bengalbelle
Geaux Tigers!
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2005
- Messages
- 6,675
Baloo, my father had Alzheimers and I'm sending youBaloo said:Hey girls...that's right isn't it? There doesn't seem to be any testosterone around here lately!
I'm having a rough day.Funny y'all were talking about old people.My mother lives with us,she'll be 84 in Jan...she was 40 when she had me.Anyway she has Alzheimers.She can still dress herself and go to the bathroom herself,make toast and warm coffee in the microwave and that's about it.
Some days are more than I can handle and today was one.I think Joe being gone made me feel even worse.He eases some of the tension and pain for me.She drives me nuts most of the time.The woman who was my Mom is gone.When she talks about stuff it's from when she was a kid until about when she was in college..it's like me and my childhood never existed...it's so frustrating.I'm not sure she knows who Erich is all the time anymore either.One night last week she had a picture and asked Erich to find Aunt Tis (her nickname)...Erich said You're my GRANDMA not my Aunt.
I know I need to find myself a support group here in town but I never think of it until I've settled down after some incident.Her Dr. told me I needed to take care of myself,because Alzheimer care givers go through so much, that they suffer so much stress from the sitiutaion,the Alzheimer person doesn't because they haven't a clue.siiiiiiiiigh Thanks for letting me b*itch!
bengalbelle..I'm with Rosiejo I want to see the picture Kate fixed up too!
OMG I just read about you DS!!TG he's okay.I'd keep him in hand from now on.You said he shrugged it off...it might be too late ,I'm not sure he'd understand but I believe I'd punish him,meaning take away something he likes for a day or two.When he keeps asking why tell him it's because he was doing somthing he wasn't suppose to do.
for you Mom!
and prayers for patience. My mom took care of my dad by herself (and he had more health problems than the Alzheimers) but he would drive her crazy. I know that sounds harsh, but until you live through it... I know my mom kept telling herself that he couldn't help it but I don't think that's enough sometimes. She was also taking care of my brother who was paralyzed in a motorcycle accident, so she felt like she had no time to take care of herself or to go to a support group. I would encourage you to run, don't walk, to the support group so you can be with other people who know exactly what you're going through. On the flip side of that, and this may sound strange, we have some memories that we treasure of him doing funny things related to Alzheimers. Before he got sick he had a wicked sense of humor, so it kind of made us feel like we had the old him back for a while. Maybe those were just lucid moments when he was actually being himself. My mom's neighbor is an RN who was an administrator of a nursing home and she told my mom she should write a book of the stories of my Dad and his antics along with all of the struggles they faced. She thought it would help other people going through it.
Re: DS - we are going to take something away but we're not sure what yet. He begged us to stay at Extended Care so he could spend more time with his friends. We don't need him to stay so we're thinking that's what we'll take. It's probably the one thing that will really matter to him. He was volunteering toys and such so I don't think that would be meaningful. I really don't understand his behavior. It's out of character for him.
I think this says it all. 
Thank you so much. You are so talented. I really appreciate it. My oldest saw them and he loved them also.
My DH's dad has problems with kidney stones. He had to have his broken up. They are a hard thing to have.
A friend of mine on another list has become good friends with another woman on the list who lives in Orlando. She has her 
