Over the last 4 years, shopping has become a drama. Kath's mobility problems prevent her from going with me into shops, obviously. And the last time I took her into the supermarket about six years ago the place overwhelmed her to tears, so I am not even tempted to grab a wheelchair and try and manage both her and the trolley at once. On the other hand, it's nice to take her out for the drive - but again, it's not altogether as pleasurable for either of us as I would like.
I read an article somewhere that elderly dogs lose the ability to balance their body temperatures and I think the same must be true of humans. My mother is now always "hot" or "cold" - rarely if ever "comfortable". This has been the case for at least 5 years I guess. Whereas you or I might enjoy the warmth of the sun on us in the car, as soon as she feels it, she is "too hot", and she creates a fuss accordingly.
Of course I wouldn't leave her sitting in the car in the full sun anyway, but this sensitivity means I really have to be picky about where I park, wherever I go - depending on whether the sun is shining and what direction it's shining from. I do have choices in our village, but in town, there are few enough parking spaces available anyway. On top of that, my window of opportunity for being away from the car has decreased dramatically and I have to park as close as possible to wherever I am going. So getting parked is a stress from more than one point of view.
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alzheimers, alzheimers care, dementia, caregiver, alzheimers disease
2 comments:
Patricia--Oh, yes... My mother gets angry at me for not being able to push a wheelchair and a shopping cart at the same time! I'm becoming expert at dashing into stores, directly to the shelves I've planned ahead of time, grabbing what I need, then zipping through the checkout line and out of the store. I hadn't thought about the body temperature problem, but I think you're right. I was reading something similar very recently, to the effect that older folks also lose their sensitivity to thirst and so don't drink the water that they should, and often become dehydrated. It's as if their thermostats no longer work.
Deb
Yes, Deb - the hospital told me they have trouble getting the oldies to drink, so it must be pretty universal. My mom was in care in January for about 10 days and I was planning on leaving her a couple of days more - it was my first time off in over 2 months - when they rang me saying would I please take her home because they could not get her to drink enough!!
Patricia
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