My "whine moment today." What's yours?

I'm watching many weather forecasts actually telling people to disregard diBlasio's school openings and keep their children home from school. What's hard is when companies don't close their doors and tell workers to stay home. People have no place for their children. I could never understand the reasoning behind that. So what if a business is closed? The only losses I see are those on paper. The world will still be there when the streets are cleared and it's safe to drive. And the business will recoup their losses. You can never recoup a life lost while trying to get to work. And it would make it so much easier for those with the job of cleaning the streets.

Two days ago, we experienced high winds and I'm afraid that is what is heading towards the Northeast.

Hopefully, everyone is hunkered down and safe. I'm praying the power doesn't go out for all of you.

BIG GIANT WHINE! While watching the SAG Awards, mainly to see Debbie Reynolds receive her lifetime achievement award.... on came this AD Commercial by the AzheimersAssociation.org.

It starts with little things, tiny changes in the brain little things, anyone can do it steals your memory, independence

Ensure support, a breakthrough and sooner than you'd like, sooner than you think you die from Alzheimer's Disease

We cure Alzheimer's Disease.

every little click call or donations helps

WHAT DID I JUST HEAR?

Litldogtoo, recently I had to enlarge the font on this website... I use a regular computer keyboard, thus I press "Ctrl" on the keyboard while rolling the wheel on my Mouse... bingo, quickly the font will go large or go small depending on which way you are rolling the Mouse wheel.

I have often written those same sentiments. We need a preview button and an edit button....but on second thought, I love the fact this website is here so when we're down, we can come vent and talk with others who are in our situation.

I hate to whine about this, but even the boxes are too small to be able to see what I've written. Plus I type too fast, that's why my posts are soooooo long.

But, I love you, Aging Care People Whoever You Are :)

Sorry everyone :(

How I wish we could go back and *edit* our own postings on this website. I've been so out of it lately that when I go back to re-read what I had posted earlier, I find way too many misplaced words and mixed-up grammar :(

Just found out that Walmart will no longer be carrying PPIs in their formulary. Just agreed to take Protonix (against my better judgement as usual) so now at the end of my free month I will go back to the Famotidine

JessieBelle, make up session? LOL. No way I can compete with pro-football... never could.... right now the All-Pro football game is about to start so that means it will be on until midnight.... [sigh]

Hey Cap! Funny you mentioned beets... I did buy some today to add to her juice. She does like beets but she took her teeth out again and... they don't gum so well ya know? Also, her favorite staple these days are pb n j's... neither one of us are sweet eaters but I did get her a pumpkin pie today, at least it has fiber and hopefully better than a cookie!

jeanette, can you get your mom to eat beets ? supposedly they will slick up the digestive tract and get ones bowels moving . personally i love em and plan to grow a garden full of them this summer . i love em cold right out of the jars and spiced up with onion and jalapeno peppers .
i need to bake some rolls tonight . i figure a roll with peanut butter and preserves will give me a good boost in the mornings before work .

Katie I feel your pain. Every year we go away for our anniversary not this year have to stay with dad. The other kids "can't" more like wont. I had a young girl I work with offer to but if things go astray I'm concerned with the lasting effect it would have on her. Will be next year just have to hold onto that.

I'm beyond frustrated that no family is willing to help just one night having them give us a night off would be nice.

Thanks Katie! Mom's out like a light so I took the opportunity to dash to walgreens and grabbed some benefiber to add to the softener. She's just not getting the fiber like she used to. She can no longer chew like she used to so I've been trying to implement with other stuff. When a person gets so backed up their appetite dwindles but they do get thirstier it seems? On the plus side, we both should get a great night of sleep since last night was a complete wash!!

Book, I know schools are beginning to close in Connecticut. I have several teacher friends whom live there and they've already got the word to stay home. Hopefully, as the day passes NY will do the same.

ff, I know all situations are different and challenging in their own ways and most of us do love our parents but I know, if they were my parent's, some serious changes would be made, d*mn my inheritance.

ff, it sounds like a Xanax kind of day. Sometimes I wish I had a few setting around here. Some days everything gets the best of me. The good thing I've learned is that tomorrow is always better. Thank goodness for the tomorrows. Hope you and SO can have a good make-up evening. Your dad sounds like quite a character. I bet I would like him.

bookluvr, whenever the weather starts to get bad that is when I get all hyper because my parents are still in their own home, literally down the street from me... if their power goes out, so will mine. I can deal with the cold, they can't. If only they were in that retirement village which I bet has backup power for storms like this. Then I wouldn't be worrying about Dad [93] wanting to go out to shovel the driveway, he does it case he needs to get their car out of the garage in an emergency.... "and go where, Dad?" "Dad, if there is an emergency the EMT's have shovels to get you or Mom out." Definite helmet moment !!

Had a major blow out with sig other, I was mentally exhausted... trying to maintain two separate households is more than I can take at times.... double the grocery shopping, even if it is on-line it can take just as long as being in the store, and unloading groceries twice.... 3x the doctor/dentist appointments.... 3x everything else.... double the shopping at places like Target, again 2 long separate lists. Dealing with my parents trying to get info for the Elder Law attorney, I just finished up my Will/Trust, whew that was a major workout, now I feel like I am in instant replay with theirs.

When I was younger I was pretty sharp... I could go grocery shopping without a list as I could remember everything I needed. I didn't need a calendar to remember my doctor appointments or any other appointment. And I wasn't so tired. Now at my age everyone expects me to remember TWICE to THREE times the stuff... can't do it anymore :P

Sig other said he helps... yeah by playing taxi... but he doesn't always go into the doctor offices exam rooms with my parents, he's not dealing with the emotions and frustrations going on there because Mom can barely hear, barely see, and Dad's not paying attention... and me trying to remember who takes what medicine and why x2. I've giving up trying to remember what meds sig other takes... my brain doesn't have room for that :P

I'm watching the US news. I hope for all of you living in NYC to the East coast - please start preparing for the blizzard coming. Lots of non perishable food, stored drinking water and non portable water. Flashlights and radios with spare batteries. Get out all the winter blankets, comforters because when the power goes out, the winter cold seeps in.

What I don't understand is that the NYC mayor keeps emphasizing to stay off the road tomorrow. Then, towards the end, he finally says - schools are still open tomorrow. ???? Adults are important, please stay home. Children are not important, you still have school tomorrow. .... huh???

Jeanette, Have you tried a little bit of powdered Benefiber in some juice or her shakes? It has no flavor so can be added to drinks without changing the flavor or making them too gritty, and you can adjust the amount you put in.
My Mom has the opposite problem because of side effects from radiation therapy 13 yrs. ago but the process is pretty continual all day, so I have to feed her sticky white rice to stop too much diarrhea. The warm cup of water is a good remedy too if constipation is a problem...sometimes 2 cups....

I'd whine about mom's constipation and up all night trying to go but (no pun intended) it hurt her worse than me. She's forgetting how to push and not going like she used to. Poor baby just birthed a small whale and is now sound asleep. She does take a stool softener in the evenings but with her appetite not like it used to be the shakes seem to be making it worse? .... I'm going to start adding more berries, spinach and kale to her shakes and see if that helps. Oh, she drinks plenty of water and in the mornings I do try and have her drink a very warm cup of water ... which was my grandmother's remedy for constipation. I felt so bad for her, she kept trying to get up and I'd say no, sit there and GO to the bathroom in which she said she's trying to go but I won't let her get up to GO... get it? I'd say go, she'd try and walk/go to the bathroom... talk about needing a helmet moment.

wait, meant moms leak alerts...

I feel like I am very old (51) and only viable enough to take proper care of my mother (79) and too old to care for me.

When did we get so tired that our own life and happiness no longer mattered? Never mind. I am tired and buggy so pay me no attention. Mom has been pacing since last night. All meds given on schedule. This is one of those times when she cannot/will not shut down.

Leak alert? LOL!!! Simply add a pad to the depends, usually fixes my leak alerts :)))

My way of getting things done is to state the problem, ask for help. If I get the impression I'm getting excuses, or put off. I call a professial, and it's my dime. Even if the other person disagrees. I get it done. It would be so much better if it were otherwise.

@freq flyer - he would have noticed if you had locked the door :)

I'll bet the doors look nice. I've been thinking about doing that but darned, I'm just too tired to even call someone. Last week both toilets were leaking (and today I got the bill from the water department which stated there was a 'leak alert'....a little late for that. Anyway, they were 'running' off and on at least since April when I brought my mom down here...just was way too tired to have a plumber in to fix them.

I'm still trying to figure out where that line was from "okay, I'm somewhat 'older' but still viable to "gees, when did I get old'?

JeanetteB, ah but we aren't throwing away our Jeeps.... mine will be 19 years old in April, and still drives and looks [almost looks] like it rolled off the show room floor :)

Speaking of not noticing anything, I had brand new locks and door handles placed on door exterior doors yesterday afternoon. One door now has a lever handle instead of a round door handle plus a bolt lock that never was there before... you'd think my sig other would have noticed when he opened that door last night? Sigh.

@57win - I'm laughing at your dad's 'thinking'. The lamp is my mother's room has the cord switch and every single night she'd say the same thing, "I can't shut this light off, there's no (what she wanted to say was switch but couldn't think of the word). Before her fall, I was looking for a lamp with a switch she could use.

Pam, sorry to hear about your mom. I do suppose when they get that age they can pretty much make their own willful decisions ;)... my mom has that DNR and MOLST on file as well. If nothing else they make those heart wrenching decisions easier. My dad didn't have one... his pleasing eyes where my only source. He did not want to stay in the hospital, wanted to die at home in peace not hooked up nor drugged up. He did.

Katie, I am from FLORIDA!! and now live in the PNW... sure it cold here, no sunshine, no support. Everyone I know is in FL and I get to see all their pictures on FB showing me fun/sun and happy faces! Mars just might be nice, at least it will be AWAY!

Funny story. I was in BestBuy the other day. My 5 year old laptop did the blue screen of death a year ago so I bought a new one. Well, the dogs were playing, it fell, broke the screen so I took it back to be fixed. They said it's too expensive to fix and gave me store credit to replace it. Cool. SO... I gave my son the blue screen of death one so he could put a new hard drive in it. We asked for the repair cd's. Uhm, they don't make em anymore... the guy said they were "old and obsolete" and they've been tossed. What did I say? I said, as a society we throw away our elderly since they are old and obsolete also... Ohmagod you could have heard crickets for 5 minutes and the geek squads mouths had dropped open so far the crickets could have flew right in and nested. Phbt!

JeanetteB. It must be something in the air that is making men act clueless these last 2 days. Today my husband is doing the job complaining thing, and yesterday when I mentioned the cold ugly weather here the physical therapist had to brag about going to FL.....I haven't had a vacation in years! Just one night away would be so wonderful but can't happen as I am an only child and the only caregiver. Someplace nice might as well be on Mars! You would think that people who come into homes where caregivers are stressed and tired could keep quiet and tone down the bragging about going on vacation.....arrrrghhhh! Yes....I will be glad this day is over!

Book, I will never get used to it, resign myself to their total lack of consideration, yes, that is how I feel. Resigned. A weekend away? Ohmagod what in the world is that? I don't think it would matter if I slept in my truck 2 nights with my big pibble. I would be AWAY! See? Weekend away? Why can't these people understand the hell it is to sit here day in/day out watching your loved one die. It's been less than 2 years since daddy passed, almost killed me...he died of Kidney cancer, a horrible death... now mom and AD. Some siblings are just thoughtless worthless people in my opinion. When my brothers left yesterday I made some comment on how mentally/physically tired I was as mom heath deteriorates. His comment and I will quote him "Yeah, she's worse every time I see her'. YOU THINK? Months go by without him seeing her... and I know I look like I've been beat up and left to simmer.....I live within 2 hours of the Oregon Coast, it is breathtaking watching the storms come in. They have mid week specials where you can rent a one bedroom condo ON THE COAST for 49.00 a night. My brothers work seasonal so during the week shouldn't be a problem for them or my SIL who doesn't work. I dream of spending an uninterrupted weekend away. Heck... I will eat from the dollar menu to save money or buy a loaf of bread and make pb&j's.

Why is it, that we apparently have to have a complete melt down before they will help out (usually lasts only a week though)? For me it's more than irritating how they pretend to be something as soon as an outsider visits... it's up there on the highest level of audacity there ever could be. Ever heard the old saying "I'd rather eat shit with the chickens"... well, I'd rather eat shit with the chickens than ask them for anything again ever in life. Seriously, I would.

I'm rambling... up 3 times between midnight and 7. Seems like as soon as I fell asleep she was up tottering around. I cannot lift her up, thank God Josh was here for that short week... he had to lift her many times, haha, one night I closed my door and just let him deal with it. He did. He even helped her in the bathroom, bless his heart. Not as if I gave him a darn choice either. Grrr.

Seriously, there HAS to be a solution to this respite dilemma so many of us face. Either our siblings are complete morons or we are an only child which leaves it all on our shoulders. If WE are tired and unhappy it is so hard to be 100% taking care of our loved one.

Jessie, yes, at least she's trying. Like you said, most people don't.

I'm looking into long term care insurance this week. I will cut Directv off, eat beans, drink water and go without whatever, just so long as I can get this insurance so I do not have to depend on anyone to take care of ME and no, they don't need to be concerned if I leave them anything in my will either. Phbt.

Wait... one more whine since I'm whiney today. I told my oldest bro of the sound the Jeep was making. Now he's on his way out of the house, standing right next to it... do you think he'd ask to hear it? Offer to HELP? Look at it? Anything... of course not. He jumped in his truck and was off on his merry clueless audacious happy/dumb way. phbt.

Hope everyone is having a better day!!! Like they say, this too shall pass.

Took Mom to see her primary MD on Friday. Mom had another small stroke on Jan. 7th. The ER kept her 12 hours and released her at 1 AM. She agrees to go to the ER, but then she won't let them treat her or keep her. So now she has a MOLST form, with a DNR and other limitations. She does NOT want to be "hooked up to machines" Doesn't want a pacemaker, no IV's, no intubation , no feeding tubes. Announced " I think I'll be leaving at Easter. "
I'm not sure if that is a premonition or a willful decision. I suppose at 87 she could decide to go, eh?

Ah, stay-at-home Mom with young kids... I never had children so I don't understand but...

I always wonder why did these Moms/kids show up at McDonalds around noon when us working stiffs had only a few minutes to dash in, get our order, and dash back to the office. Kids can change their orders a half dozen times x three kids. Or did the Moms want to be around more adults :)

I always wondered why did these Moms/kids show up again during lunch hour when we had to vote.... a gym filled with restless kids waiting for their Moms to vote usually got stares from those of us looking at our watching wanting to get back to the office. Couldn't these Moms come around 3pm?

Any time I would take my parents to McDonalds or to vote, I did it off hours. Parking and waiting in line was so much easier for everyone.

BTW, I tried to suggest using the bathroom early, but she doesn't have to go until she stands up to go to dinner.

The young woman is really very sweet. It may be that her 3 kids put her into sensory overload, too, so she doesn't remember that 5:00 is dinner hour.

While I'm complaining about dinner hour, I may as well add another. For the last few months my mother has had to use the bathroom right when dinner is ready. It has gotten to take her 15-20 minutes to get it done. By that time I am finished with dinner. I am starting to realize that she is doing this on purpose so that she can have the kitchen to herself and eat dinner alone in front of the TV. It is okay. I stopped waiting for her, since I don't like cold food.