Some decent resources about the elderly

I found an online writer, Margo, who must be my twin sister from different mothers. She writes a beautiful blog geared toward children caring for their elderly parents. It's almost unreal how similar to me she is. She cared for her father until his death, and faced the exact same issues I face on a daily basis. Things like trying to make sure that Mom gets in enough water (lack of water not only causes dehydration in the elderly but confusion also). Since I've been pushing water, her confusion has lessened to a degree. And, every single degree is important! Margo documents things like the first time she cut her Dad's meat because he couldn't; I remember this moment very well. I had to leave the kitchen for a moment to compose myself but not Mom. She just said "Thank you, darling," picked up her fork and had at it.

Click Changing the Guard to go to Margo's excellent blog. I highly recommend it. Her blog contains the best information and the most engaging writing I've ever seen while documenting my exact path. She is much more eloquent than I.

And, here's another online writer friend, Snowfence, who has written some really good articles about the elderly.

The top five problems to expect from an aging parent
The top five questions your elderly parent will ask you about growing older
The top five reasons the elderly are so important in our lives

Mom was up at 2, 4, 6, and 7am last night/this morning. She didn't keep her oxygen in so was very foggy. I was a bit short with her as I kept getting up to put her back to bed so she's eating fresh biscuits with butter and jelly right now (my apology in food). But, it just figures that she had a bad night, especially since I'll be making the determination tomorrow about whether or not I can go away next week on a small vacation.

If all is ok with Mom, John and I are hoping to get away to North Carolina while Sharyn comes here to take care of Mom. Sharyn is the only one I'd actually leave with Mom these days as she innately knows what to do. More than I do sometimes as Sharyn had a child and raising a 94 year old is not dissimilar to dealing with a young child. So, we're hoping to leave Monday and stay until Friday but that may be too long for Mom. She does ok without me for a few days, but then seems to go downhill fairly rapidly so, NC was a good choice as it's only 6 hours away. John and I can come back at any moment. We'll see how the plan progresses, but a few days of fun, sun and the beach sure would be helpful right about now.

In anticipation, I just took a tray of mondel bread out of the oven. I'm hoping there's some left as Gert is on piece #3 along with another glass of milk. Her appetite certainly is not suffering!