Total Confusion

I don't know if I can go to Florida. My sister's here, but Mom is so confused. She keeps repeating when I'm leaving, after looking at her calendar. She then asks if she's staying here and how will she get her stuff. She doesn't know she's at home. She is so upset by this!

Sister's Visit

I picked my sister up at the airport yesterday. Kelsey stayed home with Mom. After we arrived home we had a great visit. Around 5:00 Joyce and Mom were talking about skating on the lake and Mom asked, "Did you grow up around here?" It made me so sad. Joyce says she's not taking it personally---which is good. I wonder what will happen when I'm not here and she doesn't know who Joyce is!!!!!!!

bowling???

Right after my mother and I finished bowling, I said, "Isn't it fun bowling?" She answered," It use to be. It's been a long time since I bowled." I have to remember to just live in the moment and then let it go.

A Little Agitation

Saturday I had the wall to wall rug removed from the living room as it was bunched up in a couple places. I saw it as a real trip hazard. Under is a hardwood floor which is in great need of refinishing or being recovered with a new wall-to-wall.
Mom keeps asking what the plan is for the floor. She is agitated by it-- a lot. I can hear it in her voice. Because she forgets right away, she keeps asking about it and I'm not sure what I want to do yet. I will price both options and then decide what's best.
My older sister is coming from California to visit and watch Mom while I spend a few days in Florida. I am in hopes to get that problem solved before she comes, but I'm not at all sure that will happen.
I probably should have waited until I came back to start this whole process.

Sad

Mom just came into the livingroom and said the kitchen clock and the clock on the stove were different. One says 9:55 (a digital clock) and the other say 5 minutes before 10:00. She had no idea that the times were the same. I find this very sad.

Paranoid ???

Tonight, as we were getting ready for bed, Mom saw a car drive into the boat landing across the street. She wondered if they were watching us get ready for bed and wanted to break in.People are always driving in and out of that parking lot. Then I remembered that a friend, who took care of her father, said he got paranoid. I hope this isn't the beginning of that stage!

Doctor's Visit

I got a little teary this morning when my mom's doctor thanked me for being so patient with Mom.

She will be going for a chest x-ray and another blood test because she is getting short of breath while bowling and getting out of the tub.

I now have to weigh her at least twice a week to see if maybe she's retaining fluids. I will do that on the wii before we bowl. That should be interesting, since she sneaks food any time she can!
A little bit like me!!!

Another Laugh

Mom has asked repeatedly if she has a doctor's appointment tomorrow. When I affirm that, she says she better have a shower (that's the shower I had a hard time getting her to take earlier today). Then she asks how she's getting to her appointment. When I told her I was taking her, she said, "Don't you have to go to school?" After I remind her that I'm retired (going on my third year) she said, " Oh, I thought you'd been around a lot lately." I have to chuckle to myself and share with you!

Bath Time-Fight Time

Here we are at another Wednesday and the excuses are rampant....why do I need a shower and shampoo??? I'm not sure why she resists this so much. It might be part of the disease as her doctor asks me about hygiene each time we go to see him.

Heat

I came back from eating breakfast with a friend to find the heat cranked way up to 75 degrees.
I do have a guard for it so it can be programed and then not touched. I guess I'll have to find that and get that programed.

Sense of humor!

We just got back from Mom's blood test. She has to fast before the test so we went out to breakfast after. We went to the Early Bird, in our home town. She always thinks she started that restaurant. I don't correct her. A guy I went to school with came over and talked with us. He said to Mom, "You come here with HER to eat?" Mom came right back with, "As long as she pays!" I love her sense of humor. She never had one when we were growing up.

Bowling Loss

Today was the first day Mom had to be reminded what to do in the middle of the strings and it happened a couple of times. I'm hoping we'll be able to do this for a lot longer. We'll see!

Own Up To It

I returned Mom's calendar to her in the night. I realized two things: 1) She depends on that calendar and 2) It didn't frustrate her, it frustrated me. I'll deal with it. There, I feel better already!

Me in the "third person"

Mom and I went for a ride this afternoon. I mentioned that I couldn't imagine what it will be like when I can't drive any more. Mom said, "You can always drive. I drove Pam's car around town just the other day." I'm Pam and my mother hasn't driven in over 30 years. This kind of surprised me. I think I was a little speechless, but Mom didn't notice.

No Calendars

I tried hiding Mom's calendars this morning. She has a dentist appointment. I got her to have a shower and now I'm waiting to take her for her appointment. [ The car wouldn't start so the garage took the car and we'll take a taxi. That should be a trip!] So far she's not preoccupied with the date. This may work out great. What nice advice!

Boy, am I slow. She found the calendar and it's back by her chair. How am I going to do this when she's smarter than I am????????

It's after lunch and I've really hidden the calendar this time. We'll see goes this goes.

Calendar Confusion

Mom has always (since her illness) been preoccupied by the calendar, but it's gotten worse since the New Year started. It may be that she has more appointments than usual this month. She has hair, doctor, blood tests, and dentist appointments. She must check them at least 5 or 6 times a day. She checks to see if she has them right, to see if I have the same, and who's going to take her. She seems to have forgotten that I am retired. I'll have to make sure never to have this many in one month again.

We no longer bowl 6 strings. She gets winded after 2 strings. We do bowl 4 strings still. I'll check with her doctor to see if I should be pushing her or not. She enjoys bowling so much. I just get worried when I hear her breathing hard.

COMMENTS: I think I've set this site up so you can leave comments easily. We'll see how that works. I'd love to hear from you.

Trash or Laundry

Each Monday I do my mother's wash. We have a laundry shoot down to the basement. While I was putting in her white wash I came across the empty wrapper from the toilet paper rolls. It's a new twist on the old joke about putting the milk in the cupboard and the glass in the fridge. If that's the case, I don't even want to check the rubbish!!

Missing Item

My mom goes to coffee on Thursdays with friends. I wanted her to wear her new sweater but I couldn't find it any where. After Mom left for coffee, I started looking harder. I found money stashed here and there but no sweater. After awhile I found it hanging in the front closet where we put outside garments. She can wear it next week.

Eating, Eating, Eating

Before going to my granddaughter's to help her paint her bedroom, I left lunch for my mom in the fridge and a note. The note included the fact that, not only was her lunch in the fridge, but there was pie right under it. When I got home she'd eaten her lunch, a piece of pie AND a lot of Christmas Kisses were gone, the level of the Christmas M & M's was way down and a doughnut was gone. This is all by the same mom who use to eat half a dry English muffin to control her weight.
This reverse of mother/daughter roles is difficult for me.

Mom bowling