My Mother's Journey With Dementia

I noticed with conversations with my mother that she is struggling with her television remote.  She has called AT& T a couple of times, because she felt there was something wrong with her service.  It wasn't my mother's cable television, but my mother's dementia.

I did a google search for 'television remote dementia' or 'television remote Alzheimer', and I came up with a company called Flipper.  I saw the ad originally on the Alzheimer's association website, but it wasn't really clear as HOW this remote could help my mother.

So I did another google search, and this time it was for 'flipper remote control'.   Once I found their site there was a video that was started right away.  I can't tell you the sigh of relief I had when I watched it.  I wanted to share it with you today.

Medicine organizer

My mother's doctor office called me about a month ago, because they were concerned about her thyroid levels.   They were concerned that she was not taking her medicine on a regular basis, and asked for me to check up on her.

We all know that memory loss is part of the dementia process, and I made sure mother's medicine was up to date.  My next move was to figure out HOW I was going to make this process even easier for her.

I started by calling the local mom and pop pharmacies in the area.  I had heard about a service smaller pharmacies had for their clients with dementia like my mother.  They come to the house once a week with those Sunday - Saturday pill boxes. They actually 'prefill' the weekly boxes, and when a refill is needed they take care of that as well.  I found one close to my mother's house that was willing to do this.  She would no longer have to keep up with her medicines, nor have to worry about refills.

In our area we have to change the clocks back in the winter time, and move them forward in the summer.  I always remember it by 'spring ahead, fall behind' because it always lined up so well doesn't it?  I found that it doesn't make as much sense to the dementia patient.

I had come to visit my mother to discuss her medication delivery service that I had found for her.  I played that service up to her stating it will be nice especially in the extreme cold or hot weather.  She will not have to leave the house, and never have to worry about refills again.  I was glad that she actually appreciated it, and we have found it does very well for her.

Traditional Clock

The weekend that was coming up was clock changing season.  Since it was fall we need to move the clock back an hour.  My mother handed me the traditional clock she had on the wall, and was asking me questions on how to move it back an hour.  It seemed pretty plain to me that she had lost the capability to do this.

I volunteered to move all her clocks back for her that were in house while I was there.  You could tell by her sigh of relief, and by how thankful she was when I did this for her.  I found that she only had two clocks in the house.

The next day I received a phone call from my mother telling me all her clocks were wrong.  How she had spoken to someone, but I never did get a clear answer as to whom - that stated her clocks were wrong.  She asked if she could come over, and show me the problem.