cod·dle/ˈkädl/
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I am probably talking about the first meaning here. This is how I am trying to treat mom whenever possible. I don't really know what cosseting is... Hmm...
cos·set/ˈkäsit/
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Aha, it is fairly synonymous with coddle. Good to know! (Ok, I had to have "fun with HTML" to get these definitions to work and get my text back that way I wanted it to be! Yay!) Anyway, yes, I am trying to make my mom's later life as easy and comfortable as I can. As stress free. Goodness knows that by 81 she has had enough stress to deal with in her life. Part of me would like to forbid her from watching the news - ok, I wouldn't have to actually forbid her so much - well, I would since she turns the "Your News Now" network on all the time in her bedroom, but if I just forgot to mention that it was time for the news, she would probably forget to watch it...it frustrates and angers her so. Well, the news does that to me as well - I think they aim for that with their production values. Well, that and fear. Eeek! "Be scared, be very scared, baa, baa little sheep!"
Wow, I digressed quite a bit from coddling. Mom had her first home health aid assisted shower. Hopefully this will be a weekly occurrence. I am going to start looking into converting one of the two bathrooms into a walk-in shower - I hope it won't be too expensive...trying to find a cost online has not been easy.
So, coddling, I don't really make mom do much of anything. I am actually happy to do anything I can for her. Oh, I had a thought - stimulated in the Alzheimer's workshop - that perhaps part of the reason that mom is a little scared of the steps is a lack of depth perception. I think I might try getting some yellow safety tape and put it on the stairs. Not a pretty addition, but it might make the edges of the stairs clearer for her. Thoughts?
Let's talk about the Alzheimer's seminar. The most important piece of information for me was the description and timing of the "stages." It looks like mom is in the early stages still. This stage lasts from 2 to 4 years. I have been here for most of year, who knows when her brain actually started degenerating but we might have a good year or so left before we hit the second stage. The second stage is when things start to get a little rougher - a greater loss of independence for my mom - that will be sad for all of us (both of us?). But I am not going to worry about it. And I am pretty sure that when it comes to the last stages, which could be from 2 to 10 years from now, I will be ready to have a lot of help. Goodness.
A little more about the Alzheimer's seminar. Apparently a new one will be held every month for a few months. Yippee! Not heavily attended but that is ok. Nice presenter. Nice packet of information as well. I will go through that more at some point perhaps. All in all, a valuable experience. I look forward to more of them! Yay education!
Ok, I didn't get to Entropy yet. Briefly, I like entropy. More another time...
Oh, and Leaf Kitchen was lots of fun last night. Maybe more on this another time as well...
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| Where the Alzheimer's seminar was |
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| My rye bread meatloaf |
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| The twice baked potato tasted better than it looked... |
2 comments:
The tape may be a good idea on the steps; I just want to mention that the very last thing you need is for her to FALL on the steps. If you haven't thought of it already, you'll need to think about keeping your mom on the first floor at some point, so if you're redoing a shower and one of them is downstairs, you may want to choose that one. For the elderly, a broken limb or hip can be devastating and even deadly. My mom went downhill quickly when she broke her hip. She's still with us and 87 now, but that episode and the subsequent time spent in the rehab facility really took its toll on her mind.
Also, we seem to be the opposites in caregiving. While you coddle, I'm trying to get my mom to do as much for herself as she can! Whatever works, I guess! LOL You're a good son!
I have thought about the whole downstairs living thing and haven't figured it out yet. Congratulations on your mom living through the broken hip. That is not always the case.
Don't get me wrong, I encourage mom to do what she can and what she wants. I don't force her though. And I know she doesn't like cooking and shopping and laundry and such, so I do all of that for her. I only wish she would do more exercise, but again, I can't and won't force that...
Thank you! I do hope I am a decent son/person! :) Sounds like are too!
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