Persevering Momma

Taking The Day One Spoon At a Time

Making Life for Your Elderly Parent More Comfortable

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Taking care of a sick parent can be very challenging for many people. It can be particularly difficult if you are living with them. You will need to understand what steps to take to make them more comfortable. Here are some things that you should consider.

Tips for Memory Care

Memory problems are highly prevalent among seniors. Most experts believe that between five to eight percent of people over 65 have dementia, but there are a number of factors that can increase the risk for some people. You will want to understand the risks and take steps to keep their brain healthy. Here are some tips that you can follow:

  • Try to keep their brains active. Seniors that are processing new information and making decisions tend to be less likely to develop dementia. Of course, you will need to be aware of their limitations, but it is generally best to keep them as involved and engaged as possible.
  • Provide fewer decisions if they have developed dementia. Many seniors are overwhelmed with decision-making after the onset of dementia. You will need to be aware of these limitations and try to accommodate them.

Watching a parent suffer from dementia can be very difficult. It is a good idea to understand how to prevent the disease if it isn’t too late. Otherwise, you will need to know how to help them cope with it if they are already suffering from it.

Keeping Them in Good Spirits

Seniors are often prone to depression and loneliness. You will need to find ways to help keep your parents happy while they are living with you. Here are some things that you will need to consider.

Get In-house Support

You should consider working with in-home care experts to help your elderly parent deal with any struggles they are facing. These experts can also give you some perspective on their issues and the steps that you will want to take to deal with them.

Pet Therapy

Pet therapy has become a common way to help seniors manage stress and fight depression. They can also keep them company while you are away at work. A number of animals are specifically trained to help aging people.

Find Appropriate Music

Many seniors also feel that music is a great tool to keep them entertained and reduce depression. It has also been shown to be effective for helping people with dementia. You will want to base your choices of music around the problems and challenges that they are suffering from.

You will want to find some relaxing and stimulating songs that can help.  Research has shown that seniors are most stimulated by songs from their own era, as well as those that have some personal significance. You will want to choose more soothing music if they seem agitated.

When I Wish Upon a Star… My 3 Wishes

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Weee! Another day is here and this is another fun little post from the BE Society’s June Challenge.  We have a few people linked up, but can always use some more.  So, go check out the challenge for this month and while you are at it check out all of the BE Society June Challenge posts that I have written so far.

June 6th – If you could have 3 wishes, what would you wish for?

wish

Out of all of the posts so far this one is very tough for me.  You would think that making three wishes would be a lot easier that it really is.  I guess it could also be me over thinking things which is completely plausible, but I want to take this seriously as if I was actually getting the three wishes.

1.  A cure/treatment for Charcot Marie Tooth disease.

2.  Monthly payments of $3000 monthly to live off of.

3.  I would save my third wish so that I could use it in a time of need.

After deciding on my wishes they seem very selfish, but I think most people’s wishes would be.  To me these wishes would be the best things ever.  I would be happy to  be able to do the things I love because of monthly income that would make it so that I could live comfortably.  The cure/treatment for CMT is a given since myself and so many people that I know are affected by the disease.

Day 1 of 30 Days of Pictures

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MeToday is the first day of September and it also means that it is the first day of the 30 Days of Pictures with the BE Society.  Every day this month (if I get to every post) I will be posting up a picture and a blurb for the challenge.  If you would like to join us you can go HERE to find the daily challenges and find out how to link up with us.

I guess for me this is more the end of the last day of August than the first day of September, but I sleep in the morning and am awake all afternoon and night long.  For me though today has been a long day.  We had to deal with fleas which meant cleaning the house from top to bottom.  I am finally sitting down with a sore back, feet and hips.  It was worth it though.  Here is to hoping that the pets are flea free!

To top it off I thought it was hilarious  that I also happened to be wearing my Ugly Christmas T shirt that I reviewed.  This is one of my favorite T shirts because I love the 8-Bit look that it has.  Not only do I love that look, but I also love how it shows a geeky side of me that a lot of the time gets squelched.

 

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Tips For Living With CMT

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Tips for living with cmt

Living with Charcot Marie Tooth Disease isn’t always the easiest thing to do, but you do want to keep yourself strong and active.  These are some tips for things that I have learned over the years that have helped myself and my mother out.  Many are very easy and are things that you can do on your own while relaxing or being busy through out your daily life.

Tips For Living With CMT

  1. Carry a stress ball or therapy putty with you everywhere.  Your hands are very important as you do not want to lose strength in them.  So, in those moments when you find yourself just sitting and waiting pull these out and work those hands.  Keep them strong.  This will help you keep some muscle and strengthen your hands.
  2. Stretch while watching TV.  This is a lot easier than you would think.  I will write up a post later on specific stretches but you can sit and do many of the stretches that I know you probably dreaded in school for the fitness tests.  Stretch out those legs and arms.
  3. Foot care is important.  Trim your toenails diligently.  You might not be diabetic but many of the same things apply to people with CMT.  If you have less feeling you want to check for sores and wounds on your feet.  If your feet are cold like mine make sure you keep them dry. Wet feet grow fungus.
  4. Get the right shoe for you.  If you have arches like me you need to worry about high toe boxes, and shoes that are built taller.  Do NOT buy a bigger shoe size instead buy a wider shoe.  Even if you wear AFOs and know your foot won’t move in the shoe you do not want a shoe that is too big length wise because it will increase the likelihood of you tripping over your feet.
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Protecting Your Eyes From UV Rays

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uv protection

I wrote this review while participating in an influencer campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of HealthyWomen and VISTAKON® Division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. and received a promotional item from Mom Central to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Sunglasses
Sunglasses (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Eye protection against UV rays is something I have always taken seriously.  It might come from the fact that I come from a family where Retina Pigmentosa runs deep.  I have watched my Grandfather Joseph, Aunt, and Cousin all lose their vision as they grew/grow older.  RP is a hereditary condition that there is no cure for yet, however that does not mean  that you should not keep your eyes as healthy as you can with or without it.

The Sun & Your Eyes: What You Need to Know To Stay Safe From UV Rays

Reading glasses
Reading glasses (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The first and foremost topic is protection from UV Rays. Researchers have said that a significant amount of damage can be done before you are 18 years of age.  That is a reminder that not only adults should be wearing sunglasses, but children should be, too.  People with glasses like me may have always struggled to find a way to get UV protection, but there are options out there for you.

Option one is to get clip-on’s that go over your glasses.  These work for most people but when your lens’ start getting real thick this can cause issues.  The second option is to by Transitions on your glasses that can get really dark.  I always get Transitions because they work so well.  If that is too expensive of an option for you then there is still another couple of options.  You can buy a separate pair of prescription sunglasses or you can buy a pair of sunglasses to wear over top of your regular glasses.

Through sunglasses
(Photo credit: Florin Gorgan)

Now, what you contact wearers might not know is that you have UV protection options too!  Up until just the other day I did not know that there was a UV protection option with contacts.  I probably didn’t know this because most contact lens companies do not offer UV protection contacts, but ACUVUE® OASYS® Brand Contact Lenses, or for those who prefer a daily disposable contact lens, 1-DAY ACUVUE® TruEye® Contact Lenses, offer the highest level of UV-blocking available in a contact lens.*

*UV-blocking contact lenses are beneficial in helping to protect against harmful UV rays entering into the eye, long-term clinical studies have not been done to show that they directly reduce the risk of any specific eye disease or condition. That is why they should always be worn in conjunction with high-quality UV-blocking sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat.

I have a couple of other tips that I know are things that I often forget to think about in regards to eye care from Healthy Women‘s website.

 

  • Remember that direct sunlight isn’t the only threat to your eyes. Reflected UV rays can also be harmful. For example, fresh snow reflects as much as 80 percent of UV radiation; dry sand about 15 percent; and sea foam about 25 percent. And, because you’re more likely to look down than up, more UV light is reflected directly into your eyes. Hats with brims offer no protection from reflected UV rays.
  • Select darker lenses, particularly if your eyes are light sensitive. Gray lenses offer less color distortion than other color lenses, though no more protection.
  • Don’t just select sunglasses because they look cool make sure that it says that they block 99% of UV rays.

 

Oregon Seafoam
Oregon Seafoam (Photo credit: ComputerMiracles)

 

Take care of your eyes and check out HealthyWomen.org “Eye Health Center” for even more great tips of eye care.

 

 

 

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