Caregiving For Dementia

I named this episode dementia violence because I wanted to put my feelings out about the violence that you may or may not experience with your caregiving of someone with a mental disease. I've heard a couple other caregiving podcasts and one of those podcast was on dementia violence and locking up knives in getting rid of guns and taking things to the extreme. So I thought I would put my opinion out there because what books smarts people tell you is not always what happens in the field. You see my podcast doesn't have a lot of book smarts this podcast has field smarts, which is to entirely different things. Hope you enjoy the episode dementia violence episode number 38.

We've talked about not decorating for Christmas because mom's dementia. But what we haven't talked about. Is that not decorating for Christmas, makes the house and makes the time feel like it's not Christmas time. When you don't decorate for Chr

In this episode of Care Giving for Dementia. We read Luke chapter 2, verses 1 through 20. This passages Scripture is the Christmas story. The birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.Which is the true meaning of Christmas. We also talk about a few things that the family will change this year for Christmas due to mom having This devastating disease called dementia.

This is Just an update to episode # 35.

Caregiving For Dementia EPISODE # 35 Not Being Able To do The Things You Know You Should Do. This week's show notes are going to be short and sweet to the point, ladies and gentlemen, you see, we've had a death in the family. Fortunately, it was not m

Caregiving for Dementia Episode 34 Interruptions This week on caregiving: I want to talk to you a little bit about things that don't get done. When, you take care of someone no matter what the reason. There's, always things that need to be done that don't always get done. Like housework! Whether that, be the dishes , the beds made, laundry, or any other need to do housework. Now, when mom was in good health, she would clean the house and work. Mama worked up until oh, I guess, 1997 and even when Mama worked, and was steel able keep the house clean. Now it wasn't spotless, but it was clean. Now that Mama is not as well, Stephanie is working all day long. I mean she doesn't come home until evening because of transportation. Michael is working 8 to 10 hours a day. So that only leaves mom and I hear in the house, and the dog. So there are things, that yes need to be done, but if I try starting to do something, whether that be the dishes, laundry or sweeping the floor or whatever. 9 times out of 10 Mama needs something, and most of the time it is at the worst time. It doesn't always have to be housework. Many times, I'm on the computer and mom need something. I'm in a shower and mom need something. Or any other thing that we're doing, we need to stop and take care of her, and because of that, there's a lot of things that get put off until they just can't be put off anymore. There are things that I'd like to do that I'm not doing because it would take a lot of time to configure and I'd get deep in thought and Mama would yell because she needed something. Sometimes, that something, is she just wants to know that somebody else's in the house with her, that happening more and more. A lot of the time, she'll wake up from a nap and she gets really scared because she thinks there's nobody else in the house. No matter how many times you tell her that she's never in the house alone, it doesn't seem to sink in. When you're the only one that is taking care of somebody else, whether that your children or your elderly parents and you know they're scared, you do everything you can for them with them at any time. It also affects you a little bit also because, for a while you're trying to figure out why their so scared. A lot of times they can't tell you, what, why there's a scared. Singer, left with the feeling of that was weird. And for a while, you are worried about what it is that there is a scared of. Mamas, is to the point now, where she's scared of her own shadow at times. Mama is seeing things that scare her. A lot of the times, the things that she sees are caused by her hallucinations due to dementia. I've thought a lot about maybe hiring someone to do some of the things that I've been putting off. There are some things that need to be fixed, that Yeah, I could fix, but I get to fixing and Mama would needs something. I thought about hiring somebody just to help with mom. Which we did for a while, but that got expensive. I'm not sure even if I was to hire someone to help take care of mom, I'm not sure Mama would let them. I know there's times when Michael and Stephanie, both take care mom and evening, and Mama wants me. Michael and I had discussion last night. Michael was telling me that when he takes care of his grandma. A lot of the times when she wants something, that something is me. I tried to telling Michael that I can't be there every time Mama wants me. I've got a have a little bit of time every day for myself. The more time that goes by the worst Mama gets the more Mama wants me. I tried to tell Michael that she wants me because I'm the one that's here 5 days a week, 12 hours a day. I tried to telling that he needs to work with his grandmother in times like that. I also told him, though I knew it wouldn't be easy because Mama is so used to having me with her that it's really hard for her to trust someone else. Because they're not with mom is much as I am. I think that mom has trash issues with them when they take care of her. I'm trying to do my best, to work them into the routine in the evening and weekends. So that mom builds that trust with Stephanie and Michael so that I don't have to be there as much. I really hope that mom will build that trust with Michael and Stephanie so that I can get a little bit of a break every day without happening to stay up past midnight just to have a little bit of time to myself. I don't mean for this to sound like I'm complaining I'm not. But these are the things that happen when you take care of someone no matter who it is. One of the reasons why are called this episode interruptions. It's because while I was doing this podcast I have gotten interrupted by the telephone, Mama need go to the bathroom, as well as needing something to eat for lunch. So to wrap all this up. This is just what happens as you take care of your elderly parents or whoever it may be, that your taking care of. Don't forget whatever you do, don't forget yourself you need to take care of yourself as well. Cause if you don't nobody will. So ask yourself this question. If you don't take care yourself who's going to take care of the one that your taking care of? Stay tuned for next week's episode as we discuss what were doing and what where not doing for the holidays due to the dementia. Also a couple months from now I will be celebrating one year of podcasting. I'd like to have a little bit your input as to how we do that. If you'll go to www.babymountainradio.com and leave us a comment as to how we should celebrate our one year in podcasting. I would appreciate it so very much. Thanks again for listening to Caregiving for Dementia.

this week on: Caregiving for Dementia. I have a lot of trouble trying to tell mom about trouble the other family members are having. You see any time that one of us has a medical condition or someone has died, whether it be a family member or a friend of

Thanksgiving Day Dinner episode # 32 In this episode we talk about the Thanksgiving dinner family members, including the dogs for both families. All 3 grandkids helping to prepare dinner, Including a 1st time turkey carving.

Proudly Terrorized Part # 3

Michael Junior is Terrorizing Us: One of the reasons why I named this series of 3 episodes Proudly Terrorized, is because about 6 months ago, Michael come to his mother and I and told us that there was some kind of a concert going on at the end of October, out in Las Vegas, that he wanted to go to . Now, for normal parents that would probably be a big deal to let their kid go from one end of the country to the other, but for us, we were okay with it, because back in 2011 we got a letter from the people to people student ambassador programs. Now how we got this letter, we don't know, how ,who what, where ,when yada yada yada. We have no idea, but make a long story short, Michael was invited to go overseas to France, England, and Rome. I believe he was about 14 at the time , 13, 14, in that range, so we decided to go ahead and let him go. We did all kind of checks and all kinds of protections and everything that we could do and all that,but the problem was with that trip itself. You see his mother and I had just seen the movie Taken. Now if you haven't seen any of the movies Taken. These movies are about people that go overseas and get kidnapped and that kind of thing, the wrong kind of movie to go see at the movies the evening or 2 before your child goes overseas. So that was a little bitt of time that was terrorizing for his mother and I being the daddy that I am. But we had mom at this time that we could talk to. She was a good comfort to both of us. In fact, she even Helped him go, and we had all kinds of things in place to where we knew where he was at certain times of the day, Which made us feel a little better about letting go, not just across the country, but overseas. Remember now, the boy is only 13, 14 years old. He's not a child, he's not a baby, but yet he's not an adult, either, so he comes back, everything's fine and dandy. He graduates from high school, which is another terrorizing moment in life because it makes you realize that your child is no longer a child that needs his mommy and daddy all the time, now he's not fully grown, but old enough to step out on his own, just a bit. All this is leading up to the fact that Michael Junior is no longer a child. He's a now young adult, yet he still needs mommy and daddy at times, but he's no longer depending on us for every move he makes. Now this week in the country, We've had this mass shooting out in Las Vegas. There's some kind of a concert at the end of the month that Michael wants to go to in his head made plans to go to for about 3 months at least in the same location. This is very terrorizing for his mother and I number 1 because these are only child number 2 because of the shooting. That was just out there. I mean, this guy killed 59 people and injured 500 people over 500 people, I believe. So I have tried my best to talk Michael out of going without coming plane out telling him that he can't go, I told him he shouldn't go, but I have not asking not to go and I won't asking not to go. He's he's 21 he's got to make his own life decisions whether or not they may or may not put them in arms way. I I'm really proud of in because he does have a heck of a head on the shoulders for being 21. Maybe I'm just being the over protective parent that needs to keep quiet and and letting do what he wants to do. I mean eventually he got a turn things like this over to God and let God take care of a. After all, he is 21, you can't make every decision for him. And I think one of the frightening things about this one is is that mom is not here mentally to talk to about it and to give us that mental support that she give us when he went overseas. She can't carry on a conversation, let alone give us any kind of advice about letting go across the country, like she did when he went overseas. Naturally still in the country. He sees closer than what he was when he was 13, 14, but he's older tell and we just need to be…… There if and when he needs us. I want my mommy to talk to about to give me that comfort that she give us when he went overseas, but unfortunately dementia has got are locked in this little world over own. I know she's in there somewhere, because we get glimpses of her, but she's not there 24 / 7, 365, the way she was when he went overseas. These are the kind times that I really miss mom. I guess that due to dementia, this is how I'm going to go through the rest of my life. Not being able to talk to her in situations like this to give me that comfort to give me that backbone that I need to let him grow up in the way that I know he will. I mean Stephanie and I've done a great job. I think with raising Michael with mom's help. He's turned out to be a great young man. When he was little, I thought maybe he'd be the world's next Elvis Presley. But now that he's 21 has no interest in preforming music, that wish in mind as changed. Although my hopes of him, become an Elvis have changed. I do believe that no matter what he does in life with the attitude that he's got today he will do something great in this world. I have had some great conversations with him, on politics, and religion, and now then, with the shooting in Las Vegas and he's left me with the impression that he's got a good head on his shoulders and I need to trust in his decisions that affect his life. So with all that said, the only thing I can say to him, and about him, is that daddy is very, very proud of him. I'm also terrorizing myself by doing this podcast. I have 27 episodes out. This is number 28 and one of the things that is terrorizing is the fact that you put yourself out for all to see for all to hear what and how you react to things. I started this to keep track of mom and her dementia. The process of dementia and for a while I was calling the show the dementia episode this episode that one of the things that you learn when you do podcasting. If is to talk to other pod casters who had been doing it longer and take their advice and what they tell you and all this and either apply it or not, and what the podcast that I listen to. I have ran on to what's called The Podcasters Roundtable.( @ Www.Podcastersroundtable.com ) with Ray Ortega, Dave Jackson from WWW.school podcasting.com and Daniel J Lewis from www. the audacity to podcast.com. I can't get enough of this podcast I am learning so much from this podcast. That's amazing. I not only just have one pod casters that I listen to, but now with the podcast Roundtable. There are 3 of the meta-time , plus a new one and can listen to the 3 that have done this for years and the new one that they bring on you learn so much about podcasting. The equipment what to do, how to do how to monetize how to make money, how not to make money where to host your feet what where not to so I mean that they're going through everything and these 3 podcast is a been podcasting for years. Can you imagine if you were singer were in a rock band just starting out, sitting down in a room with Elvis Presley, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and then giving you advice on how to sing, how to perform. I couldn't. Well, okay, I think that's probably about enough of being terrorizing. So if you are looking for other podcasts to listen to the 3 that I've mentioned in this podcast are great podcasts. I have learned a lot just listen to the 3 of them on the pod casters Roundtable. If you get a chance check them out. I think you enjoy your podcast. And speaking of enjoying podcast. If you enjoy this podcast, please leave me a comment, an email, on www.baby mountain radio.com