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My cold is tolerable..dad started coughing yesterday...hope I can nip it before it gets bad. We all went to church yesterday..was windy and the tree pollen was all over the place. Yuck!
Ladee hope you ground something for cough..it is sooo miserable. I miss this days when u could call and they would send something. Can you ask pharmacist? I call mine and they help when they can.
ASG..know it was a real relief to hear doc tell you about symptoms and why...even though ther is nothing that can be done you have some peace of mind knowing.
Dads primary doc Wants hematologist to see bloodwork because he thinks dads stiff movements may be due to some of the bone marrow stuff. I don't think so ..but hey what do I know. He did tell me to bring him in if hematologist doesn't think it has anything to do with the anemia. I am thinking they could give him some steroids at first but really think he needs the levodopa cause I think it is coming from his brain.. But again hey..what do I know. Think doc will work with me once we see hematologist and get his take.. Don't know if we be able to see him tomorrow when dad gets procrit shot. Dad has so much wrong with him..the docs have a real hard time diagnosing anything. Mom wasn't feeling too well yesterday hope she isn't as tired today.
It sure is a pretty day here maybe I can get out later in the garden...go with the flow...
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D?..can you get your mom to sit on the porch and watch you work? Ibring dad out when I am outside..he gets another view of the world and fresh air for a little while.
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Started my day off really early hoping to be able to catch up on some well needed house and yard work!!! Seems like every time I start something is when mom wants me. Most of the time it is just an answer to a simple question. I think that she just wants me to sit with her all day.
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ASG, yes it helps to have someone validate what we see and hear and experiance, because we start to wonder who is the one with the disabilities, them or us....and you have been at this a long time with Auntie, so prayers for you to have the strength to keep your hands from around her grumpy neck....
And by now the kids have learned how to avoid her for the most part. And you are an awesome woman Tina, juggling Auntie, kids, home, and hubby being gone , you just amaze me.... I have never been that 'unselfish' in my life.... so I feel blessed that you set an example for me, AND you have a sense of humor..... and what ever you put in her oatmeal, we won't tell...deal? deal!!!!!.....love and hugs to you and prayers for you and your family....
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Burned...I can't imagine how hard that would be to be dealing with a sick spouse. I'm so sorry, and am saying a special prayer for you tonight. Ladee thanks. At least its a starting point. I think I've known all along but to hear a doctor say he thinks so makes me feel not so crazy. He said with alz. She wouldnt be as aware of her problems. Cause she knows she only "thinks" someone is there, but lnows they are not. Alz. She would be upset and believe someone was there. That's what had me so hung up on if she had dementia or not. Because she is so aware of most of her problems. It crazy, this girl who used to come to my house, auntie would get so angry and would be so rude when she would come over, I just had to ask her to not come in. Auntie dosnt even remember who this girl is anymore. When I mentioned the girls name. She goes who is that? I said oh you know, she was kinda chubby. She said no I don't. I said oh remember, she had the lil baby, she's like oh yeah...but had the most puzzeled look on her face, she was here like a year ago. Its after 1 a.m. and I can hear her walker squeaking in the other room. I swear she's up most the night. I hope all the caregivers have a good day tommarrow. Night.
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Sorry to hear that ASG; sometimes we wish for the niceness and get shafted but i hope ladee is right with summer around the corner the kids will be out of her hair most of the time. Hubby had another break thru seizure episode tonight and complained that he couldnt see outta his good right eye. Is it possible for his seizure to affect his optic nerve since he had a stroke in 09. Meanwhile its still a battlefield to get him to the hospital but the kids are still up. I can finally say I beat the worst of this cold and almost back to normal hurrah for me. Things cannot get any better or worse than they are but I am glad i have my daughter here for the whole of spring break. It means I can keep my dinner date with her at the local chinese/cantonese restaurant and man do they serve up some good egg rolls. Its one of things I am gonna do with my gf once she gets down here and moved in... gonna take here there give her a real nice dinner out and pizza hut is too generic... lol
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Good to hear from you ASG, sorry Auntie is on her bad behavior again.... maybe the kids will be so busy in the pool and with friends, and doing summer stuff, she'll leave them alone.... hugs for you for what you put up with.....
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I really thought that was all over with, the 3 year old tantrums, the coming out to our part of the house, but nope for the last two days she has been rearing her ugly head.
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No sweetie its all gone, well I don't know where it went. She refuses ensure...boost, if dosnt want to eat something she says her taster is broken...and she can't taste anything so she needs something sweet..but boy oh boy try to feed her something normal she has a fit. Maybe I should try some oatmeal with a little haladol in it...oops did I say that. Oh lord. I don't know how on earth I'm gonna handle another summer with her coming out of her room with the sole purpose of being crappy to the kids, or to get extra attention.
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Hmmm speaking of eating....auntiee is obsessed with food. A month ago she threw up couldn't eat much...she st.ill throws up coffee..and says she can't eat cereal anymore as it makes her sick. However, she can eat the shit outta chocalate pudding, milkshakes, cheese(yes allby its self, velveeta,sliced,shredded dosnt matter)5 slices at once. This morning 2 pudding wasn't enough,she ate all that we bought her yesterday 8 of those snack pack ppuddings. She comes out saying she had that and cinnimon gram crackers and she's still hungry, I was outta eggs she said she wanted something sweet anyway, so I gave her 2 cookies with m&ms on them, (m&m is somthing she is also obsessed about eating) oh honey I don't think that will go down. So we had bisquits and gravy, 10 min later she would take some moe chocolate if I could go to the store and get her some. I couldn't...she had kept me busy all morning trying to appease her appitite...oh yeah after she ate the cookies she also had an orange. Now tell how someone to sick to there stomach to eat cereal could handle oranges and biquits and gravy along with cookies cheese and chocalate pudding. And that was all before lunch. She got mad at me for not going to the store ato buy more "chocolate" and tried to open her can of. fruit...the one she already ate yesterday. She just knew she had one left.
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ASG- Glad that you were able to get some answers about your auntie. But sorry that there is nothing they can do to improve it. Love and hugs stormyyy
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Hey y'all!! Just wanted to drop a line and tell you guys I got an awnser on aunties condition. Well sorta. She didn't have any cognitive test done but we saw the vascular doctor a couple days ago. He said her cartoid arteries were not blocked any more than they were a year ago. Auntie pipes up and tell him she's been forgting a lot of things and can tell she gets awful confused sometimes. She told him how she wakes up thinking someone else is in the room. He said there wasn't much could be done about that. I asked if it was from the srteries in her neck. He says no...then turns to me and starts explaining how in therory what's going on in her neck and heart arteries is happening in her brain as well. And that it is proggressive. Not much they can do but control blood pressure. He explained hopw parts of her brain dies off. Told me how to reconize the different symptoms she has. And explained how to tell between heart blockage and brain blockage, telling me both things are leading to her confusion. He was awsome. I wasn't even expecting to learn all that. I just felt like I needed to go to that appt. Cause I knew she would forget. I will write mire later. I'm super busy spring cleaning the outside. Love y'all.
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vickie vic, I am glad to hear you finally went to the clinic. I need to go to the Dr. too for this cough, but just can't see paying $95 for her to tell me I have a cough... no insurance... so will just have to gut it out...remember the good ol' days when we could just call our Dr's and ask them to 'send something out'...
Did they ever find out what is causing dad's stiffness? I know the procrit shot will help him to feel better, but won't fix this stiff body syndrome he has, wish they could give you some answers without having to run so many damned tests then send you somewhere else for more tests.....prayers for you and your family... glad hubby has been there and sorry you got your meal interrupted... but no big deal I guess in the bigger picture of things huh....Give that precious hubby a hug from me and tell him Thank You for making your life easier when he is home.....he is deeply appreciated..
Was up most of the night coughing, so today should just be lovely....but am going to stick my ugly attitude somewhere and go on about my day....
I know there are some rocks on the back roads that I haven't seen yet.... hugs and angels to you all..... the angels are to help lighten your load....
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Morning to all... Hope yesterday was a better day for all. I finally went to the clinic yesterday morning..knew I needed to get better before hubby leaves for work. Got all fixed up. This morning I am much better. Hubby and I had day off yesterday so I was also able to rest most of the afternoon. We were in town eating dinner ...when our caregiver called..dad had slipped out of his chair. We rushed home and hubby got him up..no injuries. He has been a little more alert the past couple of days after he had his B12 shot. He goes Tuesday for the procrit shot and hopefully hear from doc about blood results that dads primary doc faxed to him. Dad does have some inflammation that primary doc thinks could be coming from bone marrow.. Wanted us to see hematologist first. Hopefully I will be in a better frame of mind and feel better physically. Hubby has given me time to rest body fhese last two weeks..
Pray everyone has the best day possible and that we all can have a little down time during the day to refresh our minds during our cargiving day.
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Well dinner is cooking its chicken and mashed potatoes tonight. Tonight after the kids go to bed going to slip in the laundry room for a luau but things have improved a lil bit except for asking an extension just so I can get the award letters I need and getting the proof showing I am the owner of all policies. I get to have the whole family for next wk and pay off a credit card bills are due once more. Does anyone know a legit company looking for data entry that I can do from home so I can keep my eye on hubby and earn some extra money to help with bills. Pls let me know..I am already asking for more hrs but it seems like I won't get them.
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Hubby gave me a few hour break today at the house so I could just rest. I did wake up to a 42 blood-sugar at 5:30am and had a 194 the night before-go figure. I actually got to take a 2 hr nap and it felt very good and of course after I got my b/s back in check. Monday is going to be fun for I have to get a fasting lab done in am and mnl don't like get up early. I try to bribe her for pancakes. ; )

ladee, we need to find humor to keep on trucking. I even throw some humor out to the mnl when she gets frustrated or confused about something and it helps sometimes. For instance, we have a small trash can by the toilet and I kept smelling pee in the bathroom real bad. I have already removed to the rug by toilet due to hubby I guess can't ring hole that big sometimes. : ) So, I check the tub rug and it looked fine and I took the trash can for it had toilet paper in it but I thought I empty it and then place it in tub and shut door to find that freaking piss smell! Well, sure enough it was in shower tub area from trash can. I have it in soaked with bleach.
Hubby tried to tell his mom to throw her tissue-toilet paper in the toilet and not the can. Well that was getting her all confused. Finally, we said if you wipe throw it in toilet. She responding, "just throw everything in toilet." I said no... you wouldn't throw your toothbrush in toilet. she responding, just like I wouldn;t throw myself in toilet and I said, yes! Needless to say, she started asking again about the toilet and I could see hubby losing it so I asked him to chill that we will just take the can out for awhile for it is a learning habit and problem solved. Yes!!! I knew this bachelor's sociology was going to come handy eventually. ; )

starri, I love my fried green tomatoes. Now they have fried pickles.
brandiwine, i would had chuck that old crock pot stuff right in toilet screaming or no screaming. Thank the Lord your hubby didn't get sick.

Broken leg, smacked in the face boy, I sure do have it made right now.

angelaleigh, take time to breathe and relax while she has her out. Great for you for a break just away a bit is awesome.

notlikemom, well, let her have her joy sometimes even though it in the wrong way. Cancer can take its toll? My mnl likes to compete sometimes when she is not telling me she is old. Like if I start stretching my legs for my muscle get all tight then, she will tell me, "I can do that.:" I am like go for it for its got to be good for her. hey, it gets her off the chair. ; )

jam, that idea of "Snickers candy bar in her coffee....vanilla ice cream in coffee." sounds pretty good! Look at all those flavor coffees out on the market. Hey, Y'all could get rich by starting a new taste of coffee-and call it, "snicker coffee or snicker-doodle coffee. : )
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Angela, no it is generic for Celexa, it is an antidepressant, will take up to three weeks for you to see any changes in her. It is also used for anxiety, but concern is that it takes so long for it to get into the system, but may be good for the long haul... sure hope you find some answers soon.... hugs...
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I appreciate the feedback everyone-thank you!!! The doctor prescribed her Citalopram, is that the same as Seroquel?
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Angela ~ My husband Alan is also combative and prone to rages. He too had been on Depakote. Since they added 50mg Seroquel in the am and 50 in the pm, he's been much better.
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lildeb, we all have our hands full in one form or another...and beleive me when I say Sonny is NOT a handful compared to Ruth.. she's the one that broke my leg... now that one was a handful... I will NEVER do live-in again... NEVER... so all of you doing this 24/7, I do know how you feel, and feel guilty that I have a choice about it... but guess ya'll do too when it comes down to it...The only people I would ever do that for again would be one of my own kids or a grandchild...I would have done it for my mom had she lived, but refused to do it for my dad.... had been mistreated my entire life by him, no way was I going to volunteer to be his victim.. some of us don't have a lot of problems making that choice... and I always feel bad for the ones taking care of someone and mad because sibs won't help.. every situation is different, but in my case, none of us could do a thing 'right' in my oldest sisters eyes, she had to be in control of breathing in and breathing out, nope, had had enough of her sh*t too... I will say I have no regrets.. don't know how other sibs in other families feel, just know if I had it to do over, nothing would change....
Angela, are we going to have get you some boxing lessons??? Don't care who you are or how hard you try, someone going for your face will trigger survial feelings..... it's miracle we don't hit them back... When I was on the floor when Ruth broke my leg, she was steady kicking me and cursing me in German.... guess God was in charge of that outcome, was in too much pain to knock her legs out from under her, but will say there was some pretty vile things coming out of my mouth too. Then she just walks away, like none of it happened and in her mind it didn't.... on to the next thing....
Will have to tell about the banana and the table knifes when I have more time, will let the new folks know there is humor in what we do....
Ok, gotta run and pay billRs... ttyl, hugs.
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Good Morning y'all it sounds like a few of you had some really rough days, I was blessed that it never reached that point with mom.. I don't know that I could have taken it, her hurtful words were enough for me.

The dog does need to be put up when someone is at the door, it could be a child. maybe try telling her that if it bites someone else, that the animal control people will come and take it and it will be put to sleep.

I hope all of you have quiet, peaceful days, I need to convince myself that sleeping all day is not a good thing, did that yesterday but gave myself forgiveness for having felt like doing it, don't know if it was the stress knowing that we are getting ready to hit the road, not feeling well (haven't in a couple of weeks.. (pollen maybe? never had allergies.) My HS is acting up, arm is killing me. Did at least get some of hubby's medication mess straightened out, he's 63, has no mental issues, with the exception of being stupid at times... keeping track of his meds, ordering them on time and taking them fall under those times...

That tuna and jelly sandwich? yuk..and double yuk, but that cherry oatmeal does sound kinda good, but not a Popsicle, it would water it down and make it cold. I thought a sausage biscuit with strawberry jelly was weird till I tried it..lol.. Tomato and mayonnaise sandwiches along with pimento cheese sandwiches, welcome to the South Y'all

Well, we're down to T -5 for blast off, having to keep poor Squeek in the RV, the neighbor with the peacocks almost shot her the other night, doesn't like other animals on his property, but doesn't have a problem at all with his geese and peacocks coming over here, all Squeek was doing was chasing crickets, she didn't have a mouth full of feathers. So if his birds come over here, it's fair game for maggie and claire to chase them..lol.... I kinda encourage it as a matter of fact now, where I had been trying to keep them from doing it.

Ladee? hope you are feeling better.

Big Hugs
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Yep lildeb, she ate every bite of that oatmeal. I've been trying to think of other weird things she ate....they got so commonplace that I ignored them.........there was the Snickers candy bar in her coffee....vanilla ice cream in coffee....my mind is drawing a blank right now...not enough coffee I guess this morning!

I did my time on ladee's hamster wheel and my heart goes out to each of you who are still running that track........I honestly don't think I could do it again. When I think back to the mental stress that I went through every day learning how to not respond back when the col started her tirades......it makes me just as tired as the physical did. The last couple of months was when the weight started to drop off of me.....lost 22lbs in about 2 months and that was because I didn't take the time to eat properly and was running up and down stairs all day long. Nice to lose the pounds, but a rotten way to do it! You all have my deepest respect for being able to continue being care givers.

Sending hugs to you all for a beautiful day of peace................
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angelaleigh, all I can say is wow! She punched you, omg! As for that dog, I would like is butt up in a crate with a padlock and that way she cannot let him out anywhere at least until the meal-wheel comes to your house.

Ladee, the hamster thing was a bit funny, I'm sorry but I did get a chuckle out of it. Sorry Sonny can be such a handful. I look at everyone situation and y'all got me beat miles away.

Jam, got a big chuckle from the, Oatmeal cherry popsicle. hey, we cannot knock it until we try it, right? ; ) hey at least she ate it or did she?
Hope everyone has a nice day. : )
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Careful, careful out there! Glad no one got seriously physically hurt today. I feel for all of you who had a bad day with yelling and fighting. Many Hugs. Many More Hugs. You are appreciated. What you're doing is so important!
Quack Quack here. It's been raining since last night. Sounds pretty through the open window.
I do have POA and HIPPA rights. I just didn't want it to look like I was "going behind her back" to get the info. Sometimes, she doesn't want to tell me, othertimes, she doesn't care. I did ask her tonight, and was told she has "superior" cognative abilities. Whatever. She can think, but her emotional stability is non-existant. She loves to lord it over Dad that she is smarter (according to her), so now I guess she wants to be smarter than me, too. Not gonna happen - I have a Mensa IQ and it didn't all come from her. Oh well, let her feel good about what she can. There's enough bad times ahead with her cancer. It's just too bad she gets her joy from the wrong things.
Goodnight, and better tomorrows.
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I surely know how you guys feel about frustration. Today, it being Friday, was my caregiver day. Right off the bat she started yelling at me. I had said my affirmations before I got there, guess it didn't help. What happened was the aide had made something in the crockpot and then pushed the crockpot way into the corner near flammables. I felt uneasy about it touching the flammables so I moved the crockpot out into the middle of the counter top. You'd think I was another terrorist the way she screamed at me. So I moved it back and let go and let God. But I left way early. I refuse to stand around and be yelled at. I couldn't eat a thing and I was shaking. And the BOSS had not emailed me another snotty email. I doubt it is mom even remembers the crockpot this evening. I say this b/c one other time the crockpot was still sitting there after days of being left out. At that time she insisted we eat from the days long old food being left out and I refused (unplugged.) My husband took some and didn't get sick, thank goodness.
I sympathize with the other posters here who have it worse than me. I just don't know how you it take it year after year.
Angela, I know about the weight being lifted.
Stormy, I know about the bundle of nerves thing.
Ladee, I love your posts.
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Angela, call her Dr. TODAY... I went thru this with the last Lady I worked for, her family would NOT listen to how out of control she had become.. to make a long story short, I ended up with a broken leg from an altercation such as the one you had today... it ended up costing them A LOT more that a simple Dr. visit...so do not wait until June or July... get things started ASAP, whethere it be as Jam's mill and temporary placement in a behavioural unit and get her on meds that will help or get her into a facility that can deal with this from day to day...this is not quaility of life for her and especailly ya'll. Ya'll remember what she's done, she doesn't... let us know how things are going, my heart goes out to you, been there, beleive me there is more to life than having to protect yourself from getting your ass whupped by a 83 year old woman... that's what I told everyone when they asked about my leg.... hugs to you....
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Angela hugs and prayers.. My dad does some mild things like your gramma. Different situation but same frustrations. God Bless
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Angela- I know how you feel. I am a bundle of nerves while i am here at dads and when i get in my car and drive away i feel the weight on my shoulders lifting and the tension leaving. It is terrible to feel such stress, and tension. All you want is for it to go away. And theres no way for it to leave you except to get away from the caregiving. love and hugs to you stormyyy
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Thank you....my aunt just came and took her to town for awhile to relieve me! Thank God- A huge weight lifted as they drove away. I feel bad for feeling like that but man....we can only take so much day after day!
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So sorry Angela.....my mil had these kind of "mental breakdowns", the last one resulted in a stay in the Behavioral Unit at the local hospital. Found out the meds she was on were the wrong ones....wrong diagnosis thus wrong meds. She had a meltdown and tried to rip my face off. Got the correct diagnosis and correct meds and she did great until this past January. Placed her in NH last Oct. She started calling us every day, sometimes twice, demanding that we fix what was wrong with her and "take me home". We added Seroquel....keeps her very mellow, but she is no longer making herself miserable. So you might want to talk with the doctor about that. The col is also on Depakote twice a day and with the Seroquel added she is doing better. You might have to put the dog behind a gate before the wrong person is bitten and decides to sue or call animal control which would only traumatize the little thing. Sending hugs to you while you go through this, I know how hard it is. Just take consolation in the fact that with Alzheimers or other types of dementia they usually don't remember how out-of-control they were.
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