On November 13, 2010 I gladly became the primary caregiver of my mother. She has Lewy Body Dementia, the second most common memory loss condition after Alzhiemers. I knew nothing about Lewy Body Dementia until I brought Mom to Indiana to live with me. My mother is a resident at the Waters of Covington, a rehabilitation center near our home. I would like to have her live with us but her care is more then one person can provide. The staff at the Waters fell in love with Mom immediately. She may be losing her memory and her ability to care for herself but she hasn't lost her sense of humor or her gentle grace. This blog is meant to be a journal of our days together.



On May 15, 2011 My Mother peacefully and fearlessly passed into the here after. Now I journey alone, yet not alone. I have a lifetime of memories.




Monday, December 27, 2010

Christmas In Indiana

I wish I had pictures to post of our Christmas but I just didn't think to take pictures. We went to Pat and Becka's first. They had a beautiful breakfast of scrambled eggs, potatoes and bacon waiting for us. We brought our gifts for the girls. We played with the girls for about an hour and then went next door to Kathy and Tracy's. There Brooklyn met us before we got in the door and Connor was ready to "beat" his papaw up. Connor couldn't decide what to play with first. He would pick up the dinosours and growl and then pick up his mickey car and make engine noises. After a while he was making the same noise for all of them. Brooklyn eagerly looked over her stamping supplies but then put the up where Connor couldn't get into them. She asked for stamping supplies that she could leave at our house. It will be interesting to see if they make it back to our house.

At just around noon we went home to prepare our Christmas meal and then at 1:00pm I went to pick up Mom. She was still eating when I got there. She was more then happy to leave though.

Mom refused to take her meds on Christmas morning. She was slow to respond and very unsteady when we needed to transfer her from place to place. She was not interested in holding a conversation but was content to be in the middle of everything and quietly observe. She was very happy to see Tobby (our cat). She doesn't know his name but she enjoys coaxing him into her chair. Tobby sees her chair as a safe refuge. It is a happy mutuel relationship. Mom does NOT like going into the bathroom. On Christmas she appeared to be fearful of going in. I had to insist and almost push her into the room. Her urine is VERY strong. She is not drinking enough.

Mom just picked at her food. They say at the Waters that she is a good eater. I don't see that. I worry about her getting enough to eat. Sometimes I can get her to eat a few sweets. Mostly she just plays with her food.

I recorded Miracle on 34th Street on the DVR. Mom happily watched that. Then got REALLY interested in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. She was awake the whole day. She did not ask to lay down and did not even one time tell me she was tired. Like I said before she was content to quietly observe. We took her back to the Waters at 10:00 pm. She enjoyed looking at the Christmas lights. Myron took the long way back so she could see the lights. All in all I think she had an enjoyable day. I know we did.
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