I wrote last about the challenges I deal with in getting my mom medical treatment, right now being glasses. Well, I am so glad the eye doctor did see Mom and new glasses are on order. Yay!
Mom is super excited right now - because we are going to be spending Christmas day with her at her nursing home. Some years we don't get to do that, or it's just me and her. Last year my husband Roger and I just took her to iHop. She's been calling me and my brother quire often - me just about every other day, checking on the planning, talking about the meal. Gosh it is so nice to see her so happy.
Over all these years we have always spent holidays with Mom. When she was able to walk, she'd come to my home. But in the last 4 years or so she is completely wheel chair bound, so it's more of a challenge to take her out. Have to arrange with Pace Dial-A-Ride, which has a wheel chair lift. But they are amazing. You can't call more than a week in advance, and it only costs $4.00 each way, and if the rider needs a companion there is no charge for the companion. Here's the web site:
http://www.pacebus.com/sub/paratransit/sd_dial_a_ride.asp
Well, have a very merry Christmas. Enjoy your loved ones and thank God for the blessings in your life.
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Getting Mom to Accept Medical Care
One of the challenges in caring for Mom has been convincing her to take advantage of medical help. Right now Mom needs new eye glasses and at the nursing home where she lives eye exams and glasses are provided. But if Mom says "no I don't want to see the eye doctor" then they don't schedule an appointment for her.
So I a) called the nursing home to get the name and number of their eye doctor, b) called that doctor myself and asked her to see Mom next time she is at the home, which should have been in the last couple of days. Then I have to try to convince my mom to not refuse to see the doctor, which is probably the hardest part of the challenge. I told her when I set up the appointment, and she actually got mad at me. "Just get me glasses at Walgreens!" she demanded. I did pick up a $35 pair from Walgreens and she couldn't see with them so I had to make another trip to return them.
Last weekend I took her to Walmart and she looked at all the glasses herself. She picked out a pair of reading glasses which she did like, and will help some, but I know she really needs bi-focals.
So I will need to follow up with the doctor to see if she was able to help my mom.
It is always like this. I can't get Mom to do a lot of normal medical treatment things, which is just hard. Like her hip was painful and I tried to get her to get a cortisone shot. She wouldn't hear of it. She ended up permanently in a wheel chair, can't even go to the bathroom now and has to wear a diaper. She needed a new hip, but I couldn't even get her to get a shot. So I choose my battles and accept that in the end it is her life and her choices, and all I can do is try.
This is one of the ongoing frustrations in having a loved one with schizophrenia. But I also hear my friends with their older stubborn parents who are pretty much the same. So, perhaps it's not that abnormal really. We all have to just leave these ones we loved in the hands of God and let Him ultimately take care of them. We are just helpers, but not the all powerful ones. He is.
So I a) called the nursing home to get the name and number of their eye doctor, b) called that doctor myself and asked her to see Mom next time she is at the home, which should have been in the last couple of days. Then I have to try to convince my mom to not refuse to see the doctor, which is probably the hardest part of the challenge. I told her when I set up the appointment, and she actually got mad at me. "Just get me glasses at Walgreens!" she demanded. I did pick up a $35 pair from Walgreens and she couldn't see with them so I had to make another trip to return them.
Last weekend I took her to Walmart and she looked at all the glasses herself. She picked out a pair of reading glasses which she did like, and will help some, but I know she really needs bi-focals.
So I will need to follow up with the doctor to see if she was able to help my mom.
It is always like this. I can't get Mom to do a lot of normal medical treatment things, which is just hard. Like her hip was painful and I tried to get her to get a cortisone shot. She wouldn't hear of it. She ended up permanently in a wheel chair, can't even go to the bathroom now and has to wear a diaper. She needed a new hip, but I couldn't even get her to get a shot. So I choose my battles and accept that in the end it is her life and her choices, and all I can do is try.
This is one of the ongoing frustrations in having a loved one with schizophrenia. But I also hear my friends with their older stubborn parents who are pretty much the same. So, perhaps it's not that abnormal really. We all have to just leave these ones we loved in the hands of God and let Him ultimately take care of them. We are just helpers, but not the all powerful ones. He is.
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