We are getting together tomorrow at a local Denny's to express concerns about Mom's health and so on. I'm not sure if we will be able to resolve anything but it is something that seem worth doing. Not sure what all is on the agenda but here are SOME of the concerns that might be discussed.
HEALTH: Medications, diet, pillbox, blood pressure, journal, mental clarity, dizziness, anxiety, use of walker, smoking, Dr. appointments, in home care giver, a panic button, other.
FINANCES: Checking and CD accounts, Bills, Sales Solicitations by mail and phone, burial costs, Will, Living Will, Where is the important paperwork, etc.
SOCIAL and Physical Exercise: Won't use Shuttle or public transportation, has groceries delivered by us kids, won't walk due to dizziness and "no spunk" and resists using the walker for anything but a seat next to the telephone, attends church services on occasion and infrequently joins tennants in community room for soup night etc.
I will PRINT this out and take it to our meeting at Denny's in the morning. :)
Thursday, June 4, 2009
In Home Care Givers
Snickers called me today and had been talking with one of the tennants where Mom lives and was informed that many of the other folks there have "Care Givers" that come in and help with things like laundry and routine house cleaning. Apparently this is covered on their health insurance and all it takes is a call to the Doctor to start the ball rolling for this service. So, I called our family Doctor and left a message with his nurse on this topic. Ladybug told me about an ad she saw on TV about this and gave me a link for it and I have posted it down in the lower right of the page under "Other Sources of Info".
The Car
Probably two of the greatest events in an American's life is when they turn 16 and get their first driver's licence and then years later when "They Take Your Car Away." Mom had gotten into a fender bender and arguably, it may not have been her fault. She was at the point where she really didn't get out that much. Maybe she'd go once in a while for a trip to the Bank or the Grocery Store and Gas Station. Whether she went anywhere or not, she was always faithful to go out and start up her car every day in the carport and let it run for a while to keep the battery charged up.
After the fender bender, Mom didn't get out that much anymore. Ladybug and I would do her grocery shopping for her and that worked out well. Finally when she got another Insurance bill for the car, we sat down with her and figured out how much it was costing her every month just to have the car set there in her carport and she became convinced that it would be better for her economically to cancel the Insurance and sell the car.
OK, so, we did that. - For two years after that, everytime we saw her, Mom would say, "I sure miss my car." She was better off financially and had door to door delivery and chaufer service but STILL - she had lost one of those things that brings a real sense of independence to you and that is a hard pill to swallow.
This Blog is fairly new but in time perhaps other Bloggers will stumble across it and relate to it and may want to make a comment. We hope they do. We know we are not alone in the "Aging Parents" thing. Someday, our kids will have to go through the same thing with us. HA! Let's see, where did I put my reading glasses now?
After the fender bender, Mom didn't get out that much anymore. Ladybug and I would do her grocery shopping for her and that worked out well. Finally when she got another Insurance bill for the car, we sat down with her and figured out how much it was costing her every month just to have the car set there in her carport and she became convinced that it would be better for her economically to cancel the Insurance and sell the car.
OK, so, we did that. - For two years after that, everytime we saw her, Mom would say, "I sure miss my car." She was better off financially and had door to door delivery and chaufer service but STILL - she had lost one of those things that brings a real sense of independence to you and that is a hard pill to swallow.
This Blog is fairly new but in time perhaps other Bloggers will stumble across it and relate to it and may want to make a comment. We hope they do. We know we are not alone in the "Aging Parents" thing. Someday, our kids will have to go through the same thing with us. HA! Let's see, where did I put my reading glasses now?
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Independent
Mom has always been very independent. She lived alone for years in a mobile home court until the space rent got higher and higher and the neighborhood kept deteriorating. So we helped her sell her mobile and get moved into a SHAG apartment for seniors on low income. About that time we also sold her car for her but THAT is another story.
The move was more than three years ago and it took some adjustment but she is starting to feel settled in now about it although she still is not real social with the other tenants there. She has problems with dizziness and we got her a nice walker but she balks at using it. She also has COPD and is a smoker. She quit for abut 12 years but for some reason started back again and buys her cigarettes from a neighbor that gets them from the Indian reservation (so I hear). She didnt asked me to buy her cigs for her but one time she asked me to buy her a lighter and I said, "What you are asking me to do is to help you commit suicide." She has never asked me again.
Ladybug and I buy her groceries for her and deliver them weekly. She has problems with her check book so we just get a Store Gift card and buy them on that until it runs out and then we get another one. Mom pays us for the card. We ONLY use it for her groceries. I help her balance her bank statement when it comes.
The move was more than three years ago and it took some adjustment but she is starting to feel settled in now about it although she still is not real social with the other tenants there. She has problems with dizziness and we got her a nice walker but she balks at using it. She also has COPD and is a smoker. She quit for abut 12 years but for some reason started back again and buys her cigarettes from a neighbor that gets them from the Indian reservation (so I hear). She didnt asked me to buy her cigs for her but one time she asked me to buy her a lighter and I said, "What you are asking me to do is to help you commit suicide." She has never asked me again.
Ladybug and I buy her groceries for her and deliver them weekly. She has problems with her check book so we just get a Store Gift card and buy them on that until it runs out and then we get another one. Mom pays us for the card. We ONLY use it for her groceries. I help her balance her bank statement when it comes.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
First Post on Aging Parents Blog
Well, here we go. Yesterday was terrible. Today was pretty good. You never know from one day to the next what it will be but here lately it has been more bad days than good. Don't really know where to start but at least we are started. More to come.
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