CAREGIVING: My last post (about Kathy collapsing in the basement) received a lot of attention from my friends on Facebook and I wanted to thank anyone who reads these things. I have been writing these posts as a diary to help me remember one day, or one week, from the next. I’m grateful for all the support I have. Thanks.
Things have been nicely uneventful during the last week.
(Uneventful = no falls.)
I did buy a new belt for Kathy that I’m still hoping will help me keep her upright. It is called a Posey belt and has extra hand grips on it. I am still trying to figure out how to make it snug enough to really help. A new transfer shower bench is coming today that I’ll assemble this weekend. It will allow her to sit on the bench outside of the tub and then I can lift her legs over for the shower. The reality is that all of these things are useful for a certain period of the disease. As the patient loses the ability to even use those you try to adapt. There are projects I haven’t been able to get to that won’t be useful. I think it is as much a function of aging as it is of taking care of someone with Huntington’s Disease or some other terminal disease.
Our increase in household health aide is slowly kicking in. I’m hoping Kathy accepts all of it without too much kicking. Fran seems to be working out well. She comes for three hours on Tuesday afternoon and that gives me a chance to run to the store. This week Dilcia was on vacation so I had Fran do some light cleaning while Kathy took a nap. She didn’t want to disturb her and run the vacuum so she concentrated on the cobwebs on the ceiling beams. We live in the world-wide web. I have been a little nervous because Fran isn’t certified for “personal care”. That means she isn’t supposed to help a client go to the bathroom. Three hours is quite a while for Kathy to hold it so I have to work around it. Jen from GSSSI said that I should toilet Kathy before the aide arrives and have her wear depends that day. That really should work fine. So far so good, anyway. Also I think Kathy is getting used to the idea of my coming and going (I don’t ask, anymore.)
Today I will begin setting up the schedule for the shower aide. I’m hoping it will be every other morning (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) and possibly Saturday or Sunday morning. O’Connell’s Nursing called to set it up. They are the agency Dilcia works with and they are familiar with us. It will probably take a while to set up. There will be some mornings where Kathy may get a sponge bath or just a foot bath besides dressing help. Some days will be tougher than others and I’ll have to help too.