When Friends and Family Visit Aging Seniors

July 2010 has brought quite a large number of guests to our home for various reasons, making my father a very happy man. He loves having people stop by and enjoys the hours of conversation that provides.

Just this month alone we had visits from:

1. My brother and his family came to visit over the 4th of July from southwestern Illinois. Also joining us was my niece from Indianapolis.
2. My cousin who lives in North Carolina stopped to visit on his way from visiting a relative in Wisconsin.
3. My daughter and grandson from Texas, and my other daughter from SE Michigan stopped by while here for a funeral on the former in laws side of the family.
4. My sister is now here from Utah as of yesterday.
5. Life long friends from the mid-Michigan area stopped by Friday to see how Dad was doing, and to watch a DVD that my brother put together of old videos my Dad had recorded.

That was just in July alone! Very unusual that we get that many visitors, but it has been fun to see everyone. At our age, you never know when you will ever see anyone again.

What I most noticed, however, is that no matter how much we enjoy the company it seems to pass all to swiftly. Suddenly the house is empty again and we just have snippets of conversations and certain memories of those who were here. It really is difficult living so far from one another that we are unable to visit any more than we do. And, the visits are all too short.

The month is running out so I don't know if we will have anyone else this July, but it has really been a pleasure to see everyone in person. A number of us get together on Facebook, email, cell phones, and text messages, but it is never the same as seeing someone in person.

Hugs are great - we love our hugs. We also enjoy just sitting around talking and sharing memories from the past. All in all, it's been a great summer and we will remember when friends and family visited these aging seniors.

Let's Look Together Book Review

Check out the book review of Let's Look Together: An Interactive Picture Book for People with Alzheimer's and Other Forms of Memory Loss by clicking on the above title. Long title, slim picture book, great value. This wonderful book was written by Rae-Lynn Cebul Ziegler, a licensed occupational therapist certified in sensory integration.

Mrs. Ziegler first conceived the idea of sharing photographs with memory-impaired individuals when her mother was struggling with Alzheimer's. She later created this book of instruction and photos, and is using it with good success. The pages are glossy for better viewing, the photos are mostly pastels with bright colors, and every picture is alone on the page. There are no words, and only one picture is placed on the right-hand page so that there is little distraction.

The 58-page book is filled with information on how to interact with a loved one who is suffering from memory loss. I highly recommend getting this book if you are a caregiver or loved one of someone who is struggling with Alzheimer's or any other form of memory loss.

I would like to thank HealthProPress for providing a comlimentary copy of this book for review. If you would like to purchase Let's Look Together, it is available at Amazon.com.

Dad and I in 2010

Time for another update, don't you think? In the last post, I related how Dad took a header down the basement stairs at my aunt's 80th birthday party. Well, it took a while, but Dad seems to have finally recovered. Several wonderful nurses and therapists from Sparrow Home Health Care out of Lansing, Michigan worked diligently to get Dad back into fighting shape. Due to a number of complications, they were not able to sign off until just a couple of weeks ago.

On the move

Dad and I moved out of his long-time home in late December 2009. We now live in a wonderful apartment just seven miles away, and are enjoying living on the outskirts of Lansing.

We are able to walk together most days when we go to the mailbox about a half block away by the shortest route, although we try to stretch the walk out when it is nice. Dad uses a cane whenever he is outside, but seems to enjoy the walks. We usually get in a block or two before he tires out. At eight-seven, I think he is doing pretty well.

Peace is good

We both feel at peace here, and that is very important to us. Although we don't really know what is coming up ahead, we do know that life has blessed us both.

Take care, and hope to have you visit either this blog, or the main site at http://www.eldercarecafe.net/.

Family Update - All is Well

Apparently I haven't posted since Dad's traumatic header down a flight of stairs on August 8th. He and my daughter were attending a birthday party for a long-time friend of Dad's. The party was held in their church basement. As Dad and Deb were leaving, they climbed a flight of stairs and Deb told Dad to wait and she would grab their jackets. While he was waiting, he apparently became dizzy and took a dive down about eight steps, face forward and head down, coming to a stop on the landing.

To make a long story much shorter, he spent three days in ICU and ten days at a rehab center. He has had home health care since that time, mostly due to a large wound on his leg that is slow in healing. He is diabetic and healing this wound is a major consideration. Thankfully, the wound care people are taking good care of him.

David's Visit

The second major event this fall was the visit by my other daughter, Barb, and her son David. You will see his picture in the previous post. They stayed for approximately two weeks, and were missed before they even left the driveway. Texas is a long way from Michigan, and we have no idea when we will see them again. Thank God for cell phones with the ability to send pictures and short videos. We are able to keep up to date on David's growth and his activities.

Dad's 87th Birthday
The third event this fall was Dad's birthday on October 18th. He turned eight-seven-years-old (87). What a milestone. His sister turned 92 on the same dad. We didn't do anything really special, just had a quiet day of football and special dinner, but he did receive numerous birthday cards and phone calls throughout the weekend.

If you haven't had the chance as yet, stop over at the Elder Care Cafe.net and check out what is happening. We are up to 266 posts at this time and still going strong. Lot's of changes there recently in the look of the site, but the same intent - to support caregivers and the elderly - is still of utmost priority. We celebrated our 1st birthday in early August. We had a birthday cake, balloons, and of course Beyer's sugar free pecan ice cream.

Just a quick update. Hope you get a chance to visit us somewhere on the web. We are still here although we don't post as often anymore.

Let us know what is going on in your life. We would love to hear from you and how you are doing with your care giving. Take care and hope to hear from you soon.

September Will Bring a Family Visitor to Our Home

We are all atwitter here since we learned our grandson/great-grandson will visit us in September. Now two-years-and-four-months-old, David is growing fast. We have received quite a number of photos via cell phone, well over a hundred at last count.

About twenty short videos also allow us to watch him as he grows. He is becoming quite a young boy.

Long distant grand parenting is difficult when we see such wonderful changes taking place. I would love to be with him in person, but I am thankful that modern technology allows us to stay in touch pretty much in real time.

I have a picture that I framed of David and his Dad soon after they left a local restaurant one evening. The cool thing about the picture is that while they were in the restaurant I received two videos showing David and his family while they were eating.

Now when I look at the picture, I can remember, or watch once again, how he behaved while eating. Almost like being there in real time.

We haven't yet tried Skype, although I think being able to see and talk to him via that type of resource would be a great addition to our photo and video arsenal to keep Grandma and David in touch with one another.

I know that I am where I am supposed to be as far as caregiver to my father, but I certainly miss the physical closeness, i.e. hugs and kisses, I could have with my grandson. Thankfully modern technology helps us stay in touch.

Shoppe Opened, Shoppe Closed

Unfortunately, the Shoppe at Elder Care Cafe has closed. Sometimes what we would like does not materialize as we envisioned. I will continue to write reviews as appropriate and relevant books or movies become available, but the shoppe for browsing will no longer exist.

Life seems to be a series of experiments. As we try various opportunities, we learn what works and what does not. Hopefully, I will always continue to look forward, and be willing to try new territory. No matter how old I become, or where I live, or what happens in the future, I hope that I continue to grow, move forward, and try new things.

How about you? Are you settled in where you are, or are you willing to experiment, reaching out into the unknown, and try something new?

You're Planning On Living How Long?

About six months ago, my dad was scheduled for a four hour session related to his heart condition. The cardiologist was running a one hour test and a three hour test. Dad adamantly declared he did not want to go through the test again. After talking to my siblings, we decided to let him make his own decision and therefore he did not have the test.

Last month we got a letter from the cardiologist who had rescheduled the test for Friday, April 3. Although Dad really did not want to go through the ordeal, he said, "Well, if I'm going to live to be a hundred, I guess I might as well stay healthy."

We arrived at the office about 8:45 a.m. and left a little after 1:00 p.m. with Dad looking pale and weary and declaring, "I'm never having that test again!"

After a quick very late lunch at a nearby Arby's, he felt much better. Friends of his, the wife is a distant relative, had accompanied us to the appointment and we thoroughly enjoyed our lunch and the drive to and from the doctors office. I think their presence made the whole event a little easier for Dad.

But, I bet we have a little different response from him the next time the cardiologist tries to book an appointment. What do you think?