Re: Re: Update.../now its NO sleep/Emma

[Guest guest]

Oh Emma, What to do! There isn't much I can do anymore either. If Jim grits his

teeth together, so I can't get pills in, I have to go the syringe way. I figure

he's getting something of the medications anyway.

Jim recently went through a dry spell of not peeing for a few days. I'm not

sure if this is exactly what you are saying about your grandma. They had to

catheterize him, because the pee was pooling up in his bladder and not coming

out. The catheter has been removed and he is peeing, but the Urologist doesn't

think it is all coming out of his bladder. Jim is now complaining of painful

lower back ache and the Urologist thinks it is his kidneys slowing down. He has

to drink way more, but my problem is getting enough liquid into him. Jim will

drink an 8 oz glass of juice in the morning and the rest of the day it is so

hard to get him to drink an entire glass of anything. He pushes the drink away

or else grabs it and throws the juice/water on me. Somewhere in the websites I

read where carbonated drinks are easy to drink for someone that needs thickened

liquids, because the bubbles make them drink slower. I should have copied the

site, but didn't. Anyway, every once in awhile I

will give him 7-Up or Root Beer, because he likes it and he will drink that. I

figure anything is better than nothing and I will also put Gatorade in the

Syringe and give it to him that way.

So many problems to solve! Good luck with solving your problems. One thing I

know, we are all creative here and someone or you will think of something that

works. It's a vicious circle of things you come across and road blocks all

through this disease that you have to get around and over.

Keep up the good work!

Jan

emsyfay wrote:

Jan,

Unfortunately I called the pharmacist and only ONE of her pills can even be cut

in half (and

its a tiny one anyway of course) and NONE of them should be crushed. Otherwise I

would

totally try that!! She doesn't seem to have a problem with putting the pills in

her mouth

(at the start anyway) since I give them to her with ice cream but once she gets

them into

her mouth its like she doesn't know what to do. And when I say swallow she

doesn't know

what that means. Unfortunately I haven't been able to think of another word or

way to

describe it. Its after a few trys of this that she gets frustrated and starts

spitting the pills

out or trying to refuse them all together. Although funny enough pills went fine

this

morning!

Now we have new issues...Her doctor increased her dose of Provigil from 100mg

every AM

to 200mg starting yesterday and she didn't sleep all night last night!! The aid

said she

was in and out of bed all night talking to herself but wouldn't leave the

bedroom or lay

down because she " needed to be available " . I also think she is brewing a UTI but

of course

when I WANT her to pee she cannot. I waited the whole day yesterday and sat her

on the

toilet quite a few times and never a drop. So now I don't know if its the med

change or a

possible UTI thats making her act goofy. She is however in a pretty decent mood

(especially for someone who hasn't slept much in the last 24 hours!!) this

morning so thats

a plus!!

Emma

-- In LBDcaregivers , Janet Colello wrote:

>

> Emma,

> I don't know if this will help with your grandma to take medication, but it

works with

my husband.

> At times he refuses pills and other times he will not open his teeth to get

the

medication in. He is on Nectar Thick liquids and I mix " Thick It " in with his

juice to thicken

it in an 8 oz cup. I order " Thick It " online and have it delivered. I have a

little measuring

cup like off of a cough syrup bottle and I pour a little of the juice into the

cup from the

mixture in the 8 oz cup and take a wide mouth baby syringe. Found in; " Janet's

bag of

tricks " In the " Links " under Home Safety and LO Safety.

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/

group/LBDcaregivers/message/61214. I crush the medication and stir it into the

small

cup of juice and suck it into the syringe and stick it in the side of my

husband's mouth and

plunge it into the back of his mouth and it drains into the back his throat and

it's easy to

give to him that way, even if his teeth are closed. He doesn't resist taking it

that way, he

can also follow it with a drink from the 8 oz cup if he wants.

> It's an idea anyway for you. My husband usually shoves a spoon coming toward

him

away, but he doesn't mind the baby syringe.

> Jan

>

> emsyfay wrote:

> Just wanted to give a little update for those that were concerned about my

fainting etc.

I

> went and saw the PA at my doctor's office yesterday and he said since it was

an isolated

> thing and I recovered so quickly that the fainting spell was probably nothing,

sometimes

> people just faint. If it happens again then we might need to look closer.

However he did

> diagnose me with a heart murmur! Said that this also was probably nothing

(said it was

> most likely an " innocent flow murmur " which is VERY common and no big deal)

but is

> sending me to have an echocardiogram just to be sure. SO the plot thickens!

> I also went to the chiropractor and she told me my back (from neck to hips!)

is a train

> wreck! I could have told her that! My hips are not level and my neck curves in

exactly the

> OPPOSITE direction that its supposed to. She said my x-rays look like those of

a person

> who was in a car accident. I had to explain that there was no car accident,

I'm just one of

> the clumsiest people alive and have gotten whip-lash 2 times from falling. So

I am going

> to be having 2-3 adjustments with her a week for a little while and I am on NO

exercise

> and NO lifting (yeah right!). But at least I feel a little better after one

treatment and will

> hopefully feel even better after more.

> Grandma is still having a hard time with pills but is eating SLIGHTLY better.

I think we're

> up to 700 calories a day on a good day! If I can just get her to stop LOSING

weight I'll be

> happy. Discovered this morning that she does not know what " swallow " means. I

think

> this is a BIG part of the problem with getting pills down. She CAN do it and

says it

doesn't

> hurt but if you ask her to swallow a pill she then cannot do it. I'm not sure

how to get

> around it as I can't think of a different word for swallow or a different way

to explain it

so

> she understands. Definitely frustrating.

> Thanks for all your concern about my medical issues!!

> Emma

>

>

>

> Welcome to LBDcaregivers.

>

>

>