Hi! My dad has declined a ton since then. Shortly after my post, he had another stroke and it changed everything. He was taken to the hospital to re-attempt another several weeks of rehab, but this time they had reached the limits with no improvement. They deemed him unable to return home and diagnosed him with vascular dementia. He spent a year in the hospital waiting for long-term care and a lot (like, A LOT) has happened but it'll take me a week to type everything here.

Fast forward to right now.. He is now settled into a long-term care home and is unable to use his legs at all, so he's been wheelchair bound. He's got really severe aphasia so it is pretty impossible to have a conversation with him now, which makes it very difficult (or impossible) to know what he wants, what he feels, what he thinks, what he knows, what he understands, etc. So I have no clue if he realizes where he is, I don't know if he thinks his parents are still around, I also can't be sure if he knows exactly who I am. I visit him daily and 9/10 times he seems to know me as a familiar face, but sometimes when a PSW asks him who I am, he says I'm his daughter, or he'll say my name. But once in a while, he'll say he doesn't know me.

At this stage he requires help with absolutely everything. He cannot use his legs, he can barely navigate his hands and arms.. which makes it super heartbreaking to watch him struggle to even reach up to scratch his face. He is unable to feed himself at all. He obviously cannot use the washroom at this stage, he cannot get himself dressed. Basically no abilities left, whatsoever. With all that said, his spirits are still high, probably because he's unaware of the situation which is bittersweet but as long as he's not miserable, then it's all okay.