Update On Mom's Progress

Hello Everyone,

It's been a minute since I have shared with everyone how things are going with mom. One month ago Friday she moved from Rehab into an Adult Family Care Home. For those of you who do not know what that is let me explain.

An Adult Family Care Home also called by some an Adult Foster Care Home ( AFCH ) is a small assisted living that is as the name says, in a home. Many AFCHs are set up where the family lives in the home and are the primary caregivers, along with one or two staff they may hire. The smaller ones like the one mom is in are 1-6 residents. There are also 7-12 resident homes and 13-20. Once you reach 21 or more they fall into a different classification by the states. If they family does not live in the residence then the home's owner will hire staff to cover the 24 hour shifts. I have seen homes that are run both ways and must say most are equally nice. 

The Plague of Dementia Hit Robin Williams Too - What is Lewy Body Dementia ?

An underlying brain disease may have been the cause of his depression.

 

This past Tuesday morning as I always do, I sat enjoying my coffee watching the morning news when an interview took by breath away. The interview was with Susan Williams, the wife of the amazing actor and comedian Robin Williams. I sat silent, tears in my eyes as she spoke for the first time about the death of her husband. The heart wrenching interview struck quite a nerve for this caregiver when she revealed that Robin's autopsy showed he was suffering from Lewy Body Dementia or LBD for short. As a caregiver I have seen many people suffering from dementia - to many! LBD is the second most common form of dementia next to Alzheimer's. It is estimated that 1 million Americans suffer from LBD. 

Susan spoke about Robin's sudden rash of symptoms that started popping up about a year prior to his death. She said he complained about things like severe pain in his gut, sleeplessness and constipation. She even thought he might be a hypochondriac. But then he was diagnosed with  Parkinson's disease in May 2014.

Changes to This Website Soon !

Hello and welcome to all. Will Branning here.

Great News for Everyone!

Ruth Anne and I are planning some great new changes for this blog and website to begin in the next week or so. All having much to do with the PAL Caregiver community, one which is rapidly growing, and allowing this location on the internet to become a valuable resource for us all.

In addition to Ruth Anne's blog posts we will be adding sections on:

• Obtaining training to  become a Professional Caregiver.
• Forums for Family and Professional caregivers to exchange ideas and issues.
• News sections relating to Caregiving, Caregiving law issues, Medicaid - Medicare news and changes in Caregiving for our family and clients.
• And much more...
• Ideas and suggestions as always are appreciated.

We are excited about these great new additions to PAL Caregivers and hope you will be too. Please check back often to see what's new.

Best Regards,
Will Branning