Working
As a sidebar, about a year ago, I started looking for a part-time job, realizing I shouldn’t let the potential of my mother needing me, keep me from doing what I wanted to do. Beginning mid-March of this year, I began working part-time for a horticultural non-profit. At the same time my own business ramped […]
Travel Plans
Mom has been invited (and accepted) to speak at a gathering in San Francisco this month about a project she worked on for a good portion of my childhood. It’s quite an honor. Six days after her presentation there is a gathering at a book club to honor a book about one of the authors […]
Echos
My husband and I visited my FIL today at the skilled nursing facility. We found him and my MIL in a pleasant dining room space with other patients and family members. The remains of a salmon and mashed potato lunch were still on the table. My FIL had cruised through some amount of salmon, which […]
My Father-in-Law
As I’ve mentioned, my father-in-law (FIL) is handling his own challenges with Lewy body dementia and, more recently diagnosed, Parkinson’s. Monday evening we found out he’d taken a fall the previous day that my mother-in-law (MIL) was unable to help him up from. My FIL is very tall. My MIL is not. She called 911. […]
Meds
Mom takes 4 prescription medications on a regular basis. She also takes an additional 3 OTC supplements, (2 different vitamin B’s and Melatonin). My kid, the nurse, tells me this is almost unheard of in a person of her grandmother’s age (80). It’s mostly standard stuff: Thyroid, Cholesterol, and BP. The one non-standard med is […]
Day 7 – Home Again
This damage goes all way down the passenger door. Mom and I had a nice breakfast, even if I didn’t cook the eggs the way dad used to (but trust me, I will from now on ;->), listened to NPR radio that had us laughing for a couple of hours, and then headed to town […]
Day 6 – Back to the Island
Today’s missions were accomplished. Costco, Trader Joe’s, and back to mom’s Island home, in a very full Subaru. Shopping, never a favorite activity of mine, took less time than I expected as mom (who has been hankering for this shopping expedition for a long time) really didn’t want to buy much! I was very surprised. […]
Going Forward
The posting schedule for this blog has been on an ‘as needed’ basis, whether that need has been my own, or a form of documentation of my mother’s path. I know I don’t need to document her regular ‘failings’ or ‘slips’ any longer. She is always going to complain about every meal she doesn’t cook […]
Dementia Dance - Travels with Mom 