Angry Bird-Alzheimer’s in the Family

We’ve had a pretty quiet week back at my home in Myrtle Beach. I’ve been to my own doctor appointments and worked on closing out Tom’s estate. I also managed getting someone to sit for mom (thank you Ilona) so that I could brunch with friends and visit. I’ve missed doing this so it was much needed for my sanity. I’m so thankful for my friends.

The orthopedic doctor finally injected my knee so I’m pretty much pain free. Hallelujah! I injured my knee getting my mom up when she fell three weeks ago. Everything is a process.

Mom still isn’t eating much. I have gotten some protein and veggies in her but she is still eating ice cream and pie and some sweet protein bars. Maybe 600 calories a day. She’s lost 3.4 pounds since last Friday. Her total weight loss since June 12th is 28.5 pounds, which is significant.

Mom has to wear the heart monitor until next week. We’ll be glad to be done with it. Her BP and pulse are still all over the place and her pulse didn’t get above 53 yesterday. A pulse of less than 60 is a big concern. Hopefully, the doctor can come up with a plan to help with that but the heart can react that way from not getting enough nutrition. We’ll see.

Day before yesterday, while I was at the orthopedic doctor, mom told Ilona that she wanted me to take her home and let her friends take care of her. She got pretty angry about it. Ilona told her that would not happen as someone had to be with her all the time and that her friends couldn’t do that. She also explained that mom was safer at my house, which is designed for aging in place. Mom hasn’t mentioned any of that to me but she did vent to my friend.

The day before that mom was in a “slap your jaws” frame of mind. If I walked by her she would glare at me angrily and say,”I’m going to slap your jaws.” She use to do that when I was a kid so it brought up some unpleasant memories. She also said it to the cats and dog. I eventually said,”you aren’t slapping anyone.” Just like that it was over. You have to remind yourself that it’s the disease. It’s still hard.

I washed and rolled her hair today and she’s decided to wear the curlers all day. No worries. What will that hurt? Nothing. She’s doing her word finds and I’m doing chores.

Tomorrow is another day. Let’s see how that goes. Love is the key.