Hearst Castle

My Mom has always wanted to travel to Hearst Castle but for some reason I never got around to it.  We were given the chance to go and I took about 10 days ago for only 2 days but the preparation for it was weeks in the making.  Making sure the car got all the maintenance it needed, routing our travel route making sure we had enough rest stops so she can go to the restroom, finding the right hotel not a motel and making sure we were near a hospital and letting our Safe Return know we would be traveling.  That didn't include making sure I had her pill boxes in order, the door alarm for the hotel door, making sure I had all of her clothes backed, cosmetics, etc...

My Mom did very well the first day, she was very excited and happy although she kept asking who was going to watch our dogs so I had to pull out my post it notes and write on them that my Sister would stay with them and put the post it note on the dashboard which help me drive.

She was in such a good, fun, silly mood on the first day (see bee picture below) but on the second day I could tell her anxiety was affecting her and she wasn't enjoying too much so we drove home after Hearst Castle. She was still enjoying it but she wanted to get home, I asked her if she enjoyed herself and replied yes and I asked where we were coming back from and she replied "Downtown LA"...  When she would forget where she was I can hide my feelings but I was so exhausted from not sleeping the night before because I was worried about her getting up and leaving the room even with the door alarm and the chairs behind the door I still kept waking up that when she told me she enjoyed her trip to Downtown LA I started to cry as I drove.  She saw me and started to say that she hated her brain that it doesn't let her remember and how bad she felt which made me feel worse for showing my emotions so we pulled over for dinner and I had a drink and waited for the traffic to clear up since it was rush hour.

I really enjoyed this time we spent and she loved Hearst Castle, seeing her eyes light-up I will always be grateful that the Alzheimer's Association helped made this trip happen for her.

Mother's Day

Every year as Mother's Day approaches I take a step back and think of those close to me who have lost their mothers in the past year and I give a special thanks that although my Mom is slipping away from me as her mind fades I am eternally grateful that I have her physically here on earth. Although she really never was the hug type of a mom who one who would say I love you I think I make it up by hugging her and constantly telling her I love her and hope and pray she will say those words back to me.   This disease might be making her forget us eventually I know I would hold everyday with her close to my heart 

Alzheimer's Advocacy trip to DC 2013

This past week, I was extremely fortunate to be part of 900 Alzheimer's Advocates who traveled from all over the country to DC to speak to our Congress Members and Senators on the impact of Alzheimer's has on the patients, loved ones and our Nation.  It was an experience that I feel any Caregiver out there should participate, although it might be very hard to be apart from the person who are taking care of, our Politicians need to hear our stories we are their Constituents after all.  Some might be more receptive than others and be willing to hear your story and others might just want the facts.

I was able to meet some amazing people with their own stories of Alzheimer's and how they managed to be a Caregiver and juggle life and knowing that I am not alone in this journey.  New friendships were made on this trip and listening to the amazing speakers we had and what they are doing for a world without Alzheimer's was inspirational.

I was also blessed to have met Glen Campbell and have a picture taken with him, I have loved his music ever since I was child and to have met him in person is a feeling I hold dear to my heart always.  To see this debilitating disease take a man I have only heard on the radio away from the talent he was given was hard to see and to realize that my Mom is not too far behind him in the stages of Alzheimer's made me extremely emotional and broke down in my hotel room wishing to be home to hold my Mom but knew she was in good hands with my Sister and Niece.

Below is a picture of part of our group who had the honor to meet with Congressman Dana Rohrabacher.

Finding the sense of humor in Alz

As my Mom and I were going to my Sister’s place to drop something off, she sometimes gets a bit nervous and thinks I’m going to be dropping her off and going somewhere without her even though we have only done that twice and it was for me to go be gone a couple of hours. So I always tell her the same funny story so she can laugh, I tell her about when my Niece’s friend bought a new car and went to show it off and as they were leaving he was backing up and he went over a speed bump and he thought he had run over someone or something. Mom always laughs really hard and says how silly he is. So that day was no different I told her the same story, we did what we needed to do and left, then I got a call from my Niece that I forgot something so we turned back around being just 5 minutes away and I told her the same story again as we are pulling in and she turns to me in a very upset tone of voice and says, “Just because I have memory loss doesn’t mean I forget things.” Yeah, that took me a little bit to get and I tried not to break out laughing thinking okay now that’s an oxy-moron. Of course I didn’t laugh since that would make her more upset, I just tried to remain serious and do what we needed to do.

I’ve been going back to this a lot thinking of what she must be feeling when I “try” to make things easier for her and at times maybe I’m doing more harm than good especially on those moments she is more lucid than other moments. Trying to do the best sometimes can backfire and I have to just swallow it and hope for the best next time.

Finding ways to eat

Eating is a more of a challenge everyday and finding imaginative ways for my Mom to eat is always welcomed.

My Niece Lexy has an incredible way with her Abuelita and use to be able to get her to do anything but lately it's been more difficult for the exception of today. She was able to get her up and dressed and at a local restaurant she played with her to get her to eat her food plus try some of the mushrooms from Lexy's plate and it was very playful and cute (see pictures attached)

The Washing Hair Dilemma

As my Mom's disease keeps progressing getting her to wash her hair has become more of a challenge and have been made aware that her hair is well...stinky so I've been wanting to purchase dry shampoo but as a Full time Caregiver funds can be limited so I was so excited to see on groupon.com this morning that they are offering two bottles for $9 so I took advantage of that. Below is the link if you are interested. I'm going to tell my Mom that it is a special lotion to make her hair grow thicker since she has fine hair and always wanted thicker hair, let's hope for the best.

http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-cortex-international-dry-shampoo?utm_campaign=UserReferral&utm_medium=email&utm_source=uu44505474