Waiting on the Pastor

I called mom's pastor to come visit. He used to come some but it has been a while. He is not the pastor at our church anymore but he was when we were all very involved in church and he did my dads service when he died. And he was around when I got married and when my baby boy was born who is going to be 21 in April. Oh, how time flies.
 I called and ask him to come see mom. He said he thought she had been put in a home and he had lost her. Anyway I am going to ask him to do her service. Doesn't that suck? She will be sitting right here with us and I am going to ask such a thing. The reason is I don't want a stranger doing it. The Hospice Chapman is nice but he has no memories of mom and dad . This pastor was and still is a friend. He has stories and memories he can share at the service. And I want him coming to visit  so he will see her the way she is now too. And maybe she will respond to him. He might bring up a memory of her own about him.

Remembering The Past

Mom has changed so much in less then a year. As far as how she acts. I reread some old post and noticed the changes. Just living with her everyday it seems like she is stuck in a hole and can't get out. Here is a post from 9-15-09. Called Eight Legged Monster. The difference in it and now is she does not sit in her easy chair anymore. I can't get her in it because of her constricted legs. And she never hits me anymore or anything else. Back than she talked my ear off . I used to get mad because she would not stop talking. Now it is a wonderful thing when she says a word.
Yesterday I was thinking if she was normal and did not have Alzheimer's we would go out an eat 2 or 3 times a week. Because we used to love to go out and eat. And I would be working so we could afford it. We would also go to the movies a lot . Which we have done ever since I was little. It would be great. My son is off living his life to the fullest and mom and I could just be best friends and run around all the time together. It used to be the three of us. Now I have not been out to eat with my son in months. And longer on going to a movie with him. He is just to busy and I don't want to take time away from him and his girl. They will be dating 3 yrs tomorrow. Hopefully he has something special planned because she has been talking about it for the last few weeks on Facebook.  LOL!
He does bring me takeout a lot so that is good. I like takeout. 
Anyway here is my old post.
 The Eight Legged Monster :
More like the eight armed monster. Or an Octopus. Mom would sit in her easy 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.

Alzheimer's And Eating

Mom is eating very well these days. She has went through so many different eating stages. When she still could and would feed herself all she wanted was candy. She would have me buy her Baby Ruth candy bars by the box full. She loved carmels  and peppermints too . She would have a peppermint in her mouth all day. I ask the doctor about it and he said at her age she can eat anything she wants. I wonder when I will be able to do that. I am ready now. Anyway, When it came to good food we kind of had to make sure someone cooked her something because she would just eat Rice Kristies or a sandwich. Than when I started caring for her full time I tried to cook 3 meals a day . I really hated it but  did it most of the time.  I started fixing  TV dinners at least once a day When I was still working  . She loved the Salisbury steak ones. Than she went to refusing everything unless it was sweet. I guess she was wanting her candy bars. But by this time everything had to be pureed. We had pureed fruit , shakes, puddings , custard and  cereal, lots of cream of wheat and grits. And of course maple and brown sugar oat meal . Still her all time favorite meal. But now I can get her to eat mashed potatoes, pureed vegetables , scrambled eggs and pureed meat. Man that is nasty. I just have to make myself do it.I am a bit lazy so actually getting up and pureeing something is a chore. I could go with baby food but that is a bit costly and not sure it  has enough nutrients for her. She still gets lots of  hot cereal and applesauce because I don't have to do much work and she just eats and eats.
I have some tips from my book on eating I wanted to share. Good luck and I am going to eat what ever I want after this post. My tummy is making noise.
1. Serve meals at the same time every day.
2. Serve foods with different colors and textures.
3. Make the table a calm place to eat.
4. Use plain-colored dishes with no pattern to set off the color of the food on the plate so your loved one can see the food. I had to get a plain color table cloth and place mats because mom used to pick at them.
5. Use a shallow bowl with a lip on it if they keep pushing there food off the plate.
6. Put only the knife , fork or spoon they need to eat with next to there plate.  Caution with this . Mom went through a stage were she would the knock the  heck out of you at any time so we kept the knives and forks away from her . A spoon was the best bet.
7. Allow plenty of time to eat. Don't rush them.
 If your love one refuses to eat, it may be because they have too many choices on her plate. Try offering one food item at a time.
They may not know how to get started . Show her the act of eating. 

In one of my older post . Really old post I showed you the heavy fork I got for mom. She never used it. But her PT gave here a rubber thing to put over her spoon to make it big and she could hold onto it better. I also had to remind her all the time how to use the spoon and get her started. Now it is feeding her all the way. But she did it for a very long time on her own. When she was wanted to. A lot of times she refused either way. For years I just left a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios sitting by her chair and she ate on it all day. In fact she used to eat two or three bowls a day sometimes. I miss those days. Now she just sits with hardly any emotion. Sometimes she talks and sometimes she doesn't . Never know what tomorrow will be like so cherish today.

More Snow!

We are having another round of snow. I guess we are trying to catch up with our neighbors to the north. I think there is over 20 inch's out there now and it is still snowing. My son loves it . His girlfriend is snowed in with us again. I do believe they planned it. But makes for more fun. Baking , watching movies and just getting to visit . Mom is still doing good on her new meds. We have plenty because the nurse came Monday and ordered all we needed . My brother came to visit Tues for the first time in awhile . He was bugging mom and asking her all kinds of silly questions. I said call her by name so she will know who you are talking to. And he did . She finally said What!!! He is not really nice to her . He just teases her and bugs her . He never gives her any loving. Or talks to her normal. Sometimes Men just need to be slapped. But since he only comes about once a month anymore I did not slap him. Maybe next time.

Circle of Life Hospice

We did not get as much snow and ice as  the weather man said we might get . I think our neighbors to the north got hit the hardest. My aunt lives an hr away and got a foot and my cousin lives 3 hrs away and got 20 inch's on top of what they have had for a month. But ours is pretty. And my son's Razorback flag is blowing in the wind so I had him take a picture for me.
I have to praise Hospice again. The nurse got snowed in so she could not make it to see mom but she called to check on us . She said if I needed anything she would bring it to me. We were not really snowed in. The streets were very icy because of the freezing rain that fell first but my son got out to go pick up his girlfriend. Than the Hospice Chaplin called . He also said if we needed anything he would bring it to us. I have to thank them for worrying about us. It makes a person feel good knowing people care.