Updated on July 15th 2011
I created this BLOG in hopes that my journey with my mother and her Alzheimer’s can help others. I list my daily posts below. I wanted to explain a little about my mother Alzheimer’s. She has helped me all my life with my journey of cerebral palsy. She is 88 years old and has had Alzheimer’s for at least 14 years now. I first noticed her memory problems back in the fall of 1997. She was able to keep driving and handling her check book until the winter of 2003/2004. She could still go on 2 mile hikes with me into 2005 and ½ mile walks thru 2008, now she mostly can only walk a few yards before her hip starts to hurt her. I moved back into her home in 2005 to help her stay in her house although I have kept my own place thru March 2011. One of the things I feel that has helped her go 14 years and still going is I’ve had people (mostly me) around her quit a bit. This helped her stay engaged with people. In 2003 she averaged people with her @90hrs/wk out of 168 hrs in a week, in 2004/2005/2006 @110hrs/wk, 2007 @125hrs/wk, 2008 @135hrs/wk. Then starting in January 2009 she has had someone with her 24/7. I started using care givers in 2005 to help and to give mom other women to talk to and get use to. Right now she can still dress and undress herself but is starting to struggle with it and needs to be told what to do most of the time. In December 2009 she started to refuse to wash herself now one of the care givers I use sponge bathes her 3 times a week. Right now mentally she is like a 4 to 6 year old girl with just a few seconds of memory. She has started to get confused with the getting undressed and dressed part but can still do it herself. She has also sometimes thought the person she sees in the bathroom mirror is someone else this started in 2010. I started using a diaper pad on mom’s bed in July 2011. She can still walk on her own with no help. Here is a list of the drugs and supplements she takes for her Alzheimer’s
•Razadyne started in 2000 then in 2011 changed to generic Galantamine
•Namenda started March 2005
•Folic Acid started in 2001
•Turmeric started in 2001
Wednesday February 29th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up washed, feed and
dressed when I left today. I had an appointment with my chiropractor
today. Today was sunny and warm with
temps in the 60’s but it was very windy.
The wind pulled down some more fascia siding on the same side of the
carport as before good thing I’m setup to fix it all already any way. They are going to replace the fascia on the
carport and gutters either later this week or next week. Both Andrea and Patti said mom was fine and
mom was up watching TV when I got back home at 2pm. We took a drive shortly
after we got back. We drove over to
Columbia Bottom Conservation Area stopping at the visitor center there for a
bathroom break before heading to Sioux Passage Park. Mom was confused at the visitor center and
fussed some on going into the bathroom.
We both were quiet for the most part on our drive I know I was
tired. I fixed dinner shortly after we
got back but gave mom a snack at 7:30 so that was the last time mom ate
anything. We both took a short nap in
our chairs while watch TV shortly after dinner.
We spent the rest of the evening talking and laughing. Mom did her thing of walking around the house
at 9:30pm for about 15 minutes. I put
her to bed at 10pm and she was confused and fussed some but she did
change. Overall today with me mom has
been a bit more confused than her normal and quieter.
Monday February 27th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up washed, feed and
dressed when I left today. It was a
sunny day with temps in the 50’s. I was
able to get in a short hike along the Missouri river. I went over to the Columbia Bottom
Conservation Area. It felt good getting
out on the trail it has been a few days.
I also ran some errands after my hiking.
Mom was up watching TV when I got home at 3:30pm. Andrea said mom was difficult when taking her
pills and getting dressed but then was much better after she got done with
getting mom dressed. Andrea said her
word of the day for mom was mercurial.
Shannon said mom was up the whole 2 hours she was here and fine. I took mom for a drive shortly after I got
home. We drove over to Sioux Passage
Park. Mom was talking a little more than
her normal on our drive. We talked about
the houses and number of cars in the parking lots. I fixed dinner when we got back and the last
time mom had anything to eat or drink was at 5:30pm. We spent the night watching TV and laughing
until mom went to bed at 10pm. Mom
fussed a little when changing but not too bad.
Sunday February 26th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. I had my friend Patti come over while
I went to church and bible study. Mom
was in bed when I left for church but was up eating lunch when I got home at
1pm. Patti said mom was fine. I got mom to take her pills and get dressed
without too much trouble. It was a sunny
warm day with temps getting into the 60’s.
We took a drive over to the Columbia Bottom Conservation Center stopping
at the visitor center there for a bathroom break before going on to Sioux
Passage Park. We talked about the views
and houses. Mom did more talking on the
first part of the drive but by the end she was doing less talking. Mom did nap some after our drive and before
dinner. During dinner mom talked about
the flowers on the rose plants. Tonight
I gave mom a little snack at 7:30pm and that was the last time she ate
anything. We spent the night watching TV
and laughing. Mom did do some walking
around the house thing at 6:30pm tonight for just about 15 minutes. Mom went to bed at 11:30pm tonight and was
fairly easy to get her to change. My routine
is still working for the most part to make it easier to get her to change.
Saturday February 25th 2012
Mom
did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. I got mom up for the day at 10am
and we had breakfast. Today getting mom
to take her pills was easy thank you god.
I got mom to get dressed after breakfast and a bathroom trip. She did
fuss on putting her shirt on and
taking the nightgown off. She put the
pants on with no trouble. It was a sunny
day with temps in the low 40’s. We took
a drive along the river road to the Grafton IL visitor center. Mom was
fairly talkative on the drive to the
visitor center. We talked about the
houses on top of the cliffs and the river.
We did not see any boats on the river ad only 3 people on the bike trail
along the road. Mom was in good spirits
on the drive up. Mom was a handful at
the visitor center fighting taking care of nature. When I finally got
her to do her stuff she
went right away. I knew she had to go
but sometimes she gets confused and then turns stubborn. Mom was
quieter on the drive back but I got
her laughing by the end of the drive. When
we got back mom got confused and started to lay down in my bed so I got
her up
and I fixed lunch then mom napped some. We
took a second drive after mom’s nap and before dinner. We drove over to
Sioux Passage Park. Today we saw 4 deer in the park which mom
enjoyed. We also talked about the houses
along the way. Mom talked about her
normal amount on this drive. I fixed
dinner when we got back but I gave mom a snack at 8pm and a piece of
cheese at
9:45pm. During dinner we talked about
the flowers on the rose plants I bought.
I will have Andrea plant them outside this spring. We spent the evening
watching TV and laughing
until mom went to bed at 10:30pm. It was
fairly easy getting mom to change into her nightgown. Overall mom has
been in good spirits today.
Friday February 24th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up washed, feed and
dressed when I left today. I had
several errands to run this afternoon.
It was a sunny day with temps in the 40’s. Andrea said mom was difficult today for just
about anything Andrea wanted her to do.
In fact neither Andrea nor Shannon was able to get mom to put her shirt
on. Andrea said her word of the day for
mom was fractious. Shannon mom was sweet
with her. Mom was up watching TV when I
got home at 3:30pm with her pants and nightgown on. I had mom change she did fuss a little but
she did it. I then had mom go to the
bathroom before going for a drive. Today
we drove over to Columbia Bottom Conservation Area stopping at the visitor
center there before heading over to Sioux Passage Park. This turned into about 1.5 hour drive that is
why I stopped at the visitor center for a bathroom break. Mom talked about her normal amount on the
drive. We talked about the views and
houses mostly. I fixed dinner when we
got back but gave mom a snack at 7:30pm so that was the last time she ate
anything. Mom talked a little more than
she has lately at dinner. She talked
about the flowers on the table she does like the flowers I got her for
Valentine’s Day. I bought her a couple
rose plants each a little different color.
We spent the rest of the evening watching TV and Laughing when I acted
silly. Mom went to bed tonight at 10pm
and was fairly easy to get changed.
Thursday February 23rd 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up feed and dressed when
I left today. It was a sunny warm day
today with temps getting up to 63. I met
up with a friend for lunch before going to my chiropractor appointment and then
grocery shopping. Andrea said mom was
easy today and her word of the day for mom was sluggish. Patti said mom was fine the 3 hours she was
here. Mom was up watching TV when I got
home at 4:30pm. It was such a great day
I took mom for a drive without mom needing a jacket. We drove over to Sioux Passage Park and mom
talked about her normal amount on our drive.
We talked about the houses and views on the drive. We had dinner when we got back but I gave mom
a snack at 8:30pm so that was the last time she had anything to eat. We spent the evening watching TV and laughing
until mom went to bed at 12:30am. It was
fairly easy getting mom changed tonight.
Wednesday February 22nd 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up washed, feed and
dressed when I left today. I slept in
today so I just had enough time to get in a quick walk. It was a sunny warm day with temps getting
into the mid 60’s. I drove over to
Columbia Bottom Conservation Area and walked to the Missouri river. Andrea said mom was pretty easy breezy a
little difficult on washing but after that was fine. She said the word of the day for mom was
pliant. Mom was up watching TV when I
got back home at 1:30pm. I had the
roofing guy come out today to remove the siding that was hanging from the storm
the other week plus setup for him to come out replace that siding piece and the
gutters on the house. So I had to wait
until he left to take mom for a drive.
We drove over to Sioux Passage Park.
Mom was a little more talkative on this drive talking about the number
of cars in the parking lots and the houses.
We have been having a warmer than normal winter here quiet nice. We had dinner at 5pm but I gave mom a snack
at 7pm so that was the last time she had anything to eat. We spent the night watching TV and laughing
until mom went to bed at 10pm. Mom did
do her thing of walking around the house tonight at 9pm for about 15 minutes. Tonight when changing as so as mom took her
shirt off she tried putting it back on. Other
than that it was fairly easy getting her to change. I still do the routine of giving mom hugs
after she puts the nightgown on then pull the pants down myself. This is much easier than explaining over and
over to her what to do then having her get upset.
Tuesday February 21st 2012
Mom
did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up feed and dressed when
I left today. It was a sunny warm day
with temps in the 50’s. I met up with a
friend for lunch before running some errands.
Andrea said her word of the day for mom was placid. Schatcie said mom
napped off and on the 2
hours she was here. Mom was up watching
TV when I got home at 3:30pm. Since it
was such a nice day I took mom for a drive shortly after I got home. We
drove up to Sioux Passage Park. Today we saw 3 deer in the park eating
some
grass. We talked about the houses on the
way home. I fixed dinner when we got
back but gave mom a snack at 7:30pm so that was the last time she had
anything
to eat. We spent the evening watching TV
and laughing. Mom did do the roaming
around the house thing but only for 5 minutes.
Mom went to bed at 12:30am and changed ok but was confused on laying
down to sleep.
Monday February 20th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up washed, feed and
dressed when I left today. It was a
sunny warm day with temps in the 50’s. I
had a massage then I went for a short walk over at Columbia Bottom Conservation
Area along the river. It felt great
being in the woods even for a short time.
Mom was up in the living room when I got home at 3:30pm. Andrea said her word of the day for mom was
alert. Shannon said mom was quiet the 2
hours she was here with mom napping on and off in her chair. Since it was a beautiful day and the holiday
President Day I took mom out for dinner shortly after I got home. We went over to our favorite Mexican
restaurant for taco salads and ice cream.
Mom was in good spirits but quiet at dinner. There was just one other person there at the
restaurant because we were eating an early dinner. I gave mom some soda at 10pm because she was
thirsty so that was the last time she had anything to drink. We spent the evening watching TV and laughing
until mom went to bed at 11:30pm. Mom
was fairly easy to get changed tonight but did get a little upset on taking off
the pants so I hugged her and she soon forgot she was upset.
Sunday February 19th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. I got mom up early morning like
normal but today I did over sleep so mom went 6 hours but mom did not have any
accidents. I had my friend Patti over today while I went
to church and my bible study class afterwards.
Mom was asleep when I left and was up when I got home. Mom was up most of the 5 hours Patti was here
but had not taken all her pills and mom was a bit of a pill with me as well on
taking her pills. I had Patti fix mom
lunch before I gave mom the rest of her pills.
I had mom get dressed after lunch and taking her pills. Mom was not coherent today she was very slow
and confused on doing almost anything.
After we got done with all this it was about 2:30pm so we took a drive
to Columbia Bottom Conservation Area which is a shorter drive than to
Grafton. We talked about the views on
our drive. It was a sunny day with temps
in the 40’s. We napped a little after we
got back and before dinner. I gave mom
no snacks tonight so the last time she had anything to eat or drink was at
6:30pm. Mom did do a little roaming
around the house but only for 5 or 10 minutes.
We did talk to my brother Larry on SKYPE tonight for about 30
minutes. We spent the rest of the
evening watching TV and laughing until she went to bed at 12:30am. Mom was fairly easy to get changed
tonight. I have just started to pull her
pants off after she has the nightgown on instead of telling her to do it. This seems to work much easier of course I
get her laughing first.
Saturday February 18th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. We both got up for the day at
11am. I did have some trouble getting
mom to take her pills, she was being a pill lol. Mom also fussed on putting her shirt on and
taking off her nightgown. It was a
partly sunny day with temps in the mid 40’s.
After I got mom dressed and a couple bathroom trips we took a drive
along the river road to Grafton, IL visitor center. Mom seemed more coherent on the drive than
normal. We talked about the houses on top
of the cliffs and the river. We didn’t
see any bald eagles today there hasn’t been as many around this winter since
it’s been so warm up north and here. We
did see some people out riding their bikes on the bike trail along the
road. We even saw a sailboat out on the
river. I fixed lunch when we got back
and then mom napped a little before going for a second drive. We drove over to Sioux Passage Park and mom
was coherent on this drive as well. We
talked about the houses and cars in the parking lots. After we got back mom and I watched a little
news before fixing dinner. Mom was quiet
during dinner. I gave her a snack around
8pm and that was the last time she had anything to eat or drink. Mom didn’t do her thing of roaming around the
house tonight but she was not coherent like she was during the drives. We spent the evening watching TV and laughing
until she went to bed at 11pm. Mom was
fairly easy to get changed tonight.
Friday February 17th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up washed, dressed and
feed by the time I left today. I
returned my rental and picked up my van this morning the body work looked
good. I then went over for my
chiropractor appointment. Andrea said
her word of the day for mom today was coherent.
Shannon said mom was quiet but sweet the 2 hours she was her. Mom was up watching TV when I got home at
3:30pm. It was a beautiful day with
temps in the 50’s today. I didn’t even
have mom wear a jacket on our drive it was so warm. We drove over to Sioux Passage Park before
dinner. During dinner we talked about
the roses on the table. I gave mom a
snack at 7pm so that was the last time she ate.
We took a second drive after dinner since it was such a nice day. Mom did nap for about 30 minutes tonight then
we spent the rest of the evening watching TV and laughing until mom went to bed
at 11:30pm. Overall with me mom talked a
little more and was sweet. I did get
some confusion when I had her change into her nightgown.
Thursday February 16th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or today. Mom was up dressed and feed by the time I left today. It was a partly sunny day with temps in the 40’s. I met up with my finance guy to go over my IRA’s we do this about every quarter or so then he took me to lunch. I then ran some errands and grocery shopping before heading back home at 4:30pm. Both Andrea and Patti said the word of the day for mom was friendly and mom has been that way with me as well. I took mom for a drive after I got home since it was sunny and nice day. We drove over to Sioux Passage Park. At this time of day and year the sun was in mom’s eyes at times. We talked about the cars in the parking lots and the houses. We ate dinner after we got back but I did give mom a couple of snacks the last one being 9pm. During dinner we talked about the roses I bought her for Valentine’s Day, I will have Andrea plant them outside this spring. Mom did not do any roaming around the house tonight. We spent the evening watching TV and laughing this evening until she went to bed at 1am. It wasn’t too hard getting mom to change but she was confused.
Wednesday February 15th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up washed, feed and dressed by the
time I left to run some errands. I transferred
the cable into my name to lower mom’s bill.
It was a rainy day with temps in the 40’s. Andrea said her word of the day for mom was
chatty and making sense when mom talked.
Mom was up watching TV when I got home at 1:30pm. I had the pastor come over today at 2pm and
he was here for about 45 minutes. Then
mom napped a little before we went for a short drive. It was still raining but we drove over to
Sioux Passage Park. We talked about the
cars in the parking lots. Mom talked
about her normal amount. I fixed dinner
when we got back but fixed a snack at 7:30pm and that was the last time she had
anything to eat or drink. Mom did her
thing of roaming around the house at 8pm for about 30minutes then again at 9:15
for a few minutes. We spent the rest of
the evening watching TV and laughing.
Mom overall today has been more chatty than her normal. Mom went to bed at midnight and was fairly
easy to get changed.
Tuesday February 14th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up dressed and feed by
the time I left today. It was a cloudy
day but temps were a little warmer and a lot of the snow is melting. I didn’t have much time so I just drove over
to Columbia Bottom Conservation Area and was back home by 2pm. Andrea said her word of the day for mom was
biddable. Mom was up watching TV when I
got home but did nap some after that in her chair. I took mom out for an early dinner over at
our favorite Mexican restaurant. We were
done eating by 4pm but I did give mom something to drink at 5pm and again at
7pm. There was only one other set of
people at the restaurant which is nice for us at least. The people at the restaurant know what we
order so it doesn’t take long to get our food.
Mom seemed to enjoy being there which was nice. We came straight home from the restaurant so
mom could go to the bathroom. We watched
TV this evening and laughed several times as I acted silly. Mom did not do her routine of walking around
the house tonight. Mom went to bed at
11pm and was fairly easy to get changed into her nightgown. Overall today mom has been sweet and happy.
Monday February 13th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up washed and feed by
the time I left to take my van over to have the repairs fixed from when someone
hit my van. Since it was going to be
snowing all day I had Andrea keep mom in her nightgown because we were not
going to be taking drives today. Mom was
up when I got back home at 1:45pm. Andrea
said mom was here normal self as far as washing her and getting her to take her
pills. Andrea also said mom was quiet
today and her word of the day for mom was pleasant. We just watched TV this afternoon and
laughing a few times. We finished dinner
at 6pm and that was the last time mom had anything to eat or drink. Mom did her thing of roaming around the house
at 6:30pm for amount an hour. We spent
the rest of the evening watching TV and laughing until mom went to bed at
1am. Since mom was already in her
nightgown there was no getting her to change.
Overall today mom has been pleasant.
Sunday February 12th 2012
Mom
did have a bladder accident today right after lunch and
I got home. I had my friend Patti over
today for 5 hours while I went to church and bible class after the
service. Mom was sleeping when I left
but was up eating lunch when I got home at 1pm.
Patti was able to get mom to take her pills this morning at breakfast so
thank god I didn’t have to do that. Mom
was still in her nightgown when I got home and she was being difficult
on
taking the nightgown off and put on the shirt.
I had no problem getting mom to put her pants on but the shirt was not
that easy today. After I got mom dressed
we took a drive. It was a sunny day with
temps in the 30’s. We drove over to
Columbia Bottom Conservation Area. We
stopped at the visitor center for a bathroom break before leaving. Mom
did fuss some on going into the bathroom. We talked about the views.
In the Area you can see long distances and
mom likes that. After we got back we
watched some TV before dinner. Mom was
quiet during dinner. We had a snack at
8pm so that was the last time mom had anything to eat or drink. We both
took a nap after dinner for about an
hour then spent the rest of the evening watching TV and laughing until
mom went
to bed at 12:30am. Mom was fairly easy
to get changed. Overall today and this
weekend mom was in good spirits.
Saturday February 11th 2012
Mom
did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. I had a hard time getting mom to
take her pills this morning. She was a
pill on taking her pills LOL. She was
also a bit of a challenge getting mom to take off her nightgown before
putting
her shirt on. After all of this we took
a drive. It was a sunny day but the temps
were in the 20’s. We drove along the
river road to Grafton IL visitor center.
There were several cars on the river road today but I didn’t see any
motorcycles. We saw a few barges on the
river but no other boats. We did see
some bald eagles just outside of Alton along the river road. We also
talked about the houses along the top
of the cliffs. I had a fairly easy time
getting mom to use the bathroom at the visitor center. We talked a
little more than our normal on
this drive and of course like always I told mom I love her more times
than I
can remember. After a short time at home
and a couple bathroom trips we took a second drive to Sioux Passage
Park. We talked about the views and number of
cars. We ate a dinner later tonight so
we finished at 7pm and that was the last time mom had anything to eat or
drink. Mom talked about the flowers I
bought and sat on the dining room table during dinner. Mom did her
thing of walking around the house
at 7:30 for about 15 minutes tonight.
Mom also is hard at times understanding going to the bathroom. This has
turned into a daily thing. We spent the rest of the evening watching
TV
and laughing until mom went to bed at 12:30am.
Mom was fairly easy to get her to brush her teeth and change into her
nightgown.
Friday February 10th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up washed, feed and dressed when I
left for my chiropractor appointment. I
ran some errands after my appointment. Andrea
said her word of the day for mom was renitent.
Mom was fine the 2 hours Shannon was here and mom was up when I got back
home at 3:30pm. It was a cloudy day with
it snowing some by the time I got home. Even
though it was snowing lightly we went for a drive to Sioux Passage Park. We talked about the cars in the parking lots
and the houses mostly as we drove. I
fixed dinner when we got back but gave mom a snack at 7pm so that was the last
time she had anything to eat or drink.
We spent the evening watching TV and laughing. Mom did her thing with walking around the
house at 7:45 for about 45 minutes. Mom
went to bed at midnight and put up her normal fuss when it came to
changing.
Thursday February 9th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up feed and dressed by
the time I left today. It was a cloudy
day with temps in the 30’s. I spent my
morning running errands until I got back home at 1:30pm. Andrea said mom was sleepy today and her word
of the day for mom was sluggish. I had a
roofing company out to check our storm damage this afternoon at 3pm so I waited
to take mom for a drive. We left after
they left over to Sioux Passage Park. We
talked about the cars in the parking lots.
I fixed dinner after we got back but I gave mom a snack around 8pm and
that was the last time she ate anything.
Tonight mom started walking around the house around 5:30pm for about 45
minutes which is something people with Alzheimer’s do in later stages. She settled down after that and we watched TV
and laughed the rest of the evening. Mom
went to bed at 11pm and did fuss some on changing. Overall with me mom was happy and talked
about her normal amount.
Wednesday February 8th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. I didn’t get much sleep last night so I slept
in today. Mom was up washed, feed and
dressed when I left this morning. Andrea
said mom was hard to get washed but she got mom washed. I just had enough time to go grocery shopping
before I had to be back. I got back at
1:30pm. Andrea said her word of the day
for mom was fussy. It was a partly sunny
day with colder temps more like normal. So
at 3pm mom and I took a drive. As we
drove over to Columbia Bottom Conservation Area we talked about the views. When we drove through the Area we saw 6
turkeys run across the road in front of us.
We then drove over to Sioux Passage Park. In the park we saw several deer or at least I
did. The deer didn’t move and mom never
saw them. The deer blended into the
background so mom’s eyes had a hard time seeing them but then she does have
almost 90 year old eyes. We took 2
hours on our drive so I fixed dinner shortly after we got home and gave mom a
snack around 7pm so that was the last time she had anything to eat. We spent the night watching TV and
laughing. Mom went to bed at 11pm and
was fairly easy to get her to change.
Tuesday February 7th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up feed and dressed when
I left for my chiropractor appointment. I
met up with a friend for lunch after my appointment. I had to come back early because Schatcie had
a cold. I got back a little after
2pm. Andrea said her word of the day for
mom was befuddled. I took mom for a
drive shortly after I got back. It was a
partly sunny day with temps near 50.
Today we took a little longer drive and drove over to the Columbia
Bottom Conservation Area. We talked
about the views as we drove. Mom talked
about her normal amount on our drive. We
watched a little TV and I napped a little after our drive and before
dinner. We are dinner at 6pm but I gave
mom a snack at 8:30pm so that was the last time mom had anything to eat or
drink. We did talk to my brother Larry
tonight over SKYPE for about an hour. I
also talked to my brother Paul the other day over the phone for the first time
since he got back from Nepal mom even talked to Paul over the phone. Mom and I spent the rest of the evening
watching TV and laughing. Mom went to
bed at 12:30am and did fuss some on changing and she was confused on getting
into bed.
Monday February 6th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up washed, feed and
dressed when I left this morning. It was
a partly sunny and a warmer than normal day.
I spent my time away running errands.
Andrea said the word of the day for mom was antsy. Shannon said mom slept about half of the 2
hours she was here. I got back home at
3:30pm and mom was up. We went for a
drive shortly after I got home. We drove
over to Sioux Passage Park and saw a couple of deer in the park. We talked about our normal amount on our
drive. I fixed dinner after our drive
but gave mom a snack around 7:30pm so that was the last time she had anything
to eat and she went to bed at 10pm. We
spent the evening watching TV and laughing several times. We both even feel asleep for about 30
minutes. It was fairly easy to get mom
changed tonight. I have started doing it
a little different the past week or so.
Since getting mom to take the pants off was always the main problem
because she was confused. So now after
mom puts the nightgown on instead of explaining she needs to take the pants off
I give her hugs get her laughing then just pull the pants down myself. By
grabbing the one pant leg. Mom wears
elastic pants so there is no belt that needs to be taken off. Mom was getting confused on how to take the
pants off so this way seems to be working better.
Sunday February 5th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. I had my friend Patti over
today while I went to church. Mom was
still in bed when I left for church. I
started a 6 week bible study after the service today. I met up with the friends I normally do plus
some others today for a quick brunch before the bible study class. Mom was up eating lunch when I got home she
did not take her pills at breakfast so she took them at lunch. Mom hesitated on taking her pills but I
finally got her to take them all. After
lunch and a bathroom trip I had mom get dressed which was easy today. Since it was getting later and still cloudy
we just drove over to Sioux Passage Park.
We did see some deer in the park and mom talked a little more than her
normal on the drive. Mom and I both
napped a little as we watched TV we both were tired. I took mom for a second drive after our naps
and before dinner. We drove over to
Sioux Passage Park and this time saw several deer in the park. Mom was quiet on this drive but so was
I. I did give mom a snack tonight after
dinner so the last time she had anything to eat was at 8pm and she went to bed
around midnight. We mostly watched the
super bowl tonight but also napped a little.
Mom did fuss some and got a little upset when I had her change.
Saturday February 4th 2012
Mom did have a bladder accident early this morning. Mom did not wet the bed but had the accident
in the bathroom. We got up for the day
around 11am. Mom was fairly easy to get
to take her pills thank god. I had to
explain to mom what to do so she could get dressed. It was a cloudy rainy day with temps in the
40’s. After I got mom dressed and a
couple bathroom breaks we took a short drive today because of the weather. We drove over to Sioux Passage Park and saw 3
deer in the park. Mom talked about her
normal amount on this drive over the houses and cars. I fixed lunch shortly after we got back then
we napped a little before taking a second drive. Our second drive was to Sioux Passage Park
and this time we saw several deer in the park.
Neither mom nor I talked much on this drive. I fixed dinner after our drive but gave mom a
snack at 8pm and that was the last time she had anything to eat or drink. We spent the evening watching TV and laughing
until mom went to bed at 12:30am. It was
easy getting mom changed tonight.
Overall mom has been happy today.
Friday February 3rd 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up washed and feed by
the time I left for my chiropractor appointment. Although she just had on her pants and
nightgown but I told Andrea since it was suppose too rain all afternoon to let
her keep the nightgown on. It started to
drizzly some on my way to my appointment.
I spent the rest of my time away from home running errands and had lunch
before getting back home at 3:30pm.
Andrea said the word of the morning for mom was infantile and this
afternoon mom was sleepy. Shannon also
said mom slept when she was here. Mom
was awake when I got back and we just watched TV until dinner. I gave mom a snake at 8pm so that was the
last time she ate anything. We spent the
night watching TV and laughed several times when I acted silly. Mom was in a happy spirit and somewhat
talkative for her this evening. Mom
ended up going to bed at 12:30am and was fairly easy to get her pants off
tonight. Now remember I do pour a lot of
love when I get her ready for bed.
Meaning I tell her I love her, hug her and get her laughing before I get
her to change.
Thursday February 2nd 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up feed and dressed by
the time I left this morning. It was a
sunny warm day again with temps in the mid 60’s more like spring than winter
but I’m not complaining. I did get in a
short walk before doing some errands.
Andrea said her word of the day for mom was docile. Patti had said mom was up most of the 2 hours
she was here and that mom was very pleasant.
I took mom out to eat dinner tonight after I got back home to celebrate
my 23rd anniversary of not smoking.
It was actually yesterday that was the 23rd year but we
celebrated it tonight. We went over to
our favorite Mexican restaurant and had taco salads and ice cream with
cinnamon
and honey on it. Mom was good at the
restaurant and talked about what she saw outside the window. I did
give mom a snack at 8:30pm and that was
the last time she had anything to eat. We
spent the night watching TV and laughing we laughed a lot tonight. Mom
was very responsive this evening. Mom went to bed at 10pm and was
fairly easy
to get her to change.
Wednesday February 1st 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or today. Mom was up bathed, dressed and feed when I left this morning. It was another great day with temps around 60. The animals and plants are starting to think it’s spring. I had errands to run and really didn’t get a chance to hike before getting back at 1:30pm. Andrea said mom was tough to wash but was nice after that. She said the word of the day for mom was benign. I had Sewell over today just to check the furnace and everything was fine. It was such a nice day I took mom for a drive this afternoon before dinner. We drove over to Sioux Passage Park. Mom talked more on the first part of our drive. During dinner mom talked about the sunset outside she does like that. I did not give mom any snacks tonight so the last time she had anything to eat or drink was at 5:30pm and she went to bed at 1am. We spent the evening watching TV and laughing. Mom did dose off some during the evening for a few minutes at a time. Mom was also fairly easy to get her to change I just had to tell her what to do. Overall today mom has been in good spirits and talkative for her.
