I am thinking of blogging some thoughts on caregiving again. I'm sorry I've been away for so long, and I thought perhaps you might be interested in the changes that have taken place in our lives.
The biggest changes are that we are now a three person family: me, Dear Hubby, and Dear Younger Daughter. Our oldest moved out, and then a year later, our youngest son moved out. It was bittersweet. It was time for them both. Living at home as adults is hard.
Our daughter lived with a friend for about a year and half, then when it was time for our younger son to move out, she and he moved in together with a third roomie. And then, exciting times, our oldest married, September 2013. It was a beautiful wedding and we love her husband as our own son.
The sad part of her marrying is that she has moved to Canada to live with her husband. He was born and raised there and has lived there his entire life. She is adjusting to living so far from home and in another completely foreign climate. (We are in Texas.) She has seen more snow that she ever cares to see again. :) she is happy with her choice in partner, but still learning to adjust to this new place. She comes home to see us often.
Our younger son became a paramedic and now has two jobs with local Emergency Medical Services in our area. He is currently living about 10 minutes from us and comes over to help care for his dad, so that I can have some breaks.
And our son, who is married and was living 200 miles away, has moved back to our area. He is also 10 minutes away and now has two children, a boy and a girl. His family's main reason for moving close by is to help with his dad and help carry some of my burdens. He comes over twice a week to bathe his dad, and keeps our yard work done. He stays with his dad once a week, so I can have a break to do my shopping or just get out of the house for a bit.
My husband's disease continues to progress and he has lost more of his functions. He can only use one hand for just an hour or so a day. He gets on FB, just long enough to most an encouraging word, and reads through his newsfeed. The rest of his day is spent resting, listening to music, resting, listening to his Bible app, resting and watching tv. He has continued to loose weight, and now weighs around 130 lb. We knew he had been loosing weight, and we were surprised when he was finally weighed at the hospital during his last admission. His previous weigh in, four years ago, he was 165 lbs.
My husband is having a plateau again after a rough six months. He has had issues with UTI and was very ill from it around Thanksgiving. He spent five days in the hospital on IV antibiotics. And then the end of January, he had surgery to remove a ton of stones. He has had some testing done, some new meds and lots of follow up visits. We've finally settled down into our new normal. And things are better.
His old power wheelchair was no longer working for his current disability, and we had gotten to the point of needing an ambulance to take him to medical appointments. He recently got a new wheelchair that meets his needs and he is able to transport by medical transport vans. I am using a Hoyer lift all the time now, because he cannot support himself in any way. I am still home with him, taking care of him, but fully realize that I couldn't do this without Dear Younger Daughter's help. I would be running ragged, which even with her help, I am always on the verge of feeling overwhelmed.
I am staying busy with cooking, cleaning, caregiving and playing in the dirt. Our attempt at an herb garden a few years back lead me into square foot gardening, and I am enjoying growing things in my yard. I am not quilting anymore, although I still have fully stocked and organized room, in case the quilting bug strikes again. I am staying so busy, I really haven't found the time to do all I need or want to do. And often when I have the time, I do not have the energy. I have been focusing on nutrition and calorie intake for my hubby, hoping that getting his weight up, in a healthy manner, will help with his quality of life.
I will try to continue posting updates as I can. Thank you for being such a special part of our life.
Sent from my iPad
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