Posted 7/18/22
Like cold water to a weary soul,
So is good news from a distant land. -Proverbs 25:25
Happy Monday, friends. 🙂 Mondays are just another day. Mondays are just another day. Mondays are just another day. Mondays are just another day. Mondays are just another day. Mondays are just another day. Mondays are just another day. Mondays are just another day. Mondays are just another day.
Sorry….my needle was stuck. I hope you all had a nice weekend! Mine was great, as always. There was no news from the mom front over the weekend, but is that good news? Just a thought today as we start this fine week: Is NO NEWS GOOD NEWS when it comes to the nursing home? On a similar vibe, is finding out you may have Dementia a good idea? I will tackle them both in one swoop here like a turkey buzzard snags him up a road possum’s carcass.
What are the causes we never hear from the nursing home?
- There is no news to report. Mom has had the disease since (at least) 2009. That is a really long time. The change is glacial, not observable….unless you back up, then it is very easy to see.
- The doctor only comes in so often. This wouldn’t preclude a call from a nurse.
- Hospice is assumed to be the mouthpiece and they are swapping employees a lot. This may be the biggie for mom right now.
- They are short-staffed. Yup. Calling 100+ families every few days is a challenge. Every week it would be a challenge. However, I will be blunt: many, many there don’t have families and/or they don’t have families who care one way or another. Some are waiting in sadness, others in greed, and others in spite…but they have given up. I pray I am never given up on. This was part of why I named my Walk to End Alzheimer’s group “Never Gonna Give You Up”. (Oh, and this: LINK)
What of the other topic? Is NO NEWS (THAT I DO OR DO NOT HAVE DEMENTIA) GOOD NEWS?
- Does NOT KNOWING make it go away? No more than hiding under the blanket makes the Bogey Man go away. Maybe in the short run we feel better…but
- There are dozens of things that mimic dementia and are mostly treatable. Here are a few: LINK Why deal with a treatable condition because of fear it isn’t?
- The good outweighs the bad. If you find out early, you can build a care team, you can plan, you can work hard at prevention measures that could slow it down, and you could ready yourself. I understand the stress involved with this choice…I REALLY DO… Just consider it.
Some sweet day this mess will be treatable and/or cured. Until then, we simply have to work through these challenging topics. For our own sake and our family’s sake….
#EndALZ
Here is my Walk Team page:
http://act.alz.org/site/TR?fr_id=14596&pg=personal&px=14575499
Support groups are tomorrow. Zoom starts at 4:40PM CST and runs until 5:45, then in-person (Springfield, Mo) runs from 6-7pm. Holler at me if you have questions or need the Zoom link. 🙂