Pill Play

We had a really great day yesterday! We were wide awake, we ate, interfaced, went to the restroom and did it all at a normal level of function!! YEA!! We celebrate good days! Today we are back to the, now, more familiar pattern of heavy sleep and incontinence. But the day is early. We’ll see where it takes us as we move through it.

We have had a shift in another routine, though. The little pot of pills that mom would take in the morning and evening have now got to be put in her mouth directly so that she can chew them and swallow them without losing them. (FYI: swallowing is one of those things that is impacted by Alzehimer’s. It becomes harder and harder to swallow until even liquids can be difficult. I think thick liquids like applesauce are actually easier for her to swallow than liquids or solids, like her pills. Hence, the chewing of her pills.)

Mom has begun playing some fun games with her pills. She will take them out of the cup and line them up on her dinner tray. Or she will use her fork or spoon to scoop them out of the pill tub. Either way many of them end up on the floor and I have to scramble around under the chair to find them. This is apparently quite funny to watch… To Watch. Humph!  ;)

Another favorite play of late is to take whatever she is eating and pile it into the pill cup. I’m really not sure where that comes from? Maybe it’s because they are applesauce cups, originally, and she thinks that she should be eating out of them? But never the less, the pills begin to break down when the moist, warm food hits them, so I begin a rapid feeding process to get the food and pills into her before they breakdown and melt into the cup. Again, the problem with swallowing comes into consideration and so we try to balance slow chew and swallow with the rapidly dissolving pills. Not as funny to watch apparently, but that’s when the feeding games begin and mom starts playfully pretending she won’t open her mouth for food until I cajole her into it or laugh at her joke then tell her I’ll send her to bed without dessert. Hey… It worked on me when I was the kid!

So now, I just pop the pills in her mouth for her and we avoid all the fun for her and all the games for me! I know… I’m just no fun anymore!

Asleep and Awake

Mom is sleeping a great deal of the time now, she is really only awake for about 6 hours most days, with a bit of napping throughout that time. I suspect that we are moving further into the phase where sleep becomes an almost constant thing. But we’re not there yet, so we laugh and watch Christmas movies, look at all the twinkling lights on the trees and enjoy the time we have with daylight and wakefulness.

In conjunction with her sleepiness, mom also seems to be getting weaker. She can barely push herself up to the edge of the chair and offers little assistance to me when I am trying to get her up to move. I’m not sure if the weakness comes from her lack of movement or if it’s just another symptom of the phase we are in.

The other day, for the first time, mom actually hesitated when stepping from the white carpet of her room onto the darker marble of the entry way. I understand that it is not uncommon for Alzheimer’s patients to be confused by dark colored flooring; they think that it’s a hole in the floor, but mom has not really shown much concern over such things until the other day. Even then it was just a momentary hesitation, so it may not mean anything more than that moving from carpet to tile made her nervous. It will be interesting to see if it happens again.

On a decidedly happy note, friends came by tonight to bring their 4 month old to visit mom. I know you think that sounds odd, but the maternal instinct in mom is so strong that she comes alive and laughs and plays with the little ones when they are here. It is such a delight to see her play with the babies and I am always so grateful to friends when they bring their children by. The mother instinct doesn’t seem to fade with the other memories and those big, toothless grins and drooling giggles just light up her face and stir up her sleepy mind. What a blessing it was to put her to bed with a big smile still on her face.

Entertainment

We have found that staying awake is easier when we are watching a great movie…. or a really fun movie. We are drawn to the animated children’s movies, as a rule. Films like Tangled, Toy Story or the Ice Age films are almost always a guaranteed hit. Other non-animated kids movies, such as the newer version of Peter Pan, Babe or Nim’s Island are also great choices. They have plots that are easy to follow and, when she can’t follow the plots any more, Mom enjoys the large gesture laughs and the goofy situations. She enjoys the whimsy of animals talking, or children flying and delightedly fighting pirates. She can watch them over and over again and enjoy them just like it was the first time she’s seen them. She will also marvel each “first time” that I know all the words to the little songs in the movies…  Yes, a good old children’s movie works wonders for a sleepy mind.

However, nothing works like the great old movies that she has known and loved for years. Doris Day, Errol Flynn or one of those great old musicals will keep her smiling and singing along in delight. The old movies are the ones she loved when she was young, that she watched with my dad and that she still recognizes when she doesn’t remember the person with whom she was just talking. Oh, did I mention that the best movies, the movies she remembers so well that she will stay up late to watch them, would be anything with John Wayne in it?!  Well I should have. She wanted to go to bed at 4:00 and here we are, 3 hours later and one and a half John Wayne movies in and she’s wide awake and unwilling to go to bed until John Wayne saves the day! She may not remember which movie it is, but she does remember that John Wayne will always save the day!

Worrisome Declines

I’m becoming a little bit worried that mom is spending so much time sleeping, and sleeping heavily. For the past two days she has slept so heavily that she has failed to notice that she needed to go to the bathroom. Her Depends kept her dry and safe, but we may be slipping into a new pattern. OR… we may just be dealing with the exhaustion that comes from over stimulation. With all the family visiting and laughter that goes along with the Thanksgiving holiday, she may just be exhausted. It is not unusual for her to sleep for a day or two after such exciting events.  I will say that she has, on more than one occasion been so fast asleep that she had to practically run to the bathroom, but she has not often slept so hard that she didn’t even know she needed to go.

Also, she is having a harder time doing some of the little things that she normally used to do, such as getting up from her chair, pulling up her pants after she goes to the restroom and even remembering where her bathroom is from her bed. This seems to be more a growing trend than a “now and again” thing, so it is worrisome. She is still very capable of brushing her teeth, though, so it may be more an issue of balance problems when standing that throws her off focus with some of these things. Sometimes it’s hard to know if we are in a changing pattern or if we are just seeing a slump while she gathers her strength.

It's the Small Things

With Alzheimer’s the brain stops tracking the way it used to on such things as words, memories, and conversational control. It also impacts motor skills, too. Doing simple things like dressing, feeding yourself and basic hygiene becomes less and less manageable as the disease progresses. I may be wrong in my approach, but I always try to have my mom do as much as she can by herself; from pushing herself up out of her big chair to walking instead of being pushed in her wheel chair and even to performing her own ablutions. I can judge how tired she is, by how many of the small things she can do for herself.

As she has moved through this process we went from a woman able to select her own clothes, dress and put on make-up, to a woman who sits passively while she is washed, dressed in jammies, in which she almost exclusively lives now, and her hair is combed for her. She can still brush her teeth quite thoroughly, but she really has no concept any longer of personal hygiene.

She has gotten weaker, as time has passed. On good days she can walk, with the aid of her rolling walker, back and forth from her bed room to her bathroom or from her bedroom to the family room/ kitchen.  On most days, she can only walk part of the way before being exhausted, but walk she does so that she can keep up some of her strength.

I have noticed at night that she is just fine when she’s sitting and watching the TV, but when it’s time to get up she goes wobbly and seems shaken. Sometimes she even sags over on one side or the other. I’ve done the stroke tests, smile, raise your arms, repeat after me, and to all of them she responds perfectly. Worried that she might be having TIA’s, I asked the Dr with the Alzheimer’s study program about the incidents when she called for the annual review. She indicated that it is most likely a result of the disease. When tired, Alzheimer’s patients can have little glitches in their circuitry that looks like a mini stroke, but is just a weary brain that can’t find the direct pathway it needs to accomplish its task.

We keep trying to stay ahead of the big things related to this disease, but sometimes it’s the small things that seem so big.  Unless we handle them together, then nothing is too big for us.

Being Still

There are those days when you have a million things planned and the schedule is going to be tight… and then the phone rings. Your caregiver can’t make it in today and suddenly you go from a screaming run to…. Stillness and slow motion.

I have to admit that coming out of the fast paced business world and having to learn how to be still is not as easy as it sounds. Your mind and your body are geared to a state of constant motion, always thinking through the current problem, prepping for the next appointment, coordinating with everyone involved in the process, pop, pop, pop!

And then you have to learn how to retrain your brain to notice the small changes in diet, or sleep patterns or behavioral shifts that could mean something… or nothing at all. You are the only one who can get her to eat, or bathe, or just get out of bed. You are the one she remembers and you are the one she looks for when she’s worried or confused or frustrated.

 You get out when you can, but chances are good that you’ll get at least one call to talk to her about doing something she’s pushing back against doing. The time away is limited and the time of sitting and watching is sometimes unending, so when you plan on a busy day and you get “That Call”… it’s always frustrating… at the very least.

Learning to be still means you find other ways to entertain your mind. It means you read, you meander through the internet, you watch TV while you keep a steady eye on the monitor that’s keeping an eye on her. When she’s awake and fed and sitting up in the room with you, then you can do things like clean the kitchen, vacuum the room or clean a bathroom. While she’s engaged in what she’s eating or watching on TV, you have a bit of move around time, but when she’s sleeping and could try to get out of bed unnoticed you don’t dare be too distracted or you will miss her move and she could fall.

So you learn to be still. When you get a chance to run, you run, but when that call comes in that tells you that your planned run is on hold… you smile, you sit down, and you go back to being still, because that’s what you need to be doing.  

You can always fill the still times by blogging about being still… it works for me!

Irrational Fears

Over the past few weeks Mom has been experiencing nightmares, of a sort. She must be dreaming that she is alone because she will wake up calling my name in a panicked manner. As soon as she hears my voice she calms down and goes back to sleep, perfectly at ease and no longer worried. I spoke about this behavior with the interviewer from the Alzheimer’s study when they called last week. She said that it isn’t dementia setting in since it is occurring only in Mom’s dreams. She thinks it is a perfectly normal manifestation of the disease, however. I suspect that, not really knowing where she is all the time, even in her own home, makes her more fearful of being left alone and lost. She is never alone, but, when she’s sleeping, she doesn’t always know that. It’s an irrational, but totally understandable, fear.

Frankly, I can identify with irrational fears. I have been having panic attacks worrying about what will happen to me when I am no longer needed here to care for mom. Where will I go, what will I do make a living at my age? Will anyone be able to take care of me when I need the same help I’m able to give now?  These are apparently normal questions and points of worry for caregivers. I was stunned to find out that I am not just a paranoid worry wart… well, I am, but I’m not the only one! I am blessed, however, to have family who support me in the care of my mother and in assuring that my worries, my irrational fears, are soothed just as I soothe my mother’s.

There is no way that I could do what I do for my mother and maintain a calm and patient approach without the backup, support and constant care of my siblings, aunts and cousins. They all step in when I am worried or tired and take the needed steps to keep me in one piece so that I can continue to do the same for Mom. I honestly don’t know how people, who don’t have the vast support structure with which I have been blessed, can do what needs to be done without falling apart now and then.

Irrational fears, yeah, we got ’em! But I’m here to soothe my mother’s fears and my family allows me the freedom to plan, sometimes on a microscopic level, the way the next phase of my life will go and to set those plans in motion in order to allay mine. Mom may start awake at night, crying out, in response to her fears, while I lay awake at night trying to plan everything out step by step, over and over, in response to mine, but that’s okay. At least I’m awake and ready to respond when she startles awake and calls my name. So it’s all good!!

The Good, The Bad and The Wonderful Man

The Good:
Yesterday we got a call from Mom’s distant past. When I was probably 3 to 5 years old we lived in Ithaca, NY while my father got his Master’s Degree from Cornell. I don’t remember a lot from that time, obviously, but I heard stories for all of my life about the wonderful friends my parents made, the fun they shared and what a precious gift my parents had always considered those people and that time in their lives to be.

Yesterday afternoon we got a call from one of those special people. They had not spoken with my parents in years and their brilliant Geek Son helped them track my parents down. They didn’t know that my dad had passed until we talked. They didn’t know that mom has Alzheimer’s until we talked. They didn’t know that their call would be so magical until we talked!!  After we had chatted a few minutes I asked them if they would be willing to try and talk to mom. They both responded delightedly in the positive and I handed over the phone to mom. I told her who they were as I handed her the phone and she started smiling… she remembered them!!

I listened to the conversation, but it was watching it that really touched my heart. I could hear their voices on the phone and then mom would struggle to find the words to say what she wanted to say. They listened patiently and, when she paused, they laughed and leapt in with another tale or comment. Mom’s smile got bigger and more beautiful as the conversation, one sided as it was, progressed. When she handed the phone back to me about 5 minutes later she was outright giggly! Later, when we went to bed I reminded her that they had called and she talked about the call for 30 minutes, asking me over and over again where she knew them from and what was their name… each time I would tell her, she would pause, smile and say they were always such wonderful  people, just such wonderful people.  After 30 minutes I told her that I would put her in time out if she didn’t stop giggling and talking so that we could go to sleep.  She giggled again, and drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face.

The Bad:

This morning, between seeing her throw back her covers on the monitor and getting down to her room to help her, mom had tried putting on her house shoes and slipped off the edge of the bed and onto the floor. The bed is low and the carpet is soft, so she was comfortably stretched out on the floor when I reached her. I knew I could not get her up by myself and the caregiver was not due to arrive for a while. I tried calling my very dear neighbor next door who has helped me before in an emergency, but the answering machine was all I got. So I tried to get mom up from her back and that didn’t work. I tried rolling her onto her stomach to get her to her hands and knees, but she couldn’t process the steps to push up with her hands and get herself onto her knees so she was trapped on her face. Each time I tried to move her to a different position she would cry out in panic because she didn’t know what to do for herself and I was not strong enough to get her up on my own. On the borderline of tears, fearing that 911 was my only remaining option, I tried my nice neighbor one more time and when he answered the phone that time, I really did almost cry. He came right over and, between us, we were able to get her up from a sitting position and onto her feet, then into her walker chair. Once there, it was easy to tackle the rest of the day, but getting there was not the way I want to start too many mornings.

My neighbor stayed until I had mom settled. She took his hand and chitty chatted with him, laughing and joking while I was trying to work joints to be sure that she had not hurt herself in sliding off the bed or rolling on the floor. It’s very difficult to assess the wellbeing of a woman who is busy flirting with a handsome man at the same time… From which I was able to determine that she was no worse for the wear after her fall.

Oh… the wonderful man… of course he’s my neighbor. I cannot say enough about the blessing that all my neighbors have been in the course of this walk. I really feel like it has become a neighborhood project to love my mom and help us through this time. I’m glad I’m in a neighborhood overburdened with loving people!  

Christmas Music and Laughter

Today was one of those days when mom just didn’t want to get up. She had been up bright and early for two days in a row and this morning she wanted to sleep! The caregiver tried opening window blinds to make the room light. She tried turning on lights and music. She even tried tilting the bed upwards to see if she could wake her by putting her into a semi sitting position. All her efforts were to no avail and Mom was getting irritated that she was being asked to get out of bed at the outrageously early hour of 1:00. Teenagers and princesses have nothing on mom when these mornings happen!

I had gone out for a while with friends and, when we got the call in the middle of lunch, they graciously asked for to go boxes and we dashed home to try and get her up. It was important because her blood sugar had already been low early in the morning. We’d given her applesauce with corn starch in it to hold her over until she was ready to wake up, but by 1:00 it had worn off and her sugar was starting to drop again. So it was up to me and my bag of dirty tricks…

I raised the bed all the way up, put a Christmas movie on TV, (yes, the Hallmark channel is already running them on the weekends) and then had my friends come in with their joyful voices and friendly laughter to chat with mom. When she heard their voices, the hostess awoke, and she dragged the sleeping princess into full wakefulness with her. They stood beside her bed and chatted with her about whatever she wanted to ask them about while the caregiver slipped out and warmed her breakfast back up. Before she knew what was happening, she was sitting in her chair eating oatmeal and singing along with the Christmas carol that was playing in the movie. It just seems wrong to trick your mom into doing things she doesn’t want to do, but I guess doing it with laughter and Christmas music softens the blow a bit!  

Caregivers

When I first agreed to come and stay to help mom and dad, my father had insisted that we hire caregivers to cover the daytime hours so that I could get away now and then. I had told him that I didn’t need that help and suggested that he save the money, but he ignored my suggestion. These days, I really appreciate the wisdom and foresight of my father.

Caregivers are more than just a babysitter for seniors. We have been blessed to have worked with some of the best and most loving women I have ever known. They have their own lives and some days scheduling can get crazy, but they are there when I need them and they always bring their A game.

We have one who works Monday through Friday and one who works weekends. They cook mom’s breakfast and serve her lunch, or early supper as lunchtime sometimes works out to be late in the day. They do light house cleaning, they make sure that mom’s clothes and undergarments are always fresh during the day. They give her the medicines she requires and track her blood sugar. One of them helps me give her showers and both keep her clean in between those showers. They do all sorts of things for mom, but the main thing that they do for mom is to sit with her during the day. They keep her entertained when she’s awake and safe and warm when she’s asleep. And for me, they give me time to not be “in charge”. Sometimes I get out of the house and run errands, but other times I just hide in my office and work on my writing. I get to take walks with our dog or I slip away with my camera and connect with the peaceful joy that taking my silly little pictures brings me.

Each of the care givers who have worked with us has had their own array of training and experiences and they have proven to be a valuable resource in handling the new twists and turns of Alzheimer’s. They warn me when they see new behaviors developing. They alert me as they notice patterns that could cause mom physical harm. They are full of ideas and wisdom and they are more than willing to offer both as the need arises.

All of that said, I also have to add that they have proven to be generous and loving in their daily support of me, even when I’m tired and cranky. My life would be so very difficult and frustrating without them and I am so very grateful to them for all they do for my mother and for me.

Light in the Darkness

Most days in the winter are misty and grey. They never quite get light enough to rouse mom from her winter lethargy. Every once in a while, though, we get those sparkling days when the sunlight bouncing off the water is almost brighter than its brilliant aerial source. Yesterday and today have been those kinds of days and mom has been awake and energized for much of both days.

Yesterday when we made our morning run to the restroom, she looked around and then turned to me with a puzzled look on her face. “Where’s the toilet paper?” Now, we have been cleaning her up each time she goes to the bathroom for months, but that morning the light was shining in the darkness of her mind and she was my old mother. No WAY was I going to clean her up and no WAY was she going to use a wet wipe to clean herself. We eventually arrived at a compromise, but it was wonderful to see her brain working the way it used to work.

This morning mom also woke up early and was ready to get out of bed and get her day started! My caregiver had not yet arrived so I got her settled in her big chair with a banana and a cup of tea, then set off to the kitchen to start breakfast.  At that moment, the phone rang and a soldier, a wounded warrior, that we had “adopted” for Christmas the year before told me that he was at the door. He had just dropped in to say hello and introduce a buddy of his from the wounded warrior battalion. I think it’s safe to say that David has adopted us also and we are the closest thing to family that he has here, so it isn’t that odd for him to bring a buddy by to meet us… although 10:00 in the morning is a bit earlier than usual.

They had just left the base so David was in uniform. He asked if he could come in and say hi to my mom. She was delighted to see him and acted like she recognized him because no good hostess would admit to not knowing a guest. He came over, gave her a hug and introduced his friend who also reached over to shake her hand. I mentioned to his buddy that mom has Alzheimer’s and might repeat a question or two. He assured me that his Grandmother had suffered from Alzheimer’s, too, and that he was well acquainted with the ups and downs of the disease. I am often amazed at the number of people whose lives have been impacted by this disease in one way or another. But I digress…

David was holding Mom’s hand, as is her habit with visitors. She had given him a kiss or two on his hand in welcome and then she reached up and grabbed the hem of his uniform blouse. She gave it a little tug and said, “You’re in the…. Bill!” She couldn’t remember the word for which she was looking, Army, but she remembered that Dad had served in that uniform. So David patted her hand one more time and said “Yes! I am in the Bill!” Her face lit up and the light sparkled again in her eyes. You gotta love the light in the darkness!

Tremors

I have noticed over the last 6 months or more that mom has developed a tremor in her left leg and her right hand. Neither is constant, but both are starting to become more frequent. I’m not sure if they mean anything, but it does make holding her fork to eat more difficult and I worry, when her leg starts shaking as she tries to stand, if she will be able to hold her own weight.

Since I have to talk with her doctor about her low morning blood sugar numbers on Monday, I’ll ask him about the tremors, as well.  The only problem is that, when I ask the Dr about something, he wants to see her. A trip out of the house is always a nightmare, so we investigate a question by creating a monster. Just Call me Frankenstein!

Hot Dogs, Cold Cats

There are those quirky little behaviors that come with progressing Alzheimer’s, some physical activities, some verbal. Both are reflections of the brain trying to hold its ground against the encroaching darkness. Mom’s verbal quirks were, at first, quite humorous and, later, quite annoying. Now… now they are greatly missed.

For a couple of years Mom would express agreement, concurrence, or happiness by saying, “Hot Dogs, Cold Cats, Fried Monkeys and Stewed Rats!” It was an old saying she had taught us as kids. I have no idea where she learned it, but I suspect it was leftover from her youth, as well. Friends would come over and she would say it and they would giggle and encourage her to say it again. After about three months of that, okay maybe about 3 weeks of it, I got tired of the saying and was more than ready to take the hot dogs and the cold cats and stuff them where the stewed rats don’t shine…  but still people would come to visit and mom would express her delight to see them by recounting her full ritual of yummy animals.

Some people would try to confuse her by misleading her in phraseology, hot dogs, cold cats, yellow monkeys and fluffy rats, or some variant thereof. They didn’t really understand that being able to hold accurately onto that phrase was part of the anchor her mind had formed to keep itself from drifting farther afield. It was their way of playing the game with her and she always laughed with them, not understanding that she had gone adrift, but knowing, in her loving, hostess heart, that they were sharing a laugh together.

That annoying phrase, the one that used to make me pull my hair out, that phrase has now drifted off into the abyss of Alzheimer’s. Now, when delighted or in concurrence with a plan, she’ll still say, “Hot Dog”, but the rest of the menagerie is out sight, out of mind. And I miss them, because I know that they took a bit more of my mother’s memory with them. So now, I’m the one who recites Hot Dogs, Cold Cats, Fried Monkeys annnnnnd…..  And I wait patiently to see if the Stewed Rats surface in her smile. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t, but either way we laugh at the silliness of the old saying and step forward into the next change.

Patterns and Routines

I have found that, in doing the everyday things successfully, it’s best if we establish and maintain a routine… a pattern of habits that we follow each time. Doing simple things like placing the walker/ chair in the same place each time we go to the bathroom, laying out the wipes and wiping our hands the same way, even using the same words when directing movements. While she may forget, with her mind, the patterns, the repeated ritual of doing the same things the same way lead to an instinctive response in those times when mom is most exhausted and unable to process instructions.

I’ve always talked a lot… a lot. I’m finding that habit coming in handy these days. Mom seems to relax and work with me better when I’m telling her everything I’m doing as I do it, or even before I do it if it involves sudden movements or loud noises. For example, “I’m going to pop the lock of the handles of the walker and then push you sideways so hold on.” Or "I’m going to roll you backwards and then pull you up to the sink, but I promise I’ll stop before your knees touch. So don’t worry.” Telling her what is happening makes her feel more in control and more at ease as things take place. When your mind can’t process a thought at normal speeds, then even things that move slowly can feel like they are spinning out of control.  

On the other hand, sometimes it’s best not to say too much. I usually prepare her tooth brush and water while she’s in the toilet. Then, when she comes out, we roll over to the sink and get our teeth brushed. I roll her into place, not banging her knees, as promised. Then pull out a Kleenex and fold it as I walk around her chair to reach her tooth brush.  The electric toothbrush always makes her nose run, so it’s best to have the tissue ready for her when she’s finished with the brushing process. I then hand her the toothbrush and tell her to put it in her mouth. When she’s done I help her stand to rinse and swish. Then I get her resettled and hand her the tissue before moving her out of the bathroom. It works smoothly... usually.

One time, I handed her the toothbrush and said, “Put this in your mouth and turn it on.” She heard “turn it on” last and so, halfway to her mouth, that’s what she acted on. With a fully charged electric toothbrush, that green gel tooth paste didn’t stand a chance. We had green gel on the mirror, the counter tops, the walls and all over both mom’s face and mine as I jumped in to grab the brush and turn it off. We were truly slimed. Needless to say, all I ask her to do these days is put it in her mouth. We let those patterns of habit do the rest.  

Cheep Cheep, Little Birdie

In addition to her Alzheimer’s, mom is contending with Diabetes. As we move into the sleepy time of the year it is harder to get enough food into mom to keep her sugar balanced with the amount of insulin she has to take. We are steadily, and at the Dr’s direction, reducing her insulin to accommodate the decrease in food intake. One of the things that we do to help keep the sugars up overnight is to put corn starch in her applesauce, or other fruit cup. It doesn’t change the flavor too much and it takes longer to break down in her system, so her sugars are steadier in the mornings.

This morning her sugar was a bit low. It’s the third day in a row that her sugar has been in the 80’s and 90’s. They want her sugars to say between 100 and 125 these days, so I needed to bring it up. She is often sleepy in the mornings and not much inclined to have applesauce popped down her throat when she wants to sleep. Today was such a day. I put some cornstarch in peach mango sauce and we played feed the little birdie! I raised the head of her bed so that she won’t choke on anything and I said, “cheep  cheep little birdie, here comes Momma with your food.” At which she giggled and popped open her mouth. As with so many other things in her life, laughter is the key to mom’s willingness to engage or participate.

One thing to note, with Alzheimer’s it becomes harder and harder to swallow things. I have come to understand that’s why, in part, she chews all her pills. So keeping her head up to let gravity help move the food down is really critical, and her new, moving bed, is a great blessing in that regard. I no longer have to make her sit up on the edge of the bed in order to feed her something. She can relax and lay back and just let her bed do all the work!