It starts again...

On the afternoon on Valentine's Day our rocking and rolling started again. George and I were just coming home after going to Honeys for coffee and a toastie for George. We stopped the car in the drive to chat to a neighbour and it hit! A 5.7 earthquake. It was quite violent and certainly gave us a hell of a shock.

On going inside George went straight into the bedroom. I asked if he needed a sleep but no...

He was lying straight on the bed like a little soldier and he thought that was good for earthquakes.

Throughout the afternoon there were more tremors but all smaller and many we did not feel, over 50 all up. Very unsettling and only a few days before the anniversary of the devastating one in February which occurred 5 years ago.

Very funny that night on the news a young boy was asked to describe the experiences of a group who were over at a bay near a cliff that was crumbling. As part of the description he said 'and Lucy nearly pooed her pants'. I don't think Lucy was too impressed as he was on the news again the next night apologising to Lucy.

This week George has been very unsettled and moaning about not feeling well. I suspect it is partly the earthquakes and partly the heat we are having at the moment

Don't forget to laugh

I was very amused at George's description of some food.

I had made him some breakfast and he left three pieces of toast on the plate.

I asked him if he had finished and he poked at the pieces and said,

"these are deceased!"

Love it.

Social isolation

In today's paper an article about elderly people being socially isolated.

This is so sad and I am sure is because of families leaving their home towns and making lives in other places.

This did not happen in earlier times (and still does not in some families) and the families would gather round and share looking after their elderly family members.

Today many families do not worry too much about the elderly members of their families. Often the elderly are put into rest homes where they spend all day in their room. Once in a rest home many family members feel that they are OK there and don't make the effort to go and visit very often.

Going in to visit and take the time to talk and have a special time with your family member/friend is so important to them, don't just think that they are OK.

Often when a family is living in all different places, or for other reasons,  there is one member of the family who does most of the caring for the person. If you are a member of a family where this is occurring and you are not the primary caregiver don't forget to acknowledge this and don't forget that it is often costing a lot of money to give your loved one the quality of life you would want for them. Do you envisage reimbursing some of this to the caregiver or do you just expect that that is what they should do? Just remember too that this caregiver can also become quite isolated due to their commitment - acknowledge and thank them appropriately - don't be half hearted about it, remember how much they are taking off your shoulders. Criticizing whatever they are doing does not help them. Just a few thoughts.

Heat

Poor George. We have been having some really hot weather and George does not cope well. I have noticed this with others. I find plenty of liquids and letting him have plenty of naps. He still gets very confused. He has a lot of trouble now recognising whether he is hot or cold and keeps putting clothes on and off - when this happens he is inclined to sit on the bed requiring me to wash him and the bed clothes. I do try to keep tabs on where he is going and what he is doing although this is not always easy.

Something I am very aware of ( and was re Mum as well ) not all family members let me know where they are and how to contact them in an emergency. The morning Mum had her stroke I went in to see her and then went to pick George up. Dropped home quickly to get somethings and send emails. I rang one of my sisters on the off chance she was home and luckily she was and was able to contact my other sister. I then took George with me and we went back to Mum.  So lucky. However we have had two close family member die and have had to get the police to help in locating other family members, this stress you don't need at this time.

If you are a family member just remember to let others in your family know where you are especially if you are going away.

Quality of life

Last week a community nurse told me that George had the best quality of life of any of the Alzheimer's people she dealt with. I felt really good that I have been able to provide this and I also did try to do that for Mum too. I was known amongst many of the medical people as a great advocator for both of them.

Something I do for George each night is:
When he gets into bed I put on a favourite movie and give him a red wine.

He has drunk red wine (lots of it) for many years. As of course, this is not good for the brain cells I do limit this now.

I try to hide the wine cask in different places but he always managed to find it and try to pour from it!! Wine all over the kitchen cupboards and floors. I finally found that by putting it in the oven he hasn't found it there.

Recently he found a box (with coffees) and thought that it was red wine.

Result:

 

He then tried to pour a red wine from the box on the left...

Yesterday I saw that the caregivers have not been doing a good job with his shaving. I made an appointment for him at a groom room. While we were waiting I watched as they gave two guys hair cuts. As part of the treatment they had scalp massages and then a shoulder/neck massage to finish - talk about pampering. He had a razor cut but was very tense throughout. The woman who did it was very good. I have booked him in for a hair cut in a couple of weeks. The price is about the same as his regular barber and so much nicer.

Got home to a massive flood! The dishwasher had started up all n its own and flooded the place. It took me ages to find the plug and turn it off. Got it off thank goodness and got someone in to look at it. They have taken it away to try to repair it - fingers crossed.

Let me tell you it is no fun trying to clean up with George making demands all the time.

I bought a new magazine today - guess what? It has mysteriously vanished into thin air. I suspect it is now cut up and I didn't see any of it...

Murphy's law

Got George from the home when I returned. He was able to tell me all about the home and he knew who had been in to see him. Very impressed that remembered that. He was very pleased to be coming home.

Unfortunately I got a chest infection on the plane (Murphy's law). Care givers often find their immunity systems get run down. I am taking plenty of vitamins etc. We are in the position of carrying on no matter how we feel while others can go to bed for a day or two and recover while it takes me some time - slow and steady.

I must say that it has been all on since I have been home.

Something George does a lot is cut up magazines and books. All the bits of paper are strewn over the floor. I am constantly picking the bits up. If I want to keep a book or magazine I need to hide it.

I need lots of cupboards with locks on!!

Such a lovely time

i am having such a wonderful time with the family.

We had a lovely Christmas Day with some very excited kids. That is so nice and something I have been missing so much. Throughout your life you tend to take so many things like this for granted until they are no longer there - saviour every moment as you travel through life, you never know what is around the corner.

I am so loving being with all the family and not feeling alone. I always try to see things through the 'glass half full mentality'. I know this is not always easy but there is always changes going on and we need to adapt.

I must admit it has taken a few days but I am starting to feel more relaxed. Yesterday someone gave me a back massage and boy could I feel the tension leaving me. That will be my New Year's resolution - have regular massages to relieve some of my stress rather than let it build up.

I wish everyone a great festive season..

Excited

George went into respite today. He was quite relaxed about it. For the past week I have been talking about it to him and ensured he understood what was happening. Luckily some people he knows from His club are also in there. He also has people going in to see him.

Came home and got into my packing and doing some tidying up. Just on finished packing and am feeling so excited about seeing others in my family.

Initially I felt guilty about going at Xmas but I realise that other members of my family miss out with me having Mum And George to care for. This will be the first year without Mum and so it is so nice (and would be very important to Mum) that so many of her family are together this Christmas.

Second time lucky?

Not too sure about that...

Yesterday it was pretty hot. When George arrived home from his club he was hot and tired. I had been rushing around all day. Had not expected this one but the rest home rang the night before wanting me to go in and do the admittance for the respite time. As George is pretty much the same as last time I felt it was a waste of time but...

Mine is not to reason why...

Anyway that took a couple of hours by the time I got there and then waited round for the nurse. No one else understands that you don't have the time to muck around.

When George arrived home he was obviously tired and I suggested he lie on the bed and have a 'nanny nap' before tea. He thought that was a great idea.

BIG MISTAKE!

Next thing he wanders back out. No trousers, no pull-ups!

I quickly cleaned him up and put on some pull-ups and trousers and sat him down in the lounge. I then raced through to the bedroom and found

Feces  all over the comforter. Guess what I had to do then?

That is the second time in a fortnight he has taken his bottom half of clothes off. This is a new behaviour which I will need to watch for to stop it before it starts.