Mom has an appointment on Friday with the gastro. doctor that worked on her in the hospital to dislodge the piece of food stuck in her esophagus. I guess they want to check to see how it is healing. She has been scared to death to eat and I have been having a more difficult time feeding her. We've been sticking to a soft diet, and that probably a good part of her "bathroom problem".Plus, the choking is getting a lot worse. I know mom is in the final stages of Parkinson's, and I realize it won't be long before I will have to place her in the nursing home. The one that she will be going to is a real nice one;it's pretty small and is only 5 minutes from our home.Her doctor is on the board there,and we really like him. I wish this didn't have to happen, but I don't know what else to do. She can no longer do any thing for her self any more. She needs to be fed, bathed, put into her wheelchair, and taken to the bathroom. She can no longer stand on her own, or even help you get her into bed, or the wheelchair, or the toilet. I get help once a week for about 8 hours. My husband and I bowl every other Saturday, and have someone come in to watch her for that,too. But I am sure you all know how hard it can be on the children and spouses of caregivers,we all have sacrafices to make. I have been caring for Mom and Dad for about 10 yrs. now.Dad's been gone now since 2001. But, all in all, I am happy that I have done this, even through the "craziness" of it all at times. Believe me, there are times I want to jump out of my skin! I can feel anxiety attacks come on every once in awhile.But I just release my anxiety through humor. I just try to laugh about it all. My husband and I can get really silly about it. Thank God for a good sense of humor! I guess it is really the best medicine.
. She is having a terrible time eating, it takes her about 2 hrs. to eat her meals.She has lost bowel control,too.Her speech is getting worse,as well as her dementia.At home, she was not eating for me very well and refused to drink Boost. In her nursing home, they are giving her a special diet(mechanically altered diet and thickened liquids.),and are making her stay up in her wheel chair more than she ever did at home(they say it isn't good to lay down for to long because of the risk of pneumonia).She absolutely hates having to sit for so long. She had a throat scope done last Friday,and we found out that her throat is clear, no signs of anything wrong there. The swallowing problems that she is encountering is mechanical(most likely due to her end stage parkinson's). I realized that the best place for her was in the nursing home. It was becoming more and more difficult to care for her at home. Last Sunday I had a heck of a time trying to get her out of the bathtub. She could not move to help me get her out, and I had to lift her out and get her onto the floor.I have a herniated disk in my back and arthritis in my wrist, and that didn't help it any. Oh well, we made it. But at that point, that was what helped in our decision to make the move. I just can't handle her the way they do there. We really miss her, but know we did what we had to do. And she is only 5 minutes down the road, which is really nice.
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