Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Change is hard, but some things never change!

There are probably a number of things I could have been writing about, but the truth is, that by the time I get home from work, take care of Mom stuff like dinner, shower and laundry and she goes to bed, I am exhausted and still have a number of things to before I get to bed. But tonight in spite of exhaustion and because of the commitment that I have made to do this, I want to catch you up on a few things. I'll start with the most recent news! Joe started a new job yesterday under contract with Lockheed. This means a GREAT deal. But in regards to Mom, it means that she is with the caregiver all day. I've written about Janice and how she came into our lives. She was with Mom yesterday and today. Yesterday did not go well at all. Mom was in a foul mood and ranted all day about me and how I moved her here and she hates it. When Janice tried to give her a shower, Mom adamantly and angrily refused saying that she had a shower on Tuesday - which she did not. At my suggestion, Janice tried to get her to wash her hair. Mom refused and went off about she has been washing her own hair all her life and no one had to tell her to or help her. Janice even tried to bribe her with ice cream - no go. I had told Janice that Mom likes to go to Goodwill, so she coaxed her out to Goodwill. Mom went in but she sat on a sofa there and refused to look around. Janice tried to engage her but had no luck. By the time I got home, Mom was complaining that her hip hurt had been hurting during the day. She said that she probably hurt it "the other day" but I could not determine when that could have been and she did not tell anyone. Mom did not want to go to the emergency room or to the doctor. In fact, it seemed that her hip was just fine as we talked and she was quite agreeable to taking a shower. After a night's rest, it went better today. We have some bugs to work out yet but one day at a time.

In other news, we have a new member of the family that Mom has taken to. We have a 9 week old Chaweenie we named Heidi! She is so little, cute, energetic and BUSY. Mom likes how she nuzzles and falls asleep on her shoulder. It has been a good thing for Mom - a little bit more challenging for the rest of us, including our 11 year old Yorkie. (Chaweenie - part dachshund and part Chihuahua)

The past two Friday nights have been Fish Fry nights at church. Mom does well meeting people for the first time every week! We go early when there is light attendance. Mom says she does not like catfish but thinks the "whitefish" is very good.

Other than that, I guess everything else is the same. Mom has not developed a sudden liking or patience for Stacey and family - or the cockatoos - or vegetables or purple.

And in Mom's almost infamous words, "and that's the way it is."

3 comments:

David in Ohio said...

Thanks for sharing! Love and Prayers!

Motorcycle grandma said...

I spoke recently with someone whose mother had alzheimer's. Her brother would take the mom to church until one sunday morning, mom removed her panties because they were wet and uncomfortable! Brother made someone else take mom to church after that!!!!

I hope you at least giggled a little here.

Deena said...

Don't know about Cheryl, but I saw the humor in that.