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!