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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Aging Parents
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
{{{Sabine and your mum}}}
![[Votive]](graemlins/votive.gif)
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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The Intrepid Mrs S
Shipmate
# 17002
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Posted
Yesterday, on holiday in Cyprus, we were able to establish that Master S was safely in lockdown in the Commons Chamber ![[Yipee]](graemlins/spin.gif) I messaged him to ask him to call his grandmother the Dowager to let her know he was safe (not wishing to try to explain all this over an expensive mobile phone link!) The conversation went as follows:
Master S: Hi grandma, it's me, just wanted to let you know I'm safe!
The Dowager: From what, dear?
It hadn't occurred to her that he might be in the Commons, though she knows his work takes him there. I suppose that's better than having her doing what we were doing, i.e. chewing our fingernails and waiting for a message ![[Killing me]](graemlins/killingme.gif)
Mrs. S, both relieved and empathetic
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Don't get your knickers in a twist over your advancing age. It achieves nothing and makes you walk funny.
Prayer should be our first recourse, not our last resort
'Lord, please give us patience. NOW!'
Posts: 1464 | From: Neither here nor there | Registered: Mar 2012
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sabine
Shipmate
# 3861
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Posted
My mother passed away this morning. My sis had just arrived from Wales a few hours earlier, and we are glad she made it before Mother was gone.
sabine
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"Hunger looks like the man that hunger is killing." Eduardo Galeano
Posts: 5887 | From: the US Heartland | Registered: Dec 2002
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Tree Bee
Ship's tiller girl
# 4033
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Posted
I'm sorry for your loss Sabine. May you and your family be comforted.
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"Any fool can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make it simple."
— Woody Guthrie
http://saysaysay54.wordpress.com
Posts: 5257 | From: me to you. | Registered: Feb 2003
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
Sabine
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
{{{Sabine and family}}}
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
Yesterday resulted in a lifting of dread from me. We had a meeting with the social worker and the occupational therapist on the one side, D on another and her son and me on a third side.
I explained what was on offer from my place, with my concern about use of the bed which seemed too low, and the possibility of boredom alleviation through the local charity. It turned out that use of the reclining chair was not off limits (I did not mention how that limited my getting up in the morning and use of the kitchen for breakfast). Also D thought that sitting in my living room would indeed be boring.
The staff explained the alternative, a private room with en suite in one of the local authority's two sites, with regular care visits and nurse visits, and food provided for a period of six weeks (or less if the house is ready before that). (The visits would have been provided at my place, but only for 4 weeks as I am out of borough.)
D looked across at me, and said that, to be honest, she believed that it would be very difficult for her and me to get on. I'm not sure if she expected me to make eager protestations against this, but I didn't. She has decided to go for the local option.
I had made preparations for if I decided to go ahead - bought a mattress protector, sticky backed plastic to upgrade the bath board and seat I acquired in the past for some reason, moved stuff from the second spare bedroom, bought over-chair table and a bed support for sitting up (very cheap from the charity shop) and so on. I really wasn't sure which way things would go within myself, but I have made the offer, and it wasn't needed.
She has become so much better physically, and is back to herself in mind, though whether that is better or not is moot. She is much sharper, totally determined to own her own future, resistant to anyone wanting to help her in any way that limits her own right to make her own decisions, but not wholly nice about it. It would be dire for us to try and co-exist. She still needs some things explained over and over again, and doesn't entirely get things right.
I will be happy going on with helping to sort through the detritus in a systematic way, and supporting my friend in what he finds deeply depressing for so many reasons.
And, a bonus, I have now cleared the small spare bedroom enough that I can get round to painting the cupboards at last. In the gaps between the clearing, and driving my friend about, and going to the tip. Pity I've left it so long that my sister no longer works at the stencil company so I will have to make my own to spray gold stars on the paint to match the original wallpaper.
[ 25. March 2017, 08:02: Message edited by: Penny S ]
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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Polly Plummer
Shipmate
# 13354
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Posted
Penny, so glad to hear that you haven't had to sacrifice your home life to accommodate your friend's mother. I'm lost in admiration that you ever contemplated doing it.
Posts: 577 | Registered: Jan 2008
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Sarasa
Shipmate
# 12271
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Posted
For Sabine and family.
Penny S - That sounds a very sensible solution. If it turns out she can't go back to her place then things will already be in place for longer term care. I think having her at your place wouldn't have been a good thing either for her or for you. In a specialist place she can get the support she needs. Let's hope she doesn't change her mind befoe it happens.
I spent a lot of yesterday with my mum. She is so frustrated by her poor eyesight and said things like she wish she could just go somewhere else and start a new life. I'm concerned that her short term memory and understanding are becomming very poor. She needs a a new phone and we spent ages going through the pros and cons of two models, and she kept on getting confused as to which was which. She also kept on getting cross at my attemtps to sort various things out. I've asked my brother to phone her and explain in the hopes that she'll trust a man about technical things more than a woman. Added the fact that she keeps making inapproprate comments (loudly) about young men she fancies makes me wonder how much longer she can live independently.
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'I guess things didn't go so well tonight, but I'm trying. Lord, I'm trying.' Charlie (Harvey Keitel) in Mean Streets.
Posts: 2035 | From: London | Registered: Jan 2007
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
I actually feel completely different this morning. The only other event which had this effect was when I went to the hospital for the surgeon to look at something which I knew was not a melanoma, but some sort of blood blister, but which my doctor had suggested was the former, thus getting part of my mind into worrywart state, and the surgeon confirmed that it was something arterial (but noticing I was listening, did not complete the words he uttered to his students). I walked out of the hospital whistling airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore.
Until two days ago, I thought there was no alternative, and had no idea what any alternative might be. Private en-suite room, all found? Can I have one, please?
D did mention how she did like being in the countryside. Also that she had the best view in London and would like to stay in her room there. Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament. She doesn't say what she saw.
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Polly Plummer:
Penny, so glad to hear that you haven't had to sacrifice your home life to accommodate your friend's mother. I'm lost in admiration that you ever contemplated doing it.
What Polly said. ![[Overused]](graemlins/notworthy.gif)
quote:
Originally posted by Penny S:
... I walked out of the hospital whistling airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore ...
Any particular air?
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
Meanwhile, I've sat in the car while my friend had a phone call from the hospital.
H Can I speak to * * please?
M Yes, I'm handing you over.
H * *?
F Yes.
H You are D's next of kin?
F Yes - (total change of tone and body language, as you can imagine.)
It turns out she's fine, despite a small fall, no injury, but been moved into a ward with others again so she can be watched more closely. Honestly, someone needs lessons in how to start conversations with the next of kin of very old ladies.
Then later, while out, I had a mysterious call at home, and a recorded message. Please could friend take in D's (garbled word ending in ocks) next time he goes.
After my afternoon nap, it occurred to me that this was about her Crocs - she has been wearing them because her feet, wrapped with dressings, are too large for her ordinary shoes. She was wearing them when admitted to hospital. But an obvious thing for them to think of instead of the socks they provide, in the circumstances.
I've been trying to buy new ones in a larger size - totally not in the shops.
[ 25. March 2017, 16:09: Message edited by: Penny S ]
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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Stercus Tauri
Shipmate
# 16668
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Posted
This article is a couple of years old, but for some reason it popped up on the Washington Post website the other day. My remaining parent stopped aging a few months ago, but if we, and her primary caregivers, had thought about this approach, I think her last years might have been richer for her and more comfortable, even if there might possibly have been fewer of them. But now I am an aging parent in my own right.
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Thay haif said. Quhat say thay, Lat thame say (George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal)
Posts: 905 | From: On the traditional lands of the Six Nations. | Registered: Sep 2011
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
Crocs problem solved - Lidl have a clone at £3.99. And order of magnitude cheaper.
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Stercus Tauri:
This article is a couple of years old, but for some reason it popped up on the Washington Post website the other day. My remaining parent stopped aging a few months ago, but if we, and her primary caregivers, had thought about this approach, I think her last years might have been richer for her and more comfortable, even if there might possibly have been fewer of them. But now I am an aging parent in my own right.
Oh if only someone would have that conversation with my parents. It has to be both due to Mum's dementia but quality is our desire not quantity.
Jengie
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
Amazing developments. Today I have been fixed with her beady eye and not only been given permission, but instructed to use her card to settle all her utility bills. Also to retrieve several things of sentimental value and put them somewhere safe.
Last week it was all these things are mine to deal with and my purse should not be in your house (the hospital does not want it on the wards).
Quite extraordinary.
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
Penny
I am so pleased for you. Also am in awe of the way you have stuck by your friend and his mother.
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
I am beginning to wonder if I am dealing with someone with multiple personalities. Not in the extreme sense that gets written up and has films made about it, but rather more than the usual variations we all have between the ways we present ourselves in different contexts. I've seen her like a little girl, as a fierce virago, as a person friendly to people like the nurses and fellow activists for the local library, and now as a serious intelligent senior. And that's quite separate from the confused state she was in before her admission to hospital.
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
There is a theory that everyone is like that. We are all a cacophony of different voices shouting in our heads. You can see this in toddlers. Gradually as we mature we learn to master the riot; one voice gets to be 'me' and all the others go and mutter down below, popping up only in times of stress or when they give you anesthetics. (Dentists have learned that giving the patient gas sometimes makes even the most respectable old lady cuss like a sailor.)
I could easily believe that, as age erodes those organizational structures, the other voices come up to the surface again.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Sarasa
Shipmate
# 12271
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Posted
When your mother phones up and says she has bad news, you worry. When she then starts going on about bags, you assume she's had her bag stolen, locked herself out etc. etc. When she then mentions vaccum cleaners, you realise that she is talking about the new bags for the cleaner we bought last week. I checked twice and the girl at the counter said they were the right ones, but apparently they don't fit. It'll have to wait till I go over on Thursday, but I'm assuming it is her not being able to see how to fit it correctly rather than something wrong with the actual bags.
Penny S, so glad thimgs are moving in the right direction with your fruends mother.
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'I guess things didn't go so well tonight, but I'm trying. Lord, I'm trying.' Charlie (Harvey Keitel) in Mean Streets.
Posts: 2035 | From: London | Registered: Jan 2007
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
They aren't always intuitive, those bags.
And Brenda, I know we are all multiples, and hinted as much. I don't think I still have a little girl about, though. (Not entirely sure I ever did do soppy, though I can recall liking dressing up in party frocks.)
[ 28. March 2017, 17:14: Message edited by: Penny S ]
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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The Intrepid Mrs S
Shipmate
# 17002
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Posted
On that subject, Penny, be prepared for D to change her mind, swear blind she never ever said you could use her card, accuse you of lining your own pockets...
The very old can seem to change their minds more often than their underwear, but I think sometimes they just plain forget that they made that decision in the first place. The Dowager once told me to forget her silly birthday and concentrate my energies on my brother and his little family, only a few days later to say accusingly 'well, you didn't come near me on my birthday!'
That was years ago and she is much more confused/forgetful now ![[Help]](graemlins/help.gif)
Full marks to her optician, though, who took the trouble to ring the Dowager a week or two after her appointment to make sure she understood the outcome. When Mum demonstrated quite clearly that she didn't, the optician got her to get me to ring her (the optician) and go through it all again.
Mrs. S, full-time PA
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Don't get your knickers in a twist over your advancing age. It achieves nothing and makes you walk funny.
Prayer should be our first recourse, not our last resort
'Lord, please give us patience. NOW!'
Posts: 1464 | From: Neither here nor there | Registered: Mar 2012
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
Thanks for that warning - which I shall bear in mind. Apparently, aggressive persona was back today.
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
I've heard several accounts of patients with Alzheimer's and other sorts of dementia fluctuating between sweet little old lady and full-blown cursing, suspicious virago.
I suspect it maybe goes with the territory.
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
Spot on, Piglet. Dad was mostly very gentle as always but could become quite aggressive, especially when he did not understand what was happening.
My friend with dementia which is steadily increasing not only forgets he has agreed to something, but also often has no idea about things at all. He fears he is losing control of his life so keeps making decisions which he then refutes.
Actually he is losing control over decisions and those decisions are becoming increasingly more minor as he grasps at straws to prove he can cope. Will he put the toaster at this end or that of the bench? We are more concerned that it is not near the sink where it could easily be splashed. But we of course are thwarting him.
Legally, unless he can be shown to be a danger to himself or others, then we cannot force any further degree of care. However, that time will come. He has quarterly appointments with gerontologist and the two with POA and a friend attend with him. He can often present well while the real picture is hidden. He has help from one of the societies doing such work down here. They are good. He has smartened up and is doing the washing and vacuuming on a semi regular basis so he appears to cope. However one function they have is to act as a judge of him. He talks after woman has cleaned fridge etc. we got them in as the six of us looking after him are all longstanding friends and friendship was beginning to muddy our judgment . He has not yet realised this and is happy to appear to be doing somew housework
Why does he want toaster near sink? Contrariness and we suggested other place on bench.
[ 28. March 2017, 23:56: Message edited by: Lothlorien ]
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
So he can scrape the toast more easily after it burns?
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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sabine
Shipmate
# 3861
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Posted
My mother is no longer aging, but there is still work to be done. We have a three bedroom house full of stuff to dispose of and the rest of her estate to deal with. Lots of paperwork for the latter. We are slowly taking mementos from the house. Not an easy task since almost everything has a memory attached to it. One of my sisters lives an ocean away, so her choices have to be made with transport in mind. I also live in another city, but I'm limited to what I can out in a car.
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"Hunger looks like the man that hunger is killing." Eduardo Galeano
Posts: 5887 | From: the US Heartland | Registered: Dec 2002
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
I have seen D's legs again, and the difference is amazing. Despite all the wrapping and treatment she had been having from her local GP's nurse, nothing had healed, but now, you would hardly think there was much wrong. The ulcers are still there, but clean, with no infection, no smell, no dead tissue.
And what rare unguent and new material has wrought this wonderful change? Saline wash and dressing with manuka honey. Which is now going to be added to my medicine cupboard.
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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sabine
Shipmate
# 3861
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Posted
What a great development, Penney.
sabine
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"Hunger looks like the man that hunger is killing." Eduardo Galeano
Posts: 5887 | From: the US Heartland | Registered: Dec 2002
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Ethne Alba
Shipmate
# 5804
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Posted
Sabine, you have my deep sympathy....we found clearing the house to be tangled about with memories....
Posts: 3126 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
Sabine I remember clearing our family home -hard work and bittersweet memories. .
Penny - I'm not at all surprised at the efficacy of the manuka honey. Some years ago, before medically prescribed honey was available, my mother's elderly cousin Jocelyn had ulcers on her legs. The treatment wasn't proving very successful until she suggested they try manuka honey as she had read about an article about it somewhere. The doctor agreed, so she went and bought some from the supermarket. They both watched with delight as over the weeks her ulcers healed completely.
Captain Cook called manuka tea tree his sailors, probably on the advice of local Maori, drunk a tea made from the leaves (effective against internal worms and parasites). Farmers burnt it to clear the land so they could graze sheep. Now some are planting because the medicinal properties of the honey have been recognised and there is a worldwide demand.
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Sarasa
Shipmate
# 12271
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Posted
Sabine - I hope you are continuing to recover from you accident and that clearing your mother's house has enabled you to remember her life as well as mourn her passing.
Strange conversation with my mother this afternoon.
Mum: 'So you're coming over with N and S (husband and son) on Tuesday.'
Me: 'Yes, but it'll just be N and I as S will be at work'.
Mum: 'Oh I forgot, I thought he was still at school.'
Son is 28 and has been working for quite some time, and has lived the other side of London for well over a year. She then mentioned a pub we could go to and how a friend would give her directions as to how we could drive there. I pointed out that we don't have a car either. I hope this is just a blip, but along with the problems I had trying to get her to hold information in her head the other week, I'm worried that it isn't.
[ 07. April 2017, 19:26: Message edited by: Sarasa ]
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'I guess things didn't go so well tonight, but I'm trying. Lord, I'm trying.' Charlie (Harvey Keitel) in Mean Streets.
Posts: 2035 | From: London | Registered: Jan 2007
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sabine
Shipmate
# 3861
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Posted
As we work on clearing Mother's house, we've started with magazines, odd assorted Tupperware, that sort of stuff. But the non-emotional layer is only so deep. Now we've reached her clothes which will go to three different charities. She was a seamstress and made most if her clothing (and ours when we were little). Soon we will be dealing with things we'd rather keep because of the memories but have no room for. My sister lives in the UK , so she can't take really big things.
I'm reminded of advice I was once given: Bless each thing for its new use and bless those (unknown to us) who will use it.
sabine
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"Hunger looks like the man that hunger is killing." Eduardo Galeano
Posts: 5887 | From: the US Heartland | Registered: Dec 2002
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
Sabine,
I know some people have taken photos (or the digital equivalent) of things that were special to them, but I like the idea of blessing it on its way.
We had 6 of us clearing our family home and I found it really demanding because it was physical, emotional and grieving work all at the same time.
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Ethne Alba
Shipmate
# 5804
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Posted
Visited Aging Parent this week, a double visit; half an hour in the morning and three quarters of an hour in the afternoon....for truly an hour is Just Not Possible.
Morning visit appalling. Picking at pieces of paper, or hankies, speech all over the place, very suspicious, argumentative with other residents, on-a-loop with questions, unable to hold a thought for longer than a few moments. Dire.
After lunch and a good sleep, all was well in that world. Perfectly sensible conversation, there were no odd behaviours, charming... kind...gracious even, perfectly engaged concerning the lives of the (large) extended family and with a razor sharp wit.
"I don't think that i was very charitable this morning, I'm sorry"
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, think i did both.....
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Posts: 3126 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
{{{Sarasa, Sabine and Ethne Alba}}} - I think you all need virtual hugs.
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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sabine
Shipmate
# 3861
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Posted
Thank you for the virtual hugs, Piglet.
I want to write something for everyone posting here (or on the difficult relatives thread). I want it to be loving and supportive. But the words aren't coming.
So I will hold everyone (patent, child, difficult person, caregiver) in the Light of God's Love.
sabine
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"Hunger looks like the man that hunger is killing." Eduardo Galeano
Posts: 5887 | From: the US Heartland | Registered: Dec 2002
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
Sabine, thanks for that for all of us in the situation of difficult parents and in my case, friend.
Thank you too for the suggestion of blessing as things are let go. I used to do that, but somehow it has slipped.
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
Wise and helpful words indeed, Sabine. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Zappa
Ship's Wake
# 8433
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Posted
Uh-oh ... have to do a mercy dash today to my stubborn as a bloody mule and sometimes thoroughly unpleasant 95 year old mother because she's suddenly started having blackouts/seizures ... refuses help (though she was rushed to hospital and doesn't recall how she got there blah blah blah) or to leave her home, believes doctors are trying to kill her and don't know anything anyway ... and will give me deep shit for interfering .... ![[Mad]](angryfire.gif)
but i guess i have to try
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shameless self promotion - because I think it's worth it
and mayhap this too: http://broken-moments.blogspot.co.nz/
Posts: 18917 | From: "Central" is all they call it | Registered: Sep 2004
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sabine
Shipmate
# 3861
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Posted
I can so relate, Zappa. Many similar scenarios on this end. It sets up a tension that is hard to hold and also hard to resolve.
In the end we can use our best efforts to make good decisions on behalf of our patents.
The very hard part is to develop a strategy to deal with the contrariness and resulting deep shit.
I had special music for the ride home, designed to rearrange residual emotions. Sometimes worked, sometimes didn't.
sabine
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"Hunger looks like the man that hunger is killing." Eduardo Galeano
Posts: 5887 | From: the US Heartland | Registered: Dec 2002
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
This isn't an AP but someone who is rather in the place of an AP to me--about 80 years old, lives alone, poor, and as stubborn as hell. I learnt this morning that she "went to bed on Tuesday and didn't get up until Sunday morning," and that her blood sugars have been running ca. 300 or so (self-report). She is terrified of insulin needles, would rather die (literally) than use one. Are there non-needle based systems out there? And I'm really not sure how far I go with this situation--I love her, and I've helped her through a nasty near-foreclosure this past year, but I don't know if I could handle insulin regime etc. or even if God would ask that of me. (She's got 3 cats and no money, which make going into some sort of care virtually impossible. Also a daughter with major life problems of her own out of state, but who might complicate matters at any time if she chose)
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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sabine
Shipmate
# 3861
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Posted
Not a doctor disclainer....I googled "non injectable insulin" and came up with Victoza.
sabine
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"Hunger looks like the man that hunger is killing." Eduardo Galeano
Posts: 5887 | From: the US Heartland | Registered: Dec 2002
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
I googled it, and it appears to be both injectable and not insulin. Pity.
The doc is very clear that insulin is what she needs. She just freaks out at injecting herself.
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Leorning Cniht
Shipmate
# 17564
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:
She is terrified of insulin needles, would rather die (literally) than use one. Are there non-needle based systems out there?
I don't think so. There used to be an inhalable insulin (up the nose), but I don't think it's available any more: there wasn't much demand for it, and it was expensive.
Autoinjectors aren't very needle-like - it may be that your elderly friend could bring herself to use one.
Posts: 5026 | From: USA | Registered: Feb 2013
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sabine
Shipmate
# 3861
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Posted
Lamb Chopped, you mentioned that she was low income, and I apologise is I'm suggesting something that you may have investigated....Is there a low cost clinic where she might receive her injections? Sometimes people fare better when a professional is doing the injecting. Of course, there might be transportation issues, too. And again, maybe you've attempted far more problem solving than my attempts here give you credit for. I will pray for courage and strength for your friend. And for you.
sabine
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"Hunger looks like the man that hunger is killing." Eduardo Galeano
Posts: 5887 | From: the US Heartland | Registered: Dec 2002
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
no, no, no need for apologies--I'm just frustrated (read: scared crapless) because this is a huge issue and I really doubt I can make enough of a difference. She just told me about it. Ugh.
I have no idea whether there are places that will do the injections for you in this city--what a great idea. Of course if we find one we'll have to deal with transportation, which is another joy. One hell at a time, I suppose... A pity about the inhalable system--that sounds like it would be ideal. As for orals, all I know is she says they have "tried them all" and I think she is likely correct--if I had a patient as vulnerable as she is, I'd have tried everything under the sun too. I have no idea about the autoinjector--I see more research looming in my future.
Basically I am totally.freaked. as this crisis is coming at its usual bad time (Holy Week) when I'm also dealing with flu and post-flu syndromes in household, a sister with ovarian cancer and little support, and my own diabetes. Want to hide under the bed now.
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
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Posted
In the U.S. we have Visiting Nurses who do this sort of ting, and I believe they're low-cost. They're non-profit (and have a tremendous used book sale every year to raise funds!). I remember my grandmother having regular visits from them many years ago, and I believe injections are one of the things they offer. If something like that is available, it would save the transportation cost and inconvenience of having to go to a clinic.
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"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
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