Mom said she was feeling better yesterday morning, but I could tell she's tired. She said BF's daughter got there in the morning and was going to be able to spend all day, so she was glad of that. I asked her (as I always do) if she took her morning pills. She says oh ya. Then I brought up refilling the pill box again for the next week. Then of course realized she hadn't taken her Sat am pills! Argh!! She has one pill she takes right when she gets up (before eating). Then the others later morning. I think maybe she is thinking I'm asking about that first pill, so I'm going to have to start to be more specific.
I told her I'd give her a call later and we could do the pill box, so I called her back at 1:30 her time and she seemed pretty good. She said she had gone down and eaten lunch. Then she cleaned up her table and desk. While trying to get her pill box filled up over the phone was still painful, it only took 35 minutes this time, rather than 55, LOL. She has like 4 different vitamins. I'm thinking of looking into a multivitamin that has these in it, so she just has one pill to take and put in her pill box, instead of 4!
Woke up this morning to a text, sent at midnight last night. From SB's wife. It was sent to me, DD, and SB. Said Pls let us know of any concerns about your mom and how we can help. and she signed it her and SB. Weird. But, maybe just their way of saying they now know I'm in charge and they are available to help, if needed. I just replied back. Thank you, We appreciate it.
When I talk to my mom and help with stuff, like talking her through filling pill box she is very appreciative and thanks me. I always try to be very sweet and patient, no matter what. She said yesterday that she's so glad I am ______(and then she forgot the word). I assumed she was probably going to say patient, but I didn't want to put words in her mouth, so I just let her try to figure out what she wanted to say. She still couldn't think of it, but said "well, BF gets so frustrated with me on things like this", so then I said "Patient". She said yes. I said I don' t mind at all taking the time to help her with whatever I can.
DD and I are looking online at what assisted living is available up near her. There are a couple close by that offer the different levels of care. I'll have them send me a brochure or info to look at. Just so we have a bit of homework done, in case we do decide to move her. But, I really think, once BF is gone and she can get into a normal routine she will be ok there. She said while at lunch she talked to some of the ladies about some upcoming activities and said "I need to start having some fun". LOL
It's a sad situation, the amount of dependency her BF has on her, which is preventing her form enjoying her days and years. I get people do tings for people they care about, but his family needs to realize she should be able to visit him, and not have any expectaitons of care.
ReplyDeleteYes exactly. She should just be able to go visit with him and not be expected to be a caretaker
DeleteMy daughter an RN does home care and among many of her duties she does med set ups weekly at several places. There are many new set up devices, some have alarms maybe even voice directives that will remind people for each med pass etc. ( they have a variable type of lock boxes for narcotics so people can't take early or overindulge! Each spot only unlocks at a certain day/time!.) most home care agencies take private pay and I would call and check with some near where your mom lives. It couldn't hurt just to see what they offer, price etc. or when you're there in a couple weeks check some out.
ReplyDeleteIf she can't seem to get on a routine and remembering to take, I was hoping maybe I could find some sort of service to help her. I do want to try the digital calendar/reminder and see if that helps.
DeleteIf I might make a suggestion, maybe, the next time you go to visit her, you can fill out four weekly pill boxes for her, label them Week 1, Week 2, etc., and keep them ready for her. Then, all you need to do is call her daily to remind her to take her pills and verify she's taking them from that week's pill box (maybe have different colored pill boxes?). Of course, this means someone will have to visit her, once a month - maybe you and your daughter can take turns?
ReplyDeletethats an idea. Would certainly work if we end up moving her near DD. The place I looked into near DD has assisted living help and medication reminders is one of them, so that would be what we need.
DeleteI guess "patient" is exactly the right word isn't it. I can't imagine trying to fill a pill box over the phone!
ReplyDeletehaha! she just jumps around too much! I try try to get her to focus on one medication at a time, fill in one pill per day. then move on to the next bottle. It starts out ok, then I realize she's not doing that.
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