Good morning everyone, well here we are again at the end of another week! Here in the UK, we have been enjoying hot, sunny weather, and we are in the final week of Wimbledon Tennis Championships celebrating with strawberries, cream and champagne flowing! The school summer holidays are nearly upon us, the city I live in is celebrating university graduations, and folks are winding down for the summer break.
So, how are you all doing? Do share with us how your week has gone, the positive or not so positive, we are here to support and rejoice with one another. The quote by Maya Angelou is very poignant especially if you are caring for loved ones with dementia or memory loss. Having recently watched a BBC documentary called, ‘The Dementia Choir’ (See BBC iPlayer), a scientific study about the positive effects that singing or making music has on people with dementia. It was noted that though from one practice to another they may forget what they learned the week before, or the names of people they met, what they remembered was how it made them feel -happy, positive, and good about themselves.
What you do for your loved ones, the difference that you make in their lives, they will never forget how you made them feel. This weekend I encourage you to take time to create special moments and build ‘feeling’ memories, such as having a cream tea, going out if possible to a favourite spot in the countryside, singing or dancing together to some old songs. I will be creating memories by making scones for a cream tea to take over to a friend on Sunday to watch the Wimbledon Men’s Singles Final!
Best wishes,
MAS Nurse and Moderator
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MAS_Nurse
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Friday again? It can’t be! I love the words by Maya Angelou, thank you for sharing.
Pete and I have been to the Isle of Wight and had a great time. We’ve seen family this week, apart from our son, daughter in law and granddaughter who are in Turkey. It will be nice to spend time with them all during the summer holidays. Our granddaughter starts school in September.
Pete still struggles with his back pain but I feel sure something is sure to help, just not a chiropractor!
I wish everyone a peaceful weekend and happiness to all. Xxxxx😘
I have had a good start to feel good Friday. I am moving to the West Country later this year andi shall be giving up my Nordic Walking group.I need some sort of exerise and I can't bear the thought of the gym so I think swimming is the answer - epecially as the knees are showing signs of rebellion. So I tried on my swimming costume for the first time for three years and Wow I can still get into it without too many surplus bits hanging over the side.....!!!!!. It cost quite a lot as I bought it for when I took a disabled friend on a cruise and di d not want to be seen in my old one. Cruises are very good if you are disabled - some upgrade you to a better cabin free and there are lifts everywhere and everyone I spoke was very happy with the help they had from the crew.
The cruise we took was from Southampton which made easy travelling. No messing about with flights. Just drive ( or be driven) to Southampton and at the end of the cruise just get off the boat and drive home. Much less exhausting.
Whoo-hoo FredaE, go girl, go. Swimming is fantastic non-weight bearing exercise, even if you do miss your Nordic walking. Totally agree about cruising, and the crew are generally marvellous. It's one way to continue to have holidays when others can no longer be tackled. We met a lovely Welsh chap with dementia on one cruise we were on, being helped by his wife and the crew who were very attentive and empathetic.
Swimming is excellent! I swim 4-5 time a a week and it's the only thing that seems to help my arthritis. Our swimming pool also has a steam room and sauna so I feel very pampered. Enjoy your swimming and good luck with your move. I hope you will be very happy there.
Thank you both for your good wishes I hope so. I have been lucky enough to find a new partner who lives in Cornwall. We are neither of us young so we tend to laugh when we want to buy a new garden room and are told that there is a 25 year guarantee on it. We'd like a nice long guatantee on us !!! I shall still have the same email address of course so the move will be less of a wrench than it might have been once
How fantastic FredaE. Much happiness and best wishes to you both.
Hi MAS_Nurse. Good morning and thanks for another thought provoking quote from Maya Angelou.
It brought to mind my brother in law who is newly diagnosed with vascular dementia and this week slipped into a new phase of forgetfulness. As much as it is difficult for him, I feel for my sister, who still adores him after 61 years of marriage and is finding it so hard to accept what's happening.
We do intend to visit more often and to get the two of them out and about as much as my brother-in-law's condition will allow, but it's also about a quality of life for my lovely sister who is facing some tough times ahead. I can't say she is becoming his carer, because she's really been devoted to him in that way for the whole of their marriage and although it's as tough a thing for her as for anyone, I think it may help make her task a tiny bit easier as she's doing it with great love. And that goes for so many carers of dementia victims. The heartache of watching a loved one slip away in plain sight is so hard to take.
But to all of you, for whomsoever and why you are in a caring role, much love, and have a happy weekend.
Had a nice time last Saturday, went over to the family home, and sister and I went for a pub lunch. Afterwards we came back over to see mum who was ok, and we managed to take her out into the grounds if the home for an hour, we pointed out all the lovely colours on the flowers but how much mum noticed we don't know.
I had bloods taken Monday, I thought it was just a vitamin D follow up but GP had asked for full blood count, she rang Wednesday evening to say vit D now 77 which she says is lovely, everything else ok apart from protein levels, liver fine so we're doing a wee and blood test in about a month to check kidneys. She asked if I'd started my Alendronic Acid, I said no due to the possible risk of it causing me eye problems which would be treated with steroid eye drops which don't agree with my glaucoma, she said about me going to see her but I stated that I'm still doing my research. Since then I've sent a long email to the ROS with various questions so I'll wait to hear from them before deciding what to do next. Yesterday I went to my reading group at my local library, afterwards I had a quick look to see if they had any osteoporosis books, they did, written by Diana Moran and published earlier this year, it's available through the play store which gives a publication date of June 2019
Alendronic acis has to be swallowed sitting upright with water only so it does not hang around on the way down. I have problems swallowing, always have, so my GP prescribed Strontium which can replace calcoium in the bones. It is not so effective but does not have some of the awful side effects and it helps. It turned out that my threatened osteoporosis was caus ed by an over active thyroid any way so there was no need for either. It pays to research
I agree the weeks are flying by and the summer skipping away fast. Not been brilliant here. Mom not too bad and most pressure sores responding to treatment. Just the bottom one that refuses to change much and is now over granulating! She is obviously deteriorating and I find it frustrating that I can't make a difference any longer. My anxiety has been plaguing me and I think our situation is now starting to take its toll. Husband getting to the end of his tether with his sleep issues, and me spending long days on my own while he is working. Add to that the renovations we are trying to complete and the lack of a break away from here it's no wonder we are both feeling the pressure. However I will not allow mom to go into care, so am weathering the storm and doing my yoga, cross stitch and gardening to relax. It won't be forever, but some days I feel so down, but then feel guilty as I am sure there are others far worse off than me.
Hi XSitch38, Please don't feel any guilt. We all have individual journeys in Caring and it's never a straightforward one. You are obviously doing your best so you should be proud, not guilty.
Callenders girl is so right you should be so proud of what you are doing.
Carers are amazing but we are all only human and we can only do what we can do. There is no such thing as perfect care or a perfect carer so of course you can never acheive what you are asking of yourself. All any of us can do is try to do our best and we should not to blame our selves when (not IF) we fall short of what we would like. We all do it. We tend not to tell people about it so everyone thinks everyone else is better than them.
I am a great fan of the old proverbs and sayings and one of my favourites is "never let the sun go down on a quarrel" However hard it is, never part on bad terms in case it is the last time. If you have had cross words say goodbye with a kiss and "I love you".
I knew someone whose middle aged husband died at work from a heart attack and she never forgave herself because her last words to him as he left for work were unkind. I think she told him he was the biggest fool she'd ever met and she couldn't think why she had married him - what she really meant was "you spent too long in the bathroom and now I am going to be late for work"
Keep up with the good work and remember to be kind to yourself as well
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