Grieving

Am I sad, depressed or grieving? Yes to all three at different times.

How are you? people want to know. It's hard to know how to answer. However . . . . . .  

My days of being depressed are less and less and I am weaning off of an anti-depressant (Paxil) now. I started taking it in May when my husband was going downhill. I take this pill every other day now instead of every day. In November I will take Paxil every third day.

No wonder I am not as productive as I usually have been. When I lose something or something needs fixing, it is A HUGE DEAL to me now. 

Less than a month after my husband died,  Tim Fall, a judge in California, who blogs more than I do, and who has commented on this blog, asked me to write about my two times being a widow on his blog. It is HERE. Of course the loss of both husbands is different--one suddenly and one from dementia. 

I am going to a Grief Share group at Sally and Jake's church. It is great to be there with others who have lost family members or friends. I can see those of us who are sticking with this series are all getting better. 

A discovery I made last week in Grief Share was that I am comfortable being a caregiver and have been reaching out to other caregivers now. However, being a widow is less comfortable. You have to eat out by yourself at times. You remember when you went places with your late husband. At home you remember his pastimes and think about how the home is different now, and what is comfortable as you forge a new life and changes you aren't ready for yet. 

Tonight in Grief Share we dealt with what people say to us when we are grieving and how to forgive them with God's strength. 

Grief us indeed complicated. 

Dealing With Caregiver Stress

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Graphic from Vitacost

I am on a campaign to deal with stress in my life. I need margin for things that come up. I need to cope with duties like emptying urinals, preparing and removing false teeth, pretending that I am not asked the same question repeatedly and dealing with the anger of sundowners. Patience, Carol, it's called patience.

When Sally and I went to the Alzheimer's Association Support Group recently. Sally shared wonderful advice for our care receivers that say anything contrary to what is correct. Just say,

"Sweetheart, that could be true!"

Works like a charm.  I've tried it. Gives you something to say. 

At the support group we received the Associations's pamphlet, "Take Care of Yourself: 10 Ways to be a Healthier Caregiver". The pamphlet gives ten things to watch out for: denial, anger, social withdrawal, anxiety, depression, exhaustion, sleeplessness, irritability, lack of concentration and health problems.

 So I thought I would reflect on these ten ways. 

1. Understand what's happening as early as possible. It is common knowledge that the shower for the Alzheimer's patient is a struggle.  I have interviewed caregivers on this blog for my own preparation for this journey,. 
2. Know what community resources are available. The Alzheimer's Association has much help available. 
3. Become an educated caregiver. We will have stress, so deal with it and learn all you can about the disease. 
4. Get help. Look around my house and I feel so hypocritical because I have been blogging about the book The House That Cleans Itself. It hasn't been working for me lately. The rooms that were finished were somehow trashed again because I didn't work at it. I am still enslaved with the endless de-cluttering.  Encouragement of help from Kenny, Margaret and Pharis. Margaret, Kenny's mom who is a few years younger than myself, sees all I have on my plate. Kenny brought over a DVD for me to watch. Novel idea--sit down to watch something! Margaret who comes over to help with DH's pills or lunch when Kenny cannot, decided that helping with cleaning would help my stress level and I worked with her to do that one day. I look around and the house is better and I am encouraged to keep it up It was actually fun. She helped me get rid of clothes I didn't really need to clutter my my closets--huge relief--something I had not gotten to in the bedrooms. We are not done with the clothes, but there is a start. And there is help for the outside gardens and the roof with Pharis and his teenagers coming over next Saturday.
5. Take care of yourself. It was a treat to have lunch with Sally this week while our husbands were at Plant City Senior Center for the middle part of the day.  
6. Manage your level of stress. Right now medical bills I haven't had time to research are on my plate--some Preferred Care should have paid. Can you believe they think my husband fell in the house and that the homeowner's insurance should pay!!! We may change to another plan. Got to think medical bills through--pay a little on each. I know where they are--just for some reason haven't gotten to them. The denial of stress I guess. 
7. Accept changes as they occur. My husband's trouble walking has been hard for me, but fortunately the chiropractor is helping him. 
8. Make legal and financial plans. Did that early. 
9. Give yourself credit, not guilt. Actually I want to thank my LORD for sustaining me and forgiving me. 
10. Visit your doctor regularly. I saw my doctor on Tuesday. She gave me a prescription for the lowest dosage of Paxil, an anti-depressant, should I need to take it. I am getting it filled should I need it and some days I do feel I need it. I took it years ago when I was a widow and it helped me over hard times. 

The decision to not take ANY long-term substitute position is related to stress. I need to keep life simple.  I really think that life is a bear many days, and not just for ordinary living stress, but also perhaps it is because of my husband's Alzheimer's that it's hard to cope lately.

Yes,  I am so fortunate to have help. But there are no guarantees in this life and my future in heaven is secure and longed for.