No caregiver this morning. The daytime person has been sick this week. Dad and Elaine covered on Monday. Had a substitute caregiver Tuesday. She also worked yesterday morning. And this afternoon. But she couldn’t work this morning. So I went over around 7:30 to back up dad. He went to the ALS support group at…
Tag archives for a.l.s.
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I am giving away books for charity near and dear to my heart. My mom was diagnosed with A.L.S. last year. A.L.S. is a progressive degenerative condition where the patient’s nerves slowly (or sometimes relatively quickly) die, leaving them unable to move their arms, legs, or other body parts. One part stops working, then another.…
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Mom now says her legs are starting to go. No comments tonight.
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I was getting a little stressed this morning because it was taking longer to get out of the house to head to Seattle. Little did I know how minor that would be. Stopped by mom’s to bring Elaine some books to read, and to see if the new caregiver needed anything. I arrived and mom…
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My mom is organizing a team to raise money for the ALSA again this year. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to match donations like I did last year. I’m keeping up two places, so I gotta watch my pennies. But I am going to offer something: free books. If you donate $20 or more through…
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Well, yesterday there was an incident with the weekend caregiver. Turns out she was wrong. She can’t do 3 day shifts with my mom since she needs too much help and doesn’t sleep enough to let the caregiver catnap. So rather than admit this, first she badgered my mom into taking morphine. My mom doesn’t…
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Mom signed the green sheet today. This is a huge relief! Basically, the important parts says to, no matter what, do not lay her on her back (that would essentially make it so her lungs don’t work) and no intubation, no tracheostomy, and no ventilator. Basically, they can attempt to revive her only through external…
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Mom’s bi-pap machine stopped working this morning. Hospice came out and fixed it later today. That doesn’t really concern me that much. What does concern me is that while mom was laying down, she could barely breathe without the bi-pap. She can breathe if she’s sitting up with her brace on, so that’s what they…
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I really don’t want this journal to become a chronology of despair, but for some reason I want to have a record of mom’s decline. This week has been hell. After having one person flake on us, I got some more references and called more people. Two of them came over on Wednesday; we hired…
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Starting shortly, mom will have 24 hour caregivers. I’ve got Monday through Thursday covered, and am working on Friday through Sunday coverage. Dad is not thrilled. I don’t blame him. There will be someone he barely knows in his house 24 hours a day. That’s a tough nut to swallow. It’s really pretty wrenching to…