ARTHUR It's good to see you again, Mr. Stone. Thanks for seeing me. I want to go ahead and start on your discharge, but first I want to do a thorough assessment.

MR. STONE Ah, things are not the same with Arleen gone. Actually I thought I'd be the first one to go. But at least I'm here with my son and his family.

ARTHUR I'm sorry to hear about your loss. I know it can be difficult for all of you.

MS. STONE Thank you, Mr. Dean. We're just thankful that Pop can be with us for a while. Can I get you anything?

ARTHUR Oh, no, thank you. I just want get started if you don't mind. What I need to know is a little bit of information on who is helping you out now.

MS. STONE Oh, Pop, your pills. ….Got ‘em?

MR. STONE Got ‘em. … She's a busy one, I'll tell you. Her own company, three kids, and a cranky old houseguest.

ARTHUR Sounds like she's busy all right. Does anybody else help out?

MR. STONE Well, there are some old neighbors that drop by and pay their respects. Not many come by regularly, but they do ask if they can help. Anne fixes all the meals, except on Thursday when Jinny comes to help me with a bath. Jinny warms up whatever Anne's fixes for me…and she lets me have cookies.

ARTHUR Jinny. Is she a family member? I don't think I've ever met her.

MR. STONE She'd like to be. No, no, I'm talking about Jennifer from the service. Anne hired her to come on Thursdays to help out.

MS. STONE Okay, come on, Pop, take your pills. Come on, drink as much water as you can or I'm not going to give you dessert.

MR. STONE I think a man should decide when he needs pills or not! You know Arleen used to help me get my medicines ordered and fill the pill boxes. And now it's Anne. She's even got my next doctor's appointment.

ARTHUR You know, she was a wonderful lady and I know you miss her. Okay, does anybody else help out?

MR. STONE My son gets me up every morning before he goes to work. He's a Naval officer. Anne's not strong enough to lift me, but as long as I can get Brad to help me with my brace, I can dress myself.

ARTHUR Out of all the people that are helping out, is there someone “in charge” that makes sure everything gets done?

MR. STONE Yeah, I'm in charge. I was a captain in the Navy! I haven't always had these problems.

ARTHUR And you had a lot of responsibility. But it's nice to have people to help around the house now. But about your helpers, your staff. Who takes the most responsibility?

MR. STONE Oh, Anne, of course. There is nothing she can't do. Since I'm here she says it's no problem doing the laundry with everything else. It's a regular routine. But I do miss Arleen.

ARTHUR You know, it's wonderful that you're here to help him out around the house. You know, gathering his pills, making sure his meals are there, and also arranging for someone to be here on Thursdays.

MS. STONE Ah, he's really not that much trouble. I just do the things for him he can't do for himself. But I couldn't do it alone. I mean, Pop told you that my husband gets him up every morning and puts him to bed at night. But we do have a service that comes in on Thursdays to give him a bath because my husband and I both have meetings on Thursday nights. But it's worth it. I mean, I think we both need a break sometimes.

ARTHUR Well, he's fortunate to have both of you helping.

MS. STONE I seem to do the organizing of it all, huh? Let's see, I serve as your social secretary and medication distributor and your transportation system. I cook the meals but he knows where to get snacks and drinks, although I do have to hide the cookies sometimes, if you know what I mean. He doesn't use the microwave, he doesn't use the icemaker in the fridge, and he moves around the house pretty freely, I think. The kids get him stuff sometimes, I'm sure.

ARTHUR OK, just a little more to finish up. It seems even with your move here, everything that we wanted to do in home care is complete. So all we have to do now is go over the discharge plan just to see if it still will work.

MS. STONE Great!

ARTHUR Great!

MS. STONE How about if I make a pot of coffee and we'll find your cookie stash, Pop?

ARTHUR Sure thing!

MS. STONE Okay, great!

ARTHUR Thanks!