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Risky walking and ALF/MC
How do you balance your LO's desire to walk when it's risky, with the MC / ALF desire for them to always stay safe? Mom is in a wheelchair following a broken hip. She's done a lot of PT / Rehab but is usually only able to stand for a moment and transfer from wheelchair to bed, or wheelchair to toilet, or wheelchair to a…
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How to Start Part Time Help
Hello, My mother has (undiagnosed) Alzheimers and lives at home with my father. I live about 4 hours away and visit once a month, but my father has been dealing with the day today and it's beginning to be too much for one person. We think it's time to hire a part time companion/health aid. The problem is how to present…
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Holding back the tide
Just wanting to ask if there are any exercises for the brain, that can delay dementia. Anything positive you can do to hold back the tide? I feel my memory fading and just little things make me believe I’m in the very early stages. I’d like to do something to help myself, if there is anything one can do.
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Identification Docs for Late Stage Dementia/Alz
Hi! I'm hoping you can give me some good advice. My mom has advanced / late stage dementia / Alz, and, takes her purse everywhere (even in the house, to each room). At what stage do you take government IDs / credit cards out of wallet - and - what do you put in it's place? God forbid mom roams/gets lost, I'd like her to…
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Any idea for games?
In serious need of some new games for variety. My mother has significant short term memory loss so they have to be simple or explain game play continuously. Right now it's just dominos and gin rummy (needs constant reminders during game play for both). Have tried yahtzee, monopoly, life, skipbo, scrabble, five kings.…
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Uses for dry-erase whiteboards
I've read about how people use dry-erase boards in the forum. So it seems that you can use it to write whatever you want -- reminders, reassuring messages, etc. Any interesting ways that you can share here? For the PWD, I am going to use it as a reminder for meds, day of the week, etc. Incidentally, I suppose just…
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I Need Help - Early Dementia/Paranoia
Hello to all! I am currently the grandson of my nana who I am led to believe that she is getting the early or moderate stages of dementia. She lives alone at a senior living apartment complex. However, for the past year or so - she keeps claiming multiple things. From someone drilling into her apartment, People are after…
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Trying to figure out a full liquid diet
Hi again. I'm sorry I'm posting so much, recently, and not really contributing to answers. It's been an overwhelming week. In the past month, my LO (mom) has gone to a full liquid diet. She has a DNR and we cannot do a catheter or feeding tube, so I'm limited on options I can explore. Right now, she really likes the Boost…
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Broken arm
one of the residents in moms memory care has broken their arm. The swelling is really intense. They can’t cast it till the swelling goes down. She keeps forgetting her arm is broken and takes the brace off and it keeps swelling more. Her sweet family has tried all they know to keep the brace on. Cut sleeve over her arm, a…
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Colitis/explosive diarrhea/bidet brands
Hello, My Mom has Alzheimer’s and has colitis with explosive diarrhea. She is no longer able to wipe after a bowel movement and gets her hand in her depends and smears it everywhere. My Dad is trying to watch for signs of a bowel movement but it seems like she’ll feel like she needs to go and then bam, she doesn’t make it…
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Separating parents in AL
Anyone have experience with both parents being in AL but needing to be separated? My dad has CHF with stage 4 chronic kidney disease; he also has droopy eyelids and dry AMD that affect his vision and depth perception and cause hallucinations. Mom is late stage 5/early stage 6 dementia/Alzheimer's. She just returned from a…
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National Emergency Alert System Test October 04
May be upsetting to Loved Ones with dementia: ALERT: For those who are unaware, tomorrow, Wednesday, October 04, there will be a massive testing of the National Emergency Alert System on cell phones, radio stations and TV stations across the entire U.S. The cell phone sound should be rather loud or vibrating or both. See…
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Can't find previous discussion.
I'd posted about when to know to move somebody from one home to another....my LO is constantly being sent out to the hospital, and they don't want me to visit her or take her out for a while....says it agitates her when I leave. Is this reasonable? She was so sad the last time I saw her (in the hospital), how can I not…
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Can't figure out the site.
I posted a message, thought I saw that there were some responses but can't figure out how to see them. Cannot find a phone # for any assistance.
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Choosing a facility for memory care
I’ve been taking care of my mother for the past three years. Although I raised concerns to her various doctors about her cognitive problems since at least 2017, she was only diagnosed at the beginning of this year with mixed dementia (AD and VD). I am at a point where I will need to make a decision on placing her in a…
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Making changes to routines better sooner than later
I read in the forum that it's better to make some changes sooner than later, since a PWD can still adjust to it. Examples: use of a bidet, use of safety equipment, senior's telephone. Thus learn to use those before you're unable to learn. I was under the impression that a PWD can only/mostly recall things from many years…
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Good article about Alzheimer's & music - and a recent music experience I had with Peggy
I saw this article about music and Alzheimer's, which spoke to me, so I thought I'd share it along with some music news about Peggy. The article: Still there: Alzheimer's has ravaged his mother's memory, but music brings her back This is the same for Peggy. We were listening to Madonna in Peggy's room the other day, and I…
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Late Stage / Hospice
I'm looking for insights from anyone who has experience with hospice care, particularly for someone with Alzheimer's disease. My sweet 91-year-old father has recently experienced a significant decline. He has lost a considerable amount of weight because he has almost completely stopped eating (a couple of bites a day for…
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OT Musical break
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Nighttime sleep disruption
My DH with Alzheimers has recently been experiencing disruptive sleep. He will awake feeling quite anxious and restless, feeling like he can't get a breath. He will get up and wander around, turn on lights and then return to bed. No sooner does he lie down and the pattern repeats itself less than five minutes later. It…
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Bible Verse to Lift You Up 9/29/23
*Friends, As always, thank you for your comments. May God bless each one of you. Ronnie FAITH OR SINK Matthew 14:30-31 New King James Version But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him,…
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My mask fail at Peggy's memory care
I'm kicking myself for this one... I always wear a mask when I'm in memory care, for many reasons, and I try to keep them cheerful. Over the last year I've been wearing this mask: Candide. When my s.o. reordered, he accidentally got me one that looks like this: Chakra. It's a blue pattern and I didn't think anything of it.…
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SafetyNet - how to get them to wear it?
My DH, 78, Stage 5 going into Stage 6. He tried to leave the apartment the other night to use the bathroom. The VA gave us an alert button that has a clip for his belt but he won't wear it. Does anyone use SafetyNet? Our Sheriff's office uses it and it is a watch. Just don't think he will wear it either.
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Memory Aid
I'm new here. I have a wife diagnosed with Alzheimer's and a mentally-handicapped some now diagnosed with rapidly advancing dementia. This is due to his mental disabilities. He is going to a rehab center from the hospital and we want to put something electronic together for him to help with his loneliness, as well as…
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Started mirtazapine last night - issues falling asleep
UPDATE 9/30 - Good news!! The Geri Psychiatrist took him off the Mirtazapine after 2 bad nights. She said she will discuss it at his next visit 10/17. And more good news, he has had 3 good nights after he came off it. I added a CBD gummy at night and that seems to help. I added more light in the bathroom and left our…
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Venting, not sure how
I don’t know how all of you do this day in day out care giving. I am a patient as I can be, ( I a nurse for heaven’s sake!) I do all I can to help, fix the meals, so the laundry, pill box, dry erase board… on and on and on, yet he still acts like I am going out to a party when I go to work. Or when I work at home, he acts…
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Recommendations of Videos to watch
We are bracing ourself for a long haul ;) would love recommendations on Videos my family and I could watch to help us understand this incredibly destabilizing disease so far I watched a few videos from Teepa Snow , good but not very well filmed ..
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Donepezil withdrawal - anxiety/ADD?
Mom’s neurology NP is weaning her off of Donepezil due to the bowel issues it caused. Mom was extremely bothered by the bowel issues and the resulting clean up needs. Originally mom was on the 5mg level for several months and then raised to the 10 mg level a few months ago. The NP considered the 10 mg the therapeutic…
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Fall Prevention
It's Fall, and this is the time to review fall prevention tactics. This is valuable for all older adults, not just PWDs. Some hospitals or senior centers offer free or low cost balance evaluations and/or balance exercises. There are many sites on the internet to review fall prevention. A somber note: forty percent of hip…
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detailed question list to assess progression?
Sometime in the past, I did an interview as part of some research study and I was asked a series of really detailed questions about what my partner could and couldn't do for herself. The questions really got me thinking and now that some time has passed, I'd love to look at that list again and think about how the answers…