The Sun is Shining.

I am so glad to see the sun shining today. Have not seen it in weeks. I am also praying for my neighbors to the south with the tornado breakout last night. Be safe all.
Mom is napping. She does not know or care the sun is shining. She did yell a few times during one of our many thunderstorms this week when there was a big blast of thunder. So that got her attention.
  I will get her up around 4 to get her ready for supper. I made stir fry for lunch. But mom would never be able to eat that. And it would not puree very well. I have to figure out a nice supper that mom can eat. Maybe mashed potatoes and Salsbury steak. Sounds good. And it will puree. Looks nasty but taste ok. Fattening I know . But mom needs a little fat on her. I sure don't . I will just take a little bit unpureed.

I have to brag on my son. He got a summer internship at the Arkansas Transportation Dept. Which pays nicely and than he also got accepted in the study abroad program for next yr. So it is off to Spain. All in the same week. And he is at a bridge building competition right now. Go UofA Civil Engineering !!!! Bring home the trophy.

Happy Easter!!!!

Greatest man in History, named Jesus, had no servants, yet they called Him Master. Had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher. Had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer. He had no army, yet kings feared Him. He won no military battles, yet he conquered the world. He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him. He was... buried in a tomb..., yet He lives today!!!!!


Happy Easter Everyone
 
 

It is raining. Has been for days. We have had hail, thunderstorms , tornadoes , more hail and lots more thunderstorms all week long. Here is a picture of some of our hail. It has melted a bit.
 No hunting Easter Eggs for the kids today. Outside anyway.
Mom and I have been watching Sunday Service on TV. Yesterday my brother put in a new sink and faucet in her bathroom. It looks great. Now I need to paint in there. But don't want her to have to smell the paint. She always hated that. The nurse is back to only coming once a week now. Which means mom is stable. Her aid still comes twice and will come more if I ask . But twice is enough . Sometimes waiting on the nurse and aid to come kind of stresses me out. So twice a week is good. I like the free supplies the aid brings more then the fact that she gives mom a bath . But I sure would miss her if she did not come. I do hate bathing mom. And mom hates getting a bath. My tip for today is Relax and let someone else cook the Easter meal. Have a great day everyone. And check out the http://blog.hospicefoundation.org/ they have a post on updated guidelines in the diagnoses of Alzheimer's.

Polypharmacy

At agingcare.com I learned a new word today. Polypharmacy. My son says every time you learn something new you get a new brain wrinkle. At least it is in my head and not on my face. I have way to many wrinkles on my face.
Polypharmacy Defined
The battle, known as polypharmacy, is estimated to cause the death of 100,000 older adults each year.
But, as caregiver, you have the unique ability to identify possible polypharmacy in your Mom or Dad and, by taking specific steps, can correct or eliminate the condition.
The average older adult takes five or more prescriptions drugs each day. In addition, many elderly people take various over-the-counter medications, such as antacids, laxatives or painkillers, which are often used without informing their physician. Each drug, while created to treat or correct a specific medical problem, will cause side effects and many times serious, negative and even life-threatening conditions.

Mom takes 5 or 6 different medicines in the morning. For all different things. Remember when I called her the 8 armed monster? She had arms everywhere pinching , hitting and scratching. No more . Now she just yells a lot. So I think her pills are working. She just yells cause I am so hard headed it's the only way to get my attention. LOL! Everything she takes is from Hospice except the vitamin and I told them I give that to her. It is zinc. It helps her skin. So hopefully she does not have Polypharmacy. She used to have little skin tears on her arms from every little bump . But no more . Her reg. Doc. put her on Zinc years ago.It is great for the skin. I took her off the fish pill. I was giving her fish oil pills every morning to help with many things. But I think she is to far along for them to help. But if I had of known earlier I would of started her on the fish oil.

symptoms of Polypharmacy are
•Tiredness, sleepiness or decreased alertness

•Constipation, diarrhea or incontinence
•Loss of appetite; confusion, either continuous or episodic
•Falls
•Depression or general lack of interest
•Weakness
•Tremors
•Hallucinations, such as seeing or hearing things
•Anxiety or excitability
•Dizziness
•Decreased sexual behavior
•Skin rashes

I have heard of cases where people thought they had Alzheimer's or some other illness and the problem was they were on two much medicine of the wrong combination of medicine. Wouldn't be great if that was all that was wrong with our love ones and we fixed it.

Walk To End Alzheimer's!!!

It's that time of the year again. Well it will be Sept 10. But we are starting early in hopes of raiseing LOTS of money. I think our Team Hudson did good last year. But we are going for more this year.
Walking To End  Alzheimer's!!! And the walks are so much fun. I had never done one before last years Alzheimer's walk. The walk in our town was at the baseball field. We just walked around it a few times and that was it. There were booths with lots of freebies. And food. I do love to eat. Everything was free. And so much info. , music , games. The raffles had really nice stuff in them. I encourage everyone to walk. And if you can donate to mine or your local walk. It is well worth it. And I pray someday in our lifetime there will be a cure for this awful disease.  I added a bottom to my blog for easy access to my walker page. Thanks Everyone and Please take a walk to end Alzheimer's.

He likes it!!!

My son likes his grill and he said he thought it was something to work on a car with. When he got closer he saw one of the wheels and than thought it might be a grill. The last few Birthdays I did get him tools and ramps for his car. He works on it all the time and I hated him using my dads old tools and jacks so I have been slowly buy him new stuff. But this time I really surprised him. Car Jacks scare me to death . That is why I got him the ramps you just drive the car onto . They look a lot safer.

So far we have had hot dogs and hamburgers . Today we are having grilled chicken breast. What a nice present for him and me. LOL!

Mom's new Doctor came to visit yesterday. And she has a new Social Worker who also came yesterday. They seem nice. I liked the old ones but I will like these too. Mom does not care either way . I do get tired of them asking me the same question over and over. When anyone new comes around they ask me if mom is sleeping , And do I get enough rest, Do I get out, Do I have help with mom, How long have I been caring for mom and how long has she had Alzheimer's. OK, why don't they write this stuff down I am sick of it. 

On another note. It is HOT!!!  I had to turn the air on. And Thank Goodness it worked. Today it is going to be in the 90's. And I thought time for the air. Last year a repair man told me the AC was toast and I needed a new one . I told him we had to wait. And when he left I turned it on and it has worked every since. Don't know what he did to it but it works. For now anyway. Time to get mom up. Have a great weekend.  

Twenty One!!!

The 15th of this month my baby boy will be 21. I have to say he is totally all grown up all ready . He is putting himself through college, helps me buy food  while paying his own bills. He is hardly ever home but when he is on his way he calls to see what we need. Which seems to always be milk and eggs. I bet you can guess what he won't pick up for me at the store. Adult Diapers. LOL! I don't blame him. But I like to tease him  about it . He says I will come home and you can go shopping while I watch grandma. That works. LOL!
Anyway,I  went and got the grill that was on lay-a-way for his birthday Sat. and had my brother come in to put it together. My neice and I wrapped it . Now  we  are just waiting for him to come home.  He went to Atlanta with his Frat brothers Fri. Hopefully he will come by tonight.
Do you think he will guess what it is?

I gave mom a haircut this morning. We went a little shorter this time but it was getting all fuzzy . When it is short it just curls up. She has the prettiest hair. It is salt and pepper. I have noticed a lot of grays in my hair lately. Not good.
My sister is coming over sometime today and I am going to go check out the Goodwill stores again. Hopefully lots of goodies waiting for me. And we are waiting on the nurse. The aid came early and after she left I got mom up to cut her hair and than feed her. Well she did a dirty job during her hair cut. But instead of putting her right back to bed I did a fast haircut and she had a fast bowl of grits . Than off to bed to be cleaned up again. Now she is napping. Ok, I am ready to get out of here. Think I will go call my sister and see where in the heck she is. Have a great week . Hope you did not get too many Aprils Fools jokes pulled on you the 1st.