Mom has not changed a lot in the last few months till this last week. Her new thing now is not opening her eyes. She will go most of the day with her eyes shut. And she is choking on fluids more now than ever. The nurse was here today. She told me to start giving mom thick drinks like milkshakes more. She also told me that since mom is getting choked it will be easy for her to catch pneumonia so I guess it will be milkshakes from now on. Mom also has a runny nose and was breathing heavy last night so I have to take her temp for at least two days. If no temperature she is ok.
I made roast ,potatoes and carrots in the slow cooker Sunday. Can you believe it. Real food. Anyway mom just ate a few of the veg. no meat. I also made Chicken and Dumplings Fri. or Sat. They were so good. No, this is not going to be a habit . I just went shopping and there was a meat sell . When I run out of my cheap meat it will be back to soup.
Arkansas lost again Sat. My son was out of town so my brother came over and watched the game with me. To bad we lost the game. It would of been a really good day. He was nice and did not make me mad for a change.
I found a new Alz's blog. Lots of info. check it out.
http://lovinggrand.blogspot.com/
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The Early, Mild to Moderate and Advanced stages of Alzheimer's in the brain.
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Dear Karen
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry that your mom is in a decline. Please know that I think of you and pray for you and your mom each day.
Chicken and dumplings and roast with potatoes and carrots are what I grew up on, and I call comfort foods. YUM!
Take care of yourself.
Thanks for visiting my blog earlier today. It was so boring, I didn't even want to read it lol (my blog that is), but there is something to be said for boring over the usual.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear your mom is having more trouble swallowing. Alzheimer's is probably one of the diseases I know the least about. I can't imagine losing someone like this though, just a little at a time. I read about your last few meals though and it sounds like you handle things like this the way we do at our household...with as much humor as you can muster up. I'm almost amazed at some of the things we find humor in, but it beats crying thats for sure.
I can tell you are a strong woman. Your mom is lucky to have you xx
My daddy is forgetting me more and more. I'm sick to my stomach over it today.
ReplyDeleteI try and put my energy into my FAITH. I don't believe God is cruel...therefore there MUST be some life-lesson for me as I watch my father continue to decline. This is certainly a club no one wants to be a member of.
Thinking of you...dinner and real cooked food sounds good.
xoRebecca
Oy, Alzheimer's is so hard. My mom is in a similar state. They give her "thicken" to thicken up her food and liquids -- the food they puree. Its such a heartbreaking disease!
ReplyDeletepneumonia is nasty stuff, I hope for your sake your mom doesnt get it. My dad gets it a couple of times a year and usually ends up staying a month at a time in the hospital because of it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the thoughts and prayers I need them. If she gets pneumonia I think it will be the end. I am going to thicken everything she drinks So she won't get choked.
ReplyDeleteSorry about your Mom. I had a grandmother and mother who died in the grips of this nasty disease. I'm dealing with a mom-in-law who is living with it now, too. It is so hard to be as close as you are to the way it takes everything away from the person you love, and the relationships just fade away while you're holding them.
ReplyDeleteOh, and Loving Grand is good for resources and sometimes simply as someone who deals everyday.
Ah, now this is something I know about -- having dealt with it the week before last with my father. My Mom has AD but my Dad has Parkinsons', and 2 weeks ago yesterday he was rushed to the hospital -- diagnosis: aspiration pneumonia.
ReplyDeleteparkinson's, like AD, causes swallowing difficulties. And they are odd ones. He can handle solid food and thick liquids, but he can no longer have water-y liquids. Even his decaf needs to be thickened.
The reason is that as he swallows, he inhales a little bit both before and after swallowing when it is thin liquids. This is really common -- and what happens is that teensy bits of "stuff" are aspirated or inhaled into the lungs, and the foreign matter is what triggers the pneumonia as the body tries to "get rid" of the invader.
Normal reflex is to exhale, not inhale, upon swallowing. This goes wacky in PD and AD and in other conditons as well, causing the pneumonoa. Pneumonia is the most common cause of death among PD patients.
Some patients can be taught to consciously exhale upon swallowing thin liquids, but it's not usually successful.
Since this was my father's second bout w/pneumonia in just months, they immediately suspected the aspiration type, and did the swallowing tests (swallowing while being x-rayed) and sure enough -- he did OK w/solids and thicks, failed the thin test.
He's had a real hard time understanding this -- in fact he still doesn't "get" it -- and I had to just simply finally say to him, "Look, Dad, you can believe the doctors and cooperate, or you can continue to think you do OK with all swallowing, keep on drinking thin liquids, and keep getting pneumonia till it kills you. What do you want to do?"
He decided to cooperate. :-) It sounds funny, but I hated having to put it so bluntly to him, but he was just being so stubborn I had no choice.
Luckily he has no dementia.
My Mom isn't eating at all -- but she still will drink the Ensure, which thankfully is also fairly thick.
BTW my Dad has had no choking. LIke most PD patients, he had no idea he was aspirating because it was very subtle -- that's what makes it so dangerous. They don't realize it's happening. Thicker liquids and solids trigger the gag and choke reflex, so they can be coughed out.
Wow -- I wrote alot!
It's pouring rain here, but on Sunday we had a gorgeous day and joined in the Memory Walk to raise money for AD research. Our family team raised 2300 dollars, so I am really proud. The walk itself raised over 650-thousand... I can't even imagine that much money!
It was inspiring to see so many people involved, but it was also so sad to realize how MANY people are affected by AD in one way or another.
Hang in there, Karen.
(Your cooking sounds Ummmm.....)
Cass
Karen, here's a blog I thought you might be interested in reading.
ReplyDeletethanks for all the great info Cass it helps. I visit a new blog . You were right Karen I liked it.
ReplyDeletehttp://papasifiremembercorrectly.blogspot.com/
And I really like LovingGrand too.
Hi Karen,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear your mom is having some swallowing issues. Choking and aspiration pose real risk. Seems like you got soom good advice about precautions and what to watch for. There is a product called Thickit - that you can add to any liquid to thicken it to various consistencies according to directions on the label, and it supposedly doesn't change the taste of food. We use it for many of our clients who are on choking precautions. Your cooking does sound good! I don't think I've had chicken and dumplings for 40 years! Just as well, but it still sounds great.
Take care of yourself. I always appreciate your blog and your comments on mine. You are a special blog friend!
I'm sorry to hear about your mom's recent changes. It is so hard to see them have troubles like this. It sounds like you have received some good advice and ideas to try. I have you and your mom in my prayers.
ReplyDelete