Today is my second time writing about Alzheimer's and what it can do to the patient, family, and friends.  My little lady is having a good day today.  We went shopping plus run some errands in town.  Now everyday is not like this.  There are days when she don't want to get out of bed, get dressed, take a bath, or do anything.  There are days when she is restless, always has to be doing something, or just plain grouchy.  Trust me when I say she has rearranged the kitchen and living room in this house many times, we just go behind her and fix everything back the way it was until the next time she decides to clean house.  Her children and her husband have made sure this house is Alzheimer proof.  There is no way she can get outside unless it is the negligence of myself or the girls who work for me.  We take her outside almost daily so that she can get some exercise and fresh air.  One thing you have to remember with Alzheimer's is that it affects people differently.  Now my little lady for instance loves to go out shopping, out to eat, and I even took her to the county fair, but for some patients being in large crowds confuses them and makes them scared.  My little lady is not violent, but I have heard that some patients are violent and are very hard to take care of.  I have been blessed with a wonderful patient.  Now let me tell you very quickly I don't do this all by myself I have 3 other girls that work during the day, and I live and take care of her during the night.  There is no way I could do this 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without help, and if you are all I can say is GOD BLESS YOU.  With Alzheimer's patients you have to stay with them 24 hours a day.  You can't leave them alone 10 minutes just to run to the store, because of the safety hazards it would be.  Alzheimer care is very expensive and can drain the family financially.  It is getting harder and harder to put patients with dementia in nursing homes because of the liabilities, and special care they have to have.  This is very hard on the families of patients with Alzheimer's.  Private care is expensive but if you get the right kind of people it is the best option to take because you have that one on one care they need. 

I have a good family to work with and I make sure that my girls and myself give my little lady the up most care.  She has never had a bed sore, no rashes due to laying in urine or fices, no broken bones due to lack of attention or neglect.  She is bathed daily either by shower or by hand.  She is fed 3 square meals a day.  As long as she can eat she will eat, there will come a time when she won't be able to.  If you have a parent or loved one living in a nursing home or in the care of someone else take the time to look them over.  Check for bed sores, rashes, bruises, cuts, scrapes, and anything else you might think of.  Look at the bedding for urine stains, smell it to see if it has the odor of urine or fices, look at the framing for dried urine, look at the floor, inspect everything to make sure they are living in the best surroundings possible.  Face it nursing homes and individuals treat patients with no regard at all.  They are there for one purpose and that is to make money.  Neglect with the elderly is a huge growing problem here in the U.S., and nobody wants to do anything about it except lawyers and what do they want?   Money!!

Can or could you imagine that one day your mother or father won't know who you are?  Won't remember the day you was born, your first step or word, or your first day of school.  I couldn't either and I hope that never happens to me or my son.  I sit and think about how hard it has to be for the children of my little lady.  They were a tight nit family and they always new that no matter what they could come home for peace and refuge.  The one person who usually gave them solid, strong advice no longer knows their name.  What hell that has to be.  I was talking the other day with my little ladies sister-n-law and she told me "I miss her", "I miss shopping with her, and making crafts with her", I've heard the countless stories how they would just on the spur of the moment do things and have a great time.  I know her daughters miss having their mom to share the most intimate details of their life, and I know my little lady misses hearing about it.  She has missed the arrival of first great granddaughter and the death of her precious husband of over 50 years.  She still talks of him in the present tense and tells us things like "look over there at him plowing the field."  I know she didn't ask for this and I also know if she could change it she would but that is out of her hands and into Gods now.  I pray everyday that if the good lord sees fit to give me a disease let it be cancer and not Alzheimer's.  Trust me folks it is no way to leave this world.

I hope you enjoy my blogs and find them educational as well as intuitive.  They come from the heart and with experience.