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. […]
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 […]
Mom may not have made any lasting friendships @CarriageInn, but I certainly did. And I will miss seeing them every day. How and why do we make friends? For some it is a case of having something in common. Enjoying the same things. Being from the same town. Having grown up together. Being family. Knowing […]
I came home to find that Mom had gotten hives from the antibiotic pills that the doctor had prescribed. Sister came to the rescue and got her a different kind which, hopefully, will prevent the gangrene that seems to be settling in her leg. Now the big question is, do we attempt a stint to […]
“Why can’t you trust me to do what I say I will?” “Mom, you just need a little help. You sometimes forget.” She looks angry and aggrieved as I insist that she needs a caregiver. The bright blue antibiotic pill remains on the table beside the container of chicken salad sandwich, chips and a cookie […]
It has been a blessing to have so many friends and even strangers come up to me and say “I went through the same thing with my mother,” or “I am going through what you are going through with my parents.” “Your blog brought back so many memories.” While we are going through it, focused […]
It’s the coming and going, off-again on-again nature of memory that makes accepting dementia so difficult. At least it is for those of us on the outside. For Mom, it is frightening when she can’t find her room. Remembering whether she has eaten or not doesn’t seem to matter, but not knowing where she is […]
Part of the reason we brought Mom to Carriage Inn was to meet people and make friends. We assumed she would be lonely at the trailer, that she needed company. Well, wrong. No dice. They try to be friendly. Several will stop by her table in the dining room to say “Good Morning, Martha Lou.” […]