Quality of Life

Hey there, I pray you are ok in this new era of the COVID 19 virus. Momma and I are doing well. My private caregiver, Deborah, still continues to come because basically it’s just the three of us. I know that she can use the money and that she is going from my home to her’s. If she get’s to the point where she doesn’t want to come I will not protest. I enjoy having her company and she free’s me up to write and get to all the projects I have procrastinated on:-(

This week I thought about the people I have talked with over the years reference quality of life. It seems that we American’s define, what we would considered, a good quality of life as a life filled with love, and freedom. Freedom to do as we wish, freedom to say what we want, go where we want, do what we want, have what we want.

However, in watching my mother in the face of Alzheimer’s I have changed my definition of what having a “good” quality of life means. I focus on love. When I look at my mother and the love that both myself and Deborah surround her with I can see that she knows she is wanted and loved and That the environment is safe. She may not know us by name but she knows us as familiar funny faces who make her laugh, and cater to her every need. I know that because of this environment she has thrived. You recall what her physician said….. She’s not going any where soon. She also stated that part of the reason was the care we provide for my mother.

Yes I now she can’t move, can’t feed herself, can’t articulate what she wants (although I am convinced she doesn’t know that what she is saying is gibberish because she looks at me with the expectation of an answer!) but she is loved. And Love as allowed her to thrive with a debilitating disease.

Not only is she loved by the humans in the home, my cat Epony will gladly take her shift at watching Momma while Deborah or myself are busy.

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Caregiver Tip:

When I bathe my mother I use two basins. One is filled with hot water and the other lukewarm. The lukewarm basin is my rinse water. I use the hot water to soak the washcloth and lather then bathe momma in parts and sides. The left side is first and I start with the arms and breast. After I have lathered her I rinse and ring the washcloth in the lukewarm basin. I then placed the rinsed cloth back in the hot water and clean the soapy areas I just lathered. I use the two basin method because the lukewarm basin will get most of the “dirt” leaving the hot-water basin cleaner requiring me to change it less than the rinsing basin.