Updated on May 11th 2012 my updates are in bold below
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. My website that talks about my cerebral palsy and my climbing adventures is at www.timsashwood.com if you want to check it out. She is 90 years old and has had Alzheimer’s for at least 15 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 15 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 3 or 4 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. In the fall of 2011 we increased the dosage on mom’s Galantamine. In March of 2012 I stopped giving her the supplements it has started to get harder to get her to take the pills. So I started just giving her a one a day vitamin instead. Then in May 2012 we have started to crush mom’s pills and put them in applesauce about 3 or 4 days a week. She loves applesauce. She can still walk on her own with no help. Here is a list of the drugs she takes for her Alzheimer’s.
•Razadyne started in 2000 then in 2011 changed to generic Galantamine
•Namenda started March 2005
Tuesday July 31st 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents today or
overnight. Mom was up, dressed and feed
by the time I got up. It was a sunny day
with temps at 102. I ran some errands
and just spent some time playing until I got back at 2:30pm. Andrea said her word of the day for mom was
sleepy and she did have to crush some of mom’s pills into applesauce. Mom was sleeping when I got home at
2:30pm. Mom and I took a drive at 3pm to
Columbia Bottom Conservation Area. We
mostly talked about the views and talked about our normal amount. We both napped some after the drive and
before dinner. Mom talked about the
flowers on the table during dinner tonight.
The last time mom ate anything was at 5:30pm. We took our second drive at 6pm to Sioux
Passage and Sunset parks. Mom was quiet
on this drive. We spent the rest of the
evening watching TV and laughing.
Tonight mom did her thing of wondering around the house at 9pm for about
30 minutes. Mom went to bed at 2am but
did nap off and on this evening. Mom did
fuss some on changing she was confused.
After unbuttoning her top she tried buttoning back up.
Monday July 30th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents today or
overnight. Mom was up washed, dressed
and feed by the time I got up. I just
had enough time to run some errands when I left. It was a cloudy day with cooler temps with a
high of 89 here in Florissant. Andrea
said her word of the day for mom was sweet.
Andrea did have to crush most of mom’s pills and put them in applesauce. Mom was sleeping when I got home at
1:30pm. We didn’t take our first drive
until 2:45pm. We drove over to Columbia
Bottom Conservation Area talking mostly about the views. We both then took a nap before dinner. The last time mom ate anything was at
6:30pm. We then took a second drive at
7pm to Sioux Passage Park. Mom was quiet
on the drive. Mom napped some after we
got home then spent the rest of the evening watching TV and laughing. Mom went to bed at 1am and fussed about the
changing.
Mom
did not have any bladder or bowel accidents today or
overnight. I got mom up a few times
overnight and we got up for the day at 10am.
I did have to crush 3 of mom’s pills today and put them in applesauce.
It was a rainy morning and about time we got
some rain. It cleared up to partly sunny
by this afternoon with temps in the mid 90’s.
We took our first drive along the river road part way to Grafton IL
before turning around and heading back home.
We did not see as many boats out on the river today as yesterday and
only 1 barge heading up river. We did
not see any people on the bike/hike trail alongside the road. We did
see several motorcycles. Mom feel asleep for about 5 minutes on the
first of our drive then woke up when we got to the river. Mom was
quieter on this drive but was
enjoying the drive. I fixed lunch when
we got back then mom took a short nap and so did I. We then took a
second drive before
dinner. On this drive we drove over to
both Sioux Passage and Sunset parks. We
talked a little more on this drive mostly about the number of cars and
houses. I fixed dinner when we got back
and the last time mom ate anything was at 6:30pm. We spent the rest of
the evening watching TV
and laughing. Mom napped a little after
dinner as we watched TV. I did talk to
my brother Paul and sister in law Kay tonight over the phone. Mom went
to bed at 1am and she was confused
on the getting changed. Overall mom has
been in great spirits and sleepy but then we do more on the weekends.
Saturday July 28th 2012
Mom
did not have any bladder or bowel accidents today or
overnight. I got mom up a few times overnight and we got
up for the day at 9am. I did have to
crush have of mom’s pills today and put them in applesauce. It was a
sunny day with temps at 92. I got mom dressed in which she did most of
it
on her own today. After a couple
bathroom trips we took our first drive.
We drove along the river road part way to Grafton IL so we could get
back before mom would need a bathroom trip.
We saw 3 sailboats and several speed boats out on the river. Today we
even saw a couple barges one going
up the river the other one going down the river. This is the first time
in a while that we
have seen barges on the river since the river is so shallow further
south. We are in the mist of the worse drought in
history here in St Louis and is already the warmest summer ever. The
past 3 summers have been in the top 5
warmest ever good old global warming. We
also saw several motorcycles out driving the river road and many people
on the
bike/hike trail along the road. We
talked about our normal amount on this drive.
I fixed lunch when we got back then after a bathroom trip we took our
second drive. On this drive we drove
over to the Columbia Bottom Conservation Area mostly talking about the
views. We talked a little less than our
normal on this drive. Mom took a nap in
her chair as we watched TV when we got back until dinner. The last time
mom ate was at 6pm. We took a third drive around 7:30pm. Mom napped a
little after dinner so we had a
late drive. On this drive we drove over
to both Sioux Passage and Sunset parks.
We saw deer in Sioux Passage Park and outside the park along the
road. We talked about our normal amount
mostly on the number of cars and houses.
We then spent the rest of the evening watching TV and laughing. Mom did
nap some but went to bed at 1am. Mom did try and put her nightgown on
over her
shirt until I stopped her. Overall today
mom has been pleasant, happy and a little sleepy.
Friday July 27th 2012
Mom
did not have any bladder or bowel accidents today or
overnight. Mom was up washed, dressed
and feed by the time I got up. It was
another sunny hot day with temps at 100.
I spent my time away running some errands and took a short drive until I
got back at 3:30pm. Andrea said her word
of the day for mom was pleasant and she did have to crush most of mom’s
pills. Shannon said mom slept most of
the time she was here and mom was sleeping when I got home. Mom and I
took a drive shortly after I got
home. We drove over to Sioux Passage
Park before dinner. We talked about our
normal amount mostly about the cars and houses.
I fixed dinner when we got back but I gave mom a cookie at 9pm so that
was the last time she ate anything. We
took a drive around 6:30pm to both Sioux Passage and Sunset parks.
Again we talked about our normal amount. We then spent the rest of the
evening
watching the opening for the 2012 Olympics.
We watched and laughed some after the opening until mom went to bed at
12:30am. Mom did do some wondering
around the house tonight at 11pm for a few minutes. Mom did not try and
put her nightgown on over
her shirt she first took off the shirt on her own. I then take her
pants off. Mom did fuss some on laying down in the bed.
Thursday July 26th 2012
I’m not sure if mom had a bladder accident or she just didn’t
get her pants and panties down far enough when she was sitting on the toilet. Mom was up, dressed and feed by the time I got
up. It was a mostly cloudy day with
cooler temps the high was only 96 at least it was under 100. I spent my time running errands until I got
back home at 4:30pm. Andrea said her
word of the day for mom was tired.
Andrea did have to crush most of mom’s pills into applesauce. Mom was in the bathroom when I got home and
then we took a drive. We drove up to
Sioux Passage Park and saw a deer in the park.
We then mostly talked about the number of cars in parking lots and the
trees. We talked about our normal amount
on the drive. I fixed dinner when we got
back but gave mom some ice cream at 6:30pm so that was the last time she
ate. We took a drive around 7:30pm to
Columbia Bottom Conservation Area. We
talked about the views and cars mostly.
We then spent the rest of the evening watching TV and laughing until mom
went to bed at 1am. We both nodded off a
couple times. I was tired. Mom put on her nightgown without me telling
how to do it. I did help take the pants
off but she took her shirt off without trying to put the nightgown on over her
shirt.
Wednesday July 25th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents today or
overnight. Mom was up washed, dressed
and feed by the time I got up. It was
another sunny hot day with temps at 108 yet another record high. It is still 101 at 8pm thank god for air
conditioning. I just had enough time to
run an errand before I had to be home at 1:30pm. Andrea said her word of the day for mom was
sleepy and mom was sleeping in the living room when I got home. Andrea did say she had to crush about half of
mom’s pills and put them in applesauce. We
took a drive around 2:45pm to Columbia Bottom Conservation Area. We talked about the views and cars and talked
about the normal amount. We then both
napped until dinner. The last time mom
ate anything was at 5:30pm. We took a
second drive around 6pm to both Sioux Passage and Sunset parks. We talked about the cars and houses
mostly. We spent the rest of the evening
watching TV and laughing. Mom did nap
off and on some this evening. Mom went to bed at 12:30am and did do some
fussing on changing.
Tuesday July 24th 2012
Mom did have a bowel accident this morning. Mom was up dressed, and feed by the time I
left. I just had enough time to run an
errand before getting back by 2pm. The
past 2 days Andrea has given mom one pill at a time but Andrea has put the
pills in mom’s mouth herself then told mom to take a drink of milk. Andrea did get mom to take all the pills
without crushing any. Andrea said her
word of the day for mom was funny. Mom
was sleeping when I got home. I was so
tired I to took a nap until 3pm then I had mom go to the bathroom before a
drive. We took a drive to Sioux Passage
Park. Mom talked more than her normal
mostly about the cars and trees. We then
napped a little before dinner. I gave
mom a cookie at 7pm so that was the last time she ate anything. We took a drive around 6pm to both Sioux
Passage and Sunset parks. We both where
fairly quiet on this drive I had a headache so I didn’t talk much so neither did
mom. We spent the rest of the evening
watching TV and laughing until mom went to bed at 11pm. Andrea had put a house coat on mom today so
she could sleep in it and go out on drives.
So I didn’t need to have mom change into a nightgown.
Monday July 23rd 2012
Mom did have a bowel accident today sometime after breakfast
I even had to help Andrea get mom cleaned up.
Mom had poop on the bathroom floor and in her pants it was a mess. I ran some errands after I got up and ate
before getting back home by 3:30pm.
Andrea said her word of the day for mom was 2 words biddable and
poopy. Andrea did not have to crush any
of mom’s pills. Shannon said mom was sleepy
the 2 hours she was here. Mom was
sleeping when I got home at 3:30pm. It
was another sunny hot day with temps at 106.
Mom and I took a drive to Sioux Passage Park a little after 4pm and
before dinner. We talked mostly about
the cars and trees and ended up talking about our normal amount. We had dinner when we got back but I gave mom
a cookie at 8pm so that was the last time she had anything to eat. We took a second drive around 7pm to Columbia
Bottom Conservation Area. We talked our
normal amount mostly on the views and cars.
We spent the rest of the evening watching TV and laughing. Mom napped a little around 11pm and went to
bed at 1am. Mom did not need as much
help tonight changing into her nightgown.
She took her shirt off without being told to and took off her pants as
well. Mom was a little more alert at
bedtime than her normal.
Sunday July 22nd 2012
Mom
did have a bladder accident this morning as she was
sitting at the table eating breakfast.
Patti did have mom go to the bathroom before breakfast but for some
reason mom still had a bladder accident.
I had my friend Patti over while I went to church. I met up with my
friends as normal and we had
brunch after the service. Patti said she
had to crush most of mom’s pills into applesauce. It was a sunny hot
day with temps over 100. Mom was napping when I got home from church
until I got her up to change her panties and then dressed. We then took
a drive along the river road
part way to Grafton IL. We saw several
people out riding their bikes on the bike/hike trail. We also saw a few
boats out on the river but
did not see any sailboats or barges today.
The barge traffic is down on the river because the drought has caused
the river to be too shallow. We talked a
little less than our normal on this drive.
Mom then napped a little before our second drive. Our second drive was
to Columbia Bottom
Conservation Area. We talked about the
views. Then we both took a nap before
dinner. The last time mom ate was at
6:30pm. We then spent the rest of the
evening watching TV and laughing. We
talked to my brother Larry over SKYPE tonight.
Mom went to bed close to 1am and needed help changing about her normal
amount.
Saturday July 21st 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. I got mom up several times
overnight but we got up for the day around 11:30am. I tried giving mom just one pill at a time
today like Andrea did yesterday and it worked.
I did not have to crush any pills up and put them in applesauce. After a bathroom trip and getting mom changed
we took our first drive of the day. We
drove along the river road part way to Grafton IL. Today we saw several boats out on the water
and several people riding their bikes along the bike/hike trail. It was a sunny day with temps in the 90’s but
low humidity. We talked about our normal
amount on our drive. I fixed lunch when
we got back then mom took a short nap.
We then took a second drive to both Sioux Passage and Sunset parks. We talked about the cars and trees on the
drive. Then mom napped some before
dinner. We both fell asleep and didn’t eat
dinner until 7pm. We did not take any
drives this evening we napped a little after dinner then spent the rest of the
evening watching TV and laughing. Mom
did do some wondering around the house at 10pm for just a few minutes she
hasn’t done that for a while. Mom went
to bed at 1am and was a bit difficult to get her changed into her nightgown
then to lay down and go to sleep.
Friday July 20th 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. Again today
I met up with another friend downtown for lunch. We went over to a buffet where you can eat as
much pizza as you want and it’s pretty good pizza. Andrea said her word of the day for mom was
alert and Shannon agreed the 2 hours she was here. Andrea said she tried something different
today with mom’s pills. She tried giving
mom just 1 pill at a time and it worked so she did not have to crush any of the
pills. I got back home at 3:30pm and mom
was in the bathroom. So we took a drive
when she got out. We drove over to Sioux
Passage Park and mom was chattier than her normal. It was a partly sunny day and the first day
in 23 days that the high was under 90 at 87.
It almost felt like air conditioning outside after so many near or above
100 degree days. Maybe this is why mom
was a bit more alert today. I had my
friend Patti over this evening so I could meet up with another friend and go to
the baseball game. We picked the perfect
night for a game temps in the 70’s with a breeze and the Cardinals won so Mac
and I still have a perfect win record.
The St Louis Cardinals have won every regular season game the 2 of us go
to now at 14 straight. We also picked by
the grace of god the only day not over 90 degrees for tomorrow it is back to
upper 90’s and 100+ by Sunday. Patti
said mom was up the whole time I was gone not napping at all and was more alert
and talkative than her normal with Patti.
Patti said she warmed up the dinner for mom at 6pm so that was the last
time mom ate. I left a little after 5pm
for the game and got back at 11:30pm.
Mom and I stayed up until 1am watching TV. I had got mom back in her nightgown before I
left for the game.
Thursday July 19th 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 sunny hot
day with temps at 103. This makes it 23
days in a row of 90+ with 13 of them over 100.
I met up with a friend for lunch today we went over to the Pasta
House. Mom was watching TV when I got
home at 3:30pm. Andrea said mom was easy
going but did have to crush the pills into applesauce. Patti said mom slept most of the time she was
here. I took mom for a drive to Sioux
Passage Park before dinner. The last
time mom ate was at 6pm and she went to bed at 1:30am. After dinner we took a drive to Columbia
Bottom Conservation Area. We talked
about our normal amount on both drives.
We then just watched TV and laughed the rest of the evening.
Wednesday July 18th 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. It was a sunny hot
day with temps at 106. This makes it 22
days in a row of 90+ with 12 of them over 100. The last time St Louis and the Midwest for
that matter had temps this hot and lack of rain this long was back in 1936. I just had enough time for a short drive and
grocery shopping before getting back home by 2pm. Andrea said her word of the day for mom was
verbal. Again today Andrea had to crush
mom’s pills and put them into applesauce.
This makes 6 days in a row we had to crush mom’s pills it is becoming
her new normal. Mom and I took a drive
around 3:30pm. We drove first to
Columbia Bottom Conservation Area then over to Sioux Passage Park before
heading home. We talked about the views,
cars houses and trees mostly. Mom was a
little more talkative than her normal on our drive. I fixed dinner when we got back but gave mom
a snack this evening so the last time she ate anything was at 8pm. We took a drive around 7pm back to Columbia
Bottom Conservation Area. Mom talked
about her normal amount on this drive.
When we got back mom asked me who I was which makes about 3 times she
has asked me that in the past 3 weeks.
We spent the rest of the evening watching TV and laughing. Mom went to bed at 1am and she did not try
and put her nightgown on over her shirt she took the shirt off first without me
saying anything other than put on the nightgown.
Tuesday July 17th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Andrea did tell me that mom did have a
bladder accident yesterday just before lunch.
Mom was up, feed and dressed by the time I left today. It was a sunny hot day with temps at 103
another record high for the day. This
makes it 21 days in a row of 90+ with 11 of them over 100. The forecast is the next 2 days over 100 and
the next 7 days at 90+. We are having a
record hot year here in St Louis. I just
had enough time today for a short drive.
I’m still sleeping the first few hours Andrea is here because that is
when I can sleep when someone is here besides mom and I. Andrea said her word of the day for mom was
odd and that mom slept a lot of the time Andrea was here. Andrea did say she had to crush mom’s pills
and put them in applesauce again today.
Mom just didn’t understand what to do with the pills. Mom was sleeping in her chair in the TV room
when I got home at 1:30pm. We went for a
drive around 2:30pm to Columbia Bottom Conservation Area. We talked mostly about the views and cars
with mom talking about her normal amount.
We then took a second drive to Sioux Passage Park around 4:30pm just
before dinner. On this drive we mostly
talked about the number of cars and the houses.
Then we had dinner and the last time mom ate anything was at 6pm. We then just spent the rest of the evening
watching TV and laughing with us both napping off and on until mom went to bed
at 11pm. I did have to help mom more
tonight with changing than I did last night.
Monday July 16th 2012
Mom
did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. I left this morning earlier than normal to
take my van in to have a recall problem fixed.
It took all morning but it did give me time to do some reading while I
waited the 3 hours. I even got in a
short walk before going to the grocery store then home at 3:30pm.
Andrea said her word of the day for mom was
vacuous and she did have to crush mom’s pills into applesauce today.
Shannon said mom slept most of the 2 hours
she was here. Mom was in the bathroom
when I got home. It was a partly sunny
day with temps in the 90’s now 20 days of 90+. We took a drive shortly
after I got home. We drove over to Sioux Passage Park. We talked about
the cars and houses mostly
and we talked about our normal amount. We
watched a little TV after the drive and before dinner. The last time
mom ate anything was at
6pm. We took a second drive around 7pm
to both Sioux Passage and Sunset parks.
We spent the rest of the evening watching TV and laughing. Mom went to
bed a little after 1am. Tonight she did not get confused and try to
put the nightgown on over her shirt, she took the shirt off first
without me
telling her. So tonight she needed the
least about of help changing in a long time like months.
Sunday July 15th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. I had my friend Patti over today so I could go
to church. I over slept today and didn’t
wake up until I heard Patti come in the house so I was a little late to church
but did make it in time to see most of the worship and all of the pastor
talk. I met up with my friends as normal
after the service for brunch and to just hang out some. It was a partly sunny
day with temps in the 90’s now 19 days of 90+.
Patti said mom slept most of the time she was here. Patti had to crush all of mom’s pills and put
them in applesauce. Mom was sleeping
when I got back home at 12:30pm. I got
mom dressed and had her take a bathroom trip before our first drive of the
day. It was difficult to get mom into
the bathroom it is turning more into mom’s normal. We drove along the river road part way to
Grafton IL. We saw just 3 boats and 1
sailboat on the river. There were half a
dozen people riding their bikes along the trail. Mom was fairly quiet on our drive and not
always responsive. We both napped after
our drive until dinner. Mom talked about
the flowers during dinner. The last time
mom ate anything was at 5:30pm. We took
our second drive around 7pm. On this
drive we went to both Sioux Passage and Sunset parks. Mom was fairly quiet and not always responsive
on this drive as well. We spent the rest
of the night watching TV and laughing. Mom
went to bed at 11:45pm. Tonight she got
changed with less help from me.
Saturday July 14th 2012
Mom did have a bladder accident overnight because I over
slept and didn’t get her up in time. We
got up for the day at 10am and had breakfast.
I did have to crush most of mom’s pills and put them in applesauce. It was a partly sunny day with temps in the
90’s now 18 days off 90+. We took a
drive shortly after breakfast, the pills and getting mom dressed. I did help put mom’s pants on and take her
nightgown off. We drove along the river
road part way to Grafton IL. Today we
only saw 1 sailboat out on the river and 2 speed boats. We did see more people biking and walking
along the bike/hike trail that runs along the road. We talked mostly about the boats, houses on
the cliffs and cars. We talked about our
normal amount. When we got back I fixed
our lunch I stopped on the way back and picked up a couple barbeque hamburgers.
We then napped some before taking a second drive. On this drive we drove over to both Sioux
Passage and Sunset parks. We mostly
talked about the number of cars and talked about our normal amount. I fixed a late dinner when we got back and then
gave mom a snack so the last time she ate was at 7:30pm. We spent the rest of the evening watching TV
and laughing. On a note over the past
few weeks it is getting harder to get mom into the bathroom even when I know
she needs to go. Mom went to bed at 2am
and needed her normal help changing.
Friday July 13th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up, washed, dressed and
feed when I got up today. It was a
partly sunny day with temps in the 90’s now 17 days off 90+. Shannon was sick and couldn’t come by this
afternoon so I just had enough time to run some errands before getting back by
1:30pm. Andrea said her word of the day
for mom was irritable in the morning then she was sweet. Andrea did have to crush mom’s pills and put
them in applesauce. We took a drive
close to 3pm to Columbia Bottom Conservation Area. We talked about our normal amount and mostly
on the views, cars and trees. We both
took a short nap after we got back and before dinner we took a second
drive. This time we drove over to Sioux
Passage Park and we both were fairly quiet on this drive we both were kind of
in our own heads on the drive. I fixed
dinner when we got back and the last time mom ate anything was at 6:30pm. We took our third drive of the day around 7pm
over to both Sioux Passage and Sunset parks.
Mom was fairly chatty on this drive.
We mostly talked about the number of cars, trees and flowers. We then spent the rest of the evening
watching TV and laughing until mom went to bed at 11:30pm. I had to help my normal amount on getting mom
changed into her nightgown.
Thursday July 12th 2012
Mom
did have 1 bladder and bowel accident then another just
bladder accident this morning. Andrea
said mom was going to the bathroom a lot this morning so something was
going on
with her stomach. She returned back to
her normal bathroom trips by this evening.
Andrea even said her word of the day for mom was a new made up word
peeful. Andrea was able to get mom to
take her pills without crushing any. I
just had enough time to run some errands before getting back by 1:30pm.
The pastor came by this afternoon at 1:30pm
to visit with mom and was here for about 45 minutes. We had a good talk
with the pastor like
normal. Since Patti was here I took off
for a couple hours after the Pastor left even got in a short walk. I
went over to Columbia Bottom Conservation
Area and was back by 4pm. It was a sunny
day with temps in the 90’s. It has now
been 16 days in a row of 90+ temps. I
took mom for a drive to Sioux Passage Park before dinner. Mom was
fairly quiet on this drive. We had dinner when we got back so the last
time mom ate anything was at 6pm. After
a bathroom break we took a drive around 7pm to Columbia Bottom
Conservation
Area. We talked a lot more on this drive
mostly about the views. We spent the
rest of the evening watching TV and even napping a little. Mom went to
bed at 1am and I had to help her
get changed as normal these days.
Wednesday July 11th 2012
Mom
did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up, washed, dressed and
feed when I got up today. It was a
partly sunny day with temps in the low 90’s.
I was able to get in a short walk today before getting back home by
2pm. I went over to the Columbia Bottom
Conservation Area and walked along the Missouri river. Andrea said her
word of the day for mom was
roaming and she had to crush most of moms pills and put them in
applesauce. I took mom for a drive around 3pm to both. We
drove over to Columbia Bottom Conservation Area. We talked a lot mostly
on the views and cars. We then napped a little before dinner so the
last time mom ate anything was at 6pm.
After a bathroom trip we took a second drive of the day. On this drive
we drove over to both Sioux
Passage and Sunset parks. We both were
quieter on this drive. We then spent the
rest of the evening watching TV and laughing until mom went to bed close
to
midnight. Mom didn’t need as much help
tonight as normal but still needed some on changing.
Tuesday July 10th 2012
Mom
did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up, dressed and feed
when I got up today. It was a partly
sunny day with temps in the low 90’s. I
just had enough time to run some errands today before getting back by
1:30pm. Andrea said her word of the day
for mom was antsy. Andrea was able to
get mom to take her pills without crushing any into applesauce. Mom was
watching TV when I got home. We took a drive shortly after I got home
to
Sioux Passage Park then over to Sunset Park.
We then took a second drive to just Sioux Passage Park before
dinner. On both drives mom talked about
her normal amount and we talked about houses, cars and trees. The last
time mom ate anything was at
5:30pm. We took a third drive after
dinner to Columbia Bottom Conservation Area but mom was quieter on this
drive. We spent the rest of the evening
watching TV and laughing. We also talked
to my brother Larry over SKYPE this evening.
Mom went to bed at 1:30am. I as
normal these days helped mom change into her nightgown.
Monday July 9th 2012
Mom
did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up, washed,
dressed and feed when I got up today. It
was a partly sunny day with temps in the low 90’s. I even took a short
walk over by the Missouri
river at Columbia Bottoms Conservation Area.
I then ran some errands before heading back home at 3:30pm. Andrea was
only here today for 2 hours but
she said her word of the day for mom was curious. Andrea was also able
to get mom to take all
her pills without crushing any into applesauce.
Patti was here when I left then Shannon was here when I got back.
Shannon said mom was fine but she was unable
to get mom to go to the bathroom so I did when I got back home. Mom was
watching TV when I got home. I took mom for a drive shortly after I
got
home. We drove over to Sioux Passage
Park and mom talked about her normal amount.
We talked about the flowers, cars and trees mostly. I also tell mom I
love her several times
during our drives and all day. I fixed
dinner when we got home so the last time mom had anything to eat was
5:15pm. We watched the news after dinner until our
second drive around 6pm. On this drive we
drove over to both Sioux Passage and Sunset Parks before heading home.
Mom was quieter on this drive. We then watched TV and laughed until mom
went
to bed at 12:30am. Mom also did a lot of
wondering around the house this evening she was very unsettled. Tonight
mom started to take her shirt off
before putting on the nightgown she was less confused tonight than her
new
normal.
Sunday July 8th 2012
Mom
did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. I got mom up several times
overnight and this morning for bathroom trips. The last time I got her
up was at 8:30am when
Patti was here. I had Patti over today
so I could go to church. My one friend I
meet up with had another friend come to church as well. It was good to
meet new people. It was the first day of less than 100 degrees
in 10 days the temp today was 98. It was
a partly sunny day turning cloudy in the afternoon and even getting some
rain
this evening. This was the first rain in
a long time. Patti had to crush moms
pills into applesauce today. Mom was
watching TV when I got home. I got mom
dressed when I got home then we took a drive.
Our first drive we drove along the river road part way to Grafton IL. I
saw 2 people out riding bikes today instead
of just 1 yesterday. There were more
motorcycles out today as well. Mom was
much quieter on our drive today than she was yesterday. We napped a
little after our drive before
taking a second drive. The second drive
we drove over to Sioux Passage Park then over to Sunset Park before
heading
home. Mom was quiet on this drive as
well on both drives mom was quieter and less responsive than the drives
yesterday. I fixed dinner when we got
back so the last time mom ate was 7pm.
We both napped a little after dinner then just spent the evening
watching TV and laughing until mom went to bed at 1am. As normal now
mom tried to put her nightgown
on over her shirt.
Saturday July 7th 2012
Mom
did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. I got mom up several times overnight and this
morning for bathroom trips. We got up
for the day at noon I over slept a little.
I fixed our breakfast and mom took most of her pills but I did crush 3
into applesauce. Mom was being a bit
difficult and it was a challenge getting her clothes on. It was a sunny
day with temps of 107 now 10
days in a row of 100 or more temps. We
are due some rain tomorrow and lower temps.
We took a drive along the river road part way to Grafton IL. Mom was
fairly chatty and aware on the
drive. We saw a few boats out on the
river and only 1 person riding their bike along the bike trail. I was
surprise to see even one since it was
over 100 degrees outside. We also talked
about the houses on top of the cliffs. I
fixed lunch when we got back then mom napped some before we took a
second
drive. Our second drive was to first
Sioux Passage Park where we saw a deer then over to Sunset Park. Mom
was fairly chatty on this drive as well. I fixed dinner after we got
back so the last
time mom ate anything was at 7pm. It
started thundering and mom napped some after dinner so we did not take
any more
drives. We spent the night watching TV
and laughing until mom went to bed at 11:30pm.
Mom was her normal confused when it came to changing not understanding
why she needs to take the shirt off first before putting the nightgown
on.
Friday July 6th 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up, partly washed, dressed
and feed when I got up today. Andrea
said mom was up when she got here and that was the reason she did not get mom
washed real well. It was a sunny day with
temps of 105 for now 9 days in a row of 100 or more temps. I just ran some errands this afternoon that
took me all afternoon. It was too hot to
do much outside anyway. Andrea said her
word of the day for mom was restless.
Andrea was also able to get mom to take her pills without crushing
any. Shannon said mom was active and
alert the 2 hours she was here. Mom was
in the bathroom when I got home at 3pm.
Mom and I took a drive at 4pm to Sioux Passage Park before dinner. Mom was somewhat chatty on the drive mostly
talking about the number of cars and houses.
We had dinner when we got back so the last time mom I gave mom a banana
at 6:30pm so that was the last time she ate anything. We took a second drive a little after 7pm to
Columbia Bottom Conservation Area and mom was chattier than her normal on this
drive as well. We then spent the rest of
the night watching TV and laughing until mom went to bed at 11pm. So overall today mom has been more mentally
alert and active than her normal. I did
have to help her get changed but not as much as normal.
Thursday July 5th 2012
Mom
did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up, dressed and feed
when I got up today. It was a sunny day
with temps of 105 now 8 days in a row of 100 or more temps. I just ran
some errands and took a short
drive it was just too hot to take a hike.
Andrea said her word of the day for mom was placid and she was able to
get mom to take her pills without crushing any of them. Patti said mom
was fine the time she was
here. We took a drive to Sioux Passage
Park before dinner and mom talked about her normal amount. The last
time mom ate was at 6pm. We took a second drive to both Sioux Passage
and Sunset Parks after dinner. We then
watched TV until mom went to bed at 11pm.
Wednesday July 4th 2012 fourth of July
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up, washed, dressed and feed
when I got up today. It was a sunny day
with temps of 104 for now 7 days in a row of 100 or more temps. I met up with a friend to talk about maybe
staying here and be an extra person to help for free room. I have turned down a few jobs because they
were out of town and now I don’t have enough people to do a 24 hour day that
knows mom even if the job is in town. I
need someone who knows mom and that mom knows to be here overnight so I can
sleep. Right now I’m getting maybe 4 or
5 hours a day on good days. I know god
will keep me strong and is lining up something for my future and I take it as
an honor to take care of mom. I would
even go to hell to protect her so I don’t mind turning down jobs to stay here
and take care of her. Actually if I had
taken those jobs mom would be out of money right now so it worked out that I
didn’t take the jobs. But if god wants me
to work I need to get someone in here that can get to know mom without costing
mom too much money. Andrea said her
words of the day for mom were cantankerous in the morning and affectionate in
the afternoon. Andrea was able to get
mom to take her pills without crushing any.
Mom was affectionate with me the whole time I was here. Mom was watching TV when I got home at
2pm. Mom napped some until 3:30pm when
we took a drive after a bathroom break of course. We drove over to Columbia Bottom Conservation
Area and mom was chattier than normal.
We mostly talked about the views and cars. We both napped a little before I fixed
dinner. So the last time mom ate
anything was at 5:30pm. We took a drive
after dinner to Sioux Passage Park but mom was quieter on this drive. We then spent the rest of the evening
watching TV, laughing and watch the fireworks.
We can sit on the back porch and watch the Florissant fireworks. Mom went to bed at 1am and as normal these
days she wanted to put the nightgown on over her shirt.
Tuesday July 3rd 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or
today. Mom was up, dressed and feed
when I got up today. It was a partly
sunny day with temps of 100 for now 6 days in a row of 100 or more temps. Today I just had enough time to take a short
drive and run some errands before getting back by 1:30pm. Andrea said her word of the day for mom was
contentious plus mom slept a lot. Andrea
was able to get mom to take all her pills without crushing any. Mom was napping when I got home and I let her
sleep until 3:30pm when we took our drive.
We drove over to Sioux Passage Park.
We talked about the cars and trees mostly. I fixed dinner when we got back so the last
time mom ate anything was at 5:30pm. Mom
napped a little after dinner then we took a second drive around 6:30pm to
Columbia Bottom Conservation Area. Mom
talked more than her normal on this drive and started more talks than
normal. We mostly talked about the views
and cars. We then spent the rest of the
evening watching TV and laughing. Mom
went to bed at 12:30am and as the new normal I had to help her and she tried to
put the nightgown on over her shirt.
Overall with me mom was sweet and talkative for her.
Monday July 2nd 2012
Mom
did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or today. Mom
was up, washed, and feed when I got up today. It was a partly sunny day
with temps of 100 for now 5 days in a row of 100 or more temps. I had
Andrea leave mom in her nightgown I decided to let mom just stay inside
all day with no drives. I met a friend for lunch today. It was good
getting out and hangout over lunch. I then ran some errands before
getting back at 4pm. Andrea said her word of the day for mom was
sweet. Mom also took her pills without crushing any into
applesauce. Mom was watching TV when I got home and Patti said mom was
quiet the 2 hours she was here. Both mom and I napped before
dinner. The last time mom ate anything was at 6:45pm. We spent the
rest of the evening watching TV in between naps. Mom went to bed at
midnight.
Sunday July 1st 2012
Mom did not have any bladder or bowel accidents overnight or today. I got mom up several times overnight. I had my friend Patti over while I went to church. I had my normal brunch at church after the service with my friends. Patti had to crush the pills into applesauce today. Patti said mom was the most confused that she has seen mom. Mom wasn’t upset or mean just confused. Mom was watching TV and napping a little when I got home at noon. I got mom dressed I’m now almost always getting moms pants started for her then I take off her nightgown so she can put on her shirt. After a bathroom trip which I always have mom do before drives we took our first drive. It was a partly sunny hot day with temps again over 100 at 103. This was 4 days in a row of 100+ temps and they say it will be over 100 every day this coming week. We didn’t take a real long drive we just drove over to Columbia Bottom Conservation Area then back home. We talked about our normal amount mostly on the views. Mom then napped some before our second drive. We drove first to Sioux Passage Park then over to Sunset Park. Mom was quiet on this drive and not always responsive when I talked to her. We ate dinner when we got back so the last time mom ate anything was at 5:30pm. We both took a nap after dinner and did not take a drive this evening. We spent the night watching TV and napping off some. Mom went to bed at 1:30am and as normal wanted to put her nightgown on over her shirt. Overall today mom has been quieter and more nonresponsive than her normal. It could have something to do with 4 days of 100+ temps even though she is always in the AC.
