January 10, 2014
This was a good day. During the night when I checked on her, her covers were tore back a bit but I covered her back up and she slept well. The day started slow. Margie was not cranky but she was tired. But after I got her up she perked up and felt great. We both had a very good day.
January 11, 2014
It was a good day, but Margie was groggy and sleepy all day. She was happy and relaxed but kept her eyes closed a bit. Her friend Natalie came over and sat with her at 7 P.M. until 10 P.M. while I went out and had a little break!
January 12, 2014
Margie ended up on the floor! I checked on her at 9:00 A.M. and went and cleaned up the kitchen. I checked on her again at 9: 15 A.M. and in that fifteen minutes she ended up on the floor. I was dumbfounded because her bedroom door was open and I was only a few short steps away and did not hear a single thing. She did not scream or yell or talk at all.
I got her up off the floor all by myself. I did it in steps. I got a short foot stool and got her onto that, and then got her onto a shorter chair and then into her wheel chair. That worked pretty well.
After that, Margie's daughter, Lisa, and her family came over for lunch. She was a little sleepy during that time but did well. The rest of the day was the same. She was tired and a little out of it but was not cranky or in a bad mood.
January 13, 2014
On the floor again! Margie has had barely any falls with me so I was discouraged with myself. But this time was her toilet chairs fault. The leg of her comode broke. I was sitting a few feet away on her bed while she finished going to the bathroom. I saw her tipping and flew up to catch her but I was too late. I could not catch her before she hit the floor. I panicked for a second because I was in such utter shock. But I got it together and pulled her pants up as far as possible and covered her up and put a pill under her head. I called three of her daughters. Lisa was going to come and help but a friend of hers that lives close by said she would come. But before she got here Margie's other daughter Barb got here and helped me get her up. Thankfully Margie was not hurt at all. I gave her a pain pill after she got some food in her stomach because I knew even though she wasn't hurt that she would be in pain. The reset of the day went well.
January 14, 2014
It was hard to get Margie up in the morning but the rest of the day went fantastically. Margie was happy and full of smiles and energy! It was a great day!
January 15, 2014
The day started off really well but as the day progress she started to get cranky. Her daughter Barb came over and that helped for a bit. But after her nap in bed she woke up in a furious mood. She did not want to get up at all. When I did finally get her up and done in the bathroom I gave her some food and had her daughter Pat call. That fixed everything.
January 16, 2014
A difficult day. It was hard to get Margie up in the morning. She was out of it all day. Constantly she was tipping over in her chair or hanging her head low, or sighing and closing her eyes. She did not want to do anything or deal with anything. That made things hard for me because when I tired to help her she would fight me. But we got through the day.
January 17, 2014
It was a fair day. The morning was interesting because she peed on the floor in front of the toilet. This has happened before and I had to throw my slippers away. But my slippers made it this time! If this happens to you don't panic. You can try to rush your loved one to the toilet but I just waited for Margie to finish. I didn't want her to slip while trying to get her to sit. I know it would be too much commotion for her. She I waited and had her step backwards until she could sit down properly. I put some gloves on and threw her clothes in the bathtub and cleaned everything up. No harm done.
That was the only eventful thing during the day. Margie was sleepy and quiet the rest of the day.
January 18, 2014
Bath day! Margie got a bath this morning. My mom was here and helped me. I was so grateful for that. The rest of the day went by quietly. Margie was sleepy and watched the sound of music and relaxed and watched my mom play games. She enjoyed that.
January 19, 2014
Horrible day for me! I got Margie up and out of bed and ready for the day. She had a nice breakfast of yogurt, dry cereal, and dried apricots. After breakfast Margie always gets her morning pills. She was fighting the entire time and kept pushing them out and trying to spit them. I got close to her face so I could look her in the eye. I started tell her that she needs to take them. During those seconds she decided to spit them out and they went directly into my mouth. I hurled into the garbage, sat some foam butterflies in front of Margie, ran to the bathroom and brushed my teeth a million times, and then sent Lisa and Pat a message and then called my mom, bawling. I was just horrified and so I cried to get it off my chest. I did. I'm okay now but I make sure I don't get close to Margie like that when she is taking her pills.
January 20, 2014
Not much to say about this day. It was a very slow and relaxing day.
January 21, 2014
Bad day. Margie woke up with a horrible neck ache and kept blaming me for it. I ended up getting her ready in bed because she would not sit up at all. After I got her bottoms on I got her arms around me and wrapped my arms around her and pivoted her into her wheel chair and changed her top. The rest of the day included food throwing, name calling, curse words, and a very exhausted me.
~What can I say about all of this? As you can tell it is constantly changing. And dementia is progressive and it will only get worse. Some days, like the day her comode broke and the day she spit in my mouth, I freak out. I've mentioned that I keep it in but sometimes it comes out. Those days it did come out. The day her comode broke I felt so bad. I sat on the floor next to her while I waited for help and stroked her hair and kept saying sorry over and over again. She calmed me down by telling me that she's not her and she's okay. And the day she spit in my mouth I revolted backwards so fast to get to the garbage I can't even imagine the look I had on my face or what she saw. I made sure she had activities in front of her before I stepped away to clean out my mouth and yell very strong curse words under my breath. Things like this happen and if it happens again I will be better prepared. Each experience is a learning experience especially when dealing with dementia.
Show your loved one constant love and understanding. And if you are taking care of a stranger show them constant love and understanding. If it's difficult close your eyes and think about if that was you when you get to be 80 plus. Do you want someone to blow up at you or get mad at you? Of course not. When things get hard just think of that. If it was you in his or her position you would want them to be patient with you even though you have no idea what it is you are doing.
Stay strong,
Danielle
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