Every Day’s the Same, Every Day is Different

I’m Kristin, and I am the caregiver for Mary, the mother of friends of mine. She just turned 86, has what we were told was Lewy Body Dementia, but we’re not sure at this point, as some of her LBD-associated symptoms have disappeared. I am taking care of her because her children do not like her very much, having put up with her abusiveness for years. For that matter, I don’t like her very much,...

The Visit

As you know if you’ve read Denise’s latest blog entry, she and Bette visited me last Sunday. Now, I don’t get a lot of visitors; in fact, I have not had one since I moved in here in March 2010, except for Mary’s daughters on their brief weekly visits. So I was very excited to have these two, especially, pay me a visit. What I had anticipated as a warm and fun visit turned into something very...

What I Learned on My Summer Vacation

On June 21, Mary’s oldest daughter visited from Oregon to take care of Mary while I “vacationed” by taking care of the youngest daughter’s farm while she was working at a music festival for several days. I have done this several times in the past - ”past” meaning when I was a bit younger and less decrepit. But I recovered, and on the 27th, Mary went for her vacation to a...

The Cold-Plate Supper

Sometimes Lewy Body can be funny and interesting. Mary has the version of REM sleep disorder  in which the caree acts out the dream after waking, rather than during REM. Today I returned home at 3:30 after an hour’s visit with a neighbor. Mary was resting on the couch, but had obviously been very busy. She told me that she had just returned from the store (she hasn’t driven in 2 years) with some...

Mary’s B-A-A-C-K!

If there is anything worse than spending 24/7 with Mary, the cantankerous, ungrateful, angry person I caretake, it is doing so without a computer for 2-3 months to connect me to the outside world of the compos mentis. I am finally up and running and am most grateful. I have tried to keep up with others’ daily blogs on the library’s computers,  and have been moved by the stories. I do realize that my...

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

First of all thanks to EVERYONE who contributed to the caregifting project for this month (me). I have bought a pair of shoes that came complete with soles, and my back and knees are thanking you. I also made an appointment for the dentist to take care of the dental pain. The rest of the money, at this point, I am setting aside to pay for respite help. I have decided to train one person to come in and get Mary...

How Long, O Lord?

Well, okay, my question is not the same as that of Habakkuk, who was in pretty dire straits waiting for his text message from God.  What has struck me this week, though, as I have read all the the stories of bloggers here, and have looked at the Lewy Body Association website, is that I might be in for a really long haul here. Some of  folks have been caregiving for 10+ years! Here I am, thinking that it’s...

Meet Mary

(Editor’s Note: Today we welcome a new blogger, Kristin. Here’s her story…) I am a retired social worker who is caregiving an 85-year-old woman with dementia in return for assistance I received years ago from one of this woman’s daughters, who helped me through an extraordinarily difficult year 23 years ago. I vowed then to repay her goodness when the opportunity presented itself. When her...