The Adventures of Caring for a Mom With Alzheimer's Disease
Trick or Treat...
I was running errands Halloween morning and was kind of in my mom's neighborhood deciding whether to drop off another "ration" of her personal hygiene items... I was thinking how I was surprised she had not called needing more and it had been a week. But then, I reasoned, there is always the "secret package" I hid away in her drawer.
I decided to make a quick visit. When I arrived, my mom was not in her apartment. This ended up being a good thing as I was able to do my quick "clean up", i.e. throwing away the week's worth of pill cups, placemats, junk mail, etc... I was a little surprised to find that the "backup" secret package of disposables was no longer in her drawer. It is quite possible the staff located it for her in her "time of need", but I guess it is also possible she "found" them herself. Who knows. (For those that are lost and/or find this "tmi", I am referring to the fact that my mom "changes" apparently more than she should and is going through personal hygiene items faster than I can keep up with.) Bottom line, it was a good thing I stopped by as she was almost "out". I left another package with a note that said, "Happy Halloween".
I also took the opportunity to replenish the nice lady down the hall's "Dum Dum" supply. She keeps a ceramic apple on the shelf outside her door and fills it with candy. Usually Dum Dum suckers. Well, my mom takes more than one each time she passes by. When I am with her, I either make her put them back or tell her "only one", reminding her she has some in her apartment. Yes, my mom has become my unexpected fourth child (and if you include my husband and the dog...6 kids!) I have also since come clean with the nice lady who probably runs out of suckers every couple of days. I was able to refill the entire big apple on what my mom had "squirreled away" in her apartment.
I believe my mom was in the dining room watching them set up for their Halloween lunch feast. I peeked in and saw the cute Halloween set up they were working on, but didn't have the chance to "find" my mom.
On another note, my mom has mentioned a few times how one of the ladies at her dinner table has "tremors" and my mom says she helps her open her butter and butters her roll every day (without her even asking). I have met this lady before and I believe she may have Parkinson's and it is sad to watch her try to eat with the tremors she has. I can tell that my mom feels good about being able to help her and she says so. That is another great thing about being in this senior community. They all seem to know what each other can or cannot do...and they help each other, or get help for each other, or point each other in the right direction every day, and even "tell" on each other. I am grateful for that!
Yesterday, me and two of the kids made a quick visit for our last "ration". She was, as always, glad to see us -- especially the kids. She again asked Kristin what grade she was in. When Kristin says, "7th" my mom always says, "oh, boy time"! Then, as she usually does, she asks Jacob if he has to bring a baseball bat to school -- to keep the girls away from him. We all get a laugh out of it -- partly because my mom thinks it is so funny, and partly because we always know exactly what she is going to say!!
Trick or Treat...
I was running errands Halloween morning and was kind of in my mom's neighborhood deciding whether to drop off another "ration" of her personal hygiene items... I was thinking how I was surprised she had not called needing more and it had been a week. But then, I reasoned, there is always the "secret package" I hid away in her drawer.
I decided to make a quick visit. When I arrived, my mom was not in her apartment. This ended up being a good thing as I was able to do my quick "clean up", i.e. throwing away the week's worth of pill cups, placemats, junk mail, etc... I was a little surprised to find that the "backup" secret package of disposables was no longer in her drawer. It is quite possible the staff located it for her in her "time of need", but I guess it is also possible she "found" them herself. Who knows. (For those that are lost and/or find this "tmi", I am referring to the fact that my mom "changes" apparently more than she should and is going through personal hygiene items faster than I can keep up with.) Bottom line, it was a good thing I stopped by as she was almost "out". I left another package with a note that said, "Happy Halloween".
I also took the opportunity to replenish the nice lady down the hall's "Dum Dum" supply. She keeps a ceramic apple on the shelf outside her door and fills it with candy. Usually Dum Dum suckers. Well, my mom takes more than one each time she passes by. When I am with her, I either make her put them back or tell her "only one", reminding her she has some in her apartment. Yes, my mom has become my unexpected fourth child (and if you include my husband and the dog...6 kids!) I have also since come clean with the nice lady who probably runs out of suckers every couple of days. I was able to refill the entire big apple on what my mom had "squirreled away" in her apartment.
I believe my mom was in the dining room watching them set up for their Halloween lunch feast. I peeked in and saw the cute Halloween set up they were working on, but didn't have the chance to "find" my mom.
On another note, my mom has mentioned a few times how one of the ladies at her dinner table has "tremors" and my mom says she helps her open her butter and butters her roll every day (without her even asking). I have met this lady before and I believe she may have Parkinson's and it is sad to watch her try to eat with the tremors she has. I can tell that my mom feels good about being able to help her and she says so. That is another great thing about being in this senior community. They all seem to know what each other can or cannot do...and they help each other, or get help for each other, or point each other in the right direction every day, and even "tell" on each other. I am grateful for that!
 |
| Kristin and Grandma Always Get Along |
Such is life this week with mom...now I have to go pay her bills!!
 |
| Jacob - Chillin' at Grandmas |
2 comments:
Thanks for sharing your experiences with your lovely Mom. I'm sure it's really hard to have the roles reversed but it sounds like you do a fabulous job. She's lucky to have a loving family to help her.
Your post made me smile...not sure if it was the pics of your kids and your mom, or the thought of your mom helping someone else out and feeling good about it. Good stuff Cindy.
Post a Comment