Stories from Caregivers: Lisa from OKLAHOMA
OK
Lisa
FROM OKLAHOMA
I started my caregiving journey in 2008. It ended in 2013. Mom (Mary) was showing signs of dementia. She didn't want to admit it and tried really hard to make up for her failing memory by posting reminder notes all over her house. She was a Mary Kay consultant for 30+ years and she would have to have me help adding up sales tickets. My caregiving started with stopping by her house before going to my office to make sure she was eating and again at lunch and in the evening. We were together every day, although she was basically still living alone. Until she fell and broke her hip. After 8 weeks in a skilled nursing facility where she went for rehab, I brought her home. She had gone from being semi-independent to not being able to do anything for herself. She had been prescribed - without my knowledge - at the nursing facility, the maximum legal dosage of oxicotin, ambien, xanax, and an anti-depressant. I brought her home because, although she was there for physical therapy, she never woke up long enough for any therapy. I was losing my mom when she should have been recovering. Because her dementia had escalated to the point that she didn't know who anyone was, I decided to take her to her home rather than bring her into mine which was not as familiar to her. I moved in with her while my husband kept our home going. Every physical movement, I had to make for her including lifting her in and out of the wheel chair and putting every bite of food or drink in her mouth. She was addicted to the medications she had been prescribed and with her doctors help, we weaned her off of them. As her mind cleared from the drug haze, she improved to the point that she learned to walk again. Mentally, she was never the same. She was a little girl and I was the mama. She wanted to call her mother and grandmother and couldn't understand why I didn't take her home. We enjoyed a few trips, concerts, picnics. After five years, I lost her, but I have precious memories that I wouldn't trade for anything. And I was reunited with my husband for our golden years.
