Things we take for granted as Caregivers

Episode #92

Show Notes

There are so many things in life that normal people take for
granted. This becomes more apparent the longer you take care of your loved one.
There are things that I take for granted because there things that come natural
to me that Mama can no longer do for herself.

Mama can no longer wash her face, brush her hair, brush her
teeth, or even talk. Mama tries so hard to talk to us and you can see the
frustration in her face as she tries to say something and can’t. Mama tries to
hold a cup of something to drink and because of her Parkinson’s she shakes so
bad that some of whatever’s in the cup spills out. Mama so apologetic when she
makes a mess.

One of the things that I have taken for granted myself in my
caregiving was the fact that when Mama was taking care of my grandmother who
fortunately was not as bad as Mama is Mama never asked me to stay with grandma
to help with grandma. I always had free time on my hands to do whatever I
wanted to do. And I’ve forgotten that in my caregiving because we were leaving
Michael with his grandmother way too much. We sought that it was good training
for a after all he is old enough to have a child of his own. And until recently
here we did not realize that Michael was having a troubled time taking care of
his grandmother. And I’ve forgotten how much free time I had with my
grandmother.

A lot of times I’ll go out and check on Mama and mamas
asleep, but there are other times where mamas really fidgety, and the only
thing I can do is just sit there to chair and hold her hand. Tell her she’s
okay, tell her that she’s safe, that I love her.

A lot of the time in my own caregiving, I take for granted
the fact that I can go brush my teeth, my mouth. Mama can no longer do that and
here the other day I was trying to give her some ice water out of a spoon and
this white flaky something another come out of her mouth. I asked Mama said
Mama what is that and of course I didn’t get a straight answer, all I got the
beat was mumbo-jumbo, come to find out what ever this crap was all through her
mouth, was on her tongue, the roof of her mouth. Now I don’t have nerve enough
to stick my fingers in my mother’s mouth! That’s just not going to happen. So I
ended up taking a toothbrush and brushing her mouth her teeth, the roof of her
mouth.

So if your loved one stops eating check their mouth make sure
this pasty crusty group is not in their mouth. Because it could stop them from
eating could stop them from swallowing.