Wednesday, October 26, 2011

DANCING WITH THE STARS

TODAY IS DAY 5 of my current stint of caring for my mother.  Today I had to drive my brother around so we took my Mom to the day care center.  I haven’t left her there before, though I put these arrangements into place originally.  The last time I was here in August, just the mere driving into the parking lot brought on a temper tantrum, with her accusing me of wanting to take her out of her home.  Anyway,…getting back to today my brother told my Mom we had to go to court and she would not be allowed into the court house because she doesn’t have proper ID.  That only half worked, we also told her that the center had called to let us know that there was going to be dancing today.  That did the trick, she got busy getting ready to go, she didn’t want to wear the outfit I had laid out, she wanted to wear a dress.  I added a necklace, rhinestone earrings, a bracelet and topped off her look with her favorite perfume, then we were out the door.  Once we got there, she didn’t hesitate at all, she just walked right in.  Later when I picked her up I asked her how the dance was, she said it really wasn’t a party or anything great but the folks, at the center, said she did some dancing and had a good time.

Monday, October 24, 2011

SUNDOWNERS AND DIVALPROEX TO THE RESCUE

I’M BACK in Florida taking care of Mom again.  Its day four and things haven’t settled into, let’s say, “A rhythm” yet but I’m hoping things improve soon.  Added to the mix this time is that I now have to be my brother’s driver because his diabetes has caused some loss of vision.  We spent most of the afternoon at the specialist’s office, an injection in the eye to bring down some inflammation and another appointment next week may bring some improvement, at least I hope so.
Just like clock work, around 5 o’clock my Mom started to get agitated, demanding and generally a pain in the neck,…yep, the dreaded “sun downer syndrome was kicking in, but Ta Dah,…I had one of her Divalproex in my bag to give to her and within 20 minutes she began to settle right down…thank you Dr. Allen.  The cliche “better living with pharmaceuticals” is really true when it comes to dementia patients and the quality of their lives and the lives of their care givers.