It has been a rough morning here. As I have explained previously, I care for a 95-year-old friend who moved in with me in July. In July she was "with it" and fully capable of managing her own dressing, bathing...well, you get the picture.
Well three falls and one broken hip later, she is quite demented, and I am about to join her! Have you ever had a child who was a "poop smearer?" Well I now have experienced a dementia related poop smearing experience for the second time in less than ten days! AAAAUUUGGGHHH!! I mean it's one thing to deal with it with a one year old in a crib, but altogether another to have poop smeared all over your entire bathroom (which happens by the way to be white!)...
Anyway I share this to say that after my initial meltdown and cleanup, and having a glass of White Zinfindel at ten am, I messaged my daughter about what was going on.
I knew she had been having trouble with her phone, so I wasn't sure she would actually get the message, but I needed to vent anyway!
Well, as it turns out she was at the AT&T store having someone look at her phone just as I was texting OMG OMG, poop smeared all over the place...I am having a glass of wine! Well, the guy looked at her and said "Uh, you're getting some messages."...and handed the telephone back to her. She nearly died when she read the messages!!! OMG for sure, here were the explicit messages about poop smearing!
She was mortified!!! She was laughing when she called me, thank goodness. She said she will probably never go back to the AT&T Store again though!
So, at least we got a good laugh out of the whole thing.
But, on a serious note, after the events of the morning I have contacted Hospice to see if they can be of any help in my ongoing dilemma. I don't want to put Lucy in a nursing home, but the dementia is growing more extreme with every passing day, and I truly don't know where we are headed otherwise. So, this afternoon Hospice will be coming by to "evaluate" her for me.
They seem to think at this point that they can probably help...I certainly hope so, because I am about at the end of my emotional rope. For any of you who are caregivers out there, I encourage you to seek help wherever and whenever you can get it. Things are definitely more available than they used to be in this area.
I am a retired Registered Nurse, and as such have had lots of experience with dealing with dementia, poop, etc. and yet, even for me it is a very difficult situation. You need to find time for yourself and a way to "let off steam" once in a while or you will end up sick yourself. I encourage you to do so.
And, whenever you can, remember to LAUGH at the things you can for it really is the best medicine!
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