Taking care of yourself while you care for someone with Alzheimer's disease

By Paula Spencer, Caring.com senior editor

Don't even think of skimming by this one. You really do need to come first on the priority list, not last. It's almost too easy to neglect your own needs when you're juggling caregiving, a job, a marriage, and children.

But just as with tending to a child, caring for a sick person can be depleting. If you fail to keep an eye on your own mental and physical health, you're vulnerable to everything from colds and other illnesses right up to burnout.

No one can keep up with the round-the-clock demands of Alzheimer's care -- even in the early stages -- without periodic relief. Indeed, caregiver burnout is a primary reason Alzheimer's patients enter nursing homes.

Make time for yourself every single day, even if it's just a 20-minute walk while a neighbor pays a visit. Don't abandon all your former interests and hobbies to support someone with Alzheimer's.

You don't have to eat the same food as him (especially if he's down to simple, easy-to-manage foods), but neither do you have to subsist on drive-through fare. Stock up on nutritious, easy-to-grab snacks if time is an issue.

Getting enough sleep is a special concern: To help yourself fall asleep, try incorporating some relaxation exercises or meditation into your nighttime routine. Some people benefit from yoga, tai chi, or deep breathing exercises. A good tension release is progressive muscle relaxation, a technique that calls for tightening and relaxing all of your major muscle groups, one by one.

Your wind-down can be as classic as a warm bath or a good book. Whatever your choice, make it routine -- at about the same time each evening, if you can -- to help your mind associate the activity with rest. Reorganize your bedroom so that it's a haven rather than a cluttered workspace.

Get a medical exam yourself, and be sure to tell your doctor about your situation. She may be able to give you some strategies to deal with stress and anxiety, and can help you identify signs of clinical depression and, if needed, treatment options.

To go to the entire article at: CARING(dot)COM click anywhere in the text.

From TIME Magazine Nov 15 2010

Click on the little fishies to enlarge the post.

FIND SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL TO NOTICE

Lisa Beamer recalled this story:

"I had a very special teacher in high school many years ago whose husband died suddenly of a heart attack. About a week after his death, she shared some of her insight with a classroom of students. As the late afternoon sunlight came streaming in through the classroom windows and the class was nearly over, she moved a few things aside on the edge of her desk and sat down there.

With a gentle look of reflection on her face, she paused and said, ' Class is over, I would like to share with all of you, a thought that is unrelated to class, but which I feel is very important. Each of us is put here on earth to learn, share, love, appreciate and give of ourselves. None of us knows when this fantastic experience will end. It can be taken away at any moment.

Perhaps this is God's way of telling us that we must make the most out of every single day. Her eyes, beginning to water, she went on, 'So I would like you all to make me a promise. From now on, on your way to school, or on your way home, find something beautiful to notice.

It doesn't have to be something you see, it could be a scent, perhaps of freshly baked bread wafting out of someone's house, or it could be the sound of the breeze slightly rustling the leaves in the trees, or the way the morning light catches one autumn leaf as it falls gently to the ground. Please look for these things, and cherish them. For, although it may sound trite to some, these things are the "stuff" of life. The little things we are put here on earth to enjoy. The things we often take for granted. The class was completely quiet.

We all picked up our books and filed out of the room silently. That afternoon, I noticed more things on my way home from school than I had that whole semester. Every once in a while, I think of that teacher and remember what an impression she made on all of us, and I try to appreciate all of those things that sometimes we all overlook.

Take notice of something special you see on your lunch hour today. Go barefoot. Or walk on the beach at sunset. Stop off on the way home tonight to get a double dip ice cream cone. For as we get older, it is not the things we did that we often regret, but the things we didn't do.

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

In GOD we trust ...

Were you contacted for this survey?

October 19, 2010

It was reported on the CBS Evening News tonight that 87% of Americans report they will have more than enough money from Social Security for the necessary basics once they retire.

My question is this:

1. Who are these people?

2. Why wasn't I called?

3. Were they ALL drinking?

4. What did the other 13% say?

5. And the most important question:

How did they choose between food, heat and medicine?

I can only afford one choice!

Thank God cat food is cheap and I'm a bit healthier than some!

How to Prevent Getting the Flu

Getting the flu is never fun. So follow these simple steps to ensure you stay healthy this year

This is a slide show of 8 photographs, showing eight ways to help prevent getting a flu.

Click on the first line to see the slide show

TO FLU SHOT OR NOT TO FLU SHOT

This web page certainly gives one side of the story

What You Should Know About This Year's Flu Shot And Other Essential Vaccination Information From the American Geriatrics Society's Foundation for Health in Aging

September 27th, 2010
This season's flu shot will protect you against three different flu viruses, including the 2009 H1N1 virus that caused the global pandemic--and resulting headlines--last year.

Click within this post (underlined portions) to open the story at The American Geriatrics Society.

attributed to Will Rodgers

ABOUT GROWING OLDER...

First ~ Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.

Second ~ The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.

Third ~ Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me; I want people to know 'why' I look this way. I've traveled a long way, and some of the roads weren't paved.

Fourth ~ When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of Algebra.

Fifth ~ You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.

Sixth ~ I don't know how I got over the hill without getting to the top.

Seventh ~ One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young.

Eighth ~ One must wait until evening to see how splendid the day has been.

Ninth ~ Being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.

Tenth ~ Long ago, when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today it's called golf.

And, finally ~ If you don't learn to laugh at trouble, you won't have anything to laugh at when you are old.

In God We Trust

Pretty cool read!

Protein linked to arthritis could help treat Alzheimer's

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Published Date: 23 August 2010

By Lyndsay Moss

Health Correspondent

A PROTEIN found in patients with arthritis could be used to reverse the mental decline suffered by people with Alzheimer's, new research suggests.

The scientists found that people with rheumatoid arthritis may be protected against dementia because of their condition. (snip)

The researchers from the University of South Florida looked at the effects of a protein known as GM-CSF in mice bred with Alzheimer's symptoms.

They found that the protein, which is released in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, was able to "completely reverse" cognitive impairment in the mice.

Click anywhere in the above paragraphs to see the complete article in "The Scotsman"

I'll have that extra pie please

I would never trade my amazing friends,
my wonderful life, my loving family for
less gray hair or a flatter belly.
As I've aged, I've become kinder
to myself, and less critical of
myself. I've become my own friend.
I don't chide myself for eating that
extra cookie, or for not making my bed,
or for buying that silly cement gecko
that I didn't need, but  looks so avante
garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat,
to be messy, to be extravagant. 

I have seen too many dear friends leave this
world too soon; before they understood the great
freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play
on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon?
I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes
of the 60 &70's, and if I, at the same time, wish
to weep over a lost love ... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched
over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with
abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from
the jet set.
    
They, too, will get old. I know I am sometimes forgetful.
But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten.
And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken.
How can your heart not  break when you lose a
loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when
somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken
hearts are what give us strength and understanding and
compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and
sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

    
I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my
hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be
forever  etched into deep grooves on my face.

So many have never laughed,and so many have died
before their hair could turn silver. 

As you get older, it is easier to be positive.
You care less about what other people think.

I don't question myself anymore..

I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old.
It has set me free. I like the person I have become.
I am not going to live forever, but while I am still
here, I will not waste time lamenting what could
have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall
eat dessert  every single day(if I feel like it).

                                          Author Unknown

           

I told a young man

I told a young man, “I know that IPODs exist, but that is about it.” I continued that it was a sign of my old age.
He asked me how old I was, “or can I ask that?”
I told him I didn’t mind and told him my age. He said, “That is not old. You are doing yourself a disservice to say you are old.” I told him that it depended on how you viewed age. “I am not ashamed of being old. Being old has its strengths and weaknesses. I do not know much about technical things, but I have strengths that you cannot even imagine.”
It is true. Age brings wisdom, delights, comforts, assurances, depth that youth cannot imagine. However, it might bring a few aches and pains, a little less energy, and a loss of flexibility. I may not understand the latest and greatest in the technical field, but I have not lost my ability to learn. So what are my weaknesses compared to my strengths? Nada, as I said before, I have strengths you cannot even imagine.
It is the aging bias that tries to keep older adults “in their place.” Don’t let it. Speak out!

Age is the great equalizer

On the same memory unit at your local nursing home you will find a caucasion man who was once quite wealthy but used up his money with private care to stay in his home, and then refined assisted living. He might be seated at the dining table next to another caucasion man who has been homeless for the last 40 years except when in and out of drug rehab programs. Also in the room is a black man who used to play dancing gigs over a five state area. There were some clubs where his band was not allowed to play, but he once played for the governor at the governor’s mansion. The fourth is a Hispanic gentleman who served his country in the military during the Korean War. At another table sits a woman who never missed a day of church before nursing home placement and even now does not a miss a chance to hear a good preaching. At her table sits a woman who once lived with her best friend, another woman. While both of them sold their bodies on the street, they found sincere love in each other’s arms. The third lady at the table is a retired school teacher. Each has seen good times and bad. Each eats the same pureed food and thickened juice. Their long term care is paid from different source, a pension, VA benefits, Social Security/Disability, all supplemented with Medicaid. Each has $60 spending money piling up to threaten their future Medicaid with the exception of the one who continues to smoke. They have forgotten their pride, they have forgotten their prejudices. They suffer in silence for the most part. From time to time you might catch a tear welling up as they remember the loved ones who have passed away or passed them on. Age plays no favorites.

Geriatric Education for all in Health Care

Geriatric medical care is similar to pediatric medical care in that the rules of thumb that work for the rest of population do not fit. The patient's issues are more complex and demand specialized understanding. When caring for my mother, steadily declining with Alzheimer’s and other issues common to aging, we met several instances of medical professionals who failed to get geriatric training. When her knee was in great pain, an orthopedist responded, “What do you expect at your age?” Then he told of his army days - how men with far worse pain walked through it. She felt defeated, shamed, and without hope for her joint issue. Then in her last days, when switching pain medications, her dosage was miscalculated and she was overdosed. Older patients commonly need lower dosages for similar effects. Hearing her symptoms, the on-call nurse told us to just give her more morphine for comfort. She recovered by withholding the morphine, working with her, then later starting it with a smaller dosage. Now I care for my father, who has another type of dementia. We visited a psychoneurologist who showed him his CAT scan and told him, "See, you have holes in your head; I will be talking to your daughter instead of you." The failure to provide dignity to this man was a failure of the system to provide geriatric training to its medical professionals. The elderly are quickly becoming a larger and larger percentage of the population. All medical professionals will increasingly have more patients in the older adult range. Please contact your representatives and ask them to make geriatric training a routine part of a medical professional’s education and required for continued certification.

Mother always said,

"Getting old is tedious." I agree, but there are some good points as well.