It was pretty soon evident that my MIL was losing much of her short-term memory and any slight change in the well-established routine of years was not good. We managed to keep our lives as normal as possible for our girls, include the whole family in events and enjoy our time together. Soon it became more and more difficult to leave the house for any length of time dor fear of not being on hand if needed. We installed a nana cam so that we could watch her in her living and dining room from anywhere. We had family members also keep tabs especially when they were about to phone her in case she was napping so they would not wake her abruptly.
This system worked for quite a while, and we all managed to maintain our freedom and sanity to a limited degree. The shifts in memory decline were often very subtle and like expecting a baby, it was a gradual change over months and months. I know for some people who only visited infrequently the change was more dramatic, but we all survived in this bubble.
The enforced confinement did start to take its toll on me, since I worked from hom, I was best able to be on hand all of the time, I did my best to manage my work around everyone else being home but even that became difficult. We were fortunate enough to have adult children of long-time friends living with us and being on hand to watch over Nana when we were out, later we also hired an eldercare nanny to come mid-day for two days a week to our home and give me time to work away from home.
One of the most creative and effective ways we managed was to hire a full time live in companion for the times we needed to go away. This was like having a whole different level of freedom. We were incredibly fortunate to know a dear friend who was ready to leave her corporate life behind, and she became our go to lifesaver as the now diagnosed Alzheimer’s progressed. We always felt incredibly fortunate that she was in excellent physical health, beyond a double hip replacement she was always in good health and spirits. Lucky us. It was heartbreaking to witness her awareness of her failing memory, this was described to us as the worst possible part of the progression of this disease. Fortunately, she managed this with grace and dignity if a little forgetful storytelling and active imagining. I remember hearing her telling someone how hungry she was, that we did not feed her and emptied the fridge and left her alone all the time. In the moment I thought she was making a joke, but later realized that in that moment she was living that is what she believed to be true.
As this journey progressed, there were things that I had done well ahead of time that I became incredibly grateful.
It was pretty soon evident that my MIL was losing much of her short-term memory and any slight change in the well-established routine of years was not good. We managed to keep our lives as normal as possible for our girls, include the whole family in events and enjoy our time together. Soon it became more and more difficult to leave the house for any length of time dor fear of not being on hand if needed. We installed a nana cam so that we could watch her in her living and dining room from anywhere. We had family members also keep tabs especially when they were about to phone her in case she was napping so they would not wake her abruptly.
This system worked for quite a while, and we all managed to maintain our freedom and sanity to a limited degree. The shifts in memory decline were often very subtle and like expecting a baby, it was a gradual change over months and months. I know for some people who only visited infrequently the change was more dramatic, but we all survived in this bubble.
The enforced confinement did start to take its toll on me, since I worked from hom, I was best able to be on hand all of the time, I did my best to manage my work around everyone else being home but even that became difficult. We were fortunate enough to have adult children of long-time friends living with us and being on hand to watch over Nana when we were out, later we also hired an eldercare nanny to come mid-day for two days a week to our home and give me time to work away from home.
One of the most creative and effective ways we managed was to hire a full time live in companion for the times we needed to go away. This was like having a whole different level of freedom. We were incredibly fortunate to know a dear friend who was ready to leave her corporate life behind, and she became our go to lifesaver as the now diagnosed Alzheimer’s progressed. We always felt incredibly fortunate that she was in excellent physical health, beyond a double hip replacement she was always in good health and spirits. Lucky us. It was heartbreaking to witness her awareness of her failing memory, this was described to us as the worst possible part of the progression of this disease. Fortunately, she managed this with grace and dignity if a little forgetful storytelling and active imagining. I remember hearing her telling someone how hungry she was, that we did not feed her and emptied the fridge and left her alone all the time. In the moment I thought she was making a joke, but later realized that in that moment she was living that is what she believed to be true.
As this journey progressed, there were things that I had done well ahead of time that I became incredibly grateful.