Reliving the routine

I'm back in the weekend routine of getting up, doing a few things like laundry and dishes then driving to the nursing home to spend time with Jim.

I thought I was done with that in September when I brought him home.  I didn't want to think about a time when he might have to go back.  Didn't want to believe that we would be going through the same thing all over again.  I feel like he's slipping away and I can't stop it from happening. 

The new place is much nicer and the staff is very attentive an caring.  It's not as good as having him home but I feel he is being taken care of.  Tonight while we were sitting in the dining room waiting for dinner to arrive I was holding his right hand.  He has tremors in it and if I hold it sometimes it calms it a bit.  Anyway as he was holding my hand slowly he brought it up to his mouth and kissed it and then looked at me and smiled.  It was such a touching moment for me, I just wanted to grab him up, hold him and make him feel safe. 

I pray that the physical and occupational therapy he is receiving helps him enough to allow his return home.  Until then I will make the trek to see him so he knows I haven't given up on him.

Good night - - - Nancy

Two Steps Up, One Step Back

Why is it that just when you think everything is progressing, something happens to set you back?   I guess it's an unexplained phenomenon for many & certainly me for the past 10 years.

My husband's health has had it's ups and downs over the past few years, some days good, some not so much.   His health issues finally landed him in a nursing home in hopes to strengthen him to come home.  It was working fine and then one day came to a screeching hault, made a sharp turn and started it's decent down the hill, backwards! 

This incident caused the "team" to decide that for safety purposes, Jim would be better off staying in the nursing home.  So many miles of travel, days spent sitting bedside and piles of laundry filled our life.   After months of observation of others inhabiting the home, I felt that Jim's mental and physical health weren't in the same league as many there.  With his uphill progress in transfering and standing with a walker, I took him home and hired a caretaker to watch him daily while I worked. 

We had some good days and some not so good but all in all it seemed like all was going well.  I certainly knew this couldn't last forever and of course it didn't.  Jim again goes to the hospital for medical issues and is back in a nursing home rehab to get his strength back.  We're back at the bottom of the hill.  It's going to be another tough climb to get back up but I'm sure hoping we will do it!

nighty-night

Been Busy

Sorry fellow bloggers and followers, I have been off  standing watch at the hospital for my husband.  He had a rough week with 2 rides to the hospital emergency room.  Monday a seizure after dinner sent us to St. Joe's and after 8 hours, several tests and missing much needed sleep nothing was determined to be wrong and we were sent home.  Bringing him home at 4 in the AM on the coldest night of the year is another whole blog!

Thursday afternoon he was off again with symptoms of disorientation, inability to stand and fever and vomiting.   This time the same tests revealed a UTI.  Because of his history of ill health, they admitted him to treat the infection with antibiotics.  So I have spent my free time at the hospital so Jim didn't feel left alone. 

The first day was full of needle sticks, pills, blood pressure cuffs and thermometers.  That unfortunately was more tolerable than his roommate.  This guy argued everything the nurses said.  It was the wrong medicine, the wrong dosage, they were going to kill him and he just went on and on.  He was disrespectful, rude and obnoxious.  They would try to calm him down but he would go back to ranting.  He sighed, choked, coughed, gagged and even screamed.  They knew how disruptive it was and by the time I was leaving that night they had made arrangements to move him to another room.  Thank God!

Hopefully my big guy is getting better so he can come home real soon.

Ciao

Daddy's Home

Since getting our cat Anya 4 years ago (a beautiful Siberian Forest Cat), she has always been "my" cat. She would only sit with me, sleep with me and get her loving from me. Her only connection with Jim was the little taste of Yogurt they would share every evening while she sat on the arm of the chair.

 

Jim's favorite was always Archie from the day we brought him home from the rescue.  When Jim was in the nursing home I would take Archie to visit and he would sit on Jim's lap.  Of course he was the excitement for the day for all of the residents.

Now that Jim is home the fur babies are happy.  Since Jim is always cold and needs to have blankets covering him, the fur babies have a cozy place to nuzzle up for an afternoon snooze.  Even Anya gets on his lap for this.
 

Pets are a joy in life. They bring comfort when you need to be comforted and do silly things when you need to laugh.











Unconditional lovin'

Making the House a Home

My caretaking ideas are NOT just for the caretakee but just as much for me, the caretaker.

When the decision was made to bring my husband home I had to think about making the house livable for him and his needs. Whoa - Lets step back a bit.

I am 65 and have all the aches and pains that some 65 yr olds have along with a bad back because of osteoporosis. I have been unable to sleep flat for some time and have even spent some time in the recliner. So when my husband went into the nursing home, I tried out his hospital bed – yes the hospital bed ! I adjusted it to the comfort of my back and found that I slept pretty good.

Okay back to my story!

When preparing for Jim to come back home I had to make room for his necessities, wheel chair, walker, etc. I had a king size bed in our bedroom and the hospital bed. Jim often would comment about coming home and sleeping in his own bed and sleeping with me because that would help ME sleep better. Since he could not sleep in the King Bed (neither could I) I searched Craigs List and bought another hospital bed. Thanks to the strength of my son Dean and his girl Katie (hospital beds are extremely heavy) they helped me move the bed in, set it up while removing the king bed. I moved them next to each other and outfitted them the same and now my husband thinks we are sleeping together. He doesn't really know it's not our King bed. Sometimes we even hold hands before drifting off to sleep.

Caretaking my way- It's a 24/7

Being a caretaker is a physical & emotional challenge. There are times you think that your life outside of home is non-existent.

It's not a choice for everyone. It's a personal decision. It can be rewarding but has its challenges.

I have chosen to have my spouse at home and still work outside the home. It's a lot of hours, quite like having 2 jobs but less stressful than daily visits to a nursing home and seeing your spouse just existing.

I find that humor develops a better living arrangement. I make my spouse laugh with stupid jokes and singing. He, in rebuttal, uses his "unlost" humor to give me a snappy comeback. This gets me through the tougher times when all seems impossible.


There are secrets to my success (so far). One is strategically placing stabilizing bars in the house to help him pull up to standing position for changing him. Another is a collection of glasses with screw tops and straws so he can drink without spilling. I also have a "Thomas the Train" lap table. Don't laugh but it has compartments for a cup and napkin so he has everything at his fingertips. It is practical and saves on messes.

I find that every day I come up with new and unique items to assist me in my endeavor.

I love to tell stories so I'll leave you today with a recent situation. As I said I like to sing crazy songs or songs off key to make my husband laugh. I put him to bed the other night with my rendition of Judy Garlands "Over the Rainbow". The next morning when I was getting him up to dress him I asked if he had any musical requests for the day. His response was "How about something you know".

Go forth and show your love!