Tomorrow Mom will attend daycare again. After a day there, she seems tired. I'm told that this is good for her to have this stimulation. I hope so. I hope that it is helping to give her some enjoyment in this life. I miss her so much even though she is with me every day. She's not the same. This disease has robbed her of most of her personality. This makes me sad because the two of us have always been very close. I've also contacted a home health care agency to have them help Mom get ready in the morning for the day program. I hate to take Joyce out of the picture but I'm not sure that it's fair to expect her to be responsible for some of the basic needs that Mom needs met in the morning including help with toileting and dressing. The agency has something called a Good Morning package where they will assist Mom with getting dressed, bathing, personal care, breakfast, making sure she takes her meds (she forgot today and she never has before) and they will even take Mom to day care. Allyson thinks we should continue to have Joyce just be there for Mom when the agency comes. Times like this it would be nice to have a clone whom I could send to work while I stay home and help Mom.
Mom talks a lot in her sleep. When she naps in her chair she will twitch and mumble. Last night this went on while Olivia napped on her lap. I kept watching to see if Olivia was going to get hit or something, but it didn't happen. And Olivia hung right in there with Mom. She is very protective of Mom and senses when Mom is feeling down. Animals are very intuitive and Olivia has really tuned in to Mom and her emotions.
The gloominess continues. Today it drizzled and rained for most of the day. We need a good shot of sunshine to brighten things up and lift our moods.
I just read a study about workers and depression. The highest amount of depression is found to be among people who work in the personal care and service industries, while math and computer technologies employees ranked 10th out of 17 profession categories. I wonder if the numbers are lower for math and computer professions because men tend to hold these jobs and they either don't seek treatment for depression or because more women then men suffer from depression and women account for a smaller percentage of these types of workers.
2 comments:
I'm sorry your mom seems to be forgetting meds and having falls. It's all part of the journey, I guess. I hope you don't loose Joyce entirely. She seemed so good for your mom.
I wish you would send some of that rain my way. The well is still low and it is presenting quite a challenge. Seems the weather in Minnesota is now hitting a ridge and going right up over top of us here in Pittsburgh. Sigh.
Your study on depression is an interesting one. In my opinion, more women than men suffer from depression because the demands are so much higher (except for the men caregivers who visit our blogs). My husband's responsibility is pretty much the financial end of our family - and that's it. He puts everything into it. I worry about earing an income and running the business, but I also have the majority of the responsibilities of Mom, the kids, the house, the animals, etc. These days, I guess life just stinks.
Hang in there, Robyn. You're doing a great job.
Hi Betsy, tonight she is almost normal. It's so weird, but typical of alz.
Post a Comment