a week of no eldercare - Alzheimer's Disease & Dementia Message Board

Martha H · 03-17-2005, 05:10 PM

Hi Friends,

Well it's a whole week since Mom flew to Ohio.

Except for the one call I made to be sure she was safely there, and the one 2 sentence e-mail saying, "Mom is fine, I see no signs at all of dementia, what have you been talking about" no further word. I am resisting the temptation to call her.

It is a different life. I don't have to rush home, and I am free to come and go as I wish. It is quiet at home (not counting the neighbors) and if I could I could sleep all night with no interruptions.

It is a strange and sudden change, and of course going much too fast. But now, I think : just over 2 more months of Momcare, then off to the peaceful Midwest and 'my own life' which remains to be defined....

It looks as if my job will continue until June 14, I think!

I read this Board several times a day and keep all of you in my prayers.

Love,

Martha

BarbaraH · 03-17-2005, 08:59 PM

Hi Martha,

I'm glad you're enjoying your time of (as my Dad used to say) peace, quiet and, tranquility. It surely must be a refreshing change.

Hope your energy and batteries are recharged so you can deeply enjoy the remaining time alone, your birthday, and your upcoming trip!

I hope, too, that your mother isn't a bigger handful when she returns home. Don't close the door to leaving May 1 or at least your brother taking over then even if you stay until mid-June. Just keep it in mind and we'll hope it's not needed.

Happy St Patrick's day!! Barbara

(green, you know!)

angel_bear · 03-17-2005, 09:40 PM

<b>**note to self**</b>

<u>STOP JEALOUS FEELINGS </u>...... be nice .. play fair .... Good Sally ...... Good Girl ....

No really Martha, I hope your first 'free' week has been (other than sleep) all you could imagine ....

Hugs
Sally

Martha H · 03-18-2005, 02:36 AM

Hi Everyone!

May 1 is still an option. Bill thinks it would be hard to justify Mom's move if I am still at home. But she does not need to know it. She will be at their house and in 'another world', uless I came over, and even then she would think I am visiting from Indiana ..if she thought anything at all ...

But I kind of want to spend these last few weeks with her if it is possible ... if she isn't beginning to run away, or doing gross and dangerous things in my absence.

I already suggested they might take her on a weekend twice a month to give me relief or to get her used to her new home. No decision yet on that idea.

Meanwhile I've picked up a bladder infection which kept me up all night running to the bathroom. I'm on cranberry juice and cranberry extract tablets so it's already improving, plus lots of water and NO coffee ..I MUST go to school today: a parent is putting on a huge birthday party for her daughter, complete with pizza and a pinata ..and needs lots of help in controlling and directing the children, who can get quite wild when their usual routines are broken. If I don't think I can wait 1.5 hours for the bus commute, I may have to take a cab for the second bus ride, the shorter (cheaper!) leg of the commute ..or stop at a Mac Donald's along the way to use the rest room .. what a pain!

Love,

Martha

angel_bear · 03-18-2005, 05:08 AM

Oh Martha !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your Mum goes away and you crash in illness!!! ACK !!!!! NO NO NO .. you have to improve so you can Appreciate your free-time!!!

This is orders .. from Sally !!!!!!!!!!

At least I'm crashing in front of my charges .. LOL .. stop doing it behind your mothers back !! LOL LOL LOL ............

Good one on the cranberry juice, and major fluids .. we also have a 'supplement' you can get from the supermarket and the chemist called "URAL" .. it makes a kind of fizzy drink when mixed with water. You drink a couple of sachets of those, and one UTI is GONE GONE GONE ... Oh gee it's frustrating living in diff. countries, you WOULD have the same stuff, possibly different name ..... works a treat ..

My *almost* 10 year old (on the 28th March) has suffered badly from UTI's all her young life .. when she get's it, it goes straight to her kidneys, and one of them shuts down instantly ... painful, and annoying !!!!!!!! She had an ultrasound with the last one and the kidney that shut down was the size of a raisin. Once the infection left her body, it 'pinked up' and was almost normal size. They've estimated that when she get's older, she'll probably end up having it removed .. then again .. who knows what's going to happen over the next 10 years? She was a chronic asthmatic for 3.5 years, and then it just 'miraculously' went away .... flares occassionaly, but NOTHING like it was .... so I sit and wait. If nothing, she will keep us guessing for the rest of our lives.

Just a small update on today: My blood pressure was 160/80 the first reading and 140/80 the second. I spent 45 minutes with the doctor HOWLING because of the 'truth' aspect ..

I gotta learn to be tough ......... I don't quite know how ..... but tough I have to learn to be ....

Lotza learning curves with our loved ones with this disease eh?

Hugs ......... Martha ...... Paracetamol, water and anything else you can get your hands on.

Hugs & Cheers

Sally