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By Carol January 26th, 2012
I’m so glad the producers of To Not Fade Away asked me to review their film. Otherwise I would never have seen it, since it is not offered on my DTV plan. In Denver this wonderful RLTV video can only be seen on Comcast Channel 205.
Both my mother and my father suffered from dementia. While neither of them had Alzheimer’s disease, a fear of this particular form of dementia looms large for me as for many in my generation. The older I get the more unsettling small moments of forgetfulness become. I believe that having solid factual information about Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia is vitally important for all of us at this stage of life. And it is equally important for children and loved ones of the elderly to know much …
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By Bill January 15th, 2012
A quick update, Carol is recovering from her hand surgery with a cast on her right thumb and lower hand. That cramps her writing quite a bit. I am doing a fair amount of caregiving as she currently can’t drive or do tasks requiring two fully functioning hands.
I mentioned earlier that I was engaged in a job search to fill in during Four Mile’s slack season. Winter just about brings activities to a complete halt at the Living History Park. The wagon road is a complete sheet of ice, too dangerous for the beautiful Percheron and Belgian draft horses to pull the big prairie schooner.
I got a job! I am a part time Health Care Security Officer with HSS Inc. HSS is a large security firm providing security services to hospitals, city …
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By Bill January 5th, 2012
Hand Surgery
Carol had hand surgery today. She has been bothered by pain in her right hand for about ten years, so she finally mentioned it to her doctor. The doc got some x-rays, said there is some arthritis in her wrist that was bone to bone, and surgery will fix it.
So, today after about four hours at a surgery center Carol is home with her hand and arm in a cast with a prescription for some pain medication. All is well so far. So what’s the big deal? Something doesn’t work too well anymore, so get it fixed. That is what we do as we get older. I am doing it as well. I’m sitting here with my titanium knee. My friend has a titanium knee as well, and his …
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By Carol November 20th, 2011
My dad, Frank, died over a year ago at the age of 91. When he finally came to live in Denver two years before his death, I thought I would be able to help him have a better life, a happier old age. It turned out that the real job was to support him while he moved closer and closer to death.
As the days of his life grew shorter, my confusion multiplied. As much I knew he would die one day, I was caught up in Dad’s insistence that he would live to be “at least” 100. I think it seemed easier to accept this idea than to understand that death was creeping nearer to us with every passing day.
The last days and weeks of Dad’s life were very difficult for all …
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By Carol November 1st, 2011
Recently one of our readers wrote to us about some of his feelings following the death of his mother. “I am overwhelmed with guilt for not always being a good caregiver – giving in to work stressors, tiredness, other concerns,” he said. “…I go over every detail of caregiving and find the things I believe I did and didn’t do. It is sad as I wanted to do the best for my Mom, but I feel I failed her.”
We’ve talked to a lot of caregivers who feel the same as our reader. Years after his mother’s death, one friend who had spent a couple of hours every day after work with her at her assisted living residence confesses that he feels he didn’t do enough. Now, when Judi, Bill and I look back …
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