Caring for the Elderly

Continuing to watch my mother care for my grandmother has been an eye-opening experience.

Today, like most Saturdays lately, Mom and I loaded Granny into the car to run errands, have lunch, and go to the store (i.e. Walmart). This not only gets Granny out of the house, but it allows Mom to get out and about with other people.  You would think it would be a nice break, but the whole process of taking Granny anywhere is quite exhausting.

Each time we go to the store, Granny reminds me of a toddler shopping with his/her parents--looking at everything on the shelves, pointing to things she wants, asking over and over for items until she gets them or you leave, grabbing items from shelves when we roll her to close, and more. The worst is going down the bread aisle and passing all the Little Debbie sweets.  She points and grabs all kinds of different sweets.  She loves Donut Sticks, little donuts, and Honey Buns. The second worst is waiting in the check-out lane.  She looks at all the candy, grabbing a few, and the various impulse items lining the waiting area.

Today, she was all about getting three different sizes of storage bags, Pop Tarts, lipstick, and a small bag. To you, this may not seem like a big deal, but Mom does everything at the house, so she knows what is needed and what isn't. Granny pretty much sits in her chair or in bed.  Other than the puzzle in the daily paper, she doesn't do anything. Not that we haven't tried!  I just find it funny what she insists on getting and how childlike she is going about it.

Besides this, she is all about the sweets.  If at all possible, she would eat sweets all day long. She eats far more syrup on her waffles or pancakes than a family of 6 could eat in one sitting. She eats Donut Sticks, snack cakes, candy, and anything else sweet that you could imagine, and that is all she wants.  Poor, Mom.  She has to fight the sweets all day and make sure Granny eats all the food groups and gets enough protein.  It is quite a fight.  Just like when parents try to get their young children to eat appropriately.

I have been concerned about my mom from the beginning.  She isn't in the best health, but she insists on doing this.  Granny has Dementia, so we are learning how to deal with that.  I have noticed that my mom has started forgetting things.  I'm not sure how serious it is just yet, but it does worry me.

Anyone else caring for the elderly?  What have you noticed?  What do you fight?  How do you survive?