Sending Warm Thoughts To Those Affected By Weather and To My Neighbors In Flint Michigan

Hello Everyone,

It's a rather warm Sunday Evening here in Michigan for January 31. It got up to 50 degrees today, but rainy. This weather has sure been crazy. I want to say to all those who were affected by the bad weather last week that I hope things are getting back to normal for you, and that you are now doing well. 

We Make  Made Cars!

For those in Flint Michigan about only 35 minutes north of us, I want to say we at Palcaregivers care about you. We know that many of you in Flint face the same challenges as the rest of the population in our society, when it comes to caring for older loved ones and now you have an added challenge. A horror that none of us in our day and age should have to even think about, finding safe drinking water. 

Does a Person's Gender Make Them A Better Caregiver? Male or Female?

Hello Everyone,

Recently while reading on a cargiving forum I frequent, the question was raised " How is the situation different when the caregiver is the husband". It was suggested that men are usually not raised from childhood to nurture and that they may need help to be a successful caregiver. This got me thinking about how times have changed. The one comment made by another forum member was to the effect that this was an old concept, and I must say after much thought I have to agree. 

In generations past the line between the sexes was very well defined. Women where raised to be wives and mothers, to stay home with the children and as the posters said be the primary nurturer. The men were raised to be the strong ones, the bread winners and to keep their emotions in check. When a loved one became ill such as a parent or grandparent it was usually the woman who stepped in to care for them. If a wife became ill many times a sister or other female relative would care for her or the husband would place her in a nursing home. That was then this is now. 

How We Lived, Laughed and Loved Through Macular Degeneration

While I was reading  on a caregiver forum a few days ago, I can across a question posed by another forum member about Macular Degeneration. They wanted to know if anyone else had cared for a loved one with the eye disease.  That got me thinking, it may be helpful if I shared our family's story of dealing with the very common yet seldom talked about eye disease.

When you think about all the press and medical science that is aimed at things like dementia, heart disease, Parkinson's and so on you may come to realize that Macular Degeneration gets little attention in comparison, even though it is the # 1 cause of blindness in people over 65. My mother is one of those people and here in part is her story.

When mom was just a few years older than I am now, I remember sitting in a car with her one day while we waited for my dad to get done in the store. It was then for the first time she mentioned to me that she was having trouble seeing. She said " I can see but I can't see". What do you mean mom I asked her. She had trouble explaining to me what she meant but she knew something was wrong. At first we thought maybe  cataracts, so we made an appointment with the eye doctor. 

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

Moving Mom Into An Adult Foster Care Home For the Aged

Hello Everyone,

After another fall and a return to rehab for several weeks my sister and I have finally taken the steps to move mom to and Adult Foster Care Home ( also called Homes for the Aged ) on a full time basis. This was one of the hardest,  heartwrenching decision we have ever had to make, but it was best for all.

AFC - a house like you or I would live in, only with some modifications inside to accommodate the residents.

My mom as you may know from my previous posts has lived with either myself or my sister since 2001 when dad passed away. She is now almost 92 and has started to develop dementia. My sister and I are not getting any younger and the increased care my mother required was making it very difficult. She could no longer be left alone even for a few hours to go shopping so we had to have someone with her around the clock and night time care literally meant no sleep for my sister, who has and needs to keep her daytime job as her husband was laid off after 27 years, leaving them with one income.

We therefore decided it was time. Time to make things better for all involved, especially mom. We searched and searched and finally found a wonderful Adult Foster Care Home only 10 minutes from both of us.

Update On Mom: Rehab Again

Hello Everyone,

As of yesterday mom is now in rehab again. Two weeks ago this Saturday she was sitting on the side of her bed and apparently ( no one was in the room at the time ) dozed off for a moment and she went down on the floor landing on her knees. At the time my brother who lives out of state was in for a visit. The entire day was spent with the 4 of us in the ER with mom. As the hours passed and the tests came in we were encouraged when told that she did not break anything, which is remarkable because the doctors have told us for many years that mom's bones are so thin from osteoporosis that fractures come easy to someone like her. In fact she fractured her toe just bumping it against the shower edge. Thankfully this time no breaks, however her knee did have a huge split in it and required 12 stitches. I think maybe because she was suffering from edema at the time that perhaps the extra water protected her? ( just a guess )

Hello Everyone Just Checking In With All

Hello Everyone,

It's been a busy few weeks. I am waiting to hear from my surgeon on my possible surgery. I hope to hear from him soon. I have also been dealing with some dental issues and I hate the dentist. The older I get the more I hate going as my teeth are so sensitive these days, ouch!

Mom is doing ok right now, except for some reason she seems to be having more problems with dementia symptoms, checking and rechecking things, asking over and over again the same questions. My sister and I are both stunned that she is developing these symptoms so late in life, she is now 91.5. Up until last year mom was sharp as ever, knew what was where, how much money she had here and there always laughing and joking with everyone. Then for no apparent reason she started having trouble with her memory and I guess we just thought that would never happen to her. Just goes to show it can happen at anytime to anyone. The mind is a mystery and I fear it always will be.

Anyway I just wanted to check in with my readers and let them know I have some great posts coming up. I have been doing some research on several subjects that I think you will find interesting. Including a post coming up where I will share an interview I did with mom on what it's like to be old. She revealed some interesting things to me and gave me permission to share them with you. I hope to have that post up in the next day or two.

Until Next Time

Take Care All

Ruth Anne