Having a wonderful day already

[Wacka]

I've posted about dealing with my mother  with dementia.  in the past she has woke up yelling "Don't touch me, you  killed her!" When asked who, she said "Your wife" I'm not married.  Last night she woke up once or twice  telling "Get  away from me! That woke me up andI assured her there was no one there and she went right back to sleep.  When the aide comes to clean and dress her in the morning,  she  starts shrieking  when she is being washed.  After she is up and at the table, she is nice and calm and knows what is going on. 

 

Today when I woke her up,  she answered  with a thank you in a nice calm voice. I give her brain exercise by asking her name , mine and my siblings.  Some days she has trouble  but then knows who we are when she is up and about.  Today, she knew all our names  right away  and the 3 times I asked her. When she was getting washed  and dressed, she didn't shriek once and  said thank you to me and the aide several times. 

Some days it gets to me  and I am close to tears but days like this (so far) makes me  feel much better.

 

Days like this don't happen that often now,  but when they do, it raises my spirits.

[Nanker]

God bless you Wacka. 

[Nanker]

Here’s a talk on the caregivers of Alzheimer’s that I attended in 2018. 

 

[Ann]

Alzheimer's is a horrible disease. My grandmother died of Alzheimer complications.

Again @Wacka I feel for you and your family.

[Just Joshin]

Both my wife and I lost our mothers to this terrible disease.  The best you can do is remember the good times.

 

You are doing a difficult job but it is important.  My wife cared for her mother for years both at home and in a facility - never regretted it.  You are a good person for doing this for her no matter how tough it gets and remember the impact you are having on her last years.  Best wishes @Wacka.

[TakeYouToTasker 2.0]

May God give you strength, and ease your mind.

 

Lord bless you, Wacka.

[Wacka]

Thank You so much Nanker. I listened to that video while mom is taking a nap. I knew a bunch of those things discussed, but we always need a refresher and learned a few more.

 

I know about aphasia  because of my stroke in 2014.  I would see someone on TV and would know  what they were in and  what their character's name but for the life of me  couldn't remember their name. Someone told me their name and then I would repeat it to myself many times.  I was taking Aracept (for memory) and wanted to see if I needed to keep taking it, so I stopped for a few weeks.  I noticed the aphasia coming back. so I immediately  got back on it.

[Nanker]

You’re welcome Wacka. I was terribly impressed by this fellow and his talk. One of the key takeaways for me was learning the toll it takes on the caregivers. It’s a frightful burden -although it’s taken on with love. But it can be very wearing. Know that we’re here for you if you need your spirit recharged. 
 

God bless you and your family. 

[Wacka]

I came to terms (about a few tears ago) with waking up one morning and  finding  that she passed away during the night.  In fact I hope for that to happen, because that  is the way her sister passed and she said then that is how she wants to go(as we all do). My sister  has also said that  our brother will be a basket case  then because now when she deteriorates even a little bit more, he  downplays it.

Edited November 6, 2020 by Wacka

[KD in CA]

30 minutes ago, Wacka said:

I came to terms (about a few tears ago) with waking up one morning and  finding  that she passed away during the night.  In fact I hope for that to happen, because that  is the way her sister passed and she said then that is how she wants to go(as we all do). My sister  has also said that  our brother will be a basket case  then because now when she deteriorates even a little bit more, he  downplays it.

 

Sorry to hear it Wacka.

 

Difficult enough to go through this time, but even worse when the family is a burden rather than support.  My wife's mother in likely in her final weeks, and similar to you, her brother isn't dealing with it well.  One day it's fine, the next he's ranting about what the doctors are doing, etc.  And now he's stirred up all the aunts and uncle to call my wife non-stop.  Mind you none of these people have made a trip to see my MIL in the last 10 years.

[mead107]

Terrible.  My cousin’s wife has been showing more and more signs of it over the last year. Not real bad yet but, getting worse. 
Hope they can find something that works to get it somewhat under control In the near future.  
 

[Wacka]

In the video,  he stated that breast and prostate cancer which generally affect the aged are  going down as causes of death and  dementia and Alzheimer's are going up.  We are curing diseases that would kill people in the past before the dementia did.

 

This is my bio background talking now.  People are living longer.The DNA polymerase(the enzyme that replicates your DNA) has a known error rate. There are proofreading enzymes that follow it and correct mismatches and they have aknown error rate too. There are trillions of cells in your body. Over time the errors  build up, killing cells. Add in  random cosmic rays and  he chemicals and natural  assaults on your body and it eventually wears out. 

IMO, by curing a lot of things we are  revealing the natural wearing out of our bodies.

Edited November 6, 2020 by Wacka

[Chef Jim]

You are a Saint Wacka.