Re: Fw: Mom and the shower incident

February 13, 2012

Ohhhh, I remember when this happened. Hilarious. Thanks for sharing a happy

memory with us. I'm sure the others in the group will laugh as well. Take care

Courage - with love and hugs- Sandie and

----- Fw: Mom and the shower incident

Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:04:06 -0500

This is a post I wrote to our group back in 2003. I found it this morning and

thought I would share it with you all. I am laughing through the tears.

Courage

Hi All,

Yesterday morning I woke up from a dream where my mother came to my new

house/apartment. In real life I would never have agreed to rent this disaster

as you had to go out into the common hall to get to the second floor and the

rooms where all shaped weirdly. When I noticed that mom was there the floors

began to flood with running water and the water level was rising fast. I told

mom we had to get out, which we did, and for some reason my eldest brother had

to climb up a long rope to get back in. Yes, a weird dream but as you will see

water plays a big role later on in the day.

Off I went to care for mom and things were going along just fine. Since my

daughter's wedding is next week, my sister and I decided that it was time to dye

my mother's hair. No problem, I thought. The last time I did this the solution

got all over her clothes so my sister said I should cut a hole in a plastic

garbage bag and fit it over mom's shoulders - this is workable I thought. Did

all of the above and put the solution on mom's head. 25 minutes later, mom had

somehow managed to work the garbage bag over her arms and chest so that she

could no longer move her arms and looked like a sausage in it's casing. Poor

thing kept complaining that she was hot and I can just imagine that she was. No

matter how many times I pushed the garbage bag back up to her shoulders she

would somehow manage to get it stuck on her again.

So, finally it's time to wash her hair and I thought what the heck, may as well

give her a shower at the same time. I showed mom her slicked back solutioned

hair in the bathroom mirror and she had a good laugh. Then I'm helping her onto

her shower chair when it just disappears out from underneath her and bangs off

the back wall. Mom hit the tile floor like a ton of bricks. Before I knew what

was happening her wet arms just slid out of my hands and there she was on the

floor with the shower water hitting her full in the face while she looked at me

with terrified eyes. No time to freak out, I grabbed mom's arms which where

really wet but I could barely get a good grip and she weighed a ton. I tried to

stand her up but no dice. Using the lip of cement and tile that divides the

shower area from the rest of the bathroom I tried to butt her feet up against

this to stand her up but again, no dice. Somehow, I managed to drag her out of

the shower area (over the hump I'm afraid) and into the bathroom area directly

in front of the door which is also tiled. No matter how much I tried to stand

mom up all I could manage to do was slide her along the tile floor like she was

on a water slide! My dad must of heard the commotion because he was outside the

door asking me if mom feel and trying to open the door (this is a weird folding

door). Dad was really trying hard to open the door and I screamed at him to

stop because somehow mom had managed to get her feet stuck there too.

Eventually, dad made his way in and we managed to get mom standing up. Then I

freaked out and started to examine her and ask her if anything hurt. You have

to remember that the dye solution is still on mom's head and must be washed off

25 minutes after application - 25 minutes came and went long time ago. When I

told mom that she had to go back into the shower to wash off her hair she

started moving with purpose then and said " oh no, not me " . After a lot of

effort and some hard sweating on my part I finally got mom back on her shower

chair and washed her up. My sister came home just at that moment and as I was

explaining what happened we just couldn't stop laughing. I then told mom that I

guess I wasn't being very helpful to her today and that I was better off staying

at home rather then coming over only to have her fall to which she replied

" yes " .

Oh my, I can't tell you how badly I have been feeling. I felt so bad that I

told my mom she could give me a pounding if it would make her feel better but

she thankfully declined. I called over later in the evening to see how mom was

doing and my sister told me that mom had forgotten that she even fell and was

just fine. Thanks God she isn't hurt but had mom not had a few pounds on her

I'm sure some major damage would have been done. The only good thing to come of

this is that we are now going to put in some safety features in the bathroom so

that we can cut down on the falls. I'm sure mom will have more falls in the

future but I sure hope that they aren't with me!

Courage

February 13, 2012

Courage you posted this before I joined the group and I am so glad to have the

opportunity to read it. It was talked about at our Ann Arbor gathering with

much reminiscing and laughing. Thank you for reposting!

>

> This is a post I wrote to our group back in 2003. I found it this morning and

thought I would share it with you all. I am laughing through the tears.

> Courage

> Hi All,

>

> Yesterday morning I woke up from a dream where my mother came to my new

> house/apartment. In real life I would never have agreed to rent this disaster

> as you had to go out into the common hall to get to the second floor and the

> rooms where all shaped weirdly. When I noticed that mom was there the floors

> began to flood with running water and the water level was rising fast. I told

> mom we had to get out, which we did, and for some reason my eldest brother had

> to climb up a long rope to get back in. Yes, a weird dream but as you will see

> water plays a big role later on in the day.

>

> Off I went to care for mom and things were going along just fine. Since my

> daughter's wedding is next week, my sister and I decided that it was time to

dye

> my mother's hair. No problem, I thought. The last time I did this the solution

> got all over her clothes so my sister said I should cut a hole in a plastic

> garbage bag and fit it over mom's shoulders - this is workable I thought. Did

> all of the above and put the solution on mom's head. 25 minutes later, mom had

> somehow managed to work the garbage bag over her arms and chest so that she

> could no longer move her arms and looked like a sausage in it's casing. Poor

> thing kept complaining that she was hot and I can just imagine that she was.

No

> matter how many times I pushed the garbage bag back up to her shoulders she

> would somehow manage to get it stuck on her again.

>

> So, finally it's time to wash her hair and I thought what the heck, may as

well

> give her a shower at the same time. I showed mom her slicked back solutioned

> hair in the bathroom mirror and she had a good laugh. Then I'm helping her

onto

> her shower chair when it just disappears out from underneath her and bangs off

> the back wall. Mom hit the tile floor like a ton of bricks. Before I knew what

> was happening her wet arms just slid out of my hands and there she was on the

> floor with the shower water hitting her full in the face while she looked at

me

> with terrified eyes. No time to freak out, I grabbed mom's arms which where

> really wet but I could barely get a good grip and she weighed a ton. I tried

to

> stand her up but no dice. Using the lip of cement and tile that divides the

> shower area from the rest of the bathroom I tried to butt her feet up against

> this to stand her up but again, no dice. Somehow, I managed to drag her out of

> the shower area (over the hump I'm afraid) and into the bathroom area directly

> in front of the door which is also tiled. No matter how much I tried to stand

> mom up all I could manage to do was slide her along the tile floor like she

was

> on a water slide! My dad must of heard the commotion because he was outside

the

> door asking me if mom feel and trying to open the door (this is a weird

folding

> door). Dad was really trying hard to open the door and I screamed at him to

> stop because somehow mom had managed to get her feet stuck there too.

>

> Eventually, dad made his way in and we managed to get mom standing up. Then I

> freaked out and started to examine her and ask her if anything hurt. You have

> to remember that the dye solution is still on mom's head and must be washed

off

> 25 minutes after application - 25 minutes came and went long time ago. When I

> told mom that she had to go back into the shower to wash off her hair she

> started moving with purpose then and said " oh no, not me " . After a lot of

> effort and some hard sweating on my part I finally got mom back on her shower

> chair and washed her up. My sister came home just at that moment and as I was

> explaining what happened we just couldn't stop laughing. I then told mom that

I

> guess I wasn't being very helpful to her today and that I was better off

staying

> at home rather then coming over only to have her fall to which she replied

> " yes " .

>

> Oh my, I can't tell you how badly I have been feeling. I felt so bad that I

> told my mom she could give me a pounding if it would make her feel better but

> she thankfully declined. I called over later in the evening to see how mom was

> doing and my sister told me that mom had forgotten that she even fell and was

> just fine. Thanks God she isn't hurt but had mom not had a few pounds on her

> I'm sure some major damage would have been done. The only good thing to come

of

> this is that we are now going to put in some safety features in the bathroom

so

> that we can cut down on the falls. I'm sure mom will have more falls in the

> future but I sure hope that they aren't with me!

> Courage

>

February 13, 2012

Courage,

That is one of my favorite stories of yours. Didn't you have one about a

wheelchair that was equally funny? I found that thinking about the good times

and the funny times helped me with the grief when my Mother died. I tried to

make her funeral a celebration of her life and not just about her death.

in Dallas

February 13, 2012

Courage,

That is one of my favorite stories of yours. Didn't you have one about a

wheelchair that was equally funny? I found that thinking about the good times

and the funny times helped me with the grief when my Mother died. I tried to

make her funeral a celebration of her life and not just about her death.

in Dallas

February 13, 2012

Courage,

That is one of my favorite stories of yours. Didn't you have one about a

wheelchair that was equally funny? I found that thinking about the good times

and the funny times helped me with the grief when my Mother died. I tried to

make her funeral a celebration of her life and not just about her death.

in Dallas

February 14, 2012

I am glad you are able to remember incidents like this.

All days won't be happy but eventually they will. Thanks for sharing with

us. I don't remember reading it before. Leona

Leona: Caregiver for husband Ray, age 68, diagnosed 2/04 with Parkinson's

Disease. Changed doctors, diagnosed 6/06 with LBD. Almost continual downhill

slide no matter what drugs we try. 5/2/08 Ray was placed in Sunrise Nursing

Home in Oswego, NY, 1 hour from home. So far, so good! Hardest thing I have

ever done in my life, however. 3/19/09 transferred to Samaritan Keep NH in

Watertown, NY closer to home. He passed peacefully at 5:18 am on April 14,

2009. I am handling it OK.

'Love is not finding someone to live with; it's finding someone you don't

want to live without.'

February 14, 2012

I am glad you are able to remember incidents like this.

All days won't be happy but eventually they will. Thanks for sharing with

us. I don't remember reading it before. Leona

Leona: Caregiver for husband Ray, age 68, diagnosed 2/04 with Parkinson's

Disease. Changed doctors, diagnosed 6/06 with LBD. Almost continual downhill

slide no matter what drugs we try. 5/2/08 Ray was placed in Sunrise Nursing

Home in Oswego, NY, 1 hour from home. So far, so good! Hardest thing I have

ever done in my life, however. 3/19/09 transferred to Samaritan Keep NH in

Watertown, NY closer to home. He passed peacefully at 5:18 am on April 14,

2009. I am handling it OK.

'Love is not finding someone to live with; it's finding someone you don't

want to live without.'

February 14, 2012

Oh Courage, I remember this so much. Jim was newly diagnosed with LBD in 2003,

but I had been struggling with the dreaded LBD monster in full bloom since 2000.

I was so desperate and screaming for any help at that time, and you wrote about

the shower episode and I laughed so hard reading it, I cried from laughter. I

could hardly catch my breath. I had the best laugh in a long time.

If laughter is the best medicine, that was it! I reread it a few times because

it was so funny.

After that I looked for all the funnies I could find, because I needed to laugh

so badly and get out of the gloom and doom.

Thanks so much for the rerun, it's still just as funny today.

Jan : )

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