Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Midweek Reflections on Care Giving


‘Idál (Justice), 18 Rahmat (Mercy), 169 BE – Wednesday, July 11, 2012 about 11:35 AM Pacific Time

Sometimes I feel so alone. I know I am not alone, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people just like me who are carrying for loved one with Alzheimer’s or some other form of dementia. It is just that on mornings like this, when Mom wants to cry and one or more of her physical medical issues manifest itself, I feel alone and disconnected from humanity. All caregivers encounter this emotion when they feel overwhelmed by their loved one’s mental and physical problems.

Besides short-term memory lose, which goes along with Alzheimer’s disease, Mom is afflicted with emotional or anger issues, Macular degeneration, hearing lose, urinary incontinence, and fecal incontinence. Mom has hearing aids to alleviate some of the hearing lose, but most of the time she objects to wearing them. I put the hearing aids in each morning after her bath and then pray that she keeps them in all day or if she does take them out then they end up in her purse.

Each morning, before it is even time to get her up, I give her a pill to help with the agitation. I have to get her to sit up so that she can take the pill because if I simply put it in her mouth without a drink of water she will spit the pill out. If she spits the pill out then it has no effect upon her moods.

Monday through Friday, Mom goes to an adult daycare center. Monday through Friday, the hospice she sends a C.N.A. to give her a shower (which Mom is not crazy about, but it is necessary). After the shower, the bus from the daycare center picks Mom up and takes her to the center. Mom enjoys going to the center. Mom enjoys herself when she is at the daycare center. Whenever I drop in Mom is having a good time.

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