How Are You All Coping In This Weather ?

[MaNaAk]

Hello Everyone.

As a former carer I just want to say that I hope you are managing in this weather.

MaNaAk

 

[Izzy]

I’ve been thinking of carers over the last couple of days as well. In Scotland we don’t have the heat you have all been describing but I know that my mother in particular would have coped very badly in these circumstances. Getting my husband to drink at the best of times was not easy so keeping him hydrated would have been a problem.

We have horrendous thunderstorms just now. I’ve been listening to the radio reports of damage to roads etc and it’s still hammering down with rain and the thunder is still rumbling. Some of the thunder claps have lasted for minutes and the whole sky has been lit up with sheet lightning. I know how scary I have found this and I dread to think how my mum and my husband would have felt.

Thinking of all who are coping with the extremes of weather on top of all that COVID has added to dementia.

 

[Sarasa]

The short answer is I'm not coping very well at all. I'm here in the lounge, the coolest room in the house with a fan on, and it's rather pleasant. Outside it has been oven like the last few days. They keep on promising us thunderstorms, but keep on pushing back on when they'll arrive. Even my husband aka the lizard who loves really hot weather found it difficult to sleep the other night, I found it nigh on impossible.
Mum always claimed she was cold even when her flat was at 30 degrees plus, so I'm sure she is fine in her care home. I do worry about MiL. She won't drink a lot at the best of times as she doesn't want to keep on going to the loo. We're off to look after her for a few days at the weekend, so I hope it isn't as hot there and we can keep her hydrated.

 

[Grannie G]

I`m struggling too but just grateful I`m not caring. My husband wanted to be indoors all the time and even wanted the gas fire on the warmest days so goodness knows how he would have been with this.

I seem to be sitting around all day once my basic bits of housework are done and that is not good either. I tried to have a short walk early in the morning but felt faint even then.

I manage a few Qigong and Yoga movements in the morning in the shade but once the sun is round by 11am, I`m indoors with the fan on .

Apparently there was a massive downpour at Witstable , just over 20 miles away but not a drop here.

A country of two extremes @Izzy. Such storms are frightening.

 

[love.dad.but..]

It must be really difficult for carers at home in this heat really feel for you all. I am in the SE and I am completely de motivated when it is so hot so am thankful that I don't now have dad to look after. Hopefully a break in the weather tomorrow.

 

[MaNaAk]

I've just heard about those storms @Izzy and I hope you are okay. Here in the southeast it is like @Lovedadbut says more 30 degrees or above temperatures are ecpected today however it should be cooler tomorrow.

MaNaAk

 

[Spamar]

33 C in the conservatory right now, with the doors open. Far too hot for me. I woke up at 06:00, glowing well. Also now sitting here with a cooling fan over my legs!

 

[MaNaAk]

I had a shower but I want to jump back in again.

MaNaAk

 

[Duggies-girl]

I am in the southeast too and it's horrible. I am just so glad that I am not still looking after dad because as soon as I opened a window, he would close it.

I am kayaking on Saturday and they forecast cloudy weather and rain. I can't wait and I am determined to get a swim in the river.

 

[canary]

Its horrible here - far, far too hot. Iv got every door and window in my house open (good job OH is not a wanderer) and Im still sitting here sweating. I cant bare anything on me when I try and sleep and still keep waking up slick with sweat.

Neither OH, nor I are sleeping well and we are both feeling grouchy. When the thunderstorms and rain finally arrive (they have been promised all week) I will be straight outside dancing in the rain.

 

[jennifer1967]

im melting in the SE. know my limits the housework can wait a bit of dust is not going to change overnight. had a shower last night and wish i could stay there last night. woke up glowing and wet. got fan in my room and cold flannel too.worked a bit. felt sorry for himself who has copd had 2 fans but still had problems breathing with rubbish air quality. i have a real phobia about water and cant go any where close but dancing in the rain i could do.

 

[Ramblingrose]

What heatwave? The way my mum keeps moaning about how cold she is I wonder. Seriously though is it her brain not getting messages through to her body that it is actually very hot. I have heard other people say that dementia sufferers feel cold even when it isn't cold.

 

[MaNaAk]

@Duggies-girl says she is going kayaking possibly in the rain how exciting. When I was a child in Malaysia some Sundays would be spent at the beach. When the rain came everyone would make a bee-line for the water.

MaNaAk

 

[Pete1]

Hi All, I guess a big worry for those caring is dehydration and added confusion that goes with it - for the loved one with dementia that is! I know it was difficult to get Mum to drink at the best of times, so I always dreaded this extreme heat. It also makes it quite difficult to maintain your normal patience with the questioning on a loop! I do feel for you good folk who are trying to deliver care in this extreme heat.

my husband aka the lizard who loves really hot weather

Brilliant, does he know about his nickname?

 

[Louise7]

I'm melting here in London I've been working from home since lockdown and although I love the sun/heat when on holiday (not that I've had one for years!) being stuck indoors at a computer in this weather isn't much fun. I just popped out to the corner shop for a pint of milk and I'm surprised it wasn't yoghurt by the time I got home! Hope mum is being kept cool in her care home as it gets very warm in there even during the winter. We bought a tower fan for her room so hopefully that's switched on, and the staff are usually quite generous with the ice lollies, so fingers crossed she's having lots of fluids

 

[Starting on a journey]

I’m not sure my mum has noticed too much. She felt it last night when it was close and mentions it but then eats a hot pie and what’s for tea, so nothing like when she was younger and would have been unconscious under a fan

 

[Canadian Joanne]

We have central air conditioning so home is comfortable. But it has been very hot here all summer so far. In fact, it started in May. Around the 4th of May we had a scattering of snow and at the end of the month it was 30º. Such are the vagaries of Canadian weather, at least where I am.

Here's a tip to help you cool down - put your feet in cold water. You can use anything - a plastic pan, a kiddy pool, whatever you have available. I've done this before having A/C and I found it helped me.

 

[DianeW]

Ha ha I have my feet in a bowl of cold water as we speak......

I too work from home and am struggling despite 2 fans on, it’s very hard to sleep too......roll on cooler weather!!!!

 

[nae sporran]

What heatwave? The way my mum keeps moaning about how cold she is I wonder. Seriously though is it her brain not getting messages through to her body that it is actually very hot. I have heard other people say that dementia sufferers feel cold even when it isn't cold.

My partner is like that, though even she is feeling it today. Thankfully, she is drinking a bit more than usual though.

 

[MaNaAk]

I've been doing that as well as I've noticed slightly swollen ankles and they are getting better. However I am only 55 but that said I do have a gnat bite on one ankle. Anyway of course Malaysia, where dad comes from has tropical heat and so there are fans in every room are conditioning so they are used to it but what @Canadian Joanne has just described is what I call global warming where the weather becomes more extreme. The only consolationis that at least we aren't queueing outside shops in the snow.

MaNaAk