Grossed out and need to vent—I just caught Mom using my toothbrush to comb her hair!

Yes, mom is still pretty wound up. She was pretty good this morning and afternoon, but by about 5pm she was very disoriented and had no clue where she was. She got mad at me at dinner and wouldn't let me help her get her food to her mouth. When she gets these stubborn streaks I just take a deep breath and hope they pass soon. She told me she had to go to the bathroom and by the time I got her from the living room to the bathroom she wanted to know why I took her to the bathroom. After she tried to kill my back I eventually got her to sit on the toilet. Then the rebellion started. She didn't want help to get up, or to use her walker and didn't want to go back to her recliner. Anyway, I managed to get her seated again. I'm sitting in my recliner next too her and she starts throwing wooden coasters at me. Why I have no idea. At the moment she is subdued but has no clue who I am. Cat, the hospice nurse was here to see mom this afternoon. They visit twice a week. The real help I am getting is more the medication than anything else right now. Everything the doctors have tried to help with her behavior either knocks her out completey or makes her lose her mind even worse than usual. Just not sure what to do anymore. Hell, I may stop giving her the ativan and take it myself :) (don't worry, I won't). Well I'm glad others got gift cards too. I will have to take a look and see what I can get with mine.
Have a good night everyone and I'll check in tomorrow with mom's latest adventures.

Love ya,
Diane

Bobbie: I read an article on the NY Times this morning. It's title is "In Girl's Last Hope, Altered Immune cells beat Leukemia." You can find it in the health section on line. This evening, I listened to CNN and Anderson Cooper reported on this child and the amazing results. There was no hope for her before this treatment and has been cancer free for 7 months. On the broadcast with Anderson Cooper was Sanja Gupta (sp). He said that they are also having amazing results in Texas at MD Anderson (I believe) using a similar treatment on stage 4 melanoma patients. Might be worth checking into.

I don't know what my problem is, but I am out of energy. Feeling really lethargic and almost in the black hole. My husband is really tired too. He slept most of the day today. He was feeling cold and achy. Same for me, but a little bit of vertigo with it; plus just sad. I know it will pass.

Deef, sorry about your tooth and hope you get it repaired soon. That just sucks.

Diane: There has to be something to calm your mom down. How long do you have to wait for approval from Hospice?

Mame: I wish I could do a post as nice is yours, naming everyone, but I didn't take notes, so next time.

Jen: Here's hoping.

Hope the night mares stop for those who are suffering. Maybe it's the holidays.

Love you guys.

Cat

Mine was for $15. I was thrilled. Had things in my Amazon basket when I got the AC email, so I used it.
"lil gals"... I just burped up my salad. Jeez, Jen.
Mame - you are so good at making sure that you address everyone. I love your comments and look forward to seeing your nod to me. Sweet.
Catwoman, its good to see you back. I've missed your sorry ass. :) (That's for calling me a knitwit.) Great name, Austin. Did you come up with that?
Bobbie, did the humidity ever fall? Strange concept for a desert dweller.
Stormy, how was the hooligan today?
Diane, mom any easier today? She's been pretty fired up.
Where's Deef and her missing tooth?
Lisa, you got everything wrapped? I just bought a few stocking stuffers and ordered a purse and some make up for my daughter. The guys all want firearms. No kidding. I hate guns.My husband can deal with it. My oldest boy has some guns and they've all been going to the range when my husband is in town. They have a blast (pun intended). Gives me the creeps. Still have so much shopping to do. Got to get a tree too. Ugh. I hope everyone is more organized than me.

Never check for anything but grossed so I probably deleted it.

He is terrified of dying that's what he has left....or doesn't want to miss any new pics of them "lil gals" he likes ogling.

How very nice of AC. Very nice.

I got one too, however, mine is for $25.00. Go figure. Could have been a lump of coal. Maybe when I go to use it....hmmm; maybe its a set up. Hahaha

I got one! Just used it too. Thanks, AC!

I got one too! Is it legit? Mame

Has anyone else received an email saying Aging Care has sent you a $10 gift card from Amazon.com?

Hey ya'll say a prayer that Connor done ok in school today. I told him that we would do some fun stuff if he was good. I hate gettting on him. But he has got to listen to his teachers. Gotta go dad is waking up. love and hugs stormy.

Hi All! Catching up wasn’t so bad this time! I hate to write anything without reading everything!
Yes, I am psyched for Boat Time!!! And Bobbie-sounds like it is going to be beautiful! Love the color choices! Deef-I will have to be bottle washer-cause that is all I am good for in the kitchen! Hope everyone can get “boat time” and maybe we can all come at the same time and PARTY!!
Austin-I would love to get together when you come up this way! Let me know! Glad the party was fun! Hope you can get some to join your Knitwits! Love that name!
Cuz-Caught me with the F***ing jokie! I always think dirty when I read jokes…oh who am I kidding-all the time! Funny thing, mom does too and we get laughing sooooo hard! It is inherited! Loved the Grandpa shopping joke too-will definitely share!!
Book-Great advice on pumping gas safely! I too went on Snopes to see what they say and they say parts of this are true and parts false. Static is definitely a problem at the pump according to them-so we should all be cautious! Have the Myth Busters done this one??? I only believe them! Haha But I do feel we must get the word out to be cautious!! Thanks!
Lildeb-mom is on 10mg of prednisone forever…it is amazing how it helps. We have tried to go off it but her lung problems won’t let her… When she has pneumonia or something and they up the dose-and she is usually on antibiotics, she gets soooo loopy…I just assumed it is cause she is sick-but maybe it is the steroid! Who knew?! Love that you see specialists cause you are sooo special!!!
Judy-thanks for looking up skiff-I didn’t know either! Ya learn something new every day! Funny about your hubby-“next he’ll be peeing around the perimeter of the house!” Sorry for you but it sure made me laugh! Haha Oh-I am loving the new profile pic! And, my college age son informed me about “Upper Decking” too. I wonder how much of this was learned through those idiotic Jacka$$ movies! My older son and my hubby were watching Jacka$$ and I walked in the room and my son immediately turned it off and said that we could watch something else! What does that say to you??!!! Ugh.
Deef-there are a lot of people out there Christmas shopping and not smiling-you will fit in just fine! Hope you can get the tooth fixed soon! Your post where you said “Remember, when we complain about a behavior, we also have to think about the fix and whether that will be better or worse for them as well as us!” is soooo true and should be included in any book about caregiving!!!
Flex-I feel for ya! Sooo sorry mom is being so troublesome! Wish I could get you a walk in the woods or something to calm you… Is hospice any help?? I was hoping that would give you a break occasionally. Hugs! Keep venting!
Bobbie, Judy, Jen and others having bad dreams-so sorry! I find that what I dream about really affects my mood the whole next day too… I have such trouble shaking it! I love it when it is a good dream-but bad ones suck!!! Wishing you good dreams! As for gossiping Bobbie-it always gets a bad rap! Thanks for showing us the good side of gossiping! ;)
Jen, enjoy the 7 hours of him away! Ya know, I always wonder why mom is still here. Her quality of life sucks. My counselor says she must have a reason. She is not ready to go. Cat mentioned overcoming illness when they have something to live for… if I am not thinking of what she must have to live for and giving her what she wants, I am thinking about what I need to learn from her…maybe she is here to teach me something. Guess it isn’t the same for you cause fp is so vile…but I always wonder….
Welcome Mmally!
Survived-How are the great nephews? Hope you have fun with them!
Stormy-this is a hard time for kids to stay focused! Conner will get back to it-don’t worry!
Hello to Cat, Linda, Meanwhile, Lucy, Bemiracle, Rip, Crickett…
I hope I haven’t missed anybody! All is well here. Mom was happy to sit in here wheel chair and decorate her little Christmas tree this weekend. She is getting very forgetful-more than usual. One of my brothers said we should have a family meeting about what we are going to do about it. I asked him what he is thinking-I mean, what CAN we do about it??? He asked me what I will do when she doesn’t know me anymore…and I replied that I will do the same thing I am doing now. Apparently, he thought I would put her in a home when she doesn’t know me anymore. Hmmm…not thinking that way. Guess he needed to know that. And, as far as I am concerned, I don’t need a family meeting to make decisions-I have been making them all along without any help…I don’t plan on that changing! I will inform them when I have made any decisions…like it or lump it! (Mom living with me has made me the assertive youngest child in the fam!) Anyway, 50 degrees here today-3inches of snow predicted for tomorrow! It is time…Christmas is 2 weeks away.
Well, I gotta get mom up and moving. Busy week ahead with youngest son coming home Fri or Sat for winter break… Gotta get Christmas shopping while mom is at daycare this week. She was greeted with hugs and happiness last week after missing the month of Nov, so that made her happy. She was really tired after! Here’s hoping she stays healthy through New Years! Love ya all! Mame

Good Morning Crew,

It was foggy this morning so we got off to a slow start here in boatworld.
Judy, I hear you on the ibuprofren. It just takes enough of the edge of the pain off to where you can get something done.

I hope everybody can get some sleep without the crazy nightmares. It does seem to affect my day when it's a bad one.

We are doing other things and waiting to see if the humidity is going to fall. Too high to paint or varnish; it would just take too long to cure and every available dust mote, seed pod and cat hair would stick to it. Better to wait.

Hope you guys have as decent a day as you all can.

lovbob

Stormy, I hope Connor has a better day in school today.
Diane - wishing you easier days.
Jen, my nightmare is always a car wreck where there is broken glass everywhere, with the car upside down, a wheel spinning, and I know someone I love is in the car, but I have to make a choice as to who it is and I can't and I won't, so I stand there and can't help. Its horrible. Same dream or variation of it, for years.
Taking some ibuprofen now, so that I can tackle the last of that dang bathroom wallpaper and clean the walls off. Its been over a week. Getting my car pool of boys to school and then, I'm really going to finish that job. Regret starting. Ugh.
Put on the heat for the first time this morning, just to get the chill out. It was 66 degrees in the house when I got up. Heating it up to 70. Feels better already.

Diane it sounds like it is same old even with Hospice!
Deef we got a dusting today too, went and warmed up snow throwers just in case.

Judy, The pop vrs soda debate is a big deal, some places are one or the other period! and they will know outsiders by the use of the wrong woyd...

Dust devils we do a Haboob would be vera unlikely, except maybe down on the Palouse which is an open plain or mainly farming communities.

Had a recurrent nightmare here too bobbie, the tornado one, trying to find shelter for people and hunkering down in a bathtub as it hits...

Hope everyone has a good week.

Judy- I posted on your wall about maybe some solutions for the wallpaper. I hope it helps. Patience, have patience, I know its aggravating.....
I hope everyone is doing ok. I haven't been on the thread this weekend cause Connor got in trouble at school friday, just not listening to the teachers and playing, talking when the teacher are trying to teach. So he has been in lock down this weekend and i feel like i have been too!!! I hope he does better at school tomorrow. I've got to catch up on the posts, I haven't read any yet. So maybe I can post later on tonight. Hugs stormy

Sorry about the nightmares, Bobbie. I've had the same one that comes back now and again throughout the years, like watching a repeat of a horror movie. I haven't figured out the trigger. Have you? There's got to be one.
Deef - I broke half of my front tooth off years ago and I was so self conscious, but missing a whole tooth has got to feel even more so. Had it built up with porecelain and it looks good as new. I feel for you. Doesn't it always seem like crap like that happens when you've got things to interact with people about - xmas shopping or a wedding or an appointment? Ugh.
Austin, thanks for the advice. I'll give it a whirl this week.
Diane, it sounds like your day has you looking like you're avatar. I'm sorry!
I'm not going to see my dad, aka Attila the Hun, today. Nephew has it under control. Ritalin has made that man a monster.

Deef, sorry about the extra dental expense. I have to find money somewhere and take mom to the dentist since she insists her teeth are broken. The only thing I can see wrong with her dentures is one of the clips is missing. Why does everything have to be so freakin expensive. Bobbie, sorry about the nightmares. Mom didn't let me sleep long enough to even get to dreams. When I get stressed worse than usual I have nightmares too. Let me go give mom some lunch. Lets see what drama she comes up with for this meal.

Diane,
Wish I had a magic wand for you and everyone who is suffering.
Awful.
I started with the nightmares again. Ehhh.
We are all doing our best.
lovbob

Oh Deef!
Man oh man.
lovya Deef.
lovbob

Sorry you are having such a hard time Diane. Hope mom gives you some kind of break today.
My day just went downhill fast! I was eating breakfast and a front tooth on my partial came off. The worst part is I swallowed it! Now I have to find a same day repair office tomorrow, or walk around with a missing front tooth. My husband says to just go and get my remaining teeth fixed and get a new partial made. I said are you F'ing CRAZY!!!! Talking about $3000 or more and I don't have dental insurance. Thus the sad state of my teeth! I have had a side tooth missing on my partial for over a year, but it doesn't show. This one is important if I want to open my mouth to speak or smile. Guess I won't be doing any X-mas shopping for sure now.

Austin, I like your idea on how to create a rectangle with granny squares. I can't stand stitching the squares together either.

Nothing new to report here, SSDD. Mom is refusing to get out of bed for the last two days. No particular ailment, just stubborness. I usually have someone on Sundays but mom bitched so much about the aid we had yesterday I decided it would be better if I cancelled her for today. There is absolutely no way to please my mother. She whines and complains non-stop. I'm starting to sound like her too. I wish I could enjoy a creative outlet now, but mom just wants all my attention all the time. I lnow everyone suggests earphones and stuff like that, but mom will yell, scream, hit and throw things until I pay attention to her. She won't even let me clean the house. The minute I turn on the vacuum or try to mop she has a hissy fit. I can feel today is one of those days that I'm letting her really get to me. I hope evryone can have a nice day and I'll try keep myself out the black hole. Happy stitching for those of you knitting and crocheting.

Love ya,
Diane

Judy when you get directions for a knitting project it will tell you what size needles you need and what weight of yarn and they will tell you how many stitches and how many rows and will say something 6stitches per inch and so many rows per inch it you tend to knit looser then the norm you can sometimes use a smaller kneedle. T he things I make I do not measure and i tend to crochet looser than most people do-the shawls i make so they come down to the elbow and the laprobes are from my waist to my feet sitting in a chair-wheelchair size so they do not get wraped up in the wheels-if I make the laprobe as a blanket for a bed then I make it larger. I make granny squares 4 rounds put two together-crochet two together to make it oblong generally and just kept going around because I hate putting those buggers together but iiiiiif you like doing that then small squares will work fine.

Jen, out here it's a dusting of snow! We prefer snow when we go looking for our X-mas tree, but it's been warm the last 2 years and green. In the past we have trekked through a foot of snow and had a ball doing it, the tree farm always has hot chocolate ready at all times and the also have a gadget they put the trees through that covers them with netting. makes it less messy and much easier to get into the house. I have 9 foot ceilings, so we always get an 8 foot tree. We used to get really full trees and it was always a challenge to get them into the house. We get white pine, with the long, soft needles, so there is very little shedding. And all four cats graze on the bottom branches, but leave the decorations alone. The last 2 years I have put unbreakable ornaments on the bottom branches just in case. the rest of my tree is covered with my collection of silvered glass ornaments. They have been my favorite since childhood, so I have been collecting them for over 45 years.
Mom had a good day today and ate well. She looks like she is finally out cold! I'm heading to bed too! It's almost midnight here.

A Chinook? I just had one fly over me last week! (Odd for a weather term though. Boeing plant is close.) Hmm...local terms...well, we have haboobs (nasty dust storms), and dust devils, which are cool to see - funnels of dust swirling like little tornadoes, or big ones sometimes. An Arizona room is a sort of sun room, but I think that's in the older houses. Arcadia doors - I'm not sure if that's local thing or just old term for sliding glass doors. I'm still thinking... cool decking for pool decking - don't really know why. Pop for soda (but I imagine this is common everywhere). Coming from Boston, I called soda, "tonic". Not any more! Never heard anyone really say "pop" till I moved here. Oh, and they say rubber bands here, and I call them elastics. And they ask if I want a paper sack instead of bag. Thought that was odd. Got more than you bargained for in this answer, huh, Jen! I covered it all, I think, not just weather!

Judy, Hha I hadn't thought of that, yeah skiff...here's one: when it warms up oddly in mid winter it is called a Chinook like the tribe,helicopters and salmon. Native American term. What are some local terms there? deefer is in Mass and has a cool accent!

Deef and Austin - thanks for the info. I was absolutely lost looking at the needles and yarn and there was no one there to ask. I'll look it up on youtube and have a more informed shopping trip this week. I never even thought about looking on the label of the yarn for the needle size. Austin - I'd love to be a Knitwit.
Jen, I had to look up "skiff". I knew you were talking about snow, but as a former New Englander, skiff means small boat to me. Had no idea it meant a "dusting of snow" too.
My husband is being a big baby tonight. I had my friend, a painter, over to look at a few places that needed some texture on the drywall. Tore that wallpaper off last week and discovered some places that need texture before I paint. My husband doesn't want my friend to do it. Says he'll do it himself. I've painted for my friend before when he's needed help on jobs. My husband didn't like that either. I don't know what it is about this guy that makes me very unterritorial husband act like a male dog, but I don't like it. Next think you know, he'll be peeing around the perimeter of the house like an animal. I'm so annoyed. My friend could have it done tomorrow.

Deefer, I think I strapped her legs down for safety too for that is kind of scarey. As for the sleepy part I think its your body screaming that u need a break n some good night rest. That prednisone had me up soaking wet in the bed where I would get tired changing shirts for it didn't help because I be soaking wet all over again. So, i just stayed soaked until morning n froze when i crawled out of the bed n middle of the night for a pee break. ; 0 I only take 5mg n will be on it for the rest of my life n its okay. It can cause bone loss so its one med of dang if u do or don't. As for the dr visit, my A1c is coming back down n we discussed about what the heart dr mention about using both the Zocor n Norvasc can cause other problems. he changed it to Lipitor n bumped my dosage too. Mil did great at the my dr's appointment. Better than I. ; ) I hope u r able to get your Christmas stuff going n especially the tree. It just don't feel like a holiday without one. I would love to have a real tree n my house but those pine needles r such a mess n my cats would probable luv to just climb up n down on it. That wouldn't work in this house. I hope y'all have fun setting up the X-mas village too. I have little snow buddies I set out.
Jen, r you snowed in yet? You can have all that cold mess. It is pretty yet, messy n cold. Br......
Hoping everyone here has a great weekend.

The holiday party was nice-I got to sit with friends from the Senior Center that I have known for years - I said at one point can you see us in 20 years meeting up for a meal and one of the youngest looking women said in 20 years I will be 108. I do not buy expensive yarn you can get Red Heart in a lb. size for about 9 dollars but most craft stores have cupons for 50% off one item and the yarn I usually use in no.4 and the larger knitting needles or crochet hooks are usually are the easist to use. I have a friend that is an expert at knitting and crochet and when I go to craft fairs I try to buy her some nice which means expensive yarn. I was at a booth that the artisins raised Alpacas and spun their yarn and sold it there and also had hats etc. made-I asked if they used their own yarn for the items the answer was are you crazy-if they did they would have to charge an amount that no one could aford. We got the 300 or so shawls finished for 3 nursing homes and I delivered the last bunch-we started doing them in May and I am so glad that is finished now I am back to laprobes for a change of pace then will do baby blankets for Birthright. I am the only member of our Knitwit group right now and am trying to keep it going hoping to get new members.

we got a skiff but ground still too warm for stickage...