Guest guest Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 Sharon, I don't think it's anything physical with cutting, chewing, or swallowing because his food is cut for him and we don't see him having difficulty with chewing or swallowing--and it just seems to be so random. The ladies who are his caregivers are very good and sweet women. Dad seems to like them both and they seem to love him. Mom is having some difficulty because as she says 'They're always there.' She doesn't really have the house to herself and some days that just drives her crazy. We've moved her bed into a guest bedroom and she has a bathroom to herself (except when we are down there). It's just that there have been so many changes. She's holding up okay, I guess. Dad hasn't been too aggressive since he's been home. If he is the ladies take care of it. Thanks for asking about us, Sharon. Tom and I spend quite a bit of time down with Mom and Dad. He's still working in the micro lab of our hospital, but he is more able to get time off when we have to go to Orlando. We've done a few fun things for ourselves lately. We celebrated Valentine's Day with 2 concerts at FSU--Art Garfunkle on Monday and Botti on V day! We're going to be coming over to Destin in April for the Seabreeze Jazz festival. Not sure how close you are--perhaps we can get together! I hope things are going better with you and Donnie and his brother. Take care. Dianne P daughter of Bill, 84 Sharon Murray wrote: dianne daddy went thru on/off eating habits, and then he went thru sweets,hewould eat boxes of cookies at a siting and since he was not diabetic i figured some food if better than no food, but he did eat his regular food, could it be he is having trouble cutting his food, or chewing it or swallowing and is choking and may need to go to pureed foods, or like anything with lbd a stage that he will come/go out of it. how is mom doing with the help, is she able to rest more and is he treating her better since she isntthe bad guy, to make him do things he doesn t want to do. how are yu and tom doing, are you iwth your parents more now or still traveling a lot??? think about you often hugs.sharon Dianne wrote: My dad is at home with 24/7 caregivers and my mom. Mom's life seems to revolve around what she's going to fix him for lunch and dinner each day. The caregiver gets him out of bed around 1 pm for lunch--that's his first meal of the day--and then dinner is around 7 pm. Some days he will clean his plate at both meals and he always looks forward to an afternoon snack of M & Ms or something like crackers and cheese and his dessert of ice cream or cookies after dinner. He eats well most days. Some days, however, he won't eat anything (or if he does it's very little) for lunch or dinner. My mom worries constantly when that happens and it may last for a couple of days. Then it seems that he is back to his old self and ready to eat again. I can't really explain it, but on the days he doesn't want to eat he seems physically weaker--needing more assistance to walk and wanting to be in bed more. Then when he " snaps out of it " he goes back to being a bit more wakeful during the day, more steady on his feet, even feeding himself rather than having the caregiver do it. I try to ease my mom's mind when he has those spells by telling her that he's not expending much energy and so isn't building up an appetite, but it could be that he's just exercising control over his life (like Sharon said). I wish I had an explanation... Dianne P daughter of Bill, 84 seanmhairx2 wrote: My 94 year old father in a NH refused to eat lunch or dinner yesterday...saying he was too weak,too tired, and not hungry. They did manage to coherce him into eating some breakfast today by telling him they would put him right back to bed after he ate something. He ate very little and then requested they put him back to bed. Does anyone have experience with this? When I go to visit, which I do daily, he is on his bed, very little conversation and pretty flat affect. Any help apprecciated. Thanks --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 hi dianne, just some other thoughts, one he may not be hungry, when you arent active you dont always get hungry. or he may not recognize his hunger. or maybe his tastes have changed. and he doesnt like the same food anymore. with lbders and their lack of good communication skills makes it difficult. we just have to play the guessing game. good luck and hugs, we have never been to destin but we might be ableto meet off the interstate again, and this time let you meet my country boy donnie. hugs. sharon Dianne wrote: Sharon, I don't think it's anything physical with cutting, chewing, or swallowing because his food is cut for him and we don't see him having difficulty with chewing or swallowing--and it just seems to be so random. The ladies who are his caregivers are very good and sweet women. Dad seems to like them both and they seem to love him. Mom is having some difficulty because as she says 'They're always there.' She doesn't really have the house to herself and some days that just drives her crazy. We've moved her bed into a guest bedroom and she has a bathroom to herself (except when we are down there). It's just that there have been so many changes. She's holding up okay, I guess. Dad hasn't been too aggressive since he's been home. If he is the ladies take care of it. Thanks for asking about us, Sharon. Tom and I spend quite a bit of time down with Mom and Dad. He's still working in the micro lab of our hospital, but he is more able to get time off when we have to go to Orlando. We've done a few fun things for ourselves lately. We celebrated Valentine's Day with 2 concerts at FSU--Art Garfunkle on Monday and Botti on V day! We're going to be coming over to Destin in April for the Seabreeze Jazz festival. Not sure how close you are--perhaps we can get together! I hope things are going better with you and Donnie and his brother. Take care. Dianne P daughter of Bill, 84 Sharon Murray wrote: dianne daddy went thru on/off eating habits, and then he went thru sweets,hewould eat boxes of cookies at a siting and since he was not diabetic i figured some food if better than no food, but he did eat his regular food, could it be he is having trouble cutting his food, or chewing it or swallowing and is choking and may need to go to pureed foods, or like anything with lbd a stage that he will come/go out of it. how is mom doing with the help, is she able to rest more and is he treating her better since she isntthe bad guy, to make him do things he doesn t want to do. how are yu and tom doing, are you iwth your parents more now or still traveling a lot??? think about you often hugs.sharon Dianne wrote: My dad is at home with 24/7 caregivers and my mom. Mom's life seems to revolve around what she's going to fix him for lunch and dinner each day. The caregiver gets him out of bed around 1 pm for lunch--that's his first meal of the day--and then dinner is around 7 pm. Some days he will clean his plate at both meals and he always looks forward to an afternoon snack of M & Ms or something like crackers and cheese and his dessert of ice cream or cookies after dinner. He eats well most days. Some days, however, he won't eat anything (or if he does it's very little) for lunch or dinner. My mom worries constantly when that happens and it may last for a couple of days. Then it seems that he is back to his old self and ready to eat again. I can't really explain it, but on the days he doesn't want to eat he seems physically weaker--needing more assistance to walk and wanting to be in bed more. Then when he " snaps out of it " he goes back to being a bit more wakeful during the day, more steady on his feet, even feeding himself rather than having the caregiver do it. I try to ease my mom's mind when he has those spells by telling her that he's not expending much energy and so isn't building up an appetite, but it could be that he's just exercising control over his life (like Sharon said). I wish I had an explanation... Dianne P daughter of Bill, 84 seanmhairx2 wrote: My 94 year old father in a NH refused to eat lunch or dinner yesterday...saying he was too weak,too tired, and not hungry. They did manage to coherce him into eating some breakfast today by telling him they would put him right back to bed after he ate something. He ate very little and then requested they put him back to bed. Does anyone have experience with this? When I go to visit, which I do daily, he is on his bed, very little conversation and pretty flat affect. Any help apprecciated. Thanks --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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