The PT (Physical Therapy) guy went to visit Dad yesterday to evaluate him for PT. 

Side note:  It took me a while to understand the difference between PT (Physical Therapy) and OT (Occupational Therapy).  Evidently PT is for parts of the body below the waist (walking, etc.) and OT is for parts of the body above the waste (arms, hands, etc.) – I think. 

This doesn’t make sense to me!  I always thought Physical Therapy is for anything that requires physical movement and Occupational Therapy is to help people perform a job.  I still don’t really get it!

Anyway, the PT guy went to the apartment to evaluate Dad to see if he needed PT.  The therapist took him out into the halls and was gone, and was gone, and was gone.  Mom says they were gone for over an hour.  She was starting to get a little worried – maybe the therapist had an accident and Dad didn’t know what to do, or maybe Dad had an accident and they just hadn’t been able to let Mom know yet, or maybe Dad had decided to break away and run off!

When they came back, the therapist told Mom that Dad doesn’t need PT. 

Mom was shocked because Dad’s walk had become reduced to a slow shuffle over the past months.  And after he moved back to the apartment, he would complain to Mom that he needed to stop and rest when they were returning to the apartment from the dining room or out walking around the complex.  Mom had even talked to me about getting Dad a walker with a seat so he could stop and rest any time they were out.  Mom told the therapist about all this. 

The therapist was shocked.  He said that he had Dad walking the whole time they were gone and that Dad had no trouble walking – even walking without a walker.  And Dad was even showing off how well and how fast he could walk.

Well – Mom had a few words with Dad after the therapist left.  Uh-huh!  She told him that she wasn’t going to accept any of his excuses any more since he walked just fine – and for so long – with the therapist.  Dad got that little smile he gets when he’s pulling a joke, and said “Okay.” 

Sneaky devil!  Mom definitely has to stay on her toes as Dad becomes more childlike with the dementia.