Thanksgiving 2019 – Details
We started the day by ignoring the alarm we set for ourselves, but were up in time to get going on a rice dressing (a family recipe I changed up so it’s now gluten free, but retains the same flavor), and make the cranberries. At 10AM we all met at Jane’s community and spent an […]
Thanksgiving 2019 – Overview
The holidays have morphed. Gone are the days of the joy of gathering everyone in our home, creating space for all of us to be together (not without its social laden anxiety), including my first husband, with the smells of a feast, while dad teased me that the main course should be cooked inside (rather […]
Community Thanksgiving
We joined mom for her community’s family Thanksgiving dinner this afternoon. On our way to mom’s apartment, we dropped her new walker off to the wellness office. Her PT will adjust it for her during their next appointment. This is the second time I’ve had to use my key to open mom’s apartment door upon […]
Another Fall
Yesterday evening as my DH, eldest daughter and I were chatting over dinner, mom’s community called. Mom had taken a fall, and the paramedics were on their way. The person who called couldn’t give me additional detail, as he was the messenger. This was frustrating, but understandable. He assured me I would receive a call […]
Childhood Home
I was indulging in a little Facebook catch-up this evening after a very long work day. A high school friend posted pictures of his childhood home. His friend were sharing and reminiscing about wonderful times spent with my friend and his family in his home. Then someone mentioned what the house was worth today. This […]
“OK, I’m satisfied!”
On the 7th I did a double-Eldergrow garden rollout event about 1.5 hours north of us. It was a delight, with almost 30 residents attending. There was a lady who I had to coax into participating. She finally gave up her resistance, and let me wheel her up to the garden. She insisted I choose […]
Med Changes
Mom’s psychiatric nurse practitioner emailed me today. He’s very pleased with how mom is doing on the Abilify, and says it’s time to lower the dose. It’s a safety thing. I asked him to explain what side-effects he was concerned with. He shared that the risk of sudden death/stroke increases from 2.5% to 4% on […]
Walker II
A member of the community’s care staff returned my call, and took responsibility for the communication failure. I don’t think it’s her personal responsibility, but rather the staff has been well trained to deescalate situations with both their residents, and their residents’ family’s! The Health Services Director took leave for his wedding a few days […]
Walker
I received this email from mom’s community this afternoon: Just updating you on Lorna, we noticed today that both her wrists are swollen. We updated the nurse. She started using her walker and she looks more stable when walking around the community and is working well for her. This was my reply: Thank you so […]
Home Again, Jiggity Jog
The trip east was a success. My educator is willing to roll out the third community in the region on her own. We had a solid meet and greet at that community, and then plant shopped our way back to the town our events took place in. On the, literal, west coast of the US, […]
Dementia Dance - Travels with Mom 