Its been quite an eventful week for mom. Along with her usual daily visits from Kristy, we have seen Cindy, the hospice nurse a few times a week, Danny the chaplain, and a couple check-ins from Deb the hospice volunteer. Oh and a pharmacist who is changing some meds around. We are discontinuing Namenda and Aricept, the meds that prevent alzheimer’s (spoiler alert they didn’t work) and adding buspirone for helping with agitation and anxiety. Lets just say hygiene is becoming increasingly more and more difficult for both Kristy and I. She is becoming more aggressive fighting showers, brushing teeth, and basic toileting. They offered another nurses aid to help with showers, and I originally said “no thanks, we had it covered”, but now I’m thinking one more set of hands is a good idea. Its so hard to be the bad guy, but cleaning prevents infections and bed sores, so its not debatable. I have to put on my nurse hat at times, leave the room, then come back in later with the daughter hat on when the dirty jobs all done.

She got a badly needed haircut on Friday and Thursday we got some CupBop takeout which surprisingly she ate some of (Note: a “2” spicy is spicy enough, I thought I was being cautious). Food is so hit or miss, yogurt and oatmeal and ice-cream are my usual sure things, but lately she is not even finishing off those. She is losing so much weight, its time for a new wardrobe. She can’t keep her pants from falling down.

In family news, the boys are still homeschooling and loving it. They take turns traveling and helping dad at the studios in Boise or Salt Lake City every week. We got a homeschool grant for school supplies which we spent on art supplies, drums for Jack, a new desk chair for Joe and two awesome PC laptops, for school work only of course 😉 . They spent yesterday taking them apart and upgrading the RAM. Thank goodness for YouTube tutorials. Joe is really into computers, components and eventually wants to make his own from scratch. Jack is still taking piano lessons and scouts. They both plan and make weekly dinners from scratch (mostly). They are taking Master Class Lessons along with their “Everything you Need to Ace…” curriculum and other math workbooks and such. Homeschool been a very pleasant experience as a family to grow closer and develop such strong relationships, not only under our own roof, but through daily contact with their siblings and cousins and friends online. There is a silver lining around Pandemic times.

I still enjoy tending to my chickens making sure they keep happy, fed and warm thought these bitter cold months, looking forward to spring and planting. I bought a tabletop seed sprouter with my christmas money to grow micro greens for us and the chickens, and help remind me Idaho January is temporary.

Published by KaGardn1

I'm trying to live the most meaningful and intentional life possible. Minimalist, Vegetarian, Fierce protector of a full night sleep, Mother, Wife, Daughter -caretaker, Sister, Friend, Nurse. Sharing day to day life with family and friends. A quest to minimize effects of Alzheimer's Disease. View all posts by KaGardn1