Getting Dressed

Dad's ability to dress himself is spotty. He can't put on his diaper because of the tape tabs. (The pull-up adult diapers have to be changed WAY too often, and it's not worth the battle.) He can't put on his own socks and shoes because his feet are seriously swollen, and he doesn't have the strength to pull hard enough. He can handle buttons and snaps if you wait long enough. He never figured out that you could fasten the back of the suspenders, put on the pants, and pull the suspenders over your shoulder. So, my husband helps him dress/undress most days.

Gathering everything that is needed to dress Dad takes time. Sometimes Dad ends up sitting for just a few seconds without any clothes on, which he DOES NOT like. One night when my husband had to get the cream to dress his bedsores from the other room, Dad complained, "I am a naked man. I am a very naked man. That is true of me." This morning while my husband was helping him dry off from his shower he said, "I'm as naked as a jay bird. That is true of me." (What does he expect, to take his shower with his clothes on?)