Monday Memories With My Mom

The Adventures of Caring for a Mom With Alzheimer's Disease
     Another week has gone by and my mom's biggest concern seems to be getting more pop and orange creamsicles.  This is a good thing.  Hopefully I can fulfill that request soon, but I am quite sure they will disappear in a week's time and that cycle will not end.  Imagine what would happen if you ate ice cream every couple of hours because you had no recall of already having ice cream!!  Yep, it disappears quickly! 
     I visited my mom a couple of times this past week.  She seems pretty good lately (knock on wood, now)!!  On one of my visits I was going to take her outside, but they have not yet put out the outdoor furniture at her apartment complex.  In Michigan, it's very risky (weather wise) to do so until at least May -- often it still snows in April.  So, my mom and I went to the lobby and sat for a bit for a change of scenery.  The only problem with that is that there are several "regulars" who hang out in the lobby and people watch and chat for what seems like all day, every day.  So, space was at a premium, and I will never take a seat when a senior needs one even though some of them kindly offered me a seat!   

I spend a lot of time like this...
prodding my mom to keep moving...

     I then took her down to the dining room where we waited a bit.  My mom is not the conversational person she used to be.  She might ask several repetitive questions or tell you the same one or two sentence story over and over, but it is difficult to keep a real conversation going as she is easily distracted.  So, often she reads something while I am with her...or falls asleep.  Sometimes it is frustrating because I try to so hard to keep a conversation going, but eventually it ends up with the repetitive questions or statements.  The days of sharing things about my kids or a meaningful conversation about life are all but gone.  I am still learning to accept that sometimes our time together is just that...time together. 

I was happy to see this new giant monthly activity calendar by the dining room of my mom's
apartment building.  I think it would be even better if they put some kind of designation
 around "today's date" and I put that in their suggestion box...

     I also had a meeting with the office manager at my mom's place.  My mom receives low income housing assistance enabling her to live at this senior apartment.  There was a time when I would have been embarrassed to share that information.  Now, I am just grateful to have finally found the assistance she needs and to have her living in such a nice place.  It has been a long process, and although I really really dislike all of the paperwork and time it takes I am grateful for the help because the alternatives are not great!!
     We have a doctor's appointment on Friday.  Her doctor called and said my mom is due for a bone scan.  That's how we will spend our time on Friday, and I will report back on that little adventure on Monday!!

     Have a good week -- thanks for your support and following along....

"Muffin" the dog is never far away...