Hello all,
I'm struggling with all the different emotions of this time.
My grandmother's health has declined over the past few months, in my opinion due to inadequate care from her aides...
I'm just going to describe the state she's in right now, to see if anyone can recognize it from their own experiences? I'm just confused at what to focus on with her health.
So... Sylvia is 102 years old, and I guess you could say there has been a struggle between her dementia and her own personality/insticts, in a physical sense.
Since her dementia kicked in late 2013, she hasn't *wanted* to eat, but with coaxing and a strong approach from the aides, she did. The not wanting to eat is the dementia side. And then since she was getting food, her personality was very present, and you could see she wanted to live.
Right now, though...since mid-February she's transitioned to an all-liquid diet, mostly of the beverage Ensure. She was drinking about 3 Ensures a day, as of a month ago...but in recent weeks, is down to just 2. (and it might not be the whole drink, but a watered down version to hydrate her a bit).
In the past few weeks she has a much increased sleepiness - like, she would prefer to sleep a LOT throughout the day, long long naps.
In the last week, since she became dehydrated I took her to ER on Monday.
This whole week, she won't drink her Ensures unless I am there to offer them.
<On a personal/venting side, this has become very stressful...because I'm a bouncy, lightspirited 34 yrs old, and it's hard to be the only person responsible for whether another human being will drink fluids every day. My friends have no idea what caregiving entails, I live in a city where everyone is rushing around and not having time to really deeply check in with these situations.>
Does anyone recognize any of this from a loved one?
I'm trying to keep her hydrated, drinking at least 2 bottles (16 ounces) of liquid a day.
She's also lost weight recently...
One of her doctors thinks she has a UTI, but I don't know if her weak little body could handle antibiotics right now, even if that is true.
Any suggestions or recognition, advice...that anyone has?
(sorry, this was a bit of a ramble, just sort of trying to put my thoughts together here...)
I'm struggling with all the different emotions of this time.
My grandmother's health has declined over the past few months, in my opinion due to inadequate care from her aides...
I'm just going to describe the state she's in right now, to see if anyone can recognize it from their own experiences? I'm just confused at what to focus on with her health.
So... Sylvia is 102 years old, and I guess you could say there has been a struggle between her dementia and her own personality/insticts, in a physical sense.
Since her dementia kicked in late 2013, she hasn't *wanted* to eat, but with coaxing and a strong approach from the aides, she did. The not wanting to eat is the dementia side. And then since she was getting food, her personality was very present, and you could see she wanted to live.
Right now, though...since mid-February she's transitioned to an all-liquid diet, mostly of the beverage Ensure. She was drinking about 3 Ensures a day, as of a month ago...but in recent weeks, is down to just 2. (and it might not be the whole drink, but a watered down version to hydrate her a bit).
In the past few weeks she has a much increased sleepiness - like, she would prefer to sleep a LOT throughout the day, long long naps.
In the last week, since she became dehydrated I took her to ER on Monday.
This whole week, she won't drink her Ensures unless I am there to offer them.
<On a personal/venting side, this has become very stressful...because I'm a bouncy, lightspirited 34 yrs old, and it's hard to be the only person responsible for whether another human being will drink fluids every day. My friends have no idea what caregiving entails, I live in a city where everyone is rushing around and not having time to really deeply check in with these situations.>
Does anyone recognize any of this from a loved one?
I'm trying to keep her hydrated, drinking at least 2 bottles (16 ounces) of liquid a day.
She's also lost weight recently...
One of her doctors thinks she has a UTI, but I don't know if her weak little body could handle antibiotics right now, even if that is true.
Any suggestions or recognition, advice...that anyone has?
(sorry, this was a bit of a ramble, just sort of trying to put my thoughts together here...)
. 
