Using the Bathroom

We have an ice and snow storm coming Tues. So thought I would post something in case we are without elec. for a while. Not being able to get online when ever I want is very frustrating. We are very spoiled in the household.
I wanted to post some tips on keeping your love one going to the restroom and not having so many accidents. Mom was going through a stage were she got up every 5 Min's to go to the restroom. I had to get up to because she would just fall anytime anyplace and she needed help cleaning up after. It was so tiring. So when she stopped getting up and just started using the bathroom anywhere I was so lazy and just put her in adult pullups and now diapers. Big mistake. I should of followed these tips. I suggest if  possible keep your love one moving as long as you can because when they stop it is so much worse than before.
1. Mark the bathroom clearly with a sign that says "bathroom" or a picture of a toilet.
2. Watch for cues like fidgeting with clothing or pacing.
3.Write down the time of day that  toilet accidents happen to better prevent future accidents.
4. Walk with your love one to the bathroom every 2 or 3 hours. Don't make a big deal out of it . Don't wait for them to ask . Say "We need to go to the bathroom ."
5. Carry extra toileting supplies with you when you are away from home.
Tips are from my Coach Broyle's Playbook for Alzheimer's caregivers.
According to the Alzheimer's Association :

• In 2010, Alzheimer's and other dementias cost Americans $172 billion
• Between 2010 and 2050, the costs to Medicare of caring for someone with Alzheimer's will increase over 600 percent
• Out-of-pocket costs to families will grow more than 400 percent during the same time
•  Federal spending does not measure upThe National Institutes of Health spends more than $6 billion a year on cancer research, over $4 billion on heart disease and more than $3 billion on HIV/AIDS research. But it spends only $480 million on Alzheimer research – and deaths from this disease are soaring.
•  These deseases are awful and I pray one day there will be a cure for them all.

Count Your Blessing's

This has been an awful week. It is me not mom. She is eating , sleeping  and in very little pain. But I am so tired and lazy and sad and I just want to be over this. I have cried more than I usually do and I even got caught by my son . I hate that . He put his arms around me and ask me if I was OK. Oh man I suck. Because I have enough food in the fridge to feed us. I am warm and I am well. Mom is OK. My son is great. If I don't blow money on stuff I don't need I have enough to last the month . With all the bills paid. So snap out of it.
Well I did. Two night's ago our neighbors house . Four doors down anyway. Caught on fire. The man of the house died and the wife is burned very bad. Three police officers pulled them from the burning house. All the day before the fire I was a mess for no reason. Just being a baby . And to think my poor neighbors lives where going to end or be changed that night. Today I am thankful for my life, family and home. Forgive me of my many sin's and Thank you Lord for all the blessing's you have given to me. And Please God bless the Holman's . I pray Mrs Holman recoveries from her burns and can find happiness again.

The ABC's of Alzheimer's

Have you ever wanted to help a person who has Alzheimer's disease but didn't know what to do? The next time you are faced with this dilemma, let the following suggestions come to your rescue. Some of these acts can be performed by individuals, whereas other recommendations are undertaken appropriately as projects by Sunday School classes, youth groups or mission organizations.

ADVOCATE by contacting local, state and national lawmakers to request increased funding for Alzheimer's research and to enact legislation that will improve quality of life.

BE a friend—no matter what.

CONTACT those affected by Alzheimer's frequently to see if there are practical needs you can meet.

DONATE a book about Alzheimer's to a church or public library.

ENROLL a patient in the Safe Return program sponsored by the Alzheimer's Association and pay the annual fee (if applicable).

FAMILARIZE yourself with non-verbal techniques to facilitate communication with patients.

GIVE a Gideon Bible in honor of a patient.

HIRE a home health aide to stay with a patient for a few hours each week to enable the family to have a time of respite.

INVITE patients and families to attend church socials and make them feel welcome.

JOKE sensitively to relieve tension.

KEEP abreast of services, programs and other resources that are available for patients and families.

LEARN as much as possible about the nature of Alzheimer's disease and how it affects patients.

MAKE a Scripture box of God's promises to give patients and families as a source of encouragement.

NEVER argue with patients as this leads to agitation and makes matters worse.

OFFER transportation to a patient and spouse when attending worship services.

PRAY for specific needs of patients and families, as well as a cure for the disease.

QUELL patients' fears by listening to their concerns and offering reassurance.

RELY on the Holy Spirit to guide you.

SEND cards on special occasions such as anniversaries, birthdays and holidays.

TAKE a home-cooked meal to a patient and family at least once a month.

UNITE with members of other congregations to provide support groups for families and specialized worship opportunities for patients.

VISIT periodically as an expression of your love and a tangible reminder of God's love.

WATCH out for patients' safety.

Xcuse irrational and eccentric behaviors. 

YIELD momentarily to patients' needs instead of your own.

ZERO in on what the experience must be like for a patient who has Alzheimer's and minister as you would want others to minister to you if you had the disease.

 By Pat Otwell
Author of Guide to minstering to Alz's Patients and there Families
 
I got a flier in the mail on the ABC's of Salvation. So I looked online to see if there were an ABC's of Alzheimer's and this artical is what I found. With out the lord to pray to everyday I would be a mess.
Admit to God that you are a sinner.
Believe in Jesus Christ as God's Son and receive Jesus' gift of forgiveness from sin.
Confess your faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord to others.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt beleive in thine heart that God raised Him from the dead thou shalt be saved. Romans 10:9

Rip Off Those Labels

Good Morning All! It has been a great last couple of days. Mom has taken to her new med. And she is nice and comfy most of the time. In the mornings she still likes to yell while getting a bath or getting out of bed. I think that she is just trying to tell us to leave her alone. Hopefully she is not in pain.
Mom is not on any narcotics but for those out there who are I wanted to warn you to make sure you rip off the labels on your medicine bottles before you toss them in the trash. In the news we hear a lot about people breaking into homes demanding drugs. The reason for this is people go through your trash and read the empty medicine bottles and than find out where you live and make a visit. There are a lot of people that handle trash . At curb side or at the trash yard and maybe in between . We recycle all our medicine bottles but I make sure the labels are off. Because mom has taken narcotics in the past . But she is off them now . They just make her to doped up and she can't eat. Or won't wake up to eat. The doctors really like having her on them but I want her to eat. They want her to be pain free and just laying around all day without yelling or voicing her thoughts on things. I want no pain too. The difference is I want her to eat , talk , get out of bed  and be pain free.

A Smile And A Laugh

Mom is feeling a bit better today. She had trouble breathing for awhile this morning but got over it with a few doses of her med. I can't believe how it opens up her lungs and settles down her breathing. I can only give her .25 mg. every 30 Min's till she stops hurting or stops breathing so hard . Than no more till needed. I have been waiting longer than 30 Min's because I kind of forget about it sometimes. The nurse will ask "have you gave her any med.? And I'd say "about a hr ago". Dumb me!!!
Anyway she is off to sleep for the night . Or until I go turn and change her.
The first of the week when she was feeling better I was changing her and she smiled really big and laughed a little while staring at the ceiling . My sister ask her what she was looking at . Of course she did not say anything. I told my sister we should hang a picture up there. Mom has pictures all over the walls to look at but none on the ceiling . But my sister said one might fall and hit her in the eye. Since she only has one good eye left that would be a very bad thing. So today I traced one of my son's butterflies that he had made me in school out of cardboard on the ceiling and colored them . What do you think? Mom has not been awake enough to see them yet. Her new med. make her a bit sleepy. Hopefully when she gets used to them she will be wide awake again with a smile or a laugh.

Pain

According to the dictionary Pain is an Unpleasant Sensation arising from injury,disease,or emotional disorder. Not sure which one of these is causing mom pain but she sure is in a lot. Before she came down with Alzheimer's she was being treated for Arther she used to call it . But we all know it as Arthritis. And she used to have awful pain in her feet so the doc. said she had nerve damage or the nerves in her feet had died.He called it Neurophathy.She is on pain meds. for both of these old problems.
Now we have to figure out what new is going on. I don't think she has been injured. Since she does nothing all day but eat, sleep and potty a lot. And it has been a very long time since any of us have dumped her out of her lift or chair. Thank goodness.
Her breathing is very hard at times but the nurse says her lungs are clear. Now we are trying new meds. And more of the meds she was taking. It is no fun seeing her in so much pain and not being able to figure it out . Sure wish she would or could tell me what hurts and than we could fix it.

We Did It.

NAPA Becomes Law

Dear Bloggers ,

Following the unanimous approval of Congress earlier this month, and the thousands of e-mails and messages you and other advocates sent to the White House last week, I'm pleased to share that today President Obama signed the National Alzheimer's Project Act (NAPA) into law. Once implemented, NAPA will ensure our nation has what Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius calls an "aggressive and coordinated national strategy" to confront the present and rapidly escalating Alzheimer crisis.

Today is a day to celebrate. This is a victory for the 5.3 million people who live with Alzheimer's in this country and the nearly 11 million caregivers. It is a victory for you and more than 300,000 other advocates who stood up and demanded that our nation's leaders create a plan for combating this disease. The journey to take NAPA from concept to law of the land is a victory for all of us.

Tomorrow we will return to the hard but rewarding work that lies ahead. NAPA is a milestone and a very important step forward, but it is not the destination. Our destination is a world without Alzheimer's and we can only arrive there through therapies that stop this disease and improved care and support for those contending with it. Rest assured that we will work tirelessly to maintain the momentum evident today. We will work to ensure NAPA is implemented effectively so that it lives up to its promise, and we will work to advance our other legislative priorities for 2011, including a major, immediate increase in research funding.

As you know, there is no time to waste.

Please continue to stand with us in the fight against Alzheimer's. We can't succeed without you. And please ask others to join us in this effort. We'll need to call on every available voice to succeed.

Again, congratulations and thank you.

Harry Johns
President and CEO
Alzheimer's Association



The Alzheimer's Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer care, support and research. Our mission is to eliminate Alzheimer's disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health.

© 2010 Alzheimer's Association.

Will They Stay Or Will They Go

All of you on Hospice know that you have to be evaluated every 3 months to see if you are still eligible for Hospice. Ok this is a no win for me. If hospice goes We have to start paying for medicine and supplies for mom again. Which is hard since I am not working and we are living on moms SS with help from my son all the time and brother and sister in an emergancy. But if Hospice stays that means mom is getting worse. I can't see that she is worse because she is so much better than before her eye surgery. The only thing differant lately is her yelling and not sleeping . Which we have been trying to adjust her meds to help with that. Sorry if you have to listen to this every 3 months . But this sure does worry me. Before Hospice we were always short of money. And now we live comfortly. We can keep our extra tv channels , internet and cell phone. We are little spoiled. But if mom is better I am happy. I would love it if she would stay this way for years. She talks to me sometimes and I can understand what she says and she eats good now that I know what she likes "sweets" and she has no pressure sores Which is a big deal for me. The last ones she got were awful. I pray "No More Pressure Sores" Of course keeping her from getting pressure sores sure keeps me from getting a good nights sleep. Oh well, no big deal. After 3 years I am used to it.
Now on a lighter note. Arkansas is playing Ohio in the Sugar Bowl. Go Hogs!!!!