Blog Archives
| Milk "Ensures" You Get Every Drop! |
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| Sunday, 18 April 2010 | |
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Dad takes Ensure or Boost, (whichever is on sale) daily in order to give him some extra nutrition, as well as to add more vitamins to his diet. As any of you know that use these drinks, they are really expensive. They run about $9.00 for a six-pack, and that adds up to about fifty dollars per month. I've created a new way to stretch my dollar. I fill up the glass halfway with crushed ice. This makes it colder, and adds some essential water that Dad needs to stay hydrated. Then I pour in the drink, but it still leaves about 2" of space in the glass, and there is a "film" of chocolate left in the plastic bottle. So, I pour about 1/4 cup of skim milk into the near-empty Boost or Ensure container, put the lid back on and shake it with great force like a maraca. When I pour that into the shake, it looks like a bit of whipped cream on top of a milkshake, and it gets every drop of the shake out of the bottle. I add a straw, and Dad says it looks and tastes like an old-fashioned malted. It looks better in the glass and in the pocketbook! |
| Get a Move on, Katie! |
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| Thursday, 15 April 2010 | |
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Katie (Dad's aide) came by yesterday to pick him up for his physical therapy class. She was in my office out of Dad's sight when he picked up his cane, bid me a farewell and walked out the door. "I wonder where he thinks he is going?' I commented to Katie. About thirty seconds later, he poked his head in the door and asked Katie if she was ready to go to therapy. I think he recognized her car in the driveway and his tennis shoes always let him know it is a "therapy" day. How cute that he was waiting for her to get ready instead of the other way around! |
| Works "Both Ways" |
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| Monday, 12 April 2010 | |
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I was lucky enough to be interviewed last week by a very well established writer for USA Today, Mary Brophy Marcus. We talked about a myriad of subjects pertaining to dementia and caregiving, but she chose to print a wonderful trick that I have used over the years to keep Dad independent in the continence department. You can read the article here: USA Today Article So basis of the trick is to have him go to the bathroom before we "leave for a trip". Then he has forgotten the imaginary trip by the time he has done his business, washed his hands, and combed his hair. Today, his home health aide, Katie and I were trying to rush him along to therapy, and he was eating slowly, putting on his shoes slowly, taking his pills slowly. It was like a turtle's pace. I mouthed to Katie that I hoped he did not have to make his usual "pit stop" before they were any later. So I closed the bathroom door and told him Peggy was in there. This particular Alzheimer's trick works in REVERSE! |
| Making New Memories |
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| Friday, 09 April 2010 | |
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Dad said that the blossoms on the flowering trees are as beautiful as he can remember (true). He points out every azalea, tulip and forsythia that catches his eye and marvels in their beauty. How nice it must be to have the beauty of a bright pink cherry tree or a full white dogwood take your breath away for "first time" again, over and over. I suppose that shows another "upside" to his Alzheimer's. He has forgotten all the bad things from his past, and gets to re-experience all the the good things in his present. Doesn't sound half bad, does it? |
| Assisted Sobriety |
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| Thursday, 08 April 2010 | |
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Dad takes 25 pills per day. Once I read all of the information a few years ago about each pill and their warnings, I decided it was best for him to stop drinking alcohol. However, whenever he can't remember something, I always blame it on his "having a few too many drinks". He'd rather think he's an alcoholic that to think he has lost his memory. We went to an Easter party where everyone was offering him drinks all day, so I decided to make him a Kathy's special "gin and tonic". This consists of a glass of ice with tonic water and a lime. Then I dip my finger in a small bit of gin and run it around the rim. This gives him the flavor of the drink without the alcohol. So I guess he'll be drinking tonic and lime with a "touch" of gin from now on! I bet a bottle of Beefeater will last about five years! |
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