Mum's health has taken a sudden dive over the last week and now falling. Is this to be expected?

I believe Merz Apothecary in Chicago carries Detol. They also have real Persil, not Walmart Persil (a German brand). If you are ever near Chicago, you **have** to hit the Landmark Square neighborhood and visit Merz. They have real Nivea and many European brands of soap, lotion, potion, and goodies. I was in heaven.

Iron sheets.....I'll get right on that right after I wash the wall behind the dryer and lint roll the stairs.... In America sheet ironing is the first sign of oncoming OCD. One of our cousins has an Irish husband and his mother is batty over poly/cotton sheets. The cheapest ones there are because she doesn't have to iron them. I guess they are hard for her to get, so every time someone comes over here, they have to take back poly/cotton sheets, Craftsman tools, and Sharpie pens.

I am officially a coward - do I want Mum's tablets today? Absolutely not we have a full day tomorrow and I need to sleep and given your comments Veronica I will go collect the prescription tomorrow!!!

Sandwich I hate polycotton sheets. I LURV cotton ones though the coolness against my skin the fresh smell that lasts forever - the fact that if need be I can boil them to get any stains out (mums sheets that is not mine!) The drawback is the ironing but I have a pretty decent solution to that. I make the bed up then I iron the bed sheet on the bed - that way I only iron the bit I will be sleeping on - I have one of those irons that doesn't have a lead so it works well for me. What I would love to own is one of the big roller irons but a) I have nowhere to store it and b) I don't really need it for just 2 of us although I my regret saying that if mum becomes more incontinent!! or less stable with her damned tea and coffee

I learned that the pee pads we have called "Good Nights" will adhere permanently to any sheet with any amount of poly in it. The sticky backing will NOT come off under any circumstances. I wondered if just body heat had melted the two together! We only have cotton sheets at our house, but mom had poly/cotton on her bed when she became incontinent.

I did find a brand online that had a better sticky side and would come off a poly/cotton sheet. And I could order them by the steel shipping container! :-D

Just had an ah ha moment when reading about poly-cotton sheets. The past 2 months I had to sleep sitting up due to a broken shoulder [doctor recommended a recliner but I don't own one].... I would prop up the pillows.

Oh my gosh, within a hour or so I had slowly slid down to almost flat position... what in the world..... now I know, it's the poly-cotton sheets !!! That's been bugging me the whole time :P

FF, just as a side note, a recliner is a very worthwhile investment. One night after Coy went to bed I sat in his for a while. Oh My Goodness! How come he's had one for years and I've never had one? I went out and spent an afternoon visiting several furniture places and got one to fit me the next week. I've loved it ever since.

I firmly believe that every adult should have a recliner that fits their body well. I read in it and listen to music before I go to bed. And if I have leg cramps or a stuffed-up nose or something that is keeping me from sleeping flat, I sleep in it for a while.

At the moment I wishes I had a recliner for medical reasons... other than that, I was never a big fan of them. I remember my Mom grumbling about Dad once again sitting in his recliner while Mom was busy doing housework.... I could understand that.

Jude...Reading all of these suggestions, gave me so much insight as to what to watch for with my Partner. I am not familiar with Vascular Dementia. What is that? I just know about enough to fill a thimble when it comes to Parkinson. But, I am learning everyday. You all sound like you have been to Med School. I think our doctor does not verbalize everything to me. So, I am pinpointed on Parkinson.

One thing I learned here is WALK IN CLINIC. WOW, I never thought about that. When he is ill and I can't get an appt with the doc, we have a walk in clinic at the bottom of the hill from where we live. But, our doctor has never yet turned us down on a moments notice appt. He fits us in. We are so fortunate.

From the sounds of everyone's discussion, I am in for a long road. When my husband was ill for the last 10 years of his life, he was still very active. Too much so, but at least he had an interesting life. He did not become seriously ill until about three months before he died. Then WALLA, he was gone just like that. He was exceptional. He had every disease known to man since he was a child.

My Partner is getting a shot in his hip and two shots in his lower back next week. If the pain issues are resolved, my job will probably be much easier. As it stands now, he has had an inner ear disease for years. His balance is horrible. So, he is always a potential for falling. I don't hold him up as he walks to the toilet, but I put my hand in the base of his back tucked into his pants and that seems to give him balance walking forward. Maybe I should get one of those belts they use at the NH.

Since he could go on like this for many years by the sounds of it....(but they are discussing Hospice), I had better be budgeting the dollars tightly to make it the long haul. I was going to hire a housekeeper, but I have decided not to. That is a lot of money going out every week. We are what is called Middle America, we have too much to qualify for help and not enough to be considered rich.

Jude, how many years have you been doing this now? It sounds like Parkinson leads to many other illnesses. Well, it is another day and everyday is something else. You all amaze me with the care your give your loved ones. I thought I would be traveling at this stage of my life. But, my commitment and promise took center stage.

Jude, how is your mother today?

I was just thinking of a site I go to when I need some art and creative stimulation: jacquielawson.com -I've eliminated parts of the URL so it won't get eliminated.

Jacquie is soooo creative; I especially love the ones about the dog who has some interesting adventures. For anyone who hasn't seen her little videos, they're a miracle of instant relaxation.

This is not an answer but just an idea to look up Teepa Snow, a dementia caregiver expert. She has a website but I also found numerous videos on youtube with a lot of interesting information. Best wishes.

you know when you can't see the wood for the trees? well that's where I am right now. Mother has been on a blinder this week. Diarrhoea, headaches, nose hurts, over waiting before she will get up for a wee so lots of spills, nagging for the universe and bad tempered doesn't even come close...so much as I would like to have a delve I am afraid its not going to happen. On the totally opposite side however when my computer took up a filthy habit this week (it started smoking) she said go and buy a new one - I need you to have the computer to find out whats wrong with me. Well I never knew in all the time I lived with her that she kept a secret stash of money AND STILL KNEW WHERE IT WAS
. Well I have a lovely new PC -0 it's white because she chose the colour - didn't want a black one - lets not go there
So now all I have to do is google narcissistic moaning nagging old woman with headaches. nose aches oh and now her neck hurts and she can't hear me and ,,,and,,,and,,,,,,! and I will know the cure/////course I will have one of my special purple pills - (parma violets but she swears they work and Im not telling her what they are!)

Jude, hang in there. Wish I could say it'll get better but I think most people here know the corollary to that. Maybe I should say it could get worse? Would that make you feel any better?

When you mentioned purple pills I couldn't help thinking of the Rolling Stones song - Mother's Little Helper.

Oh GA these pills work wonders...they cure everything for a while

Jude, have you ever had Klondike Bars? They're somewhat similar to Dairy Queen's Dilly Bars. The best are the chocolate mint Klondikes. And you must know of course that chocolate and mint are great mood elevators!

If you google Klondike bars and go to their site (I'd provide a link but it would likely be considered a commercial link and deleted), there's a lovely winter scene of softly falling snow. It's actually quite soothing and calming.

You all make me smile so... Thank you. I love Klondike Bars...but I don't think they have them in England as my family in England and Ireland don't know of them... BUT..believe it or not... My comfort food is Digestive Cookies and PG Tips tea. I can get them both out here in San Francisco.. Hope the upcoming week is calming and easier for you Jude...as I wish for each of us...I'm going to look into the Choc Mint bars now GA. xo all. Smile when you can !

Spinal issues, diagnosed as (lower spine radiculopathy);
TIA's.
UTI's,
can all make legs weak, numb, cramping, and painful.
Klonopin makes things worse, may lead to more TIA's.
GERD and other GI issues can contribute to weakness and not being able to walk.
Vitamin D, magnesium has helped others. The magnesium also helps mood/anxiety.
Vitamin D, actually, has very little to no side effects, can make one feel better.
Sorry, cannot reference specific sources/articles at this time.
Just saw this question.

I remember Klondike bars from when I was in the states. Have to say I like Cadbury's fruit and nut myself and turkish delight and and and actually I just like chocolate of almost every variety. We have some over here that have fizzy gel in them and while I thought they would be horrid I actually love em

I think Godiva is probably the best chocolate I've had. But the Klondikes ae a close second.

Jude, when and which states did you visit?

Wow Jude, your Mum sounds a lot like my Mom now. Still going thru that stuff and her neck hurting. We see her doctor Thursday. So many things are the same. I'm so sorry to hear that about your Mum. Hugs

Neighbor's doctor said he did not have a bladder infection.
He later went to ER, yes, he had a bladder infection.
Ask if the health care team performed a dip-sstick ua, or
a real ua.
Hope you and Mom are doing better today.

These are very difficult situations when loved ones are not able to care for themselves and require extensive assistance. Love and prayers will help find the right professionals at the right time to assists caregivers and their recipients.

Thats the way it happens. We are too close to the situation to realize our loved one is getting to the edge of life. As I have said before, I do not recognize death. It is like having children that you raise day to day and someone shows up and is shocked how they have grown. Same thing with caring for a loved one. You do not see the change and therefore are shocked when the change means end of life.

Hi Jude. Are you and your Mom doing ok? Thinking of you from San Francisco Ca .

Im fine Mum is still in hospital but if I am honest I think she is rallying but unwilling to admit it - she seems to be enjoying the attention, She has had bouts of diarrhoea - yesterday While she was in the toilet I found some senna in her make up bag - she is in for a shock tonight - they have gone!!!!

How long has your mom been in now Falcon? Hmm, learn something new every day. Senna I know what it is but didn't know it was a laxative. Are the ones there little square candy like things? I mean, really small maybe a quarter of an inch across, hard, dark color?

Do your mom's docs talk at all about your mom going to a nursing home or other facility? Just curious if things work similarly as they do here.

HI Glad we have senna here but what you're talking about is what we call ex-lax no this is pure senna and it will go through you in less than 8 hours. The doctors are now monitoring her - she wants me to cancel my holiday top and bottom of it. She doesn't want to go into respite let alone a nursing home - if she wanted it it would be a serious problem right now as we are nearing exchange of contracts on both houses - it would be the last straw for me I am afraid I would be instantly homeless

Ahhh, falcon. Homeless I can identify with, if not for a very kind neighbor of mom's I probably would have ended up with one of my kiddos. Ts2 asked if my house was ready to move back into, told her no, and the house is still not ready though very close, but never even offered for me to stay at mom's. I would not have wanted to be with one of my kids and grandkids, just too much activity for little old me for what would have been three months now. And if ts2 would have offered she would have wanted me to work to get house ready, or pay rent. I have had enough of indentured servitude to my screwy twisteds. Enough is enough already!

Senna! Good Lord you don't think she was doing it on PURPOSE?!!!

Just checking in on you and Mum, before going to sleep at midnight. She is sneaky with the senna!

chilly my mum has been controlling her entire life and I wouldn't put it past her at all even with dementia which right now seems to be in remission - she is more lucid than I have ever known her but the docs say it is temporary - only time will tell - so your guess is as good as mine - I didn't know she kept them in there but yesterday she was adamant someone had stolen her tablets. When I told her she doesn't have her meds the hospital do she went into woe is me I don't know anything any more and in the next breath asked me why she hadn't seen the doctor that day and did I bring in her newspaper her juice and her bell - yes to the first two no to the latter - can you imagine her ringing that all night long in hospital - they are fed up with her already. Right now it looks like my holiday is not going to happen - she still has diarrhoea although it seems to be clearing...shocker that now she can't have senna ad hoc ffs. But the respite home want her clear for a week - the hospital say 8 hours and she can come home. We are supposed to fly Friday and I advent a clue as to what is going to happen. As always left out feeling utterly fed up and miserable at yet another of Mum's antics