favorites and faculties

By Patrick Darnell
April 24, 2007
Bryan, TX
Introduction
A report from my typewriter is bound to cause some varied reaction, as most things I write are not simple. Therefore, I write so that as each reads the anecdotes of this report, he and she will emphasize different aspects, according to their relation with Freddie. Those who have had the rare pleasure of taking care of Freddie will certainly find some certainty in this kind of report, along with some curiosity prompts.

This is not a scientific report by any stretch. It refers to observed behaviors by me of Freddie in his domicile over the last few years. And, no conclusion is offered to guide clarification. Rather I present some goals that I set. Evidence of Freddie’s illness is left to the medical professions. This is about my relation with Freddie as his night-time care-giver.
Discussion
As care-giver I have spent about as much time with Freddie as I spend with myself. We are together every night and all weekend for the past three years. Freddie is part of my growing family each evening as he is dropped off at 5:30 to be included in our busy schedules of homework and dinner. Then, later around 8 we drive to his house and Freddie settles in for a good night’s sleep.

This was the first goal I had in taking care of Freddie. He seemed to have a problem distinguishing night from day when we first began our journey together. I could not figure it out at first, but I realized that his previous night caregivers stayed up all night and it caused Freddie to also stay up. With some regular training we have made it across that hurdle.

For the past three years Freddie takes several pills spread out during the day and night to help him cope with the loss of certain perceptions functions. Those dosages are coupled with regular meals, adequate hydration, and good sleep. In those three years, with individual care, Freddie has maintained almost all of his motor skills: playing catch, swimming, his ability to go to bathroom, shave and brush teeth with only a little supervision, and many other life skills. Freddie now in his fifties is healthy as a horse, as we still say in College Station.
He trusts us, caregivers and family members to help him and remind him if he is about to drop something or spill. Otherwise when left alone in a room, I observe from remote spot, he will remain playful, kind of gleeful, and be very animated with things in his reach. He will turn on his CD player, toss a ball in the air, and fill his cup with faucet water, and walk around the different rooms.

We, Bobby and I, keep his surroundings more or less Spartan, because he has had a history of getting confused when too many things are around him. Also, I keep lighting low, because it is better for his temperament to be in a cool, darkened house after the sun goes down. He enjoys television in the evenings late before he gets drowsy and nods off to sleep.

I have noticed Freddie is a little apprehensive in thunderstorms that come barreling into Brazos Valley. At night as lightning and wind blow a gale he will not sleep as soundly. I have thought maybe he likes the ionization of the air that comes with thunder storms. He likes to look out his bedroom window during the midnight lightning storms. He won’t venture out into the storm, but likes the air afterwards. He also likes to walk through puddles.

I have yet to get him to wear pajamas every night to bed, but have witnessed him drawing down to his shorts for the night. Previously, he slept in his clothes. I think he had kept his jeans on all night because he previously had female caregivers in the evenings. He is too modest to be unclothed around females.

Freddie even though very shy does exercise some flirtation, and tends to be a little feisty when outsiders come in to visit us; more so if the visitors are females. So, Freddie is all male that way.

I give him bed-check on two hour intervals, and he is usually snoring, wrapped up tightly in his blankets. He does not like the cold, and shivers at anything less than about 68 Degrees F.
Freddie wakes up early on most mornings. He is extremely fit, with no weight gain in the last few years, and steady vital signs. Freddie sees his general practitioner MD every month, and gets regular nurse visits at home in the day for Eye/Ears/Nose /Throat BP and temp. His appetite is always healthy, and likes to drink coffee on Sunday. During the week he is a tea sipper. Freddy is fifty-one.
Here is an unordered list of what Freddie likes in Audio/Visual
He likes his various nicknames – such as Freddie the Freeloader, Frederick’o, Ricci, and sundry others... But likes his Italo/Spanish derivative best: Alfredo Bermejo Izuierdo Derecho de’Lanier (kids will be kids). I brought that with me since I used to play with Freddie back when we were eight or so, and his mother teased with those names when I was around. The last is from my kids.

He enjoys music from the 60’s – Bob Dylan, Loving’ Spoonful, Beatles and any music from era 1960’s as long as it has a tune. Strong bass beats and distinct melody appeal to Freddie, as he has a very good sense of rhythm.

I have supplied a guitar for him and he plays melodies from those 60’s songs when he is in his music mode. He also works out holiday melodies. Sometimes over at our house we go into music madness, and he joins in our impromptu jam sessions. He carries his guitar around with him wherever he goes in his house. He sometimes wakes at mid morning, around 2:30 am for a drink of water, then plinks a few melodies before returning to sleep.

He likes paintings and gazes at them for “hours,” and likes to identify some of the subject matter in the paintings with things in his memory. Freddie does not express those impressions, but in his own language does tell stories about the images in the paintings, sort of whispering to himself, like a self-speak.

Freddie has key words and phrases that can easily bring him out of any derisive state: Mullie Grant; Grandma; the Beatles, the Coliseum, Lilly; Gus; Bob (could be any of four Bob’s in his life) and usually grows somber when I mention the words dad or mom. Therefore I stick to Liz and Bob Lanier. Following are some of the playful key phrases that Freddie always responds to:
· That’s the last pair of boots I’ll ever have to buy...
· I have a horse but no saddle...
· How much is a ticket to see the Beatles
· Tea sippers are number one in the nation...
· Any referral to Evel Kneival
· Short word pictures about a night time car accident in the rain
· Money in his wallet
· Signs his name Robert Lanier
· Anything about the Alamo, and many others
Painting: an activity I have used to get to know Freddie better
I was curious how long Freddie could concentrate on a subject, so I set up a painting situation on several occasions. He sits on a chair in front of the easel, outdoors and I would ask him to put certain colors on the canvas. He followed the instructions very well for about fifteen minutes. Freddie then would act silly, or think of something funny, and put aside the brushes.

The next step was to get him to try some shapes and lines, like lightning zaps, or circles. He was, I think, a little put-off that I would ask such a simple thing, and he did not do it at first.

Later, about a week after the painting session, I found lightning bolts drawn in pink on his guitar: the symbolic attribute is apparent to me, but that is me. Others can draw their own conclusions. Some would for instance be upset that he drew on his guitar; I do not argue that point. Rather he is telling me in his own time and space he is willing to draw the lightning zaps.

So, you see with a little coaxing Freddie is not limited in his brain dysfunction; rather he is functioning at a level that can be tapped, and tracked. Some call this “good brain/ wrong planet,” as when we dealt with autistic children in public schools. Determining the level of his need to achieve accomplishment and how long it might take is answered for me in this second activity.
Freddie at the Pool
My third goal is as yet un-commissioned. I tried taking Freddie to the health club at Aero-Fit for a few weeks. He very much enjoyed the swimming, as they have indoor and outdoor Olympic pools. He does pushups and sit-ups, but had difficulty following instructor’s directions for other exercises.

He was okay for awhile going evenings. But due some self-conscious attribute, he began freezing up. I deduced because evenings are busting out with activity and exercisers in mass, Freddie becomes over-loaded with stimulus. So the ideal time to take Freddie to the gym is during the mornings after 8 am. I go to the gym in the mornings, and see those who are limited in mobility’s and functions attend most often in the morning quiet hours from 8 to 11.
So far that has been a logistics problem since Freddie usually has other things going with Bobby those hours. We are still thinking it over. Freddie has a membership at the club on hold as it is. He is welcome there anytime he wants to renew. Aero-Fit facilities are family based operations.

This concludes this report from the middle -- where the women are strong, the men are good looking, and the children are all above average. PD