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
Monday October 21st thru Saturday November
30th 2013
It has been awhile since I’ve updated the blog. I just don’t spend as much time at my PC. Some of the things new with me I was extended
at Work until the end of year at least and still go to church every
Sunday. I will just condense the weeks
since my last entry to pretty much the highlights with mom. I have now one person here 24/7 to help with
mom plus my normal women that have been with me for years. I did have 2 24/7 people here for a while but
decided to drop down to just one and have someone come in for the graveyard
shift so I can sleep before going into work.
We have now changed doctors to one that comes out to the house. The
doctor wrote an order for Medicare to give us a wheelchair and we use it
daily. Mom is still bed ridden and the
PT and OT have stopped coming out. Mom
has bounced back some though. Since we
got the wheelchair we feed mom when she is in the chair we either use the
hospital table or mostly put her at the dining room table to eat. Mom has also gone back to feeding herself
most of the time or at least 60 percent of the time so that is an
improvement. Mom remains in a great
playful spirit most of the time. So even
though she is not walking yet at least she seems to have bounced back to
herself before the hospital visit on Labor Day at least in a lot of ways. We also have mom now back to drinking 50 to
60 ounces and eating between 1000 to 1500 calories each day. All it took was god’s help and lots of tender
loving care. Now for me one of the
tougher things is now with the 24 hour girls and graveyard shift girls and my
normal girls I now have about 8 women to keep happy and at peace. Also almost all the people in my group at
work are women. How did the men of yesteryear keep so many wives happy
LOL.
Saturday October 19th and Sunday October 20th
2013
Mom was in the chair a couple times for about 2 hours each
time. I also had her sitting on the edge
of the bed for about 45 minutes and almost got her standing on Saturday. On Sunday afternoon after I got back from
church I had mom sitting on the side of the bed for 70 minutes. Both days I played with her and moved her
legs and she even kicked her legs on her own.
This time I did get mom up standing by giving her a hug and helping her
stand up. She was holding onto me but
was standing mostly on her own without me holding her up. She was up for only a few seconds but was
up. This time I was doing it without a
big production and trying to make her do it.
Mom also had over 1000 calories and 50 ounces of fluid both days.
Sunday October 13th thru Friday October 18th
2013
Mom had the PT and OT out both Monday and Wednesday this
week. She still needs a lot of help
standing up it is a long process. Mom
sits up fine on the edge of the bed.
Also mom wasn’t feeling real well on Monday morning. Mom is still eating around 1,000 calories or
more per day and drinking over 40 ounces of fluid. Mom is mostly pleasant and cheerful. We have mom sitting in the chair a couple of
times or more each day for about 2 hours each day.
Tuesday October 8th thru Saturday October
12th 2013
It’s been busy the past week well every week in busy. Some of the highlights Wednesday I was here
when the PT and OT were here. Mom didn’t
really walk but did stand up 5 times the last 2 the PT and OT were holding her
up mostly. She then sat on the edge of
the bed for a few minutes. We get her in
the chair at least twice a day and today she sat on the edge of the bed holding
herself up for almost an hour with me sitting in front of her talking to her. She is eating about 1000 calories a day and
at least 30+ ounces of fluid the last 2 days has been over 40 or 50. She is more talkative and alert during the
day and sometimes midevening if she napped some. I’m still working and was
extended earlier this month until the end of month and it may go longer. She still seems to be getting stronger
overall and spoiled with 2 of us around her all day.
Monday October 7th 2013
The PT and OT came this morning at 9am and had mom taking a
few steps with help from them holding her up.
They plan on coming back out on Wednesday at 9am and I’m thinking of
going into work late that day to see if I can help get mom to walk more myself
and to see for myself where she stands so to speak. The nurse also came out and checked moms INR
it was 2.6.
Thursday October 3rd thru Sunday October 6th
2013
We continue to put mom in the chair for a few hours each
day. We mostly feed her when she is in
the chair. Mom will have a busy day
Monday with the nurse, doctor, PT and OT all coming. The doctor is just a checkup, the nurse to
check moms INR count. The PT and OT will
she if they can’t get mom up for a longer amount of time. So it looks like mom will have a busy day on
Monday.
Wednesday October 2nd 2013
Mom again today had both the PT and OT out. They got mom up on her feet 3 times but today
they were supporting her more. Mom then
sat up on the edge of the bed for more than 15 minutes. Mom then took a short nap and was up sitting in
her chair when I got home at 5pm and was very alert for her at least. She had just finished dinner. We put her back in bed around 6pm and she
went to sleep. It was kinda neat she was
sleeping with a smile on her face. The
PT and OT plan on coming back on Monday.
Tuesday October 1st 2013
Mom had the speech therapist over around noon to check with
thicker fluid to help mom swallow which she said mom was doing a good job of
and unless we need her back out this was her last visit. Mom slept a lot over the evening.
