Volunteer Opportunities

With so much going on our website, I’m finding myself not getting to all the places on the site I’d like to be. Specifically, I’m not as involved in our online support groups as I’d like. So, our wonderful Karen, who cared for her mother and brother, will be helping out. She’s taking on the role of ambassador for two of our groups: General support group (everyone is welcome to join)...

Annual Review

Today was our scheduled day for the Veterans Association to review Hubby’s care and well being by doing a home visit. Hubby kept asking me when the Dr was going to come and I had to keep reminding him no Dr was coming. He was set that he had a few things he wanted to get straight with the Dr. Again I informed him that no Dr was coming but it never sank in. I was prepared with all of the financial...

Your Value: $450 Billion

The AARP Public Policy Institute released an report which updates the national and state estimates of the economic value of family caregiving using the most current available data. In 2009, about 42.1 million family caregivers in the U.S. provided care at any given point in time, and about 61.6 million provided care at some time during the year. The estimated economic value of their unpaid contributions was...

Photo Essay . . .

At the moment it’s quiet at  home; Paul is headed over for a CAT scan appointment prior to starting radiation.  In general he’s in quite good spirits at this point. I very much enjoyed talking with Denise on Saturday, and though I feel I probably went on a bit longer than I should have with architectural details I did promise to post photos of the bathroom which is now “ugly.” In the...

Does Sharing Make You a Better Caregiver?

On Saturday, Jennifer, who cares for her husband, Paul, joined me for Table Talk. You can listen to our show via the player at the bottom of the post. During our conversation, Jennifer spoke about the feeling of camaraderie she feels from reading and sharing with fellow family caregivers. Her comments, as well as a recent post from Kristin, gave me a deeper insight about the power of sharing about a difficult life...

Websites You Recommend

In our 2011 Family Caregiver Survey, we asked: Which websites do you recommend to other family caregivers? We’re happy to share the list with you today (and thanks to all who recommend Caregiving.com!!). And, please feel free to add other favorites in our comments section, below. Dementia Holly Eburne: www.hollyeburne.com/ Lewy Body Dementia Association: www.lbda.org Alzheimer Spouse:...

Mom Continuing to Improve

I hope you all had a great weekend. Mom is continuing to improve. She woke up this morning with a clear mind, and asked to go outside for some fresh air after breakfast. The twinkle in her eye is back, and she’s smiling again. She’s very weak, but each day has been a bit better for the past 4 days. Her mobility is gone, and she’s probably lost 10 pounds. But, she said grace at dinner tonight and...

Dementia and Respite

We arrived in MD last night and made our first attempt at camping - almost a post in itself.  (: We’ve seen so many beautiful wild horses; it is just amazing and amazing to me that they don’t belong to anyone. We spent today at a local motel that has many activities for the kids – water slides, mini-golf and horseshoes.  Today involved some caregiving. My mother has been very confused...

Diarrhea-Free Day!

That’s it. That’s my post. Ground-breaking stuff! And, mom ate a full dinner tonight. Probably one of those posts that only someone who has cared for a person with two weeks of 11-20 diaper changes a day could appreciate, but in my little world, today is a good day! Nurse said everything looking better, except she’s hearing “crackles” in both of Mom’s lungs. We’ve had her...

Letting Go of Feeling Guilty

Last year when I first joined Caregiving.com and started blogging I felt relieved. Everyone told me I needed an outlet to talk about the issues concerning my moms health. I cried constantly, hardly ate or slept and I never felt well. Taking care of someone else and also having to take care of yourself becomes time consuming when you don’t know how to handle it. Over the past few months I found myself feeling...

Physically, Better. Mentally, Not So Much

Physically, I think Mom is improving. However, her mind is another matter. She was perfectly lucid through all of this, until four days ago. Now, she’s very agitated and hallucinating. It’s tough. She’s eating and drinking, talking up a storm…but her mind is all over the place. Difficult in a whole different way. They tested for UTI and did blood work and both were fine. So, no explanation at this...

Soul Food

I’ve spent some time this morning checking in on many of you; what an amazing group we are! We’re having some real ups and downs this week. Yesterday we met with the radiologic oncologist who will start another round of radiation for Paul next week. Each time we visit the Cancer Center Paul goes into a tailspin, but he’d already been up and down a bit since our trip. The general practitioner we...

Hope I Made the Right Decision…

The other day or so I posted a blog on a glimpse into Nicole’s life. I mentioned in the blog that our neighbor had let us borrow the wheelchair that he had for his wife when she was ill. It is big and bulky and hard to manuever. I am so appreciative of it though and I know we have been able to participate in a few field trips that would have been too tiring for her if she didn’t have it. I feel like I...

Diving in to the Deep End

No sense burying the lead:  We have decided to move Robert into our house.  (Shh! It’s a secret right now so don’t tell New Home or Robert). Ack! Phew! Goodness Gracious! Wow! What am I doing?? Sigh . . . Moving Robert into our house has created a mini-explosion of emotion inside of my head and heart.  This was not a decision made lightly but I know this is the right decision. (I’m not telling Robert just...

Prayers for Us

Please say some prayers that our family can get through this next month, meaning the rest of July and into the middle of August. My last paycheck for my current job is tomorrow, and my salary is considerably deducted because of HR not asking if I wanted insurance premiums taken out, they just did it anyway, to where it is paid up until July 31, 2011. Also, they have a sneaky way of working about our vacation days...

Research Opportunity for Family Caregivers of Persons with Dementia

A new website needs family caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease or other dementia to participate a research study funded by the National Institute on Aging (part of the National Institutes of Health). The site, iCarefamily.com, is being developed by Photozig (at the NASA Research Park) and Stanford University, in collaboration with the Alzheimer’s Association and other organizations. The goal...

She’s Supposed to be My Wife

That’s what Hubby told the Dr he saw the other day when asked who I was. But Hubby doesn’t really believe it. Sigh Sometimes I just get so tired of caregiving for Lewy Body Dementia that I don’t want to even think about it, talk about it, research it,  blog about it, read about it. Unfortunately it’s like air, caregiving is vitally needed so you go into auto pilot. Or at least in my case...

Report on the Doctor’s Appointment, A Week Late

It’s not that life’s been busy lately, but I started this a week ago and am finally getting back to writing this.  We went to the doctor last Wednesday.  Steve saw Dr. S, the neurologist that diagnosed the lewy-body (l-b).  Steve went in for the testing they do each time to see how he’s changed since his prior visit.  Usually (actually, this is only our third visit there) they ask me if I want to talk to...

A Dull Moment-PLEASE

I know seem to have fallen off the face of the Earth. Actually, it feels like I’ve been hit by something the size of the Earth. We moved into a new accessible apartment over Memorial Day weekend. We always say God’s timing is perfect, but it couldn’t have been more perfect with this move. Debi was starting to feel sick just before we moved. We signed the lease on Friday, we slept on an air...

Wild Day Yesterday

I didn’t post a photo of the day yesterday, and I didn’t mean to make you worry. There was just no time to do it! On the plus side (I think), Mom’s vital signs are more stable and she’s eating and drinking, and talking like crazy. However, her mind is doing some very unusual things. She told me that her water broke, and she was in labor, and to go get the wheelbarrow to take her to the...

In Six Words, What’s Your Simple Caregiving Tip?

Caregiving is so complicated that it calls for simple suggestions. So, in this six-word competition, I’d love to know: In six words, what’s your best caregiving tip? (A special shout-out to SMITH magazine for inspiring our six-word stories.) Perhaps your tip is: Get help sooner rather than later. Or: To stay sane, let it go. Or: Laugh whenever you can. Share your six-word simple caregiving tip in our...

An App for That: An Extra Set of Eyes and Ears

In our 2011 annual family caregiver, we asked you about technology you’d like to use in your caregiving role. 30% of survey respondents said they’d like to use technology to monitor their carees. If you’re in one room of the house, you’d like to be able to monitor your caree’s activities in another room. TechCrunch.com reported yesterday on new iPhone app from a company called evoz to...