The Knee Bone's Connected To ...
tsb

Such a face! Daddy Bones@ age 12, gracing the book's cover.

 

 How to Keep Your Sanity Intact When a Loved One Needs a Nursing Home  

It’s estimated that more than 50 million people provide care for a chronically ill, disabled or aged family member or friend during any given year.

Studies show that extremely stressed caregivers can age or die prematurely. 

“Bette Davis said ‘old age is no place for sissies,’ but caring for an older loved one isn’t for the feint of heart, either,” says Bones. “I loved my dad and we were very close, but the strain of ‘putting’ him in a nursing home was so overwhelming for all of us that I felt like I was on the edge of a nervous breakdown.”

Becoming aware of some of the don’ts” of long-term care can make daily life easier for nursing home residents and for their family caretakers,” she notes.

Bones offers some key examples from her Nursing Home Checklist:

· Ask clergy, family, and friends - especially those in the health care field - to recommend outstanding nursing homes.

· When touring a nursing home, ask other visitors for frank feedback about the facility. Don’t just inspect the “sample” room, look into residents’ rooms to check for cleanliness.

· Assure your loved one that you will be their ongoing advocate.

· Visit your loved one often and at varying times of the day - and night. This alerts all of the caregivers that you are keeping an eye on your loved one.

· Get to know the staff, especially your loved one’s immediate caregivers.

· Thank the employees for the thankless job that they do.

· Put your loved one’s name on all their belongings, including clothes and personal products. Never leave money or valuables in their room.

· Place a quilt, photos and other small touches to create a “homey” room.

· Put a brief bio and picture of your loved one at the entrance of their room to “introduce” them to staff and visitors.

. Bring old photos when you visit your loved one - it will give you something to look at if conversation lags.

. Bring different edible treats to spice-up the resident's menu.

 

 


 

 

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Monday
Jul272009

Say WHAT?

My darling spouse tries the same trick as Sarah Palin: sometimes he nonchalantly pronounces a statement so confusingly absurd that for a moment I think he's making perfect sense until it hits me - he's full of malarkey and hoping I won't notice.

He must have given Palin lessons.

When I listen to excerpts of her speeches, like the one during her resignation as Alaska's governor, my initial reaction is "HUH?" I often fail to unravel any logic in her thought process, despite the fact that English is indeed my first language. My eighth grade nun, who spent an entire school year teaching us how to properly construct and diagram sentences, must be wincing in her grave. (If she is in fact dead, which she probably is because a class of 50 hormone-rich 14-year-olds who couldn't care less about proper sentence structure is enough to drive anyone to a premature demise.) For example, Palin's recent plea that media stop their infernal lying "in honor of the American soldier" seems convoluted, sketchy, and a little like something your wacky Aunt Martha might say after a few Manhattans.

But despite her communication failings, she sure does a bang up job at building drama. Days of Our Lives could learn a trick or two from Palin - she knows drama!

She also knows how to protect her offspring like a mother bulldog, so I will say nary a word about the kids. But may I say a utter a "tsk tsk" regarding her husband? He's a grownup, no? Then why doesn't he dress like one? During his wife's recent gosh-darn-it resignation festivities, she was resplendent in an I'm-outta-here business suit while he was sat on stage sporting jeans and a parka-type vest. It was disappointing, to say the least. I feel just as disgruntled when I see people wearing shorts and a T-shirt to a funeral. (My humble theory is if the deceased can dress appropriately for the burial, so can the mourners.)

Yes, yes, I realize that I'm ranting a bit, but have I made my thoughts about direct sentences and dressing-for-success clear? Good. Try it some time, Sarah - ya'll might like it.

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