A little over six weeks ago we moved my mom in under Hospice with Adult Failure To Thrive. An apparent stroke had left her speech slurred and weakness on her left side. Somebody failed to tell the Queen this as in the last week I have found her laying on the bedroom floor twice, hanging on to the edge of the mattress this afternoon by a thread, and trying to climb out of her easy chair on numerous occassions. We have tried bells on the rails, monitors, and elevating the feet to make it difficult for her to scoot out of the bed. I have monitors in the bedroom and den area but she is a quiet escape artist and never makes a sound. When I found her this afternoon hanging on to the mattress she was as quiet as a church mouse. I am really concerned that if she keeps this up one day she is going to fall and really hurt herself.
So we have gone from sleeping 20 out of 24 hours in the day to trying to get up on her own several times a day. I don't want to sedate her and I will not restrain her to the bed or chair, but I do fear for her safety. Any thoughts, comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Paka!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Interesting Recipe
Although I try hard to be positive and upbeat sometimes you just feel like you need to throw in the towel and bake a cake. Ron left on Thursday for India, and that alone is enough to make me head for the chocolate. My sister came up over the weekend to help with Mother and we decided to try a new recipe. Thanks to Janelle who sent this awesome recipe we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night! In times past I would tackle this with our kids, but now its with the Queen who could not believe we were going to cook a cake in the microwave. Yep, the Queen had cake tonight even though she did not eat her dinner, and I agree with Tamara that at 96 you eat what you want when you want it!
5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug
Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts (high).
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).
You need a really large coffee cup for this. It was quick and something fun to do with the Queen.
Have a good week!
Paka!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Pets in Heaven
It has been a couple of tough days in the Warren household, but I have to say we are so proud of our daughter. When we arrived in Memphis Ashley was outside with Murphie, and we were all happy to see him stand to welcome us to Memphis. After a brief greeting Murphie collapsed and watched the other dogs playing. It was decided that Murphie's time would be after work on Monday, and we would take him out of the kennel for a ride and visit to the park. The vet's Ashley is working with in Memphis were so kind to us as they came outside and let Murphie be surrounded with loved ones, fresh air, birds singing, and sunshine as he drew his final breath. It was so hard to see a family pet of 11 years end like that, and to not be able to stop the pain for Ashley. Ron and I are incredibly proud of the woman Ashley has grown into and know that she will be an awesome vet full of compassion for all animals great and small.
Do you think that we will have pets in Heaven? I once heard a sermon on this where the pastor gave all the Biblical references to animals from the Bible and promised to give his opinion the next week. Unfortunately, we were not able to be there that week so I did not get to hear his conclusion. I believe that there will be pets in Heaven and today Murphie probably went fishing with my Dad!
We returned to Alabama and excitement with Mother this afternoon. Yesterday we bought a yellow magnolia tree as a memory tree for our yellow lab, and was planting it while we thought Mother was asleep. We had been outside less then 30 minutes when I went in to check on her and found her sitting on the floor with her back against the bed. How she managed to get out of bed is anybody's guess, but thankfully she was not hurt. You have to love the logic of a 96 year old when asked if she was going to try that again her reply was "I don't remember doing it the first time I might try it again!" Mind you this was after her telling me there was no need to put the bed rails up as now she could get out the bottom. And the beat goes on........
Do you think that we will have pets in Heaven? I once heard a sermon on this where the pastor gave all the Biblical references to animals from the Bible and promised to give his opinion the next week. Unfortunately, we were not able to be there that week so I did not get to hear his conclusion. I believe that there will be pets in Heaven and today Murphie probably went fishing with my Dad!
We returned to Alabama and excitement with Mother this afternoon. Yesterday we bought a yellow magnolia tree as a memory tree for our yellow lab, and was planting it while we thought Mother was asleep. We had been outside less then 30 minutes when I went in to check on her and found her sitting on the floor with her back against the bed. How she managed to get out of bed is anybody's guess, but thankfully she was not hurt. You have to love the logic of a 96 year old when asked if she was going to try that again her reply was "I don't remember doing it the first time I might try it again!" Mind you this was after her telling me there was no need to put the bed rails up as now she could get out the bottom. And the beat goes on........
Saturday, March 14, 2009
A Bittersweet Experience
The Hospice volunteer sitter was here today and she had taken care of her Mom for nine years. She recommended that I keep a journal of this experience. Mother has been living with us for almost five weeks now. It is a real bittersweet time. We were blessed this week with wonderful weather, and Ron was able to put Mother in the golf cart for a ride around the yard to look at the flowers.
Last night my sister and I were taking care of Mother and she had us laughing so hard that I was crying. These are precious moments that if she were not here I would have missed a real blessing.
Recently I was asked how I could lift Mother from the wheelchair to the bed without hurting myself. Truthfully it is just something that you do. Caring for a loved one under Hospice is hard work and a real commitment but also a privilege.
As the primary caregiver of a terminally ill patient I thought I would share a few points for consideration if you know anyone under Hospice care.
If you visit someone that is under Hospice and say "Call me if there is anything I can do for you" I can almost promise you that you will never be called. I have heard that several times, and tonight was the first time I broke down and asked for help. We got a call late tonight from Ashley saying that it is time to put her eleven and one half year old dog down. Ashley will be a vet in less then two months and we all knew this was coming, but Murphie is her baby, and she is our baby, so we will leave Mother tomorrow with my sister while we travel to be with Ashley during this time.
Now if someone tells me "I have a couple of hours available on Tuesday, and would like to sit with your Mom while you take a break" my heart would just melt.
The other thing is if you know someone that is homebound/terminal try to visit them early in their illness. The last few days my dad was really sick there was a constant flow of people in and out of the house. At that point the visits were for the family and not the patient.
I thank God for a wonderful hubby that has agreed to this, family I can call on for help, and for the opportunity to share this time with my Mom. Hang on Ashley we will be there soon.
Last night my sister and I were taking care of Mother and she had us laughing so hard that I was crying. These are precious moments that if she were not here I would have missed a real blessing.
Recently I was asked how I could lift Mother from the wheelchair to the bed without hurting myself. Truthfully it is just something that you do. Caring for a loved one under Hospice is hard work and a real commitment but also a privilege.
As the primary caregiver of a terminally ill patient I thought I would share a few points for consideration if you know anyone under Hospice care.
If you visit someone that is under Hospice and say "Call me if there is anything I can do for you" I can almost promise you that you will never be called. I have heard that several times, and tonight was the first time I broke down and asked for help. We got a call late tonight from Ashley saying that it is time to put her eleven and one half year old dog down. Ashley will be a vet in less then two months and we all knew this was coming, but Murphie is her baby, and she is our baby, so we will leave Mother tomorrow with my sister while we travel to be with Ashley during this time.
Now if someone tells me "I have a couple of hours available on Tuesday, and would like to sit with your Mom while you take a break" my heart would just melt.
The other thing is if you know someone that is homebound/terminal try to visit them early in their illness. The last few days my dad was really sick there was a constant flow of people in and out of the house. At that point the visits were for the family and not the patient.
I thank God for a wonderful hubby that has agreed to this, family I can call on for help, and for the opportunity to share this time with my Mom. Hang on Ashley we will be there soon.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Snowing in Bama
This post is dedicated to all our wonderful snow days in Moscow! We woke up this morning to snow and had to get outside for some pictures. As you can imagine snow in Alabama is not very common.
First video I have ever placed on a blog. I have come a long way since first getting introduced to blogging by Rob and Dede. Tee hee!
The weather forecast last night was for snow here in Alabama, but I did not believe it since we were in the mid - 60's most of the day on Saturday. I woke up a bit after 7, and sure enough we had snow. We bundled the Queen up with tons of blankets and took her outside for a few minutes to see the snow.
I was afraid I would never get to wear my Moscow coat here in Alabama. So what, if it's with PJ'S underneath:) it was 7am in the morning.
The snow today has reminded us of all the great memories we had in Moscow from Sergey Posad to slushing through the mush at the outdoor market. Russia will always hold a special place in our hearts!
Paka
First video I have ever placed on a blog. I have come a long way since first getting introduced to blogging by Rob and Dede. Tee hee!
The weather forecast last night was for snow here in Alabama, but I did not believe it since we were in the mid - 60's most of the day on Saturday. I woke up a bit after 7, and sure enough we had snow. We bundled the Queen up with tons of blankets and took her outside for a few minutes to see the snow.
I was afraid I would never get to wear my Moscow coat here in Alabama. So what, if it's with PJ'S underneath:) it was 7am in the morning.
The snow today has reminded us of all the great memories we had in Moscow from Sergey Posad to slushing through the mush at the outdoor market. Russia will always hold a special place in our hearts!
Paka
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