One of my raps says,
With blogs I can rail
Dialogue will soon fail.
When I started blogging, I thought that people would respond back--there would be dialogue. Sometimes there is dialogue and for that I am grateful. My last post seemed to be monologue--no dialogue came from it. Oh well!
So gingerly I am writing on what makes life easier for me, the caregiver. Simple solutions can make a big difference.
- Daily checklists. Hubby depends on this list. What a challenge it is to get someone with Alzheimer's to put their false teeth in. I go though this many mornings with my husband:
"Please put your teeth in so you can have breakfast."
"I don't want breakfast."
"You have to eat breakfast with your morning pills."
"Why?"
"Because you vomit if you don't have food with your pills and you have to have your pills."
"Why?"
"I don't want you to have a heart attack while I am gone because you forgot your pills."
I have actually come home on occasion where no pills was swallowed, no breakfast eaten and no lunch consumed! Then there are the days when I come home and some of the pills have been swallowed, but not all of them. All in all, Alzheimer's is a hard pill to swallow, but solutionis do come.
Enter "Breakfast to Go" and the chipboard sheet on what is happening that day.
- Simple breakfasts. I realize that my husband is still in stage one, but a big issue is breakfast for me. How do I get him to eat breakfast? When I first came upon coconut oil in the summer of 2009, coconut oil was put in oatmeal. No longer will my husband eat oatmeal and I had to figure out ways to put coconut oil in food. Now he gets a Breakfast to Go along with coconut oil fudge described in Dr. Newport's book.
- Learning to pray always, rejoice always and find the humor. Last night my husband humorously prayed that the LORD would help my memory 'cause he doesn't remember things as I do.
- Discipline of MY time. Getting important things done. I will never be June Cleaver from the old sitcom, but I can pray for wisdom to order my days.
- Asking for help. I will need to do more of this and it hurts to ask for help.
Putting a washcloth, or handkerchief in Gary's hand for him to grasp, while trying to put his arm in or out of a sleeve. Otherwise, he grips the cuff, and won't let go. (And he has very STRONG hands.) I often think it's like trying to pull a fleece shirt over velcro! We must look so funny, but dressing a 6' tall man who is not understanding what to do is exhausting. Anyway...something to make hands feel secure...very important.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Laurie. I am not there yet, but will remember this great tip.
ReplyDeleteWhen I started blogging about Hubby's Lewy Body Dementia, I did it as a way to track his progression and offer myself some self help.
ReplyDeleteEventually I wanted to educate others especially since there seemed so little information beyond the clinical stuff about Lewy Body.
I wanted to know, What will life be like for me and for Hubby?
I was surprised when others actually read my ramblings LOL!
There are times when I can feel so caught up in the caregiving role writing and reading and responding seem too difficult.
There are times when I read blogs and am overwhelmed by the sadness and I don't know how to respond.
Then there are the times I read and take note of something for future reference or just shake my head in agreement.
We may not always respond, but we read, we watch and we learn.
Thank you for sharing and teaching.
Carol - What inspires me most when I read your blog is how much grace and faith you have with everything that comes your way. You seem to have an endless supply of faith and it's so inspiring to see you applying it in your life, even with all that you have on your plate. You are a great example for all of us bloggers. I really enjoy reading your blog and am thankful that you come to mine, even though we are at such different points in our lives. I don't always post a comment here, but I am reading! Keep writing! :)
ReplyDelete