Mom

I'm in Colorado now with my Mom. My mother has Alzheimer's. I try to give my sister (her main care giver) a break when we get through Colorado, I get off the truck until DH gets back through and can pick me up. Alzheimer's is not a good way to lose a parent. I lost my mom three years ago, that was about the last time we had a normal conversation where she knew me. I feel for her, in her lost world. Each one of us girls have our own way of dealing with her. My sister JD (that is her main care giver), uses the baby monitor. When she hears mom roaming around and waking others, she comes downstairs to check on things and clean up the mess mom has made trying to find the bathroom. Our older sister deals with it by staying away. I sleep on a mat beside mom's bed, she is like a scared little girl. When she hears me on the mat she lays back down and we both get much more rest. Mom is never hungry, so we fix her five meals a day and just tell her it's lunch, she is good to eat what we fix. (she lost nearly 100 pounds while her mind was still functioning. We tried to make her eat back then she refused.) She's put on 35 pounds this year with our new routine. Today, I fixed the shower, put on my swim suit to get the dreaded hated shower. She let me lead her in, I put a washcloth over her face like a little child and she didn't fight me at all. She and I both felt better with her all clean! yay. She is doing so much better with a routine.