Tag: caregiving

The Beat Goes On…

My thanks to all who inquired as to Jim’s Mom’s health.

img_2883She is resting comfortably and hanging in there. One lesson for anyone with older parents, relatives, friends, or neighbors :stop in and make sure they are hydrated, especially in this heat. I know water isn’t necessarily easy to get down in this heat, but in this case. it’s a necessary evil.

img_2880We are now back in the praying and sharing caregiving game. I’d ask anyone who reads this to hold a good thought for Jim’s Mom. For all of those people out there caregiving, and you KNOW who you are. Hang in there. Savor what time you have together, because you can never get it back.

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What’s a Mama to Do?

If you have read my posts with any regularity, you know about my two fur girls, Zush and Kasia.

At the ripe old age of 14+, I have to give Zush two pills twice a day. I ABHOR it. It is rough when our loved ones , both fur and human, get older.

When my Mom was going through her last five years with dementia, I was fortunate enough to learn tricks from one or two of Mom’s nurses. I got capsules in her medicine and opened them in pudding or apple sauce. I crushed pills and worked it into mashed potatoes.One way or another, I managed to get through.


Here she is with her Dad on the floor. Dad has given her medicine one time, at my insistence, so if I was not here, he’d at least know HOW to do it. My issue is this: what else can I use to try to hide the medicine in for Zush?

I have bought Greenies pill pockets, only to have them spit out right back at me.  I made slits in Chicken McNuggets to hide medicine, crushed pills and put them in scrambled eggs. I have put them in her mouth and begged her to swallow, while rubbing her throat. I rolled pills up in imported ham.

Anyone have any clues?  I would  appreciate it if you’d share.

Thanks, friend.

I can’t even walk and chew gum at the same time…

I can’t even walk and chew gum at the same time…and juggling life issues is something I really can hope to stop doing someday.

Looking at people 5 times my size on the bus this morning and wondering what can I do to move far away from my current size, outside of sewing my mouth shut… I am writing down and counting calories, but looking at fellow passengers on a bus at 5:40 am, well, makes you question metabolism, sleep and a “hurry up and eat or you’ll be late” mechanism.

Just got off the phone with my brother Bob talking about Mom and family issues.

**sigh**

Trying to keep my life at home going at an even keel.

Trying to recover from Saturday’s fall.

“The job”.**sigh**

Zush and Kasia on Benadryl.

I guess you just keeping juggling until you drop something, right?Guess I just have to go out and get some fresh velcro for my hands to keep things going.

Here’s hoping things are going better for us all.

Emotionally exhausted

If you ever talk to a caregiver and they tell you they are not emotionally exhausted, they are stretching the truth.

I have been taking care of my Mom with the help of my brother here in the city for what will be 4 years this coming January.It’s a long haul so far. Within the past month, two friends of mine( in their 50’s-60’s) have had their Moms pass away. Both had dementia, as my Mom does, but one had cancer as an underlying condition, and wasn’t bed-ridden as my Mom is, and the other had dementia for about 5 years but passed away at 98 years of age.

When these folks lost their Moms, I hugged them and gave them my deepest sympathy and then , about a half beat later, said you lucky S.O.B.They both exchanged the look with me and knew.Their lives can resume again.One friend has two dogs and a teaching job he loves, and my other pal is a Grandmom who has a gorgeous house and a lifestyle I secretly covet.

I often say my Mom died in January of 2008 and we are taking care of my Mother. I pray for her every day- I do.

There’s a line in the movie Rudy, between Robert Prosky as a Priest, talking to Sean Astin as the main character. The main character asks the priest has he done all he can do? He has lit candles, prayed, went to Mass, and the Priest answers by saying to him,. “God answers in God’s time.”

**sigh**