Because it's nice to have a break from all the writing on blogs, I'll share some of my favorite creations with you - and I hope you like them:
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alzheimers, alzheimers care, dementia, caregiver, alzheimers disease, death, dying
Friday, January 23, 2009
My Diversions
You wouldn't be mistaken if you thought that somewhere in my life there must be something that keeps the ship steady. Though I'd had a busy career in the law it definitely wasn't that.
Because it's nice to have a break from all the writing on blogs, I'll share some of my favorite creations with you - and I hope you like them:
- - -
Technorati Tags:
alzheimers, alzheimers care, dementia, caregiver, alzheimers disease, death, dying
Because it's nice to have a break from all the writing on blogs, I'll share some of my favorite creations with you - and I hope you like them:
- - -
Technorati Tags:
alzheimers, alzheimers care, dementia, caregiver, alzheimers disease, death, dying
The Valley of the Shadow of Death
We've been on what I thought was the verge of death several times.
The last time I left Kath alone at home for a morning to fulfil a work obligation in town (2004), I brought home a takeaway lunch. Although she had made the decision not to go with me, looking back on it I think she had been stressing while I was out.
We went into the sunshine in my bedroom and sat together on the bed to eat. Funnily enough, it was something we had never done before, but it was fortuitous because as we chatted and ate, Kath's speech suddenly slurred and faded and she lost consciousness, falling back on the bed. I suppose she had a mini-stroke. As I bent over her, shaking her shoulder gently, talking and calling to her, she sicked up the food she'd eaten.
Luckily, I had put a towel on her knee before we started, and I was able to clean up and talk her back to consciousness. I thank the presence of mind of the 111 operator who took the reins, gave me good advice, and called the ambulance for me while I called the hospital.
Actually, the whole incident had its humorous moments, too. On the way out, the ambulance got its back wheels stuck in our bog and we ended up with the fire engine trying in vain to get up the drive (after wet weather) and the police ORV coming to the rescue with its bull-bars and winch. My mom had to be offloaded from the ambulance while they got it back on the road - lucky she was pretty much recovered by then but I can still see her sitting there on the stretcher under the trees.
The second time she woke up very early one morning and announced she was dying. She was shaking and behaving really wierd. For over an hour I knelt by her bed and got her through that. Finally she dropped off to sleep and I crawled back into bed, troubled and exhausted. When she awoke later, though, she was more like her usual self.
I felt the loneliest I have ever felt on a couple of other nights when I went to bed thinking she would not be alive in the morning. Looking at her general alertness, that stage may yet be far down the track. Then again, I may wake up one morning and find it has arrived.
- - -
Technorati Tags:
alzheimers, alzheimers care, dementia, caregiver, alzheimers disease, death, dying
The last time I left Kath alone at home for a morning to fulfil a work obligation in town (2004), I brought home a takeaway lunch. Although she had made the decision not to go with me, looking back on it I think she had been stressing while I was out.
We went into the sunshine in my bedroom and sat together on the bed to eat. Funnily enough, it was something we had never done before, but it was fortuitous because as we chatted and ate, Kath's speech suddenly slurred and faded and she lost consciousness, falling back on the bed. I suppose she had a mini-stroke. As I bent over her, shaking her shoulder gently, talking and calling to her, she sicked up the food she'd eaten.
Luckily, I had put a towel on her knee before we started, and I was able to clean up and talk her back to consciousness. I thank the presence of mind of the 111 operator who took the reins, gave me good advice, and called the ambulance for me while I called the hospital.
Actually, the whole incident had its humorous moments, too. On the way out, the ambulance got its back wheels stuck in our bog and we ended up with the fire engine trying in vain to get up the drive (after wet weather) and the police ORV coming to the rescue with its bull-bars and winch. My mom had to be offloaded from the ambulance while they got it back on the road - lucky she was pretty much recovered by then but I can still see her sitting there on the stretcher under the trees.
The second time she woke up very early one morning and announced she was dying. She was shaking and behaving really wierd. For over an hour I knelt by her bed and got her through that. Finally she dropped off to sleep and I crawled back into bed, troubled and exhausted. When she awoke later, though, she was more like her usual self.
I felt the loneliest I have ever felt on a couple of other nights when I went to bed thinking she would not be alive in the morning. Looking at her general alertness, that stage may yet be far down the track. Then again, I may wake up one morning and find it has arrived.
- - -
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alzheimers, alzheimers care, dementia, caregiver, alzheimers disease, death, dying
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
"It's Like Having a Child"
This is what people sometimes say to me, and yes in a way it's true - but in another way it's not.
Yes it's like having a child - of course it is - the messy eating, all the places you cannot go to because the behaviour doesn't fit, the mental return to childhood behaviour patterns, the attention-seeking - all this is akin to what parents of youngsters have to deal with.
But there IS one huge, fundamental difference, that makes all the difference. With a child, the carer has youth and strength on their side, as they nurture a young life of hope and promise that looks forward to a future of learning, applying, and being taught to understand. You can plant a seed and watch it grow.
With Shakespeare's second childhood there is none of this - the carer, now in middle age, is becoming increasingly aware of their own mortality, and there is no growth, no learning, no improvement to look forward to.
Instead of the exciting promise of helping a new young life on its way to discovery, the caregiver walks in the valley of the shadow of death - and I have been in there long enough to know what an effect that can have on one's thinking, emotions, and optimism, regardless of one's beliefs and faith.
- - -
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alzheimers, alzheimers care, dementia, caregiver, alzheimers disease, death
Yes it's like having a child - of course it is - the messy eating, all the places you cannot go to because the behaviour doesn't fit, the mental return to childhood behaviour patterns, the attention-seeking - all this is akin to what parents of youngsters have to deal with.
But there IS one huge, fundamental difference, that makes all the difference. With a child, the carer has youth and strength on their side, as they nurture a young life of hope and promise that looks forward to a future of learning, applying, and being taught to understand. You can plant a seed and watch it grow.
With Shakespeare's second childhood there is none of this - the carer, now in middle age, is becoming increasingly aware of their own mortality, and there is no growth, no learning, no improvement to look forward to.
Instead of the exciting promise of helping a new young life on its way to discovery, the caregiver walks in the valley of the shadow of death - and I have been in there long enough to know what an effect that can have on one's thinking, emotions, and optimism, regardless of one's beliefs and faith.
- - -
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alzheimers, alzheimers care, dementia, caregiver, alzheimers disease, death
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Beware ...
The two things you really have to watch out for with caring for the elderly are constipation and bladder infections. Either of these can produce some really wierd behaviours and I am glad my local hospital alerted me to the fact that they can have a profound effect on the brain and behaviour in elderly people.
Constipation is something I try to deal with through Kath's food - we had an episode of constipation once and we had to go to the hospital to get a suppository put in. I don't want to revisit that if I can help it. So I limit my use of white flour severely. I bake bread of half white (sometimes less) and half wholemeal flour. Sometimes I put ground sunflower seeds in it, as these are very good for keeping things moving, as well as being healthful - up to a quarter of the ingredients by bulk - removing half the white flour. I would do that all the time, except that I raise the bread using baking soda because she (and I) have problems with yeast, and for some reason baking soda reacts with sunflower seeds to make a green color which looks odd. If you use yeast, then substtuting with the sunflower seeds is a really good idea.
I also make muffins using sunflower seeds, coconut (another handy standby) and a little potato flour. But one thing I know for sure is that white flour is constipating. So is white sugar, which I just do not keep in the house. Fortunately, my mom has never taken sugar, and has always preferred savory to sweet foods.
If I ever feel we might have a constipation problem starting, I use "Smooth Move" Tea by Traditional Medicinals of CA from the health store. One cup is all it takes - and it's a very pleasant drink.
I keep a special watch out for bladder infection because I know Kath is prone to it, in spite of my efforts. From time to time I put her on cranberry tablets for it. She had several bouts before I discovered it was brought on by her not wiping her bottom properly - she had forgotten how to. So I took over that little job, probably four years back.
The worst recent episode was about 18 months ago and I don't know what brought it on -
We had a couple of days when she became increasingly talkative - if that's possible. She was also quite definitely "stroppy" and by the end of the second day I had made up my mind to get her down to the hospital the following morning for a urine check. Tired, I climbed into bed, right opposite hers and facing her under the window. She wouldn't lie down but sat upright against her pillows and then began biting her sheets and blankets and stuffing them into her mouth.
That was another dark night. It took me a while to get her off to sleep, and images of that night still haunt me. It WAS a bladder infection, as it turned out, and it should be noted that although bladder infections are often painful, my mom never seemed to have any pain with hers. So it's always worth checking, even if the patient ISN'T complaining of bladder or urine pain.
One wonders how many old ladies suffering from bladder infections were classified as "mad" in the old days.
- - -
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alzheimers, alzheimers care, dementia, caregiver, alzheimers disease, bladder infections, constipation, madness
Constipation is something I try to deal with through Kath's food - we had an episode of constipation once and we had to go to the hospital to get a suppository put in. I don't want to revisit that if I can help it. So I limit my use of white flour severely. I bake bread of half white (sometimes less) and half wholemeal flour. Sometimes I put ground sunflower seeds in it, as these are very good for keeping things moving, as well as being healthful - up to a quarter of the ingredients by bulk - removing half the white flour. I would do that all the time, except that I raise the bread using baking soda because she (and I) have problems with yeast, and for some reason baking soda reacts with sunflower seeds to make a green color which looks odd. If you use yeast, then substtuting with the sunflower seeds is a really good idea.
I also make muffins using sunflower seeds, coconut (another handy standby) and a little potato flour. But one thing I know for sure is that white flour is constipating. So is white sugar, which I just do not keep in the house. Fortunately, my mom has never taken sugar, and has always preferred savory to sweet foods.
If I ever feel we might have a constipation problem starting, I use "Smooth Move" Tea by Traditional Medicinals of CA from the health store. One cup is all it takes - and it's a very pleasant drink.
I keep a special watch out for bladder infection because I know Kath is prone to it, in spite of my efforts. From time to time I put her on cranberry tablets for it. She had several bouts before I discovered it was brought on by her not wiping her bottom properly - she had forgotten how to. So I took over that little job, probably four years back.
The worst recent episode was about 18 months ago and I don't know what brought it on -
We had a couple of days when she became increasingly talkative - if that's possible. She was also quite definitely "stroppy" and by the end of the second day I had made up my mind to get her down to the hospital the following morning for a urine check. Tired, I climbed into bed, right opposite hers and facing her under the window. She wouldn't lie down but sat upright against her pillows and then began biting her sheets and blankets and stuffing them into her mouth.
That was another dark night. It took me a while to get her off to sleep, and images of that night still haunt me. It WAS a bladder infection, as it turned out, and it should be noted that although bladder infections are often painful, my mom never seemed to have any pain with hers. So it's always worth checking, even if the patient ISN'T complaining of bladder or urine pain.
One wonders how many old ladies suffering from bladder infections were classified as "mad" in the old days.
- - -
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alzheimers, alzheimers care, dementia, caregiver, alzheimers disease, bladder infections, constipation, madness
Monday, January 19, 2009
Crossing Over to the Other Side
And how fine that line proves to be when for some reason or another the patient crosses back over to sanity! One memorable day my mom nearly returned to her normal self. This reversal of symptoms almost made me wonder how much the researchers really know when they tell us that Alzheimers' brain damage is totally irreversible.
My mom's bed is right under a low 12 foot wide window, with its sill about 6" above mattress height - so she looks straight out on a very nice shrubbery border outside. I keep it as pretty as I can, and it doubles as a nursery for new plants I've bought - Hibiscus or roses usually. One of the Hibiscuses was in flower at the time so it must have been summer.
Here are a couple of pictures of her bed and its inmates as it sometimes looks these days, taken from my seat at the computer:
My mom's bed is right under a low 12 foot wide window, with its sill about 6" above mattress height - so she looks straight out on a very nice shrubbery border outside. I keep it as pretty as I can, and it doubles as a nursery for new plants I've bought - Hibiscus or roses usually. One of the Hibiscuses was in flower at the time so it must have been summer.
Here are a couple of pictures of her bed and its inmates as it sometimes looks these days, taken from my seat at the computer:
"Hey Guys! No Sleeping on My Watch!"
"OK OK - If Ya Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em!"
Normally Kath didn't even seem to notice what was out there, but one memorable day in her last 12 months she looked outside and said , "Isn't it beautiful!" I almost fell over. She commented several times and sat there drinking in the view and pointing at things as if she had just seen it all for the first time. Then one of our Birman cats came to her and instead of being unsure about it, and shrinking back, she reached out, petted the cat and told it how lovely it too was - just as she might have done in the 'good old days'. The cat settled down with her and she sat stroking it.
That was a blissful morning. She was calmer, and more content and peaceful than I'd seen her in years. The whole atmosphere of the room lightened and I could feel completely different vibes coming from her corner. But within 48 hours she was back to her "not well" self, and I was left puzzling at what might have brought about this amazing turn-around. AND wishing I knew how to flip the switch again.
- - -
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alzheimers, alzheimers care, dementia, caregiver, alzheimers disease
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Animal Horrors
This disease completly changes people's outlook on familiar things. In the days when we had dairy goats my mom often used to nurse the baby goats on her knee for me, especially if I had to clean them up after they were born, which happened quite often with multiple births. About three years ago we had our last kids and I brought one down from the shed for her to hold. I thought she might enjoy it.
She spent the whole time it was on her knee worrying about it. If it didn't move (being warm, settled and sleeping nicely) she said "There's something wrong - it's not moving." Then when it moved, there was something wrong because it moved. Sadly, I finally had to take it away because it was causing too much upset for both of us.
A few weeks later we had an unforgettable night. I had got into bed and she had one of our cats sitting by her hip. Suddenly she started raving and at first I couldn't understand what all the fuss was about. Apparently, it was to do with the cat and for some time she raved on, coming out with an amazing vocabulary of doom and gloom - the cat was dying, there was burning, there was wet, there was dirt, there was every kind of horror. Finally I got her settled and she fell asleep. As it happened, she was scheduled to go to the hospital next day for her week's stay and I warned them to put her on cranberry, although I still to this day don't know whether there was a bladder infection involved - but I suspect so. How fine is the line we walk!
- - -
Technorati Tags:
alzheimers, alzheimers care, dementia, caregiver, alzheimers disease
She spent the whole time it was on her knee worrying about it. If it didn't move (being warm, settled and sleeping nicely) she said "There's something wrong - it's not moving." Then when it moved, there was something wrong because it moved. Sadly, I finally had to take it away because it was causing too much upset for both of us.
A few weeks later we had an unforgettable night. I had got into bed and she had one of our cats sitting by her hip. Suddenly she started raving and at first I couldn't understand what all the fuss was about. Apparently, it was to do with the cat and for some time she raved on, coming out with an amazing vocabulary of doom and gloom - the cat was dying, there was burning, there was wet, there was dirt, there was every kind of horror. Finally I got her settled and she fell asleep. As it happened, she was scheduled to go to the hospital next day for her week's stay and I warned them to put her on cranberry, although I still to this day don't know whether there was a bladder infection involved - but I suspect so. How fine is the line we walk!
- - -
Technorati Tags:
alzheimers, alzheimers care, dementia, caregiver, alzheimers disease
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