It seems that going Herbal also means going Vegan. (Oh, by the way, it is Herbalist not Herbologist). My sister is a great believer in the vegan lifestyle. She has recommended it to me on many occasions and I keep meaning to try it. I’m certain that I could benefit from eating all those good-for-you […]
What, exactly do night nurses do? I’ve made myself the night shift “nurse” and sleep in the big bed beside Mom. If she starts thrashing, or crawls out of bed, I usually hear her and get up to help. My only duties are to readjust Mom’s covers, get Mom up to sit on the bedside […]
The reinforcements have arrived. The herbal witchdoctor is with us. I will be the first to admit that I know very little about herbs and essential oils and all the physical or metaphysical aspects of wound care. There is an entire field of herbal healing out there now. Who knew? It seems there are schools […]
I lie in the big, comfy bed beside her hospital bed, waiting. Waiting through the night. Waiting during the day. Perhaps it is something as mundane as waiting for her to wake. Or waiting to fix her breakfast and then waiting for her to want to eat it. Waiting for her to speak lucidly, other […]
It’s a certainty. Old habits don’t die, dementia or no. I lift Mom’s arm to put her bathrobe on. Her other arms comes up automatically to slip into the other sleeve. Same with underpants, or shoes. Same with food. She knows how and the habit is there, her reactions just don’t always work the way […]
There is certainly nothing to lose. Anyone who has ever been to a country market in Mexico has seen the old Curanderas (women who cure) sitting behind their small wooden boxes of herbs and potions, happy to offer any number of herbs or oils to cure everything from a broken toe to a broken heart. […]
I do have a great deal to be thankful for. Mom is 98 years old and her blood pressure is 125 over 91, heart rate 101, oxygen level 98%. More or less, gets herself up at night to use the bedside commode. Is lucid some of the time. Sleeps most of the time. Doesn’t argue […]
It was the battle of the doctors that led us to call Hospice. The wound care doctor noted the gangrenous toe and the lack of blood flow in my 98 year-old mother’s right leg. He was determined that we should immediately admit her to the hospital for surgery. He insisted that a “roto-rootering” of her […]
It’s been a rough few days out here at the Rancho. Moving a patient with any kind of dementia is always hard. Moving Mom from Carriage Inn where there was attentive staff, cooked meals and instant response has been a challenge. She is now in a home she doesn’t remember, where there is just us, […]
Blessings on family. What do other people do when they don’t have family to help? I was talking to a friend yesterday and she mentioned a neighbor who only has an Autistic son to help her. Her brother and sister have written her off, and no one comes to check on her. Her son won’t […]