Thank God our daughters came to help go through the kitchen and clean out the pantry. Anything open, we pitched. I'm just not sure how much room I will have in the new kitchen. At least I will have a washer and dryer and a full size refrigerator.
He-Who is beginning to be anxious and asks over and over again when we are leaving. I'm trying to keep things as normal as possible but not feeling up to snuff...still achy and congested.
In the meantime our daughter-in-law and son are going full steam ahead with birthday party plans at their house. The invitations are out and lots of friends and family have said they plan to come. The grandkids are planning to be there...first day of spring break. The last time we had all the Cox family together was for the twins 85th birthday last year.
I just have to get well...not sleeping well and just can't seem to get my snap back.
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
February 15 and 16
I'm still not up to speed and only driving to Walgreen's around the corner and the Post Office. Frequently I wake up at night with hip pain and just can't seem to get my energy back. And damn! We are preparing to move!! I have contacted Comfort Moves and Marylynne. She and her wonderful crew came and packed up my studio and all the art work. The dining room is full of boxes. Nephew Greg came for the coffee table and the big mirror in the bedroom. That pretty much leaves our clothes and the kitchen. He-Who has long since given up using his computer and desk so I will use his desk in our new place and give mine to granddaughter Kate.
He-Who seems to be handling it all pretty well and getting a little excited about the move. As long as he has TV and the newspaper keeps comming and he can get to the dining room table, he's a happy camper.
Comfort Moves will come back on Monday and Tuesday of next week to finish packing. We will go stay at Keith and Sue's and the movers are scheduled to load on Wednesday, March 1. Yikes! Looks like we are finally going to get to San Antonio. I gave the Post Office our new address so it feels official.
We spent the day getting rid of more stuff and running some pre-move errands. I played Mexican train dominoes at Polly Clark's as I will not have another opportunity. He-Who was asleep when I got home. I'm not feeling well--achy and have some congestion. Ellen Orsburn wasn't feeling well either and we hops we aren't coming down the the crud that is going around Brookdale. A couple of people have been hospitalized with it.
It's kinda weird walking around the apartment with all the boxes but it won't be long now.
He-Who seems to be handling it all pretty well and getting a little excited about the move. As long as he has TV and the newspaper keeps comming and he can get to the dining room table, he's a happy camper.
Comfort Moves will come back on Monday and Tuesday of next week to finish packing. We will go stay at Keith and Sue's and the movers are scheduled to load on Wednesday, March 1. Yikes! Looks like we are finally going to get to San Antonio. I gave the Post Office our new address so it feels official.
We spent the day getting rid of more stuff and running some pre-move errands. I played Mexican train dominoes at Polly Clark's as I will not have another opportunity. He-Who was asleep when I got home. I'm not feeling well--achy and have some congestion. Ellen Orsburn wasn't feeling well either and we hops we aren't coming down the the crud that is going around Brookdale. A couple of people have been hospitalized with it.
It's kinda weird walking around the apartment with all the boxes but it won't be long now.
Just stuff and more stuff
We have downsized once but it is amazing how much stuff one can accumulate in 2 1/2 years...along with stuff we should have left behind in the first move. He-Who had boxes of papers from his days at NASA. God love the man! He caught on the the need to get rid of some of these boxes and has started going through them. And he loves doing it! It gives him something to accomplish. They bring forth the memories of all his days at JSC, the books he has written, etc. So for 2 or 3 times a week he is spending a couple of hours sorting through his boxes. Who woulda thunk this possible! And I am so grateful!.
It looks like I will be strong enough to move the first week of March. I've cleared the date with Watercrest and our son. I saw the hip doctor this week and she declared me free of PT. Yay! Though I will miss the sweet therapists! He-Who will, too. He enjoyed walking there with me.
It looks like I will be strong enough to move the first week of March. I've cleared the date with Watercrest and our son. I saw the hip doctor this week and she declared me free of PT. Yay! Though I will miss the sweet therapists! He-Who will, too. He enjoyed walking there with me.
Poster child? Ha!
It's clear I'm no poster child for recovery. The hip is taking longer than I expected and I'm still not driving which is frustrating for us both. At least I am able to go to more activities here at Brookdale that include He-Who. He loves the Life Story class on Monday mornings and though he doesn't contribute anymore, I like to think that maybe hearing the stories of others he can recall some of his own.
Our plans to move to San Antonio are becoming more solid. Our designated apartment at Watercrest at the Dominion is still not finished. Now they are saying the end of April. I complained loudly: "No, no, no. This won't work for us. My sister-in-law and I have a big joint 80th birthday party planned for March 11 at our son's house in San Antonio. We have been planning this for months. Family members have plane tickets, hotel reservations, etc. We have to be moved!"
Watercrest's Brandy Davis, the resident counselor who sold us the apartment, called and offered us a temporary apartment until ours is ready...same floor plan. Whew! I've been concerned that the longer the move is delayed, the harder it will be for He-Who to get oriented. I am afraid if we wait much longer, he will need the memory care unit and I will have to go into a much smaller apartment. At least with the same floor plan as our future apartment, I am hopeful it won't be so confusing for him.
Our plans to move to San Antonio are becoming more solid. Our designated apartment at Watercrest at the Dominion is still not finished. Now they are saying the end of April. I complained loudly: "No, no, no. This won't work for us. My sister-in-law and I have a big joint 80th birthday party planned for March 11 at our son's house in San Antonio. We have been planning this for months. Family members have plane tickets, hotel reservations, etc. We have to be moved!"
Watercrest's Brandy Davis, the resident counselor who sold us the apartment, called and offered us a temporary apartment until ours is ready...same floor plan. Whew! I've been concerned that the longer the move is delayed, the harder it will be for He-Who to get oriented. I am afraid if we wait much longer, he will need the memory care unit and I will have to go into a much smaller apartment. At least with the same floor plan as our future apartment, I am hopeful it won't be so confusing for him.
Friday, May 26, 2017
Hard earned lessons as a caregiver....
AT this point this proud independent now dependent woman learned to ask for help and accept help when offered. I am just too ill to do it all . By now He-Who needs help to turn the TV on and change channels. I had already put labels on the TV remote and the telephone to distinguish them apart. On the table under the TV was taped a list of TV channels and their numbers but he has a hard time manipulating the remote.
Thank goodness our Brookdale independent retirement community offers the kind of support I need. For a price, grant you, but worth it and available. I hired someone to do our laundry....$11 a load and worth every penny. He-Who has a laundry basket in his closet but never remembers to put his dirty clothes in it. When taking off his clothes, he just hangs them back up so I have to go through every few days and try to figure out what he has worn. He would wear the same thing every day if I don't suggest something different. But with this help I just have to get the dirty clothes and sheets together..no more limping to laundry room down the hall.
Amazon Prime is my new best friend. Since I can't drive, I order lots of stuff online and it is here in a couple of days. I can order laundry detergent as well as books. I ordered some new underwear for He-Who as he is beginning to occasionally soil his underwear. I don't know if it is the medication he is on or he just isn't sensitive to the signs he needs to go or just isn't able to wipe well. Guess I better check with the doc on this.
The best help I have discovered from my friend, Rowan, is an apt called Shipt which delivers groceries from HEB, our local store, for a small charge. The website shows pictures of everything the store offers and details of size and price. Click on the picture, name the quantity and the time you want your delivery. My first delivery was by a delightful young woman who called as she was shopping to let me the store didn't have an item and asked if I would like a substitute. They don't deliver alcohol, darn it, but her pick of the produce was perfect. I will definitely use this service again and tipped her well.
The only drawback is that He-Who and I miss trolling the aisles of HEB. With short-term memory and problems with naming and word recall, it is pointless to ask him what he wants ahead of time but he always enjoys picking out cookies, crackers and beer. Alcohol isn't supposed to be good for Alzheimers patients but he so enjoys a bottle in the evening. I say "What the hell? He's 85 years old and has so few pleasures."
Thank goodness our Brookdale independent retirement community offers the kind of support I need. For a price, grant you, but worth it and available. I hired someone to do our laundry....$11 a load and worth every penny. He-Who has a laundry basket in his closet but never remembers to put his dirty clothes in it. When taking off his clothes, he just hangs them back up so I have to go through every few days and try to figure out what he has worn. He would wear the same thing every day if I don't suggest something different. But with this help I just have to get the dirty clothes and sheets together..no more limping to laundry room down the hall.
Amazon Prime is my new best friend. Since I can't drive, I order lots of stuff online and it is here in a couple of days. I can order laundry detergent as well as books. I ordered some new underwear for He-Who as he is beginning to occasionally soil his underwear. I don't know if it is the medication he is on or he just isn't sensitive to the signs he needs to go or just isn't able to wipe well. Guess I better check with the doc on this.
The best help I have discovered from my friend, Rowan, is an apt called Shipt which delivers groceries from HEB, our local store, for a small charge. The website shows pictures of everything the store offers and details of size and price. Click on the picture, name the quantity and the time you want your delivery. My first delivery was by a delightful young woman who called as she was shopping to let me the store didn't have an item and asked if I would like a substitute. They don't deliver alcohol, darn it, but her pick of the produce was perfect. I will definitely use this service again and tipped her well.
The only drawback is that He-Who and I miss trolling the aisles of HEB. With short-term memory and problems with naming and word recall, it is pointless to ask him what he wants ahead of time but he always enjoys picking out cookies, crackers and beer. Alcohol isn't supposed to be good for Alzheimers patients but he so enjoys a bottle in the evening. I say "What the hell? He's 85 years old and has so few pleasures."
The tapestry begins to shred
Well, it certainly has been a while, hasn't it! So I must start back in January when life's tapestry began to shred with threads flying everywhere and as hard as I tried, I couldn't weave them back into the lovely pattern they had been.
Threads began flying back in September when my right hip became so sore and painful that I could no longer drive or walk very far. No longer could I take He-Who-Sleeps-Alot by the hand for a walk around the community or a trip back to Clear Lake. My children didn't want me to drive for fear I wouldn't be able to lift my right foot quickly enough. So there went our mobility.
I went through a series of doctor appointments and shots in my back and hip and a couple of trips to the ER with sinus tachycardia and still the hip hurt and I continued to tell docs it is my HIP, not my back, that has a problem.
Meanwhile He-Who monitored the election with MSNBC going 24-7 and copies of the NY Times and the Wall St. Journal. But with time I noticed that less and less of the newspaper was being highlighted or even read.
Finally I got a referral to a hip doctor in late December and scheduled a total replacement January 12. Of course with this plan, a plan for He-Who's care had to be put in place. Our son came from San Antonio and took over his dad while my sister-in-law and my daughter took care of me in the hospital. I went into a rehab hospital for a couple of weeks determined to be the poster child of hip replacement while He-Who went to his brother's home under their care. I did the best I could to micromanage it all by phone and they were very good to bring He-Who to see me and to talk to me on the phone.
When the caregiver goes down, life becomes chaotic and disorienting for the Alzheimer's patient which presents a bigger challenge for those in charge of their care.
I was determined to go home after two weeks in rehab instead of the recommended three as I felt I needed to get home and try to get our lives as back to normal as possible whatever that had been.
AND we were still hoping to move to San Antonio SOON.
Threads began flying back in September when my right hip became so sore and painful that I could no longer drive or walk very far. No longer could I take He-Who-Sleeps-Alot by the hand for a walk around the community or a trip back to Clear Lake. My children didn't want me to drive for fear I wouldn't be able to lift my right foot quickly enough. So there went our mobility.
I went through a series of doctor appointments and shots in my back and hip and a couple of trips to the ER with sinus tachycardia and still the hip hurt and I continued to tell docs it is my HIP, not my back, that has a problem.
Meanwhile He-Who monitored the election with MSNBC going 24-7 and copies of the NY Times and the Wall St. Journal. But with time I noticed that less and less of the newspaper was being highlighted or even read.
Finally I got a referral to a hip doctor in late December and scheduled a total replacement January 12. Of course with this plan, a plan for He-Who's care had to be put in place. Our son came from San Antonio and took over his dad while my sister-in-law and my daughter took care of me in the hospital. I went into a rehab hospital for a couple of weeks determined to be the poster child of hip replacement while He-Who went to his brother's home under their care. I did the best I could to micromanage it all by phone and they were very good to bring He-Who to see me and to talk to me on the phone.
When the caregiver goes down, life becomes chaotic and disorienting for the Alzheimer's patient which presents a bigger challenge for those in charge of their care.
I was determined to go home after two weeks in rehab instead of the recommended three as I felt I needed to get home and try to get our lives as back to normal as possible whatever that had been.
AND we were still hoping to move to San Antonio SOON.
Monday, January 2, 2017
Blessing in disguise
Well God Bless! The dumpster diving has turned into a blessing. Now that He-Who-Sleeps-Alot has found the dumpster, we are making good use of him. Holidays frequently occur on Mondays, our regular garbage pick up day, so on holidays we get no pick up. He-Who does a great job now on those days of delivering bags to the dumpster, not just for us but now for neighbors. It is so great to seem him accomplishing these tasks and he loves the walk. AND he doesn't bring any of it back home, thank goodness.
Ya just never know, do ya? Strange incidents can turn into blessings!
I'm reading 10,000 joys and 10,000 sorrows , a book about a caregiver and her spouse with Alz. Really good...a weird kind of affirming to read that her spouse confuses the fridge and the freezer as well.. A couple of weeks ago I found an exploded beer in the freezer...what a mess!
My task this week is to keep throwing out stuff and filing papers. Where does all this paper come from? Mostly insurance and Medicare and why do I feel I need to keep it? For how long?
Ya just never know, do ya? Strange incidents can turn into blessings!
I'm reading 10,000 joys and 10,000 sorrows , a book about a caregiver and her spouse with Alz. Really good...a weird kind of affirming to read that her spouse confuses the fridge and the freezer as well.. A couple of weeks ago I found an exploded beer in the freezer...what a mess!
My task this week is to keep throwing out stuff and filing papers. Where does all this paper come from? Mostly insurance and Medicare and why do I feel I need to keep it? For how long?
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