Day 3- Happiness is Having your Hair done.

****This is part of my 31 Day 2013 Challenge*****

Thursday is Mom's hair day.  Each Thursday, Nancy takes her to get her hair washed and set and then they go out to lunch.  They go to the same restaurant and order the same meal, Chicken Noodle Soup, Grilled Cheese Sandwich, and Lemon Meringue Pie.  Mom doesn't remember that they do this each week but routine does seem to bring her some comfort and when there is a change in routine she will often break out in hives and be even more disoriented than normal.  Then on Thursday nights, Dick and Jackie join us for dinner and stay with Mom while we go to choir practice.  Occasionally we will go to their house for dinner and Mom will stay there while we go to choir practice or if it is their weekend to keep Mom they will have us for dinner and then I will pick Mom up on Sunday
evenings.

 

Mom with her hair all done and beautiful as can be.

I have noticed that Mom is sleeping more and more now. She didn't wake up yesterday until after 8:30 and she went to bed before 8:00 pm.  When I showered her last night there was still no bruising on her left side and she did not complain when I washed her right foot so whatever that was seems to have passed.  On one hand it is hard to see her slowing down but on the other hand I really pray daily that she will pass away before I have to put her into a nursing home.  This is my biggest fear. I know that one day I may have no choice but to place her into a permanent home but my goal is to keep her home with those of us who love her for as long as we possibly can.  Should she die before a nursing home becomes necessary I will be very grateful.

When Mom and Nancy returned, Nancy reported that Mom had mentioned again that her right foot was hurting.  I took another look and saw that she does have bruising now right in the arch of her right foot but there is no swelling and no pain unless you press directly on the bruise so I am sure she will be ok in a few days.

See Day 4

Walking Wednesday

Dinner last night was wonderful and we enjoyed our time with friends that we had not seen since Easter so we had a lot of catching up to do.  Mom enjoyed her time with Dawn, they went out to dinner too and then Dawn brought her home and Ting cared for her until we arrived home.  It takes a village to raise a Mom.

I am going to take advantage of this beautiful weather we have been having and take a long walk through the woods.  When I am done I need to go the food pantry and get things ready for Tom who is doing distributions this afternoon and then I am going to come home and spend my 15 minutes organizing the basement storage area.  You would not believe how much of a dent you can make in 15 minutes!! Yesterday, I filled 2 garbage bags and 2 large boxes of stuff to donate.  Now I have piles all over my basement living area that I sorted into categories so when I put them away the room will be completely organized.

Had a wonderful 2 mile walk, got all my errands done, spent 15 minutes in the basement, got some sewing in, had dinner, gave Mom her shower and now I am relaxing with a glass of wine.  Good night all.

 

Chicken Enchiladas.  A great way to use up leftover chicken.

Day 2-Mom falls

......This is part of the 31 Day 2013 Challenge.....

Nancy took Mom to lunch yesterday before dropping her off at Dawn's and evidently Mom took a spill while at the restaurant.  Dawn called me yesterday afternoon to tell me about it and ask my opinion about treatment.  Dawn said that Mom did not recall falling but that Nancy said she had fallen on her hip and knee and that Mom was now complaining that her foot hurt.  Mom was able to walk and when Dawn asked her again about her foot she looked at Dawn like she was crazy and said there was nothing wrong with her foot.  That is a big problem with this disease, when Mom does hurt herself she forgets about it almost instantly and only remembers if she leans on the bruise or reinjures herself somehow and then she only remembers for a moment.  I guess this is good for Mom but it is hard for those of us who care for her to know how badly she is injured.  I advised Dawn to just give Mom some Motrin and keep an eye on her.  I did not hear back from Dawn and Mom was in bed when we got home.  Ting said that Mom did not complain of pain at all while she had her before she went to bed.

It is 8:30 am now and Mom is still sleeping.  This is unusual but not unheard of.  She greeted me with snores when I was putting out her clothes for the day.  I follow the rule that you never waken sleeping babies or sleeping elderly.  Nancy should be here in a moment and I am sure that Buddy will be a barking fool and awaken her.  He does not follow that rule!!

Mom does not have any bruising but does have some pain but doesn't mention it unless you ask her about it.  However she does complain about pain in the upper pad of her right foot when she walks which is strange because she fell on her left side.  I took a look at it but couldn't see anything.  Wednesdays are shower nights for Mom so I will get a better look at it tonight while I am bathing her.

 

About 10 yrs. ago, before any thoughts of how my life would be now that I am caring for Mom, we redid our master bath, removed the tub and put in this luxury shower.  It has been a God-send.  There is a bench for her to sit on and plenty of room for me to get in with her and help her bathe.  If, God forbid, she is ever unable to walk I would be able to take a bath chair right into the shower.

 

See Day 3

A little Background.

***This is part of the 31 Day 2013 Challenge****

Mom was born in December of 1920.  She is in incredible physical shape.  She is on no medications, she walks unassisted, goes up and down stairs like a champ, has control of her bodily functions (although there have been a few accidents lately) and is able to dress and feed herself.  She has a good appetite, however every time it is time to eat she says "Oh, I couldn't eat a thing, I am not hungry at all".  EVERY TIME without fail.  We just ask her to sit with us while we eat and before you know it her plate is empty. There have been times, when she has eaten, I have cleared the table and put the dishes into the dishwasher and she will look at me and ask "Aren't we having breakfast today?"  I just pull out another plate, load it up and sit with her while she eats again.

Our morning routine goes like this.  Once the dogs are done playing and we have had our first cup of coffee. I get up and go into Mom's room to remove her dirty clothing and set out her outfit for the day.  Mom is normally awake when I come in to do this.  We have the same conversation each day. Mom will ask what time it is, I will answer and ask how she is today, she will respond that she is tired and I will tell her she can go back to sleep if she wants.  She always says no that she is getting up.  I then go into the bathroom and make sure her toothbrush has toothpaste on it and is on the sink along with her washcloth.  Thankfully she can still brush her teeth (all of which are her own at her age), wash herself, comb her hair and ALWAYS put on her lipstick.  Several times I have forgotten to set out her lipstick and she has found Tingting's concealer in the drawer and come down with no lips at all!!!

By the time Mom comes downstairs, Nancy is normally here already or arrives shortly thereafter.  They have breakfast together and after breakfast they play several hands of rummy.  I tease Nancy that she should consider herself a professional card player since she gets paid for playing every day.

 

Mom and Nancy getting ready to have breakfast before cards.

 

Well that's our morning every day....I am on the way out the door to do my errands while Nancy is here with Mom.  Have a great day all.

 

See Day 2,

 

 

Try it Tuesday

I thought you might like to start your morning with a smile as we do each day.

 

Every Morning Buddy and Bella run into our rooms with their toy and start playing.  We lounge in bed with our coffee and watch them going crazy.  It always starts the day off with a laugh, even if it is only 6:30 in the morning.

 

 

Once they get tired out, we are usually done with our first cup of coffee and our day begins.

 

This is the last Tuesday that Dawn will have Mom for the winter months.  She will be changing her day to Monday's because she works Wednesdays and when she has to get up with Mom at 7am and then go to work that night she ends up being awake for nearly 24 hrs. and we know that's not going to work.  She graciously agreed to take Mom out for dinner tonight and then bring her home here, put her to bed and wait for either Tingting or us to get home because we had already made dinner plans with our friends, the Doumas.

So now Monday's will be our date night, when I don't have yoga and/or parish council meeting.  Yoga stops during the holidays and parish council only meets once a month so it will all work out. If you have been following my blog you know that Mondays are Meatless Mondays on the menu and Fridays are Fish Fridays.  Starting next week, since I will be cooking on Tuesdays now we are going to have Try it Tuesdays.  I will try a new recipe of some sort each Tuesday.  I am looking forward to sharing them with you.

We have a busy day in front of us today.  We are going to Costco to have new tires put on the car and stock up on all our necessities.....coffee, toilet paper, paper towel, dishwashing detergent.....you know all that exciting stuff that you can't live without. When we get back our friend Jean is coming over.  She got a shotgun from her husband for her birthday but has never shot one so Frank is going to work with her on that. While he is doing that I am going to tackle my basement storage area as I have vowed for Organizing in October.  Then we are meeting friends for dinner at a restaurant called "Bacco".  I have always wanted to go there but never have, today we will because, after all, it is Try it Tuesday!!

Organizing for October

Today is the first day in October....it is also the first day in my vow to get my basement storage room and attic organized.  I have been talking about doing this for years but every time I walk into those areas I get very anxious and overwhelmed, shut the door and find something else to occupy my time.
Now, armed with inspiration from FlyLady, Organizing Junkie and Gospel Homemaking, I am ready to take my first baby step.

I am going to open the door, enter that storage room in the basement, set the timer for 15 minutes and starting with the nearest shelf, I am going to start sorting.  I will have three containers, one for trash, one for donations and one for items that are staying.  After 15 min.  I will close the door, wash the cobwebs from my hands and face and forget about it until tomorrow and each day thereafter, spending 15 minutes a day until I am done.  I will keep you updated on my progress both here and on

 

 

Organizing Junkie

I am posting some pics of my storage room as it is right at this moment....I am embarrassed but I think you will understand why I have felt so overwhelmed and have put it off for so long....Please join me on this journey....I need all the support I can get. 

 

Sheesh it looks just as bad in photos LOL....

 

Day 1, 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18

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31 Days Dealing with Dementia and Alzheimer Disease

I have accepted a challenge from the Nesting Place to blog for a full month on one subject. Please join me as I document 31 days of dealing with the disease of Dementia/Alzheimer.  I am the main caregiver to my mother who will be 93 in December.  She was diagnosed with this disease at 88 years of age and has been living with me for the past 5 years. 

This will not be a sob story, although at times we may cry.  It will simply be a place where those of us who are caregivers can share our stories, vent our frustrations and know that we are not alone in this scary journey in which we find ourselves.

I am very blessed to have tremendous family and friends who assist me in the care of my mother.  I know that many of you do not have that luxury and how frustrating it can be to deal with this disease day in and day out.  We will be each others shoulder to cry on, sounding board, inspiration and strength.  Please join me each day as I document our day.

 

 

Mom still loves to socialize, drink her wine and laugh.  She is usually in pretty good spirits even if she doesn't have a clue who she is with. This is a great picture. Every time we go out to dinner Mom asks why she has white wine and we have red.  We respond that she doesn't like red wine.  She asks to try it and then she makes this face.  Sometimes she will do this 5 or 6 times during the meal but always at least once during every meal out.

 

Day 1-A Little Background

Day 2-Mom Falls

Day 3-Happiness is Having your Hair done

Day 4-Memories of Mom

Day 5-Another day, another million times of being asked the same question

Day 6-Mom and Frank

Day 7-No Mom Monday

Day 8-ZZZzzzzz's

Day 9-The Morning Ritual

Day 10-I Can See Clearly Now

Day 11-An Available Resource

Day 12-And to All a Good Night

Day 13-Mom breaks her foot and I am losing my mind

Day 14-Good News

Day 15-Rough Night for Mom and Dawn

Day 16-Welcome to Wednesday

Day 17-A Good Day

Day 18-A Complete Turn Around

Day 20-Ooops

Day 21-Puppy Love

Day 22-Hey, There's a Puppy in Here

Day 23-BINGO

Day 24-Mom Renamed my Puppy

Day 24-Mom's Memories

Day 25-Our Weekend Off

Day 26-More Memories of Mom

Day 27-Scaring Great Grandma

Day 28-Celebrate Good Times

Day 29-In the Blink of an Eye