Time To Wake Up.

Mom was not ready to get up this morning. I went to bug her and I said "Mom time to get up" and she said very clear "No it is not go away". So I left her alone for a little while longer. It is rare for her to talk so clearly and confident that I wanted to obey her.

The sun is shining for the first time all week. But it is very windy. At least no rain. That is very nice.

We are doing so good with our thick drinks. It takes her forever to drink these days but at least she is not getting choked.For breakfast we had oatmeal and a wonderful blueberry smoothie that my son made. Mom ate and drank everything.



I am ready for the weekend. It seems like this week was so busy. I got to go to the mall with my sister which is I think the very first time I have ever been to the mall with my sister. Can you believe that? Lately she is watching mom while I run around but my son watched her so we could both go . And before mom got sick I guess going to the mall was not on our list of things to do together. It was fun. I hope we get to go again. She could not walk the whole mall with me. To old . Just kidding. Her feet and legs started hurting so we rested a lot. I think maybe she had on the wrong kind of shoes. Next time I will make her wear her walking shoes.
Have a Happy Halloween Everyone.

Milkshake's and Smoothie's

I have not made it to the store yet so I have not gotten any Thick-it. A lot of my blogger friend's suggested Thick-it to put in moms drinks so she won't choke. Well you guys that know me know I make do with what I got. Mom as been enjoying an array of different drinks. My son makes the best smoothies. Here is the recipe again. 1/2 cup milk, 1/2cup OJ, 6oz vanilla yogurt, one soft banana,4 ice cubes and a hand full or two of frozen fruit. I like blueberries or strawberries. He likes mixed fruit. I get big bags of frozen fruit from Sam's . They last forever.



Okay here is the weird stuff . This morning we mixed apple jc.. with applesauce. I tasted it. Not bad. Last night for supper we did warm milk and potato flakes. I had to do that twice. First time did not work. The milk was not warm enough to cook the flakes so I got some water very hot. About a 1/4 cup and than added flakes than when that cooled down and they looked like mashed potatoes I filled the rest of the cup up with milk. Yes, I tasted it . Needed salt and butter. LOL! Not my best work but mom drank it.



I also tried milk and yogurt, apple jc. and yogurt and gatorade and yogurt . Each one was very good. Like a small milkshake or smoothie. I used a whisk to mix things up good. I also found out it is hard for mom to suck this stuff up the long straw. She always stops halfway and down the straw it goes so I cut the straw in half. It worked. Hard on me to get it to the bottom of the cup but easy on mom to suck up the drink.



Today I will go shopping and look for the thicken stuff and also stock up on nutrition drinks they are good tasting and thick all ready. If I can't find the thicken stuff I will ask moms nurse if she will bring me some. I bet she will.

Changes

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/

Animal Crackers

Bet you all can't guess what we are having for supper tonight.

Your right if you guessed animal crackers. You guys are good. We are also having yogurt and macaroni salad. I know, not to healthy. But tasty. First mom was eating the yogurt and animal crackers and I was eating the mac. salad . She ran out of yogurt and wanted more to eat so I gave her some of my mac. salad and she started eating it. So I am finishing the bag of animal crackers while she is finishing my mac. salad. Silly aren't we?

Mom does not use spoons and forks anymore but if your love ones are having trouble holding on to there's here are a couple ideas. You can buy from the Alzheimer's store very heavy utensils . They are thick and I guess that being heavy the person knows they have something in there hands. But they cost to much. Mom's PT gave us a piece of foam to slip on our own utensils . It makes them big and thick. She used it better than the one I bought for $10. So I would go that route . Not sure were to find one if you don't have a PT. You could ask Home Health Care any Aid or Nurse.

Coconut Oil and Alzheimers

I found this online . What do you all think? I might buy some and see if I like it. Couldn't hurt. Mom is to far gone I think for it to help. But what the heck. We will try it anyway.

http://coconutdiet.com/alzheimers.htm?s=yh

Potatoe Flakes

I tried something new for supper. We had cream of chicken soup and I put some instant potato flakes in mom's to make it thicker and more filling. I tasted it . Not bad. And she ate it. Tomorrow I am really going to cook. We are going to have meatloaf. Hopefully mom will eat it. She loves mystery meat so maybe she will love my meatloaf. Believe me it is a mystery. She used to eat it so we will have to see if she will now.

It is warm today. A little to warm. Actually hot inside the house. I do have some windows open.It is great outside I went out and played with my dogs. D.o.g. has been good for a week. I took him off the chain and he has not gotten out and in the neighbors trash. Lucky is our big fluffy baby . He loves to be brushed. You have to watch out because he has busted my lip more than once. He likes to jump up and give you a kiss. OUCH!

Windy Monday

My son just left for class and here I am again writing my post before I get mom up. I put that off as long as possible. Did I mention lazy is my middle name.
It is very windy out and going to be in the high 60's today. Maybe I will open a window later. Fresh air would be nice. It did not get out of the 50's Saturday and was a little warmer Sunday .

The weekend was good . We had a nice visit with moms nephew and his family. Sat. my brother took them to the crafts fair. My son, mom and I watched football . Arkansas lost to Florida but it was a very good game anyway. When they got back we ate supper and than my son stayed with mom.My brother went home and I took them site seeing and to Target. They do not have a Target near them. We also went to Walgreen's and Wal-mart. I really did take them to site see not just to shop. We drove around the Uof A campus and I showed them some very pretty and large old homes and buildings. Took them around the square than we went shopping. It was getting dark so had to go shopping.


Mom ate good but did not visit. Not sure if she knew they were here. I think she talked to them once. It is good for them to see her . No one really knows how gone she is till they see her in person. She has very few times when you can talk to her and she responds normal. She does listen alot and will just say something out of the blue that goes along with what we are talking about but most of the time the words don't make sense. I think she is trying and wants to talk to us or wants us to talk to her . It just does not come out right.
In the mornings If I give her some love and talk to her she will talk to me . And she will tell me that she is not ready to get up. I really think she knows whats going on right than. But when I start getting her up she gets all confused and upset. Then it's like that off and on most of the day.
Well it's time to get busy just another day another dollar. I wish! I could us a dollar.

Waiting For Company To Arrive.

I did all my house cleaning. Boy I am pooped. Mom is napping . I will get her up in about 35 min's. Her nephew and his wife and daughter should be here around 6pm.

I found 6 nice x-large T-shirts on the clearance rake for $1.66 at the store the other day. So mom will be all pretty in a new shirt when they get here.

I have a lasagna to put in the oven but for mom I think I will make cream of celery soup and applesauce. Might give her a bite of the lasagna but I don't think she will eat it. Oh! and I have garlic bread. You have to have garlic bread with lasagna. Anyway the question of the day is will mom know who is here to see her. Or ,will she even talk to them. I bet she will ignore them. She likes to ignore me. Used to she would tell every one how mean I was to her . I miss those days. Now she is in her own world a lot.

Yesterday my brother was talking about her and she said "I did?" So she was listening to us. That is good.

Busy Weekend Coming.

Mom is in her easy chair. Talking to someone about something. I answer her but she does not respond to me . Just keeps talking to someone in her own world.



Tomorrow is our part of the states very large arts and crafts fair. War Eagle.

http://www.beaverlake.com/wareagle/wareagle.htm

It brings in Thousands of people. We have family coming from Missouri to see mom and go to the fair. I need to vacuum , mop and clean the toilets. I really should clean the toilets more . My sister dusted yesterday. Thanks sis again.



We had veg. beef soup for supper and yogurt . So far so good on the eating. I forgot to give mom her nice medicine today before the aid came to give mom her bath and I did not realize that in till mom started yelling and screaming . And boy does mom has a potty mouth. I did not tell the aid I forgot. Maybe she did not notice . :)

Blog Action Day!

Check out this great blog she has all the info needed for blog action day.
http://thisdmnhouse.blogspot.com/
This years subject is Climate Change. I am no expert on this but I know something needs to be done to stop it.
Saving energy in your home can help by cutting down our use of natural gas and electricity so winterize your home. We put plastic on our windows, close up all our holes under the house. Caulk all cracks and around windows, put weatherstripping around doors to prevent cold from entering . Add extra insulation to the attic. And lower the thermostat. Use more covers . Wear extra cloths. Put on that extra pair of socks. Snuggle up with your mate to stay warm. That is my favorite.
http://www.blogactionday.org/

Oral Care

I was going to watch the View because the Duggar family were going to be on it. Have you seen them on Fox or USA? I can't remember want channel. They have 18 or 19 kids and pregnant again. I only watch it sometimes when nothing else is on. My son plays broom ball with them at the ice skating rink and we see them around town sometimes. They seem like a nice family. But to many kids for me. Well, I missed it so thought I would write about something new I'm trying out on mom. Moms nurse gave me some Flavored Disposable Oral Swabs. They are great. Mom even likes them once you get them in her mouth.They are so cute looks like a sucker.

We used to take moms teeth out and I would let them soak over night and mom would rinse out her mouth. The toothbrush was out of the question. But she will not do anything now. We don't even try to put the teeth in anymore. Anyway you soak the swab in water and put in her mouth. Rub all around . It smells good and must taste good because mom likes sucking on it. Which is a good way to get that tongue clean.

Rainy Friday

It is raining , and raining and raining. We had Tornado warnings all over last night but no touchdowns. Thank goodness . My son was at the movies "walk-in" not drive-in. Any way I texted him that we are under a tornado warning and the news guy said take cover now . He texted back. Cool. Silly boy. Nothing came of the storm except a lot of rain . We get so many storms here you would think that I would not get so worried. I actually love thunderstorms. I just ate those Tornado's. It is the 1 chance in a 100 that one will hit us that scares me.

Last night when I was putting mom to bed I rolled her over and she hit her head on the bed rail. I said "I'm sorry" and she said "well you better be". She is so funny. She ate a good supper. I am going to make scrambled eggs for breakfast. My sister is asleep on the sofa so I am going to go bug both her and mom. I just love waking everyone up. Heck if I have to be up so should every one else right?

Drive-in

Mom is eating spaghetti and applesauce. And she is wide awake. No nurse today and no aid so I only gave mom her pain pills and some vitamins. Her first bite she said " Oh, that is good".


And she just said "Karen I love you". Very cool. Than she said a bunch of stuff I did not understand .


Anyway I just realized summer is almost over and I have not been to the drive-in.
http://112driveintheatre.com/
Going to the drive-in was an every week-end event when I was a teenager and I took my son almost every weekend also. Mom loved to go with us. We would take an ice chest and chairs and blankets . It was great. I even bought a truck so we could sit in the back to watch the movie. You just can't beat that. I still got popcorn from the concession stand most of the time. But sometimes we would pop are own and take it too. But it just is not the same. I love popcorn and choc. I think I have wrote that in another post .Sorry.


I need to start paying attention mom was looking for her bread and it was on the floor. I need to wake up. She just said "I hate you". the love was nice while it lasted.


Tonight I will give her a nice pill so she will go to sleep but today has been good. Tomorrow is nurse and aid day and she will be in a bad mood so she will get a nice pill in the morning for sure.


I have to get off here Mom is wanting me to talk to her and she is eating. That is good. :)

Hospice & Caregiving Blog

Saturday Oct. 10 is World Hospice and Palliative Care Day. Check out this web site. And remember it doesn't have to be end of life to be on Hospice. I used to think that but they will come to your home before End of Life . Thank goodness.

http://hfahospice.blogspot.com/

Chilly Monday

It is a chilly Monday. Mom is still asleep . But I am fixing to go bug her. We had a nice weekend . My son and I watched football most of the day Saturday. Arkansas finally won a conference game which was nice. And Mom napped. She did not drink much all day. I had to put her drink in the end of the straw and put it in her mouth to get her to drink . I also have a dropper I fill with water to get her to drink at night. She has completely stopped drinking at night. When I get up to turn her I need a drink so I think she does too. But no she will not open her month. She just will not respond to anything . Sunday was better. She ate good and drank almost all her liquids. I went shopping and got her favorites and a few new things. She did not really respond to me unless I kind of yelled Mom! or Earlene!! and she would say What!.

I try to not give her to much medicine to make her nice and keep her calmed down because it makes her sleep to much. So I am trying new things. Her nurse told what and how much to give her and which to take together . I just have to figure out which combo is the best. She has pills , gel you put on her wrist and Morphine you give her in a dropper . All to make her feel good , relax, be nice and take away pain. I can't give them to her all at the same time but am trying different ones to see which works the best and still she will be awake to eat. It is a pain in the bottom but I might of figured it out because Sunday was good. But today will be different I bet. Nothing is ever the same.

Tomato Soup

I tried to get mom to share my TV dinner for lunch but no way Jose.

So I started digging around looking for something to feed her and I found 4 cans of Tomato Soup which is for my son's grilled cheese sandwich dinners. Mom has never liked tomato soup she always eats Chicken Noodle or Cream Of Chicken with her Grilled Cheese sandwich's. Anyway I made some and she ate it. I put some crackers in it and she ate half a bowl with no trouble at all . Heeaw!! Life is good.

Sunny Friday

It is nice and sunny today. Mom had a visit from my brother. He was good and so was I . LOL!
His grand-daughter is sick so he just dropped by for a second than took her to the doc. Did not want to make mom sick.
I have a TV dinner in the micowave we got from Angel Food. http://www.angelfoodministries.com/
They are pretty good and cheap. Mom and I will share . It is too much for her and I don't need to eat very much today after pigging out all day yesterday on junk food .
All I got mom to eat this morning is some yogart and a few bites of cereal. So maybe she will be hungry . When I get to the store I will buy all her favorites so she will eat better. Hopefully.
So far we are having a good day. No pity party yet. Due mostly by all your comments and emails. One blogger sent me an email which said from one friend to another plus alot of other nice things. That made my day. And all the hugs and prayers well ,can't beat that .Thanks to All of you. Have a great weekend.

Two Bags of Chips and a 2 liter of Cherry Dr Pepper

I am on my second small bag of chips and I am drinking out of a 2 liter bottle. No glass just the bottle .HELP!!! I will weigh a ton soon.

The day after my day off of caring for mom is the worst. I don't know why . Maybe because I know it will be a week till my next day or night off. My son came home for a while and gave me money to help pay bills. That made me happy than he left and went bouldering. That's a fancy word for rock climbing I guess. He does it in a Bouldering Gym. Any way I got so sad I started pigging out again. Writing this post is helping . I'm not eating just writing.

Mom has had a bad day today with eating , drinking and changing. Not enough eating and drinking and to many changes needed. I am sorry I am always talking about changing mom. My son hates it but I tell him what else am I going to talk about. This weekend I am going grocery shopping so hopefully I can get some new stuff to try to feed mom. I am out of the stuff she likes so am going to stock up on that too.

We are under a Thunderstorm watch . I love the rain and I don't mind storms. If there are no tornadoes or hail in them . We have way to much of that in these here parts. Maybe the storm will get my mine off eating and I can just worry about the weather.