
Many of us, myself included, come from a dysfunctional family which adds a lot of weight to the challenges of caregiving. I have read stores on various threads on other topics and decided it would be good to have a thread just for this topic for people to share, vent and discuss.
The idea for this thread originated on the thread named "The Caregiver....How are YOU doing today?"
So very sorry, so very sorry. We all love you.
so damn unfair, just so damn unfair
we are here to cry with you and hold you up
No words of comfort can bring PJ back but the time you had together sounded extremely happy.
You are a strong woman so take that strength and keep moving forward in his name. It sounds as though PJ's family will be there for you.
Much Love
Went to look at granite and tile oh, I am so confused😕
Golden, I sure hope they can get your moms meds balanced for her. It is frustrating talking to a dr who doesn’t know the patients situation. Hopefully next time you talk with him he will be more prepared on your moms situation.
Glad, wow, good thing you know about all these buildings permits, codes and caught this error
drs have figured out that it is my brothers reaction to the meds that causes him to have what they are calling a seizure when they bring him out of sedation. They are working on tweaking the meds so hopefully that will be fixed in the next 24-48 hours.
Her problems are primarily mental and cognitive, but she has exhibited some Parkinson-like symptoms. When she first came to stay with me, she had a flat facial expression and was basically incoherent or "zoned out" sometimes, and had slowness of movement, and muscle spasms and stiffness.
She did have trouble with some basic tasks. We got her in back in March to see the neurologist, who thought that some of the symptoms may have been caused by the Invega (antipsychotic) med that she was on, and advised us to discontinue the antipsychotics for 6 months to see if symptoms abate. He said that is going to be the only way to distinguish whether it is med-induced or actual Parkinsons, which her father had around her age.
Cogentin was added to the mix and anxiety med dosage increased and she is much more lucid, still struggles with paranoia and anxiety and has some memory issues mentally, but physically I've noticed a big difference. She is able now to perform her ADLs and her gait and the muscle stiffness are better, although now I've noticed this weird dancing like movement in her legs when she is standing still, almost like when you have to pee, and she has kind of a gallop to her step that's hard to describe. Never seen that before. That has developed over the past maybe 4 months or so. We go back to the neuro in a month so I'm hoping he can tell what it is.
She does, however, get around pretty well with no problems. She has gone on outings with the facility and I've taken her to the store, out to eat, etc. She could definitely take the bus. I agree, she needs to stay as mobile as she can to stay as strong and independent as she can.
She, however, would have someone wait on her hand and foot if she could. That's where I have had to draw the line, or else I'd be running up and down all the time. Her insurance will pay for PT which I think would be good for her too, but she refuses.
In my experience, and as testified to many times over in these threads, nothing good comes of doing "everything" for the elder who can still do for themselves. I'm sure your mom's words will be hard to hear, and I'm sorry that she doesn't see the wisdom in doing for herself, but I do hope you can find a way to push her to do more. It's not JUST about you doing less, though that is helpful and will keep you from being overly resentful, it's about her keeping all of her skills tuned.
Jeanne Robertson "Don't go rafting without a Baptist in the boat!"
LOL!
🚢