Monday "Memories" With My Mom

     Time for another Monday post about my mom.  For those who may not know, my mom has been living with me since March and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease three years ago.  There has actually been a lot to talk about with my mom's health and living situation, but here I will update you with the missing pieces of the puzzle known as our 4th of July weekend with mom.

     We were determined to carry on with our traditional 4th of July plans this year as discussed here, even though we knew it would be more challenging since we needed to figure out how to bring my mom, figure out where everyone would sleep in our small place "up north", and worry how she would do keeping up with our plans.  At the same time, we also knew my mom would enjoy all of the experiences if we could make it happen.  So, we decided we would have to take two cars in order to bring my mom's special mattress from her hospital bed.  I have to admit that leading up to the weekend, I was having lots of reservations about this trip, the kids, the mom, the dog (the husband!)...  We even had a little family meeting and told everyone they were going to have to pitch in, cooperate and be patient since Grandma does not move very fast these days.  Also, did I mention our place is probably about 600 square feet (maybe less!).  Can you say ugh!?  Luckily, we spend most of our time outside, except to sleep and use the bathroom.

     When we got there my mom enjoyed lounging on the deck with Kristin "Mary".  My mom is one of those people who wears red, white and blue or American-themed shirts all the time...not just 4th of July weekend.  So this was her big weekend -- here she is in all her "glory"!

Soon after we settled in we head to downtown Lexington, Michigan for "Music in the Park".  Here is my mom waiting in anticipation of the concert!

They say the connections with music often remain with people diagnosed with Alzheimer's.  Below is proof of that!  When the band said "everybody on their feet"....that's exactly what she did...and knew the words to the music, too!  We were cracking up!

The next morning we took in the 4th of July parade and she enjoyed that, too!

After a busy day with the parade, beach,  a storm, a brief power outage and then the fireworks...we all settled in late.  I was drained, but my mom seemed enthused and wanted to keep talking about the fireworks!  Soon after, I sent everyone to bed, including my mom.  Unfortunately, a good long day of 4th of July celebrations took a bit of a turn when on Sunday morning we were awakened at 6:00 am by a "thud".  My husband and I just knew...my mom had fallen out of bed!  I rushed in to find her flat on her face on the floor with a little puddle of blood from a bloody nose...  Right away she said "it's my nose"...  Well, I guess that was a relief that she didn't crack her head open (like before when she fell down her basement stairs). 

I slowly got her to her feet and on the side of the bed.  It took awhile to get the bleeding to stop.  A few minutes later, though, her nose swelled up pretty big, so we started with the ice compresses.  (We later made jokes that the "H" family nose may have saved her life!?)

  So, this is how she spent most of the morning...

Later that morning, we went ahead with our plans of attending the fireman's pancake breakfast and afterwards knew that Grandma had been through enough and we would only feel comfortable having her sleep back home in her hospital bed.  My husband actually generously offered to take her and our Lucky dog home so that I could have some beach time with the kids instead of staying behind with my mom.

After finally arriving home, she was pretty worn out and went to bed on the early side.  In the days that have followed, the bruising has gotten much worse by the bridge of her nose, her right eye and even her lips.  She has been understandably stiff and sore. 

Coincidentally, we had a previously scheduled doctor's appointment last week and he confirmed her nose was not broken and that although she looks banged up, she will be fine.

My mom often says things like "it s**ks to get old".  She is a trooper and seems to "take it on the chin" when presented with all of her health-related struggles.  I respect her for that. 

In the meantime, she's right...it s**ks!