Photo Troubles

[Guest guest]

Morning everybody

Yesterday bright and early I got a phone call from a stranger whose has the

misfortune to have a phone number only one digit removed from ours. It

turns out that Dad has been calling her for months, rather frequently,

looking for us. (And if she gets lots of calls then you can imagine there

are other people out there with similar numbers who are also getting

calls!) She was quite nice about it and it was all I could do to prevent

her from calling us every time Dad calls her; she was worried that he was

in trouble. (Of course he always SOUNDS anxious and troubled, and

generally tells her one of his stories, like how the home has MOVED him

again without his permission, a fixation he has because he does not

recognize his apartment from day to day.)

When I explained to her about LBD she was quite understanding, but

still--I'm sure she would rather NOT get the calls.

We have a possible solution: we bought Dad a " photo phone " for

Christmas--it's got ENORMOUS buttons for the numbers, but also instead of

traditional " speed dial " buttons it has places for PHOTOGRAPHS of the

people you are calling. So, in theory, see Daughter-in-Law's Picture, push

its button, speak to D-I-L. No chance of misdialing. Now we are planning

on giving it to him right away.

So here's my question: is it too late to expect Dad to re-learn such a

simple task: i.e., DON'T punch in numbers, must push the button with the

right face? Would any of your loved ones manage such a transition? Do you

have any ideas about how to teach him this based on your own experiences?

Does anyone else have some advice for how to prevent phone abuse but still

give Dad the ability to reach us when he needs to, for whatever reason?

Thanks,

Christie

[Guest guest]

Christie, this phone sounds like a wonderful solution! I didn't know they existed. Yes, my husband would still be able to transition to using it instead. I don't know how you would go about teaching your father-in-law to use it, except to keep repeating the instruction. Evenso, it might not work.

Speaking of phones in nursing homes, I have a question. There is a phone jack in my mother-in-law's nursing home room; brother-in-law has programmed her phone for her. I wanted to have service turned on, but he made a good point. Says that whenever he brings his mother candy it is stolen while she is out of her room, and that that is a common problem throughout the home. He thinks the unscrupulous might use the phone for long distance calls. I think one can get service for local calls only. I think. Has anyone had any experience with this? It would be so nice if my husband could call her at least once a week again.

Christie, I'll be anxious to see how your father-in-law does with his new phone.

Cheryl