There is no pleasure worth forgoing just for an extra three years in the geriatric ward.
— John Mortimer
The family trip is officially over. Dad is back in his home. My sister and her kids are flying back to Mexico City. My brother is beginning a well-deserved recovery. And, I am home – actually, I never left (more on that later).
The trip was a tremendous success! I received a short email this morning which read in part, “I think that the trip did Dad a world of good. By the third day he was talking in complete sentences.” WOW! He didn’t even do that when he was fine. Ok, I exaggerate a little.
Dad’s improvement on this trip leads me to an inescapable conclusion Continue reading » Dementia – It Sure Makes You Think!??
A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
— Anonymous
We like to be in control. Even the illusion of control can make us feel less stressed and more comfortable than knowing that we’re not in control. Stress reduces both our brain health and our physical health unless we take positive steps to counteract its effects. When a loved one has dementia, we are definitely not in control of anything associated with their life and often we lose control over some of our lives as well.
If you’re a frequent reader of this blog, you know that both of my parents have suffered from some form of dementia. My mother died of Alzheimer’s disease and her sister has been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia. My father has also been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease as well as bipolar disorder.
One of the things that I’ve discovered as we’ve traveled the journey through various forms of dementia is that Continue reading » How Not to Be Crazy
Dear Caregivers —
Whatever challenges you face in caring for your loved ones today, know that with the passage of time these challenges will change. The current issues will fade, and there will be a new set of challenges awaiting you to solve…or at best, survive. When you’re feeling like you can no longer persevere, remember you are warriors and time and patience are your allies. Hang in there!
— TenderLovingElderCare.com
As a child, I was raised with a sense of paranoia about the unknown that continues to affect me to this day. Because I am the eldest and also the one who was “most responsible” as a child, I assumed that I would be the one to take care of my parents as they aged.
We have a long history of taking care of elder bodies in the family. Although my maternal grandparents died relatively young, their siblings lived into their eighties and nineties and my parents both shouldered the responsibility of taking care of them. For these folks, that meant Continue reading » A Fine Line – Caring for Elder Bodies
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