The Adventures of Caring for a Mom With Alzheimer's Disease
On January 4th I again received another one of "those calls". The medical team called to tell me my mom fell in the dining room at dinner time. She was at her dining room table and fell near her seat. The staff did not witness the fall, but my mom was saying that she hit her head. She was not bleeding. The staff was asking what hospital I would like her sent to and said the paramedics were on their way. Ugh! Another sense of dread came over me...
Several minutes later, one of the paramedics called me directly. Upon their evaluation they observed no sign of trauma to my mom's head or anywhere else and my mom was answering questions reasonably in consideration of her dementia. We decided a hospital visit was not necessary and only to return her to her apartment with dinner and the medical staff to keep an eye on her. I followed up with a phone call to my mom. The only problem I noticed was her repeating..."Do you like Lima beans? I don't like Lima beans...nobody likes Lima beans." Over and over.... Will I ever get "used" to this -- I don't really think so!!??
On to the happy part!!! On January 9th we celebrated my mom's 70th Birthday!!!!!!!!! To me, this was a major milestone! It was nice to find her "chillin'" like this (see picture below) when I arrived. It meant she was doing okay. In light of her most recent fall, the terrible Michigan weather, and the fact that it was a weekday, my brother and I decided to celebrate with her by bringing in lunch. McDonald's to be exact!!!
We told her many times that she was 70 and she seemed quite surprised and glad and said that she was an "old fart" now!!! It was very low key, just me and my brother, Mike -- he brought the McDonald's and I supplied the balloons and Sanders hot fudge ice cream for dessert. She was content and my brother and I were again able to catch up on some things. My mom sometimes seems to do better if we just talk and talk and she just listens and occasionally asks some questions. It's a hard balance, but it was her birthday and we answered ALL of her questions and did our best to make her happy!!!
I posted a small birthday card campaign on Facebook asking friends and family to send cards in honor of her 70th birthday. I am thankful to those who took the time to do so! My mom still loves her cards, and I often find her reading them over and over. I also brought her some lip balm for her growing collection. At this point, it's definitely the little things that make her happy!!
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On January 4th I again received another one of "those calls". The medical team called to tell me my mom fell in the dining room at dinner time. She was at her dining room table and fell near her seat. The staff did not witness the fall, but my mom was saying that she hit her head. She was not bleeding. The staff was asking what hospital I would like her sent to and said the paramedics were on their way. Ugh! Another sense of dread came over me...
Several minutes later, one of the paramedics called me directly. Upon their evaluation they observed no sign of trauma to my mom's head or anywhere else and my mom was answering questions reasonably in consideration of her dementia. We decided a hospital visit was not necessary and only to return her to her apartment with dinner and the medical staff to keep an eye on her. I followed up with a phone call to my mom. The only problem I noticed was her repeating..."Do you like Lima beans? I don't like Lima beans...nobody likes Lima beans." Over and over.... Will I ever get "used" to this -- I don't really think so!!??
On to the happy part!!! On January 9th we celebrated my mom's 70th Birthday!!!!!!!!! To me, this was a major milestone! It was nice to find her "chillin'" like this (see picture below) when I arrived. It meant she was doing okay. In light of her most recent fall, the terrible Michigan weather, and the fact that it was a weekday, my brother and I decided to celebrate with her by bringing in lunch. McDonald's to be exact!!!
We told her many times that she was 70 and she seemed quite surprised and glad and said that she was an "old fart" now!!! It was very low key, just me and my brother, Mike -- he brought the McDonald's and I supplied the balloons and Sanders hot fudge ice cream for dessert. She was content and my brother and I were again able to catch up on some things. My mom sometimes seems to do better if we just talk and talk and she just listens and occasionally asks some questions. It's a hard balance, but it was her birthday and we answered ALL of her questions and did our best to make her happy!!!
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| Chillin' |
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| A Card from my BFF's Mom... How does she always know exactly the right thing to say??? |
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| A Feast for the Birthday Queen |
Jacob also had fun sending Grandma a letter to see if she would "fill in the blanks". Although we knew she wouldn't be able to send it back, we did get a kick out of seeing her attempt to respond to his letter.
Happy 70th Birthday Mom!!!!
We love you and are grateful for all 70 of those years!!!!!!!!!
3 comments:
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY to your mom. I'm glad that your mom enjoyed her special MacDonald birthday dinner. She still has her sense of humor.
My husband also turned 70 last week. All he wanted was muffins instead of a birthday cake. I made him some real good muffins and he was delighted. Old age is creeping on us real fast lately. Maybe we should both retire from the business.
I'm glad that she didn't get hurt when she fell.
I wishing you a great week.
Hugs,
JB
Happy Birthday..a little late..to your Mom! It looks like she had a good day. I caught up on the previous posts. Your Christmas sounded a bit stressed and having to make a decision about Christmas Eve had to be hard. You do so much good for your Mom and the love your family has for her is evident everyday all year and sometimes your children and husband and your stress need a break. You do a good balancing act Cindy. I don't know how you do it all. I hope she's OK from her fall and she has more good days than bad.
Looks like your mom had a wonderful birthday! Happy 70th birthday to her! I'm sure she enjoyed having you and your brother there. Life is truly about the little things...even lip balm. I had to laugh because I craved lima beans when I was pregnant...I ate them like candy. Haven't had any since! :)
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