Saturday, May 14, 2011

And So It Begins...Again

I know that I seemed to have disappeared and truth be told... I did.  I admit now that disappearing from the blog has not made this journey with Bob's mom any easier.   Betty's memory is failing even more and our stay here in Florida has been filled with more stress than I thought I could shoulder.


The weather here is HOT and I spend most of my time indoors with my heating pad.  Thank God for the ceiling fan and the air conditioner because I could never use the heating pad for pain relief without them.  


Betty's doctor prescribed Namenda which I have not given her yet as I can't figure out how that will happen.  I have so much trouble getting her to take her pills even though they are in a weekly pill container, which I keep organized.  Most of the time there are at least three screwed up, took too many or not enough.  Without the Namenda she is only taking Simvastatin and Lisinopril plus her vitamins.  The Namenda needs to be taken twice per day but I just cannot see it happening!   Today, while cleaning around the couch, I found one of her a.m.  vitamins...huh?  Bob mentioned that he noticed her with them in a napkin in her purse when she was here last night.  Does that mean she took the Lisinopril but hid the vitamins away in her purse? When? Why?  


I was thinking this morning that, God forbid, anything happened to BOTH Bob and me at the same time, Betty could not get on by herself.  She can't shop, no longer drives, make sure she is eating, organize and take her pills, manage her banking.  Someone would need to take over as soon as possible and she would NOT like it one bit.  It takes a great deal of finesse to get things done where she is concerned.  She balks at needing help and is in denial about much of the memory issues.  Her "sundowning" seems to be getting worse and triple that if she has not eaten enough during the day.


Our summer will be interesting to say the least as Betty will be with us all summer rather than sharing time between her niece's and our house.  Paula just doesn't feel comfortable leaving Betty in her house alone while she is working.  We certainly understand but we are trying to approach it in a way that doesn't let Betty know it is Paula's fear and have it more of a convenience for us; no long rides to pick her up and drive her back.  She would be terribly hurt to think that Paula was nervous and there is no reason to have her feel that way.  I try to imagine what it will be like in the same house with Betty and her repeated stories but as Bob quotes from the Bible; "Sufficient Unto The Day is the Evil Thereof."




I have been trying to track the clothes that Betty wears, to help us to help her pack for the trip north.  Basically she has two pairs of  capri's and two or three shirts that she wears.  She usually packs three HUGE suitcases with clothes and we want to avoid that if at all possible.  She still does laundry occasionally and seems to be able to figure the washer and dryer.  It is funny how some things stick in her memory and others fall away.


Groceries...what a trip!  She is looking for cereal, cookies and even candies that she ate 20 or more years ago.   She looks at me as though I am from Mars when I suggest that she likes a certain kind of cereal that she "Never saw before!"


I am tired!


  



No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment. It means a lot to me. Mary GW