Thick-it or ThickenUp

I finally got mom some stuff to thicken her drinks. I ask the hospice nurse for some. It is working great. Mom is not choking at all on her liquids. I even put some in soup. She ate it but still likes Oatmeal better. I would rather used Potato Flakes to thicken soup so she can get more nutrition.

Ours is called Thicken up. It works great. You can make it just a little thick where it will go though a straw or real thick like pudding and you can use a spoon. Depends on if mom will drink or won't rather I use straw or spoon. She is different every meal.

We are getting so much snow. It is very pretty. About 5 inch's and still snowing. I am glad to be in the nice warm house. My son got snowed in at his girlfriends. Not sure if on purpose or accident. What do you think?

My Big Mouth!!!

Today is Wed. no Aid or Nurse today. So I thought. That is what I get for only being nice when we have company. The real me is crazy and sometimes down right mean.

I was in the shower and my son was getting ready to leave for class. Well the water got ice cold . I yelled you better of had to use the bathroom really bad. I am going to kick your " I should of said butt " but said the other word. I really was kidding. He hates using my moms bathroom because you have to go though her bedroom but I just thought he had to really bad and flushed the toilet. I really was yelling just to be silly. Than I heard a knock on the bathroom door. I stuck my head out of the shower and said what. He said "mom the aid is here" . I said ok. What else is there to say.

Snow And Ice Coming

Winter is coming back. We had a few nice days lately. Temperatures in the 60's but now we are under a winter storm watch. Going to rain than turn into freezing rain and than snow . I just hope the power stays on. It has been a year to this date since we had our last ice storm and we were without power for days. Some for weeks.

Update on moms rash. It looks better to me. The Hospice Home was out of the good medicine so keeping diaper rash med. on it. So far so good. I have been cleaning under her breast and her fat rolls everyday. Putting on lots of Diaper rash med. Even on the days the aid does not come. Aren't you proud of me? Well I hate it . But doing it with a smile on my face. Really. At least I don't worry about it so much. The first night after the aid found it I could not sleep.

Fat Rolls

Yes I am talking about the rolls of fat around our tummies and our back fat . I hate back fat. The fat that hangs over your bra kind of under the arm or over the back.
Mom is losing weight due to poor eating habits but I think that makes her jelly roll or spare tire even worse. All that lose fat. I work hard and so does the aid cleaning and putting lotion or rash med. in between them to keep them clean and fresh. But the aid found a raw spot under a roll I have never even noticed. It is a few inch's under her left arm. Starting under her breast and going all the way round to her back. Oh, that nasty back fat. It is a small roll but it has a raw spot or rash. We make sure she has lotion under her breast always but we missed that little roll. We have it covered in diaper rash med. right now but Monday the aid is bringing some real good med. to put on it that will heal it right up she said. Thank goodness she found it. Darn I am mad at myself. Remember I had gotten lazy on days when the aid did not come.Time for me to get unlazy. Doubt I will but I sure need too.

Choices

I have ran out of things to write about. In my earlier post my mind was full of things to share. But now everything is at a stand still. We are all just waiting for Mom to forget how to swallow. Or stop going to the bathroom. If she can't swallow anymore we have to make the choice to stop feeding her or put a tube in her tummy and feed her that way. And if she stops using the bathroom. We will have to start putting in a catheter. The nurse would have to come everyday to change it and clean it I guess. We are waiting for mom to get fluid in her lungs and she we come down with pneumonia.Or if she gets an UTI. I have to decide if I want to give her medicine to make her better or just let nature take it's course. Moms nurse said many Alz's patients die from Urine Track Infection's.
She will start losing weight no matter how much I get her to eat. She will get pressure sores even if I turn her every hour because of her skin breakdown.
We are also waiting for when her brain forgets to tell her to take a breath or tell her heart to take a beat. All these things the Hospice counselor has told me might happen. Do I send her to the Hospice Home to finish out her days when these things start happening or do I let her stay home and hope she goes peacefully in her sleep. It might be months or years before any of these things happen but it could be tomorrow. It is just a waiting game now.