Mall Walking And The Lottery

My sister came over last night after work to help care for mom. Than she stayed the day so I could go run around. If not for my sister I would be stuck in this house forever . Well I only had $1 and some change so my big day out was a trip to Sonic for something off the Dollar menu and to the Mall to Mall Walk. It is good exercise and I love it. You can walk and window shop. It is hard not to buy something in the food court . I have a bad habit of over eating so I love the food court.And that is why I need the exercise. I just try to avoid the food court and going to the mall with no money is a great way not to spend much.LOL! I was temped to use my ATM card but I did not want to take the chance of an overdraft.The last time I checked my account it was not pretty so I have been very careful to only buy what we really need.
The lottery just came to Arkansas this pass Monday. Now I have always voted no on the ballot when it came to the lottery . But I have to confess when in Missouri I do buy a ticket just for fun. And most of the time it is only once or twice a year anyway. But being in my home state scared me. What if I get hooked? Anyway I thought about using my $1 to buy a lottery ticket and maybe I would win $20 to go shopping. But if I lost I would not have enough to eat lunch at the Sonic . So I was good and did not get one. I just hope I have the will power next time to say NO. Pray for me.

I'm Over Being Mad

I'm over it now. Just having a bad morning I guess . Thanks for the comments they helped .And I read a post from http://rebecca-gatheryeroses.blogspot.com/ that got my mind off me . It is a wonderful blog and post . I just started crying. A good cry is a good thing.
Mom is napping and it is a wonderful, sunny and cool fall day. So I am over myself and moving on. Happy fall everyone.

P.S. I have to add something to this post I wrote this tues. and now it is Thurs. so it has been 2 days since my raving post about my brother so I need to say nice things about him. Lets see if I can think of any. LOL!
If I ask he will sit with mom just sit nothing else "only if I ask" , He will fix anything that gets broken around this old house which seems to be alot. And he just started not making me pay him back for stuff he needs to buy to fix things. But that is because we are broke. And I think he would even loan me money if I ask but I will never do that . God forbid. The only problem is after he does this stuff for us he wants everyone to kiss his ...... and praise him on how smart and nice he is. I really just want to smack him.

I Am Mad.

I am mad at my brother. More like pissed off. I was not mad till I started thinking about it . Over and over in my head. We were talking on the phone while the aid was in with mom .When the aid and mom came out I said OH! She looks so pretty and the aid sad yes she looks pretty in red. My brother made a noise like a growl than said I will let you go cause your busy. Than when the aid left I tried to call him back . He did not answer. No big deal but than I called again later. No answer . I started thinking. When I went on vacation 2 years ago. Which was the last time my brother helped me with my mom. He made me ask the aid from Home Health Care not to come because he did not want her here and he did not want to have to watch the way he acted or talked .Well mom never got a bath while I was gone. Not from him that is for sure. And he had his Ex-wife change her when she needed changing. I think he did get up in the night to turn her. Wasn't that nice of him. Home Health Care stopped coming shortly after that . And believe me I missed them.
He said he did not like the sweet talk and making nice. So I know when he does call me he will say you were talking like a sissy or fake to the aid. Well all I know is if she does not come and give mom a bath I will have too. No help from my brother . I will visit and talk nice to anyone who wants to help me. And I am truly thankful for the work the nurses and aids from Hospice do for us. It is not fake. Ahhh! I feel better now.

Award

Leslie at "Something Brilliant is Brewing" gave me the Honest Scrap Award. Thank you so much!! I am so proud . Go check her blog out it is great. willswimagain.blotspot.com It's on my list of blogs I love to visit.
I think I am suppose to tell you 10 things about myself . Well I am kind of boring. But here they are.

1.Christian

2.Single mom to U of A engineer student.

3. Caregiver to my mom .

4. Worked at Wal-Mart 6 yrs. Drove school bus than transit bus for around 10yrs. Had a few other silly jobs before and in between.

5.Two cats, two dogs and my son has a snake. (scary)

6. Amateur blogger.
7. Love to bake and eat . Not good.
8. Would love to make quilts out of all my moms quilts tops.There are dozens. And give them to the family for Christmas.
9. I love to go to the movies.
10. Going out to eat is one of my favorite things to do . Which is why I am on this roller coaster of gaining and loosing pounds.

That is enough about me. I am not sure how this works but I would like to award the Honest Scrap Award to all my Blogger friends. Leslie told me to copy and paste my award to my blog. So you guys can too. I hope it works. Anyway you make me smile, and you make me cry. You give me great advice and you give me something to look forward to every morning. Thank you for letting me into your hearts and homes.
Leslie, David and Sue, Dolores, Karen, Cass, Beverly, Rue, Diane, Donna Marie, Sewconsult, Rebecca,Victoria, Latane, Citygirltalks, NV, Marty, BearlySane, Diane, Lady Katherine, Happy Cottage Quiter, Happy Home, Had a Dad, Elanor,Lisa, Chari and Me, Helen, Linda, Rhonda, Krista, JeanMac,Joseph, Mary and Mom's Brain. Forgive me if I forgot someone but Thank you so much.

Can't Sleep

It is 2:41 a.m. I can't sleep. I turned mom at 12:30 and just fell back to sleep when my son came home from work around 1 and told me our dog was out. He put the dog up which was good but I looked outside and there was trash everywhere. It is not the first time this has happened. Our dog loves to climb the fench and get into the neighbors trash than drag it to our yard. No way to deny it was our dog since there is a trail from there trash cans to our front door. So here I go again . Gloves and trash bag to pick up trash.
D.O.G. for Dog of Greatness is chained up now. I hate chains but no more trash cleaning for me . In my eyes he is not such a great dog right now. Tomorrow I might not be so mad but tonight he is in the dog house.

No More Pigging Out

Help! I have been eating all day. I am hungry for some reason. I don't seem to be bored or depressed I am just hungry. If I told you before I am sorry but I lost 40lbs while I was working so I could wear my work shirt tucked in . "A new work policy". Anyway since I have not been working I am getting FAT . I have lots of stuff to do all day. I could dust, vacuum , garden, exercise but NO. I just want to eat. Not to mention laundry,dishes and taking care of mom. So I don't get bored I just don't do more than I have to. I used to bake all the time because I love to bake but I did not buy baking supplies the last trip to the store on purpose so I would not bake. No flour in the house. I miss flour. No cocoa either . I really miss cocoa. Brownies, fudge, peanut butter choc. oatmeal drop cookies. The sugar is getting lonely .What to do? What to do?

Mystery Meat

• I found out that my mom likes mystery meat. I like hamburger helper myself but its not a mystery.
• I am talking about the stuff potted meat, hot dogs, Salisbury steak TV dinners , canned corned beef hash and fish sticks are made of. What is that stuff? I started buying it because it is cheap but she eats it. It is still hard to get her to open her mouth but she will eat it better than my homemade stuff. Which is OK with me. I am rarely in the mood to cook. You can get those TV dinners for 88 cents. Can't beat that. I know these things are not very healthy but they are all protein and she has to have her protein to keep those pressure sores away. So I am going to get them .Easy and cheap for me and when she is in an eating mood she eats them . Might take an hour to get her to eat it but better than nothing. A person can't live on Ensure forever. Or maybe they can that is all I get down her somedays.Not Ensure but the cheap stuff.

Frank!!! What In The World?

I am trying to get mom to eat while online. I have found if I just sit and try to feed her I go crazy . And I can't enjoy my meal while trying to feed her. So I eat before or after . My son moved the computer into the dinning room for me that way my mind is online instead of just sitting here wishing she would eat. It helps the time pass. Believe me it takes forever to get mom to eat. Anyway I was not going to post anything today because I had nothing to say but while I was reading all my new blogger friends post mom yelled out Frank. What! I said. Why in the world would you yell out Frank? She went on to talking about something else.
Frank is my ex-husband. Now there's a memory I wish we both would forget.

I'm Going To Tell Your Mother

Mom is always going to tell my mom or call the police on me. Or call the Doctor. I keep telling her she is my mom and she just says your lying or something not so nice. I have found that sometimes if I just grab her and hug and kiss her like you would a little child she comes out of the mean mood and into a nice mood but not all the time. I get spit in the face a lot. But it is still fun when I think of doing it.
But I have trouble with keeping it personal . I find myself moving her , getting her dressed and feeding her without any emotion just doing the task like a robot. I have to remember she is my mom I am her daughter . Show her some love.

The Goodwill Store

Money is short and times are hard so it is off to the Good Will store. I have found a great store to buy moms cloths.The Salvation Army is fun too. Since she has to be changed so much I went from pants to skirts. They are so much easier to get off and on or pull up and down. Which ever the need. I have found that getting very large skirts is even better. And you can find them for around $3 to $5 .I even found me some shorts and nice blouses. Oh! they had the cutest dress which I got for $4 and I wore it to a wedding. Don't tell.
You can get cloths with velco on them from the Alz. store online but I cannot afford them. Someday I might try to make my own. But for now to lazy.
If you look around I bet there are wonderful Thrift Shops in your area. It saves so much money.
Sometimes the Goodwill Store has buy one get one sales. I found my son some long sleeve dress shirts on the buy one get one sale and he wears them to college. Don't never be to proud to shop at the Good Will store .

Brain Fart

Brain Fart is a term I learned from my son's girlfriend's mom. "I really like her and her daughter". Anyway she used this phase when she forgot what she was telling me once. Well it felt right to me this morning because my brain is fried or something today. I can't talk or get anything done right. Maybe I will go back to bed and start over later. While I was feeding mom every time I wanted her to take a bite I would say here mom take a drink and every time I wanted her to take a drink I would say open wide and take a bite. If she is not confused enough I must of really confused her this morning. T.G.I.F.

Chinese Food

My son took me to a Chinese Buffet last night while my sister Mommy sit. It was great. I ate to much. But the pain and suffering that came later was worth it.
Mom's nurse and aid have already been here this morning so the rest of the day will be routine. Lunch , changing, nap, changing , supper and bedtime. Not much but seems to take up most of the day. If we could leave the diaper changes out it would not be a bad day. Who would of thought mom changed my diapers and now I am changing hers. I bet mine where much sweeter. LOL!!!

Had a Dad

There is a study in Australia going on about Alz. check out the blog.
http://dimebon-australian-study.blogspot.com/
And check out Had a Dad blog .She has all the info.
http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/

Rainy Day

It has been a nice uneventful day. That is good. Mom is napping and I am on here. My Cat is laying in my lap . Tomorrow will be busy with mom's nurse and aid coming so no down time. Today I am going to enjoy the rain. My sister is coming tonight to care for mom . So it is turning into a great day. Maybe I can get my son to take me out to eat. Very good idea .

The Eight Legged Monster

More like the eight armed monster. Or an Octopus. Mom would sit in her chair all day without moving if I let her. So nice and sweet. But when it is time to change her or move her LOOK OUT!
There are hands everywhere. In my face, chest , arms, stomach. Pinching ,scratching and tugging at my cloths. The chest is the worst . We need to invent a chest guard . Oh my poor boobs.
That is when I know mom is still alive.If she finds some fat to hold on to you are in trouble. Then you have to figure out how to get her death grip to let go. She has the strength of ten man. I can hardly defend myself. When she could or would still walk she would push me away and almost knock me down sometimes. She took down the hall of the hospital once and it took 3 nurses and the doctor to get her back to bed. Than they gave her enough pills to kill a horse "So said the Doctor" and she still needed a straight jacket to hold her down.
I don't miss the days when she would try to knock me down or run away but I do miss her walking. If only there could a happy medium to this disease.

Quilt Pieces

The only thing my mom and grandma "her mother -in -law" had in common was making quilts. Mom would have me cutting quilt pieces for her when she could keep me from sneaking out to play. Than grandma stayed with us for awhile and she had me cutting quilts pieces the whole time she was here. I complained all the time. Than that Christmas my present from her was the quilt she made from the pieces I had to cut while she was here. Everyone had a big laugh and I really love that quilt.

giveaway

A great blogger is giving away some wonderful gift's for her 100th post . Go check it out.
http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/

Peanut Butter and Jelly

I found a new blog yesterday called My Peanut Butter and Jelly Life. It reminded me how much mom used to love PB&J sandwich's. First she would eat a half one all by herself . Than I had to start helping her because she kept dropping it. Than we went to cutting it up in to little baby sandwich's for finger food which worked for along time. But now she has trouble with bread since she won't leave her teeth in. I use to find her teeth in the most weird places so we stopped putting them in all together.
My son has a quiz in Physic's today. Better him than me.
My sister stayed over last night to care for mom so I got a whole nights sleep . I like that.
Have a nice week-end everyone. And remember today is Sept. 11 . Say a pray.

I Am Going To Ride My Bike Today "Really"

I have to get some exercise. When I was working full time we had to start wearing our uniform shirts tucked in and needless to say I had a few pounds to lose. Well after a lot of eating habit changes I lost 40lbs. I started eating 6 small meals a day instead of eating 3 large meals. It worked. Of course I also had to cut back on soda's , chips and sweets. But now I am home all day with mom and all I want to do is eat.
Well, I bought a stationary bike. I can ride my bike while I read the paper or watch TV. And Mom can talk to me or just talk . She talks a lot to no one. But I can answer her anyway. Sometimes I am bad and just say yes not really listening to what she is saying and she yells "You want me to leave!". I need to pay attention because sometimes she is really taking to me and knows whats going on. I love those days.
Now I just have to make myself get on that bike. I have a treadmill too. It is very dusty.

Poached Eggs

I am not a fan of poached eggs to eat but they were one of my dads favorites. He would boil water than crack the egg and drop in. It always came out perfect. Later he got one of the fancy store bought egg poachers . It was the big time for him. I retired his old egg poacher and got a nice non-stick one. The reason I like to make poached eggs for mom is that I can start them and when they turn white turn them off keep covered and go get mom up. When we come back they are done. I do the same with boiled. When they start boiling I cover and turn off burner than go get mom. There is a great trick I learned on peeling boil eggs . When done pour off hot water and rinse with cool. With no water in pan shake gently . If the eggs are done enough the shells just fall off. Does not work every time but most of the time. Now mom has enough protein for a few meals. Less cooking is a good thing.

What's So Funny?

Mom was in a great mood yesterday. She helped me put her cloths on by lifting her arms when I asked which she just stopped doing the last month. And she laughed at almost everything instead of being mad or yelling. It has been months or close to a year since she laughed. I don't know what to think. She talked to me kind of normal. I could not understand all she said but that is okay. I did not cry once yesterday. In fact I smiled a lot.
When I would ask her to take a bite of food she would say Why. That is really great for us.LOL!
When I changed her she went back to the yelling but I think part might be pain and the other is she can't understand what I am doing down there. Even when I tell her over and over. I would yell too.

I Need A Vacation

Thanks for the wonderful comments and great advice on "I Cried Today".Mom is better .And I will be sure she get her fluids .


Anyway after yesterday I am ready for vacation. Last summer my ex sent us airline tickets to Las Vegas for my sons graduation gift. It was great. My brother, his ex wife ,his daughter and my sister and her husband cared for my mom. Yes it took 5 people to care for my mom for a week.LOL! Needless to say when we got back they all ran for the hills.My brother shys away from caring for her now he will if I ask but after the week of it he won't volunteer.


Anyway My son invited his girlfriend and we had a blast. I would of rather went to the beach but for free airline tickets Vegas was good.

I cried today

I cried like a baby today. Not the first time or the last I am sure. Mom has the runs so do I need to say more.
And to top that off at 4 this morning I was picking trash up from my yard ,street and neighbors because my dog got out and got in every ones trash. At least it wasn't raining. It rained off and on all day yesterday so thank goodness for that.
I will call moms nurse if she gets any worse . I hope she is better now. I don't thank I have another cleaning in me. Right now she is napping. I love nap time. I think for supper we will have cream of chicken soup or chicken and noodle soup. That will be easy for me to make and easy for her to eat. My son wants to go get Subway sandwich's . I could go for one of those.

Football

Mom is asleep. We had a fairly good day. My son and I watched College Football all day. Which was the good part .He is gone now to see his girlfriend. I think she just got off work.
Mom was in a bad mood for breakfast so she did not eat good. And at lunch she did not want to wake up. But I got a little food and juice done her. But by supper she was hungry. It took a while but she ate pancakes and scrambled eggs. I made chili for us . Mom won't eat chili. I would hate for her to have a tummy ache all night from my chilli so good thing she won't eat it. I am going to bed. Maybe tomorrow Mom will eat more and be in a better mood.We can only hope.

activity towel

I made mom a activity towel. I got the idea from The Alzheimers store. They have great stuff but I can't afford them. Anyway you can buy quilts with differant textures and things on them for your loved one to touch. It keeps them busy and gives them something to do. I made a towel . I attached pot holders made of differant materals and a few buttons. She will pull at the buttons or just touch the pot holders. She does not play with it for long but it keeps her arms warm when she is not playing with it.
You can also get no rinse shampoo from the Alzheimers store if you can't find it had your local drug store. That stuff is great. Check them out online.

Somebody Crapped On Me

My mom was eating breakfast . I think your new meds. are working she is eating and talking . Not really making sense but wide awake. That is good.
My brother came to visit and when he touched her she yelled "Help Somebody Crapped On Me".
It was very funny . I love it when she is this way. I hate it when she is doped up.
We had a very bad ice storm this pass winter and we were without power for 3 or 4 days. Well one morning it was 34 degrees in the house . So I loaded mom up and put her in a nursing home for the remaning days without power. Not to mention the fact that it cost $350.00 a day they gave her so much med. to make her nice. I give her nice med. on the days the aid and nurse is coming but not everyday . Only enough to keep her from being scared and nervous. Anyway when I got her back she was a Zombie for 2 days and dehyidrated. I pray I never have to put her in a nursing home. I understand it is hard on the nurses to care for so many people . But I don't want my mommy in there.

T.G.I.F.

Thank god it is Fri. I am very tired It has been a busy week. It was moms birthday and we have been trying to get moms medicine regulated. She either is unhappy, anxious and mean . I can't tell you how many times I have heard the B word over the last year. Or she is sleeping all the time. I can't get her to eat when she is unhappy and mean and I can't get her to eat when she won't wake up. So the Hospice nurse is doing a great job trying to figure out how much or how little medicine to give her. This weekend I am just going to chill . I will make sure she gets enough to eat and drink and keep her moving so she don't get pressure sores. I make sure she does not stay in the same stop to long .She is in her bed , wheelchair and easy chair off and on all day. So far not one bed sore or diaper rash. You need to have a routine. It is to hard to check to see if she is wet every 5 min. I used to do that. So start a routine. She hardly is ever wet when I take her to bed . But when she relaxes she goes. Number 2 accidents happen every once in awhile but if we are lucky she goes in the morning before getting out of bed. Number 2 is always fun.NOT! It depends if she takes a short or long nap in the afternoon if I have to take her back to bed to be changed before supper but just turn her in bed every 2 hrs. And don't let her set in the easy chair all day.

Lemon Cake

I am eating some of moms birthday cake. It has been a busy morning . The aid came to give mom a bath.So I had to make sure mom had her extra nice pills. If I don't give her a nice pill mom will yell ,pinch and scratch the aid while she is trying to give her a bath. I only give mom an extra nice pill the day the aid or nurse is coming because they make her sleep . And if she sleeps all day I can't get her to eat or drink . That is not good. It is hard enough to get her to eat and drink on a good day.
My sister was here to watch mom so I ran errands after making breakfast. Mom had a fried egg and I chopped up a banana for her finger food. Bananas are messy but they are good for her. I made me and my sister bacon and tomatoe sandwichs. The tomatoes are from my sisters tomatoe plant. They were very good.
The aid brought mom some diapers,whips and gloves. I am so Thankful for Hospice. Mom is no were near end of life but she meets a few of the requirments for Hospice to come out. If not for Hospice we would be short on alot of other things we need to buy . But remember you have to ask your Docter about Hospice because the Docter will not mention it to you untill End of Life.

Happy Birthday Mom

I am really tired. We had a little party for mom. She did not really enjoy it. I made her favorite lemon cake and we had Hamburger Helper with creamed corn for supper. Took a very long time for her to eat her supper. And than just a few bites of cake. This morning while I was getting her up I sang Happy Birthday to her and she sang with me.That was nice. But tonight she did not care. My sister ,son and his girlfriend was here. We did not want to overwhelm her.
With Alzheimer's you can't except to much so we have to keep the activities simple. Just getting her to eat anything is a big job so trying to get her to taste her cake is not that important if it is going to stress her out. Anyway she is napping in her chair now . My sister went home for awhile but will be back . It is her night to stay and I get to sleep. I am so happy. And mom ate some of her veggies. It was a good day.

Finger Food

Good morning . It is raining here and nice and cool. We have had our windows open for three days. That is great for August which is usually the hottest month of the year.
Today for breakfast we had pancakes. Mom loves pancakes with syrup. If I don't cook an egg I put some peanut butter in between two pancakes than put on the syrup . Of course I have to feed mom this cause it can be messy. But I also cut up a pancake and put in front of her for finger food. I always have something for her to pick up with her hands . Crackers, bread , or cereal. I tried peas but she spits them out .

When she is sitting in her easy chair I have a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios in her reach. It is messy sometimes but easy to clean up. On a good day she will eat a bowl full. Not counting what ends up on the floor. I also have a cup with a lid and straw. So I can give her drinks.But I keep that out of her reach . She likes to turn it upside down. And a toy to play with.Something to hold or put in her mouth .Kind of like a baby. But it gives her something to do.Today is birthday day so I got to get busy and make her cake. Last year she would not even take a bite but maybe this year she will . She loves sweets and if I can get her to taste it she will eat it.

Shopping

I just got back from Wal-mart. My son stayed with mom. I got all I needed for her birthday. And I was so happy they had baby diapers "which I use at night to lay under her instead of adult diapers" in a extra big box of 120 for $18.00.You have to watch Wal-mart . They will make the size of the container smaller but leave the price the same to make you think there prices are not going up. I used to get 102 baby diapers for around $17 than they went to 92 or 96 diapers in a box. But tonight I got the 120 count. That is good.
Also I just started using coupons more. I got free yogurt with a coupon. If you visit "Freebies 4 Mom" you can learn how to use coupons. She told us to wait till the coupon item is on sell than use your coupon you can get it free or almost free.
Mom is being so good tonight. She is watching TV or listening to it. Anyway no yelling for me or wanting to go home. She is home but just don't realize it. Poor thing. I pray a lot for nice nights like this.Thank you lord.

Angel Food and Egg Drop Soup

I got Ramen Noodles on the stove and I am going to drop an egg in them when they are done. That way mom gets her protein . It is kind of like Egg Drop Soup you get at a Chinese Restaurant but not as good. While the Noodles are cooking I am trying to feed mom some pear puree I got from the Angel Food Ministries. They are great . You order food one Saturday a month then go back and get it the next Sat. It is pretty good food for a low price. Look them up to see if you can get it in your area.
Anyway I have some peas I am going to sneak into the noodles too. If mom doesn't spit it all out she will get a nice meal for a low price.
I got a great booklet on Alzheimer's from the National Institute On Aging. It is called Caregiver Guide. In it I read that if you use the patients name instead of saying mom or dad they might respond. It works most of the time. She will just sit there and ignore me and I will say Earlene and she wakes up and takes a bite. Sometimes. She is eating the pear puree good. When I have the money I like to go to Aldies and buy a lot of canned fruit and veg. Than I can puree them myself . Much cheaper that way. I can get her to eat fruit anytime but now if I could only get her to eat her veggies.

Nap time for mom

I just put mom down for a nap. I hope she takes a nap. I really had to change her so if she takes a nap that will be a bonus. I have been lucky she does not yell and scream while in bed like she used to . I think it is the medicine. Some days she sleeps a lot and others she does not. She had sun downers for awhile which is when the person with Alzheimer's gets really nervous or mean at bedtime. But the medicine the Doc. has her on or she is just past that stage of the disease makes her not so bad at night. Anyway I take her in everyday around 1 or 2 to change her. And sometimes again before supper. Depends on if she is napping or not. If she is napping I will let her stay in bed till supper than she is good till bed time. I like those days. I still have to turn her in two hrs. but she will go back to sleep on a good day. I am eating a sandwich. We are getting low on groceries so I need to go to store today or tomorrow. Tomorrow is moms birthday she will be 82. I can't buy much till the first of the month but I am going to get stuff to make lemon cake that is her favorite and something to make for dinner. My sister and son will be here. So I want to have a nice supper and cake. My sister works full-time on the night shift at the Hospital as a housekeeper. She gets one night off a week and comes over here to watch mom so I can sleep all night. That is nice. No getting up every two hrs. to turn and change mom.
I was good at lunch instead of just yogurt ,cereal and nutrition drink I made mom an egg. Only cause we are out of milk , and nutrition drinks. She needed the protein anyway. I gave her ice tea to drink with her meds. in it. She drank it all . That was nice. Oh and yogurt. She loves her yogurt.It is hard to get her to eat the egg but the yogurt is pretty easy. I will try to get some veggies down her at supper. I promise.

Breakfast for mom

I'm trying to get mom to eat a fried egg . It is not easy . She either spits it out or just won't open her mouth. I also have a smoothie .She likes that . She really don't like the cold but it is sweet and she loves sweets. They are great. My son makes them for us all the time. It is 1/2 cup orange juice , 1/2 cup milk, 6 oz vanilla yogurt , banana and 4 ice cubes . Put in blender than enjoy. My son will sometimes add other frozen fruit like blueberries, strawberries or mixed fruit . He gets the big bags in the freezer section at Wal-mart . They are so good.
I sometimes crush mom's medicine and put in the smoothie. She will not swallow her med. anymore so I crush it all . You will have to ask the Doc. which medicines can be crushed because time-released cannot be crushed but you can get some med. in liquid form too.
For lunch there is no way I can get her to eat much. She is not wanting to eat. So I give her a nutrition drink and some yogurt. Than while we are watching TV I hand feed her Honey Nut Cheerios. I am out of juice and Gatorade this morning so she is drinking water. Most of the time I try to get her to drink at least 4- 8oz classes of something a day and water in between . It is also hard to get her to drink. She won't swallow or spits it out . It is an all day job. But I don' t want her to get dehydrated. That is bad. The Doc. told me to give her Gatorade everyday to help keep her sodium level up . She is bad about having low sodium levels and that is bad. You would need to ask your doc. about that if you have the same problem with your love one. I was giving her two much water and she had to go to hospital to get her sodium levels up . Who knew.

Good morning

I am fixing to go bug mom. I have to get her up now because it is aid day. She hates to get a bath. It is just a sponge bath because we cannot get her in and out of the tub. She will not use her legs anymore. I have a lift for her . It is a god send. The Doc. did not want to order it for me but I was having to pick her up from bed to the wheelchair and then to the easy chair. It was killing me. The Doc. said once I start using the lift she will never use her legs again. But she was just using one anyway and I was doing all the rest. He had a p.t. start coming over and she told me that mom would not take direction and would not try to walk. So finally the Doc. ordered a lift. I had to make parcel payments on it and Medicare paid the rest. Now it is ours. We paid it off in about a yr. We also have a hospital bed . You have to have the Doc. order it but than Medicare will help pay for it. We own it too. It is good to have because you have to put a basket kind of thing under mom and than hook it up to the lift . And if she is laying flat when you start lifting her it is hard on her and you. So with the bed you can raise the head and that is better for everyone. Than you just roll the lift around. It is on wheels and pull the wheelchair under her and lower the lift. It has a handle to pump up and a lever to push to let her down. It is very nice.But scary. At first she fell out a few times. Which could of been bad but luckily she did not break anything. I have it down now. No dropping .