The Horror of a CoronaVirus Death

The Horror of a CoronaVirus Death

It’s not just that someone dies from an awful pandemic. It’s worse. They die alone. No one to hold their hand. No one by their bedside. No one in that one moment of life where no one wants to be alone. Yes, someone can possible be in protective gear at the time. But...

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Coronavirus and Caregiving

Coronavirus and Caregiving

We just spent the last few days in the hospital.  Mom was so out of it and so we took her in to get fluids.  IV drop brought back to not baseline, but a new normal. In the midst the coronavirus is galloping around the world.  And I wonder is it safe that we have so...

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5 Stages of Lewy Body Dementia

5 Stages of Lewy Body Dementia

(Take from here) PHASE I POSSIBILITIES Most caregivers are concerned/worried that something is not right. Please note that symptoms from later stages can appear at this early phase. At the end of this phase, dementia is becoming difficult to deny Possible REM sleep...

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Unless you’ve been there…

Unless you’ve been there…

Lewy Body Dementia makes other dementias look like a cake-walk.  LBD on the other hand is wild.  You never know what to expect.  Could be tears and fears or doing well.  Anger and aggression or sleepy and stuperous.  Wanting to go, go, go and agitated or wanted to do...

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Season of Hostility and “Persecution”

Season of Hostility and “Persecution”

It's a hard stage.  At some point our loved ones get to the stage where they feel "persecuted."  It's right there on the LBDA website and it's right there in our homes.  What it looks like is an anger and hostility for you trying to help them ("as there is nothing...

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Symptoms of Lewy Body Dementia

Symptoms of Lewy Body Dementia

Common Symptoms: Delusions (objects turn into small children, animals and more) Mumbling Unintelligible Whispering Increased nerve sensitivity to touch Loss of fine motor skills (to be able to eat by oneself) Capgras (seeing duplicate and triplicate and you're never...

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Learned Love

Learned Love

Love is a skill.  Caring for someone with Lewy Body Demential will show you much you need to change.  We can either grow in our love or we can become hardened, angry or indifferent.  Let's love well.

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“I Didn’t Do It!!”

“I Didn’t Do It!!”

Out of the fear of abandonment and fear of doing wrong comes a strong sense of fear of making a mistake.  With this comes the proclamation of "I didn't do it" for the most obvious things that are loved ones have done.  We don't argue with them.  Just say "Ok" and deal...

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Love Protects – 1 Cor 13

Love Protects – 1 Cor 13

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It...

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Fearful of Offense

Fearful of Offense

Our loved ones are in such a vulnerable situation and they feel it 10x more than we do.   How this manifests is that they are over-the-top fearful of upsetting us, making us mad, or displeasing us.  Our reassurances do little to lift this fear.  Even our encouraging...

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Fingernails

Fingernails

For the first time in her life my mom has beautiful fingernails.  All the vitamins combined with work that doesn't ding them, her nails are long and lovely.  BUT, I'm thinking more and more that it is time to trim them low.  Why?  Because underneath the fingernails a...

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The Last Day of 2019

The Last Day of 2019

I remember the beginning of this year.  January.  We had a hospitalization and things were really hard.  Really, really hard.  And I thought, I don't know if there's enough strength to make it through January.  How will we make it the whole year? And here it is.  The...

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Christmas 2019

Christmas 2019

I'm so happy to be with my loved one.  Another Christmas.  No, everything was not easy and peachy.  In fact, every day is difficult and hard, a mountain to overcome.  But always it is worth it.  Harder I think will be the days without her.   It's something I think of...

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Sometimes things go right

Sometimes things go right

Almost everyday for weeks now I collapse into my bed feeling defeated.  I've gotten impatient, said something not so delicately, or did something with frustration.  And if in town the slightest bit of impatience gets judgmental looks from any passerby.  They have no...

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The Fight for Dignity

The Fight for Dignity

Fighting for dignity is a daily fight because the fight comes on so many different levels.  The one that really irks me is the one where my mom is the local zoo animal.  People come to visit who haven't visited in literally decades to see the "woman with dementia." ...

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The ONLY happy place

The ONLY happy place

My loved one reduces to tears pretty quickly over everything and nothing these days.  But when things are bad, there is one thing that snaps her back to her baseline--a car drive. Within 60 seconds of driving she snaps out of whatever psychological state she is in.  I...

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Well-Intentioned Friends

Well-Intentioned Friends

"So hey, what are you doing this weekend?" The question felt like a strange slap in the face.  This is someone, albeit long distance, who knows that I am a caregiver and knows that things are challenging.  But clearly it's not been communicated how very challenging it...

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Translation

YES - The book below is the one I wrote.  It's a "just the facts you need to know."  No stories, charts, or antyhing. I wrote it because as a caregiver, I was too tired to wade through heavy science and theory that other books offered. I just wanted the essentials in short chapters. It's the book I would have wanted. If that's what you need also, then here it is:

Map

Medical Disclaimer

The Material in this website is not in any way meant to be medical advice. ASK YOUR DOCTOR for any, all and every medical situation and need.

Affiliate

In order to be able to display images I have needed to become an Amazon Affiliate. What this means is that when you purchase through this site, I receive a small commission. 100% of anything I will give to my loved one. I want her to get back what was taken from her through illness.