I admit to having an internally visceral response to even considering re-reading this material– the Xmas of the first year Mom was home with me was one of the harder times for me to get through, and while I do not wish to suppress the emotions associated with what I learned about myself and this… Continue reading December 20, 2015: Why Christmas is so hard now
Tag: health
September 27, 2015: Mom couldn’t walk last night
The ability to decompress after something traumatic takes place is a learned skill, at least for myself. Something that is less common now than it was then is well exemplified here– the panic, hyper, over-the-top stimulated and wired I would get from dealing with tough situations would take me days to shake out. Managing emotions… Continue reading September 27, 2015: Mom couldn’t walk last night
September 7, 2015: After the Lake
Having realistic and still beautiful goals makes achieving them possible and gives the feeling you need most: Purpose. The why in doing something needs it’s own answer– and much like activism, there is no score card but simply your own judgement and the change in your surrounding you can invoke that become your barometer. Meet… Continue reading September 7, 2015: After the Lake
August 13, 2015: Mom is home now
After nearly two weeks, Mom returned home and was stronger than when she left (which is unusual in our situation, as Mom gets less motivated and more lethargic when she is in a hospital or similar facility– as do most of us). I was able to recharge, we were definitively on a new path and… Continue reading August 13, 2015: Mom is home now
July 31, 2015: Mom has a health crisis
This particular time frame isn’t explicated beyond the immediate moments of terror with Mom and her collapsing condition that particular day, but when I referred to things being better in the prior two months as I wrote this, there were a few things I didn’t get into detail about that were also part of what… Continue reading July 31, 2015: Mom has a health crisis
May 18, 2015: Dangerously close to burning out
This is a good day for me to write the introduction to this post, as I’ve had similar levels of exhaustion lately– and, in a way, now that it’s 2018 I am more susceptible to burnout sneaking up on me, as I’m used to low level burn out as a mainstay constant in my life… Continue reading May 18, 2015: Dangerously close to burning out
April 6, 2015: Pep talk to myself about our respective roles
In the transition to being “fully in charge” of my mother, one major advantage we have over many children tying to help struggling parents is that we have been dealing with cerebral issues and my intervention in Mom’s personal space as a matter of necessity since 2005. The adjustment was more problematic when I was… Continue reading April 6, 2015: Pep talk to myself about our respective roles
April 4, 2015: Fidel and Donna– thoughts on aging
Both Donna and I have taken great inspiration from and hold admiration for El Commandante Fidel Castro. In point of fact, Fidel’s health crises starting in 2006 often impacted myself as though he were extended family– and in many ways he still is, posthumously– and also mirrored the declining health of my mother, then my… Continue reading April 4, 2015: Fidel and Donna– thoughts on aging
March 14, 2015: Oranges and Caregiving
I could continue on with this for examples up until today… but if I were to do so, it would finish (so I think) with me handing her the orange and not paying attention to what she did after that. I also note that as Mom settled into her ‘new’ brain these kinds of ‘complications’… Continue reading March 14, 2015: Oranges and Caregiving
January 2, 2015: Mom gets up after I helped her to bed
If there is one major problem caregivers of a loved one with dementia face that nearly all people know about, it’s likely that of midnight wandering. In November prior to this, I was confronted with Mom getting lost in the neighbourhood but two months later I was well into a ‘new normal’ that would include… Continue reading January 2, 2015: Mom gets up after I helped her to bed